Crystal Cruises, the luxury cruise company in the Genting Hong Kong group, plans to continue its expansion by investing in new vessels and aircraft, Edie Rodriguez, CEO and President of the company told Cruise Business.
Asked how Crystal would like in 2025, she said: "The fleet has six ships, five yachts, 10 river (yachts) and four aircraft." In addition, the company plans to expand into further new areas of which Rodriguez declined to discuss. "There will be investment in organic growth, the demand is there, so why not," she added.
Crystal currently has two cruise ships in the water and it plans to build three more at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany from 2017 onwards. In addition, it will introduce a 62 passenger yacht called Crystal Esprit, which will enter service later this year after a major refit.
The company will also introduce two river yachts, one in the Rhine-Main-Danube river system and the other one on the Seine in 2017. A second luxury plane has been ordered following an earlier decision to enter the luxury air travel sector with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The second plane will be smaller, however, and offer 14 night tours compared to 28 night ones on the Dreamliner.
Rodriguez said that when she took up her current position two and a half years ago, her motto was "Seven ships to the seven seas and seven continents." However, since Crystal Cruises was acquired by Genting Hong Kong earlier this year, the chairman of the group had told her that ther Los Angeles based cruise shipping company could grow further than that.
Crystal currently generates slightly more than 50% of its business in North America, but the figure is likely to decrease as the company expands. "As far as English is your first or second language, you will be comfortable with Crystal," she said. However, as the company continues to generate healthy business in Japan, the home country of its previous owner, it makes special arrangements for Japanese passengers