Crystal Cruises has closed its US offices leaving a trail of debt in its wake. The multi award winning luxury cruise line owes customers more than US $100 million in deposits and payments. The cruise line reportedly owes money to passengers who paid for trips up until 2024, along with travel agents, vendors, crew members and approximately 100 land-based employees who were given 48 hours’ notice before offices were shut down and their paychecks cut off.
Former president Jack Anderson told Bloomberg on Wednesday that most customers had paid via credit card which will make refunds easier. However, those who paid in cash or rebooked another cruise for a future date because their trip was previously cancelled in 2020 or 2021 might be out of luck.
None of Crystal Cruises’ assets was in liquid cash that the company could use to keep operations open, Anderson said, “Ultimately, we ended up with a bank account of zero.”
The Crystal Symphony and the Crystal Serenity are in the Bahamas where they were seized by authorities. The Crystal Endeavor was reportedly last seen in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is expected that it too will be seized by creditors. All three ships are now being managed by V.Ships Leisure
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