Cruise ShipsCrystal – Exceptional at Sea (ex Crystal Cruises)Past and Present

MV Crystal Symphony – Past and Present

IMO Number: 9066667

MV Crystal Symphony

© Aleksi Lindström

Steel twin-screw motor vessel built in 1994 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Finland (Yard No. 1323) for Crystal Cruises, Los Angeles, United States as a Passenger (Cruise) Vessel 

Technical Data

  • Original Cost: $300 million
  • Length on deck: 237.10m (777.8 ft) overall
  • Breadth of hull: 30.20m (98.0 ft) extreme
  • Draught: 7.60m (24.9 ft) maximum
  • Tonnage: 51,044 gross/20,201 net/4,500 deadweight
  • Engines: Six Sulzer 9ZAL40S diesels
  • Propulsion/Propellers: diesel-electric (33,880kW)/2
  • Speed: 22 knots
  • Capacity: 1010 passengers
  • Passenger decks: 8
  • Crew: 545
  • Navigation Officers: Scandinavian
  • Call Sign: C6MY5
  • MMSI Number: 309168000
  • IMO Number: 9066667
  • Registry: Bahamas 🇧🇸

Current AIS Location


Please note that this specific vessels AIS position data may be over an hour old and that the vessels position will only be displayed when it is within range of the VesselFinder AIS system. The AIS transponder/ship position data featured on this page is intended for information purposes only and it is in no way related to the 'Safety of Navigation at Sea'. All the AIS ship position data featured within this article is provided by VesselFinder and we are therefore not responsible for its content or its accuracy.


History

The CRYSTAL SYMPHONY was ordered as a follow-on consort to the similar-sized CRYSTAL HARMONY, capitalising on the success of the earlier vessel.

January 5th 1995: Launched.

April 18th 1995: Delivered to Crystal Cruises, Los Angeles, United States, a wholly owned division of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Japan.

May 3rd 1995: Officially named in New York.

May 4th 1995: Entered service in the United States cruise market with her first cruise from New York to San Francisco. Typical among other long-distance cruises made by this vessel are Singapore to Sydney via Bali, Fremantle, Perth and Adelaide, and San Francisco to Sydney via Hawaii, Western Samoa, Fiji and Noumea.

© Nigel Thornton © Nigel Thornton © Nigel Thornton

© Nigel Thornton (all)

January 2nd 2002: “Re-emerged from 10-day dry-dock refurbishment at Lisnave Drydock in Lisbon, Portugal. The refit was overseen by ship architect Robert Tillberg and his Tillberg Design U.S. office in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and began in late November, 2001. In addition to new carpet and soft furnishing, the ship received restaurant remodelling; new steam room and sauna facilities; re-grouted bathrooms and newly painted verandas; the sanding and varnishing of all dance floors and stages; installation of new teak decking and refinishing of all marble surfaces.”

© Nigel Thornton © Nigel Thornton  

© Nigel Thornton (both)

March 19th 2020: Having been affected by the Covid Pandemic she remained in Singapore, where she would stay until a previous scheduled drydock in April.

April 1oth 2020 – April 23rd 2020: Dry-docked in Singapore where she would undergo regular technical maintenance, with mandatory class work on the schedule. She also had minor upgrades to its public areas and cabins, with new carpeting, replacement of furniture and overall repairs. 

August 2020: Crystal Cruises cancelled all remaining ocean voyages aboard the CRYSTAL SYMPHONY , CRYSTAL SERENITY  and CRYSTAL ESPRIT through the end of 2020.

August 23rd 2021: Return to service, she departed for Bermuda from Boston, the first in a series of four seven-night cruises sailing roundtrip out of Boston. 

January 8th 2022: Left Miami for a scheduled 14-day Caribbean cruise.

January 22nd 2022: Announcement made that Genting Hong Kong Ltd., (parent company of Crystal Cruises) had run into financial difficulties. An “Arrest Warrant” had been issued against the vessel for alleged non-payment of bunkering charges for three of Genting’s ships, by to Petoleum Far East Pte. Ltd, amounting to $4.6 million since 2017. Rather than Miami, the vessel was scheduled to dock in Bimini in the Bahamas where a U.S. arrest warrant couldn’t be executed.

February 5th 2022: Arrested while at anchor off the coast of Freeport (Bahamas). 

February 11th 2022: Crystal Cruises were officially dissolved.

June 22nd 2022:

A&K Travel Group, the company owned by Geoffrey Kent and Heritage Group, today confirmed the acquisition of two Crystal Cruises ocean-going ships.
Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony will resume service in 2023 after an extensive refit and operate under the Crystal – Exceptional at Sea brand. Crystal Serenity and Symphony were sold at auction in the Bahamas for $109 million and $25 million respectively last week to an undisclosed buyer after Crystal Cruises’ owner Genting Hong Kong filed to be wound up in January.

Travel Weekly

July 24th July 2022: Laid up in Treiste pending refurbishment with larger cabins, reducing overall capacity.

January 31st 2023: Announcement from Crystal – Exceptional at Sea:

Crystal Symphony’s first sailing will depart from Athens on September 1st 2023, stopping in Santorini, Patmos, Kos, Izmir and Istanbul.

 

 


All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: © Aleksi Lindström for his assistance in producing this feature.

Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)

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