Royal Caribbean formerly acknowledged the purchase of the former Crystal Cruises ultra-luxury expedition cruise ship Crystal Endeavor after receiving official court approval to acquire the vessel.
Rumors have been circulating for over a month that Royal Caribbean Group would acquire the vessel for its luxury cruise and expedition operator Silversea Cruises. Silver Endeavour will be making its debut for Silversea during the upcoming Antarctic cruise season, which starts in November of 2022.
Royal Caribbean Group Purchases Crystal Endeavor
As Cruise Hive announced on June 14, Royal Caribbean has purchased the former Crystal Cruises ultra-luxury expedition vessel Crystal Endeavor. She will be joining the Silversea Cruises fleet of ships. The company issued an official statement today, saying it would be renaming the vessel Silver Endeavour once she joins the luxury cruise line’s fleet.
With a price of only $275 million, Royal Caribbean Group has acquired the Silver Endeavour intending to bring her into operations during the upcoming Antarctica cruise season, which starts in November 2022.Â
“With Endeavour, we are seeking to grow our world class fleet to meet the exceptional demand for ultra-luxury expedition cruising, while also enhancing our profitability profile and affirming Silversea’s position as the industry’s leading ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.
The expedition market has been booming in the last years, with multiple operators joining the fleet of ships that operate from places such as Ushuaia in Argentina and Punta Arenas in Chile to visit the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Islands.
During the last years, Silversea has been busy establishing itself as one of the top-rated operators in this area. The addition of Silver Endeavour will only strengthen the company’s market position.
“The expedition cruising industry is poised to resume accelerated growth driven by demand among high-end, affluent customers for travel to remote and hard-to-access destinations,” said Roberto Martinoli, president and CEO of Silversea Cruises. “This ship will be the fourth vessel to join Silversea’s fleet since 2020, which demonstrates our commitment to growth.”
Silver Endeavour
Designed to explore the furthest reaches of the planet, Silver Endeavour has a PC6 polar class specification. She can take travelers to the world’s most remote destinations, including the North Pole and Antarctic regions.
Silver Endeavour offers guests the highest space-per-guest and crew-to-guest ratio in the expedition market. The vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art amenities, including submarines and a fleet of zodiacs and kayaks for exploring the polar regions up close and personal.
The first voyage for the 20,449 gross tons, 200-passenger ship, will sail in November this year, visiting Antarctica.
Royal Caribbean To Compensate Crystal Endeavor Guests
Besides the announcement of the purchase of the ultra-luxury Silver Endeavour, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty also announced the company would be seeking to reimburse or guarantee deposits for guests that had been booked onboard Crystal Endeavor.
Suppose Crystal Endeavor guests do not receive their deposits back from Crystal or other sources. In that case, the Royal Caribbean Group will refund any amount paid on their new booking up to the amount of their lost deposits from Crystal.
If guests decide to make a new booking onboard Silver Endeavour or one of the other cruise lines within the Royal Caribbean Group; Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises, their original deposit will be honored.
“Delivering the best vacations in the world responsibly is Royal Caribbean Group’s purpose. While our acquisition only covers the physical vessel, we want all of our guests to know we go above and beyond to take care of them. We believe those Crystal guests will receive back their deposits, but we want to give them added assurance,” Liberty said.
Crystal Endeavor sailed only one season in Antarctica for Crystal Cruises before its parent company, Genting Hong Kong, filed for bankruptcy due to the financial problems the company found itself post-pandemic.
The Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity have been acquired by former Silversea executive Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, under the Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group Ltd.
