Crystal Cruises Ships Seized in the Bahamas by U.S. Authorities

(Latest Update: February 7, 2022) On the night of Friday, February 4, 2022, Crystal Cruises’ ships Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were both seized by authorities off of Freeport, Bahamas on U.S. arrest warrants for unpaid fuel bills. No passengers, only ship crew, were onboard the vessel at the time. This latest update comes on the heels of a weeks-long saga for the cruise line after its parent company Genting Hong Kong had filed for liquidation to sell or shut down parts of its business. 

According to a statement shared with Cruise Industry News, ship arrests will not impact crew movement, according to the announcement. At this time, both of the Crystal Cruises’ ships remain docked in Freeport. 

Crystal Cruises announced an immediate suspension of all vessels following Genting’s liquidation announcement last month. On January 21, 2022, passengers and crew were shocked to learn that a seizure warrant was issued by a Federal Court in Miami for the Crystal Symphony due to unpaid fuel bills. Following a two-week Caribbean cruise, the ship was scheduled to end its voyage on January 22 at PortMiami. However, upon notice of the seizure warrant, the ship diverted to dock in Bimini (Bahamas), where it arranged to transport all passengers via the Balearia. This ferry operates regular service between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas. 

Ship fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed suit in a South Florida federal court against Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises (also part of Genting) for owing a combined total of more than $4.6 million. The suit specifically named Crystal Symphony as a defendant and specified that $1.2 million of the fuel costs owed by Crystal were from this ship alone. 

“This end to the cruise was not the conclusion to our guests’ vacation we originally planned for,” said Crystal Cruises in a statement to the New York Times.

At the end of January 2022, Crystal Cruises announced that it would be canceling all ocean and expedition cruises from January 21 through April 29, 2022, and suspending river cruises through the end of May 2022. At the time, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony were sailing in the Caribbean, and the Crystal Endeavor was cruising in Antarctica. The line expressed that “these ships will complete their current voyages before stopping operations.

On January 29, 2022, the World Cruise on Crystal Serenity was scheduled to dock in Aruba, but authorities turned away the vessel. Passengers were supposed to disembark on January 30, 2022, at the conclusion of the sailing. Instead, the ship continued to Bimini, where passengers will disembark today, January 31, 2022. Like Crystal Symphony, Crystal Cruises arranged for all passengers to be transferred to Fort Lauderdale from the Bahamas via the Balearia ferry.  

Crystal Endeavor completed its previously scheduled Antarctica voyage and ended its sailing in Ushuaia, Argentina, as scheduled on February 3, 2022. 

Will Crystal Cruises Survive?

In a nutshell, we hope so. It’s a brand with great loyalty, beautiful vessels, first-class service, and dining: a diversified ocean, river, and expedition portfolio positions Crystal Cruises nicely for acquisition. Our best guess is that a private equity firm may be in play to purchase the assets to keep the brand intact. Only time will tell what the future holds for Crystal Cruises, but we expect an update in the next few weeks. Like many, we cross our fingers and hope for the best news for the luxury brand and its amazing crew.