Crystal Mozart to Exit Crystal Fleet for New Genting Venture

[Stickman1990]

It seems her job is done - at least for Crystal - she is to be moved to a new, yet to be announced, venture by Genting. This will leave Crystal with the four smaller river ships 

 

Mozart's last sailing for Crystal

Mozart’s last Crystal voyage available to the public will embark Dec. 2, 2019, from Vienna to Budapest.

Passengers booked for 2020 sailings will be accommodated on similar Danube itineraries offered by Crystal Mahler or Crystal Ravel.

'Crystal Mozart set the stage for Crystal River Cruises’ debut as its inaugural ship in the summer of 2016, and we are pleased to see her carrying onward with Genting Cruise Lines,' Wolber said.

 

http://www.seatrade-*****/news/news-headlines/mozart-to-exit-crystal-fleet-for-new-genting-venture.html

[Texas Tillie]

Just checked the Crystal website and the 2020 cruises for Mozart are still listed. Of course, we all know that the Crystal website isn't always up to date! 😱😳😏

 

Patty

[nancygp]

Read the article within the last hour.

 

i was hoping to sail on the Mozart in the next year or two..oh well...time will tell what will happen with the Mozart.

 

Nancy

[ClefsDor]

I think this is very sad! I'm glad we had the chance to sail on her a couple of years ago. I'm interested to hear what Genting have in mind but it's a real loss for Crystal IMO

[docmark]

We just finished our FIRST river cruise ,which was on Mozart april 30 to may 10, and really liked it. So, we were looking forward to our next trip on Mozart in 1-2 years....sad news!!  While we were on Mozart, Ravel was parked next to us and we toured it ...definitely liked Mozart better. 

[Coral]

I loved the Mozart. This is so sad to here. I wanted to sail again on this ship. I briefly toured one of the other ships and also preferred the Mozart.

[Coral]

34 minutes ago, docmark said:

We just finished our FIRST river cruise ,which was on Mozart april 30 to may 10, and really liked it. So, we were looking forward to our next trip on Mozart in 1-2 years....sad news!!  While we were on Mozart, Ravel was parked next to us and we toured it ...definitely liked Mozart better. 

I quickly toured the Ravel (I think) also and I much preferred the Mozart. When speaking with staff, they indicated that they also preferred the Mozart due to the extra space and more public rooms.

[kent9xxx1]

I love the Mozart.  It is sad.  Whoever is the next owner will enjoy the decor and the upgrade Crystal had put into the ship.  Big loss for Crystal as this is their best river ship.  I, too, saw the Ravel and it didn´t feel as good.  

[Coral]

33 minutes ago, kent9xxx1 said:

I love the Mozart.  It is sad.  Whoever is the next owner will enjoy the decor and the upgrade Crystal had put into the ship.  Big loss for Crystal as this is their best river ship.  I, too, saw the Ravel and it didn´t feel as good.  

The PR indicates that Crystal's parent company will be using it for a new direction. I am guessing it will be an Asian Luxury line in the Danube.

 

I am also guessing the Mozart will stay in the Danube - can she really be moved?

 

I am curious if it was Genting that put the money up for the refurbishment of Mozart when Crystal acquired it or if it was Crystal. Probably Genting.

 

When Crystal first announced they were expanding into River Cruising, they were going to come out with 6 new ships. I can't find anywhere that they cut the 2 ships but apparently they did. There was also leadership changes going on at the same time.

 

It is interesting that Crystal is losing this ship when Amawaterways came out with a very similar ship.

 

I am just sad. My Crystal Mozart ship was as close to perfect as possible. After reading other people's reactions also, I don't think they are getting rid of her because of bad reviews or people avoiding the ship. 

 

The odd thing is that after I got back in November, I looked at sailing her over Christmas this year or next year. I looked and this year and next year, Crystal wasn't sailing the Mozart past mid December. Their other ships were.

[tfred]

Mozart can only cruise on the Danube. The other ships can move between the Rhine and Danube offering Crystal flexibility. 

 

It it may be that the Rhine cruises are more lucrative and the narrower ships give Crystal more options 

[Coral]

28 minutes ago, tfred said:

Mozart can only cruise on the Danube. The other ships can move between the Rhine and Danube offering Crystal flexibility. 

 

It it may be that the Rhine cruises are more lucrative and the narrower ships give Crystal more options 

Correct - I was thinking out loud if there was a way they could move the Mozart elsewhere (sort of how they move space shuttles, etc..). My guess is that she will be a luxury ship for an Asian line along the Danube. I remember saying something about it being the largest river boat and someone on the Mozart corrected me and said there is one larger in Asia. I don't remember where.

 

The odd thing this fall was that the Mozart was the ship that sailed when they had to cancel the other sailings due to low water. The Mozart had the itinerary with the least affected schedules. I know another ship can sail that itinerary so that argument doesn't work. Thinking out loud again.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Coral

[Host Jazzbeau]

She was built in 1987 in Deggendorf, Germany and refurbished for Crystal in 2016 in Ennshofen and Linz, Austria.  All three places are located on the Danube in the area that Crystal Mozart has been sailing.  If they want to move her to Asia, my guess is that there would have to be an overland portage (to e.g. Hamburg or Amsterdam) and then transport on an ocean freighter.

[kent9xxx1]

In this clip, they talked about the upgrade process on the Mozart.  I bet Crystal is making back all their investment to sell such a beautiful ship.

 

 

[Texas Tillie]

5 hours ago, kent9xxx1 said:

In this clip, they talked about the upgrade process on the Mozart.  I bet Crystal is making back all their investment to sell such a beautiful ship.

 

 

 

I don't believe they are "selling" it, according to the press release they moving it from Genting's left pocket to their right pocket.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, kent9xxx1 said:

In this clip, they talked about the upgrade process on the Mozart.  I bet Crystal is making back all their investment to sell such a beautiful ship.

 

 

For all we know - it was Genting that paid for the renovation of the Mozart.

 

I agree - they are not selling it, just moving it from one family to another family under the same family umbrella. 

 

Thanks for providing the video.

[Texas Tillie]

19 minutes ago, Coral said:

For all we know - it was Genting that paid for the renovation of the Mozart.

 

I agree - they are not selling it, just moving it from one family to another family under the same family umbrella. 

 

Thanks for providing the video.

 

Genting owns all of Crystal Cruises, so it just depends on whose books what gets put where. I have no doubt that it all is done to give the best tax write-offs to Genting.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Genting owns all of Crystal Cruises, so it just depends on whose books what gets put where. I have no doubt that it all is done to give the best tax write-offs to Genting.

Exactly. Still sad.

[eroller]

It's a shame.  From what I can tell she was the best of the 5 Crystal River ships.  Not the newest, but the largest with the most amenities and a fabulous refit.  

 

So now there is the new AMAMAGNA which is actually slightly wider than CRYSTAL MOZART.  Brand new and also filled with amenities that only a larger boat can offer.  Worth a look I think.  

[Got2Cruise]

In all my years on CC, this is the first I’m hearing about Genting. 

[tfred]

Genting is bigger and more vertical than you would know or think.  They also own the shipyard in Germany where the Crystal River ships were built IIRC

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genting_Hong_Kong

[Got2Cruise]

7 minutes ago, tfred said:

Genting is bigger and more vertical than you would know or think.  They also own the shipyard in Germany where the Crystal River ships were built IIRC

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genting_Hong_Kong

Very interesting. My guess is that it will be marketed to the Asian market but stay on the Danube. A huge untapped market for Asians wanting to experience luxury river cruising. 

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Very interesting. My guess is that it will be marketed to the Asian market but stay on the Danube. A huge untapped market for Asians wanting to experience luxury river cruising. 

Not surprising - we had several people from Hong Kong on our Mozart trip. They were very well traveled individuals.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Coral

[Stickman1990]

59 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

In all my years on CC, this is the first I’m hearing about Genting. 

 

If you have been following the history of Crystal or sailing on any of their ships you’d have heard of Genting who bought Crystal from NYK several years ago 

 

Currently It owns Crystal Cruises, Dream Cruises, Star Cruises, Resorts World Manila, and the Lloyd Werft shipyards

 

From 2000 they owned Norwegian but have now sold out of that company 

 

They’ve got a strong background in this market 

[Coral]

4 hours ago, eroller said:

It's a shame.  From what I can tell she was the best of the 5 Crystal River ships.  Not the newest, but the largest with the most amenities and a fabulous refit.  

 

So now there is the new AMAMAGNA which is actually slightly wider than CRYSTAL MOZART.  Brand new and also filled with amenities that only a larger boat can offer.  Worth a look I think.  

Amamagna is 443' long and 72' width. 196 passengers, 70 crew

Crystal Mozart is 395' long and 75' width. 154 passengers, 92 crew

 

[kent9xxx1]

Each dept still have their own budget, operating expenses, etc...  So the Crystal division should get some money out of this deal.  Maybe concession for future ships.  

 

I wonder what they are going to do?  Will they up market the ship and create another tier of river cruising within their portfolio.  Are they going to do another renovation to differentiate it from the other 4 ships.