Crystal Cruises has been acquired by A&K Travel Group, which is co-owned by Lefebvre d’Ovidio, a well-known veteran of the Cruise Industry. A&K acquired the two cruise vessels, CRYSTAL SYMPHONY and CRYSTAL SERENITY, which the Supreme Court of Bahamas recently auctioned. A&K has also purchased the brand name and other properties from the US-based liquidators and is ready to start operations in 2023 after extensive refurbishments of the cruise vessels.
Lefebvre d’Ovidio’s family sold Sitmar Cruises to P&O in the late 1980’s. He found Silversea Cruises which redefined modern cruising by bringing in purpose-built cruise ships. Silversea Cruises was sold to the Royal Caribbean group in 2020 for $ 1.25 billion. Manfred Lefebvre d’Ovidio has stated that he tried acquiring Crystal cruises on two earlier occasions, the last attempt being in late 2021. The other co-owner of A&K Travel Group; Geoffrey Kent who is also the Co-Chairman and the CEO of Abercrombie & Kent has stated that they are looking forward to combining the unparalleled onboard service of Crystal Cruises with the tailor-made experiences of Ambercrombie & Kent.
The 1995-built vessel; CRYSTAL SYMPHONY was acquired for $ 25 million, and the newer 2003-built CRYSTAL SERENITY was acquired for $103 million. The company that acted as the custodian for the cruise vessels when they were under arrest in the Bahamas has been chosen as the management firm to operate the vessels.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.