On the heels of launching its first-ever river cruise product, Crystal River Cruises has announced new design details for its first four purpose-built river cruise ships, all of which will debut along the waterways of Europe next year.
Crystal Ravel, Crystal Bach, Crystal Debussy, and Crystal Mahler will all enter service in 2017. Unlike Crystal Mozart – an existing river cruise ship that Crystal heavily refitted for entry into service this summer – these four ships will boast an entirely new design and have been created from the ground-up to deliver Crystal’s award-winning brand of luxury.
“Emulation has never been part of our formula for success, rather, we have enjoyed a long reputation for innovating and leading the way in luxury travel experiences,” says Crystal CEO and president, Edie Rodriguez. “Crystal River Cruises river yachts will showcase the most celebrated parts of the Crystal Experience – stylish and elegant design, creative itineraries and experiences ashore, unmatched genuine service – while also creating a brand new niche in river cruising that will appeal to the world’s most discerning travelers.”
Designed for the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, Crystal Mahler and Crystal Bach will measure 135 metres in length (442 feet) and will carry just 106 guests. Crystal Debussy and Crystal Ravel, meanwhile, have been designed to sail on the Seine, Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde rivers in France. Crystal identifies these as its “Paris Class” yachts, each of which will be 110 metres (360 feet) long and will carry just 78 guests in 39 different suites.
What is common between these four newbuild river cruise ships is that they will all feature the same unique brand of luxury that Crystal has been perfecting on its oceangoing product for decades. All four river cruise ships will feature butler service for every suite – suites that reach up to 759 square feet and feature plush king-sized beds that face toward the Panoramic Balcony. Suites feature Egyptian cotton linens, walk-in closets, full-length mirrors, ETRO bathrobes and slippers, wall-mounted flat-screen HD TVs, and convenient Nespresso machines.
Crystal’s four new river cruise ships will be among the first to feature all-suite accommodations, all of which are located entirely above the waterline.
“We have ensured that, in designing Crystal River Cruises’ yachts, we remain committed to the cornerstones of the Crystal brand that travelers throughout the world have come to love: service, space, quality and choices,” says Walter Littlejohn, vice president and managing director, Crystal River Cruises. “It is imperative that our guests’ experience aboard these vessels conveys this commitment to the ‘Crystal Difference’.”
Each ship also includes multiple dining venues, from the elegant Waterside Restaurant to the cozy Bistro café and the exclusive Vintage Room, Cove Bar and Palm Court. Crystal also claims it will be the first to offer “true open-seating dining, allowing guests to dine where they want, when they want, and with whom they want.”
Presumably, Crystal intends to offer flexible dining hours, where guests arrive whenever they choose between a set timeframe window – which is currently not the case on most river cruise ships.
Public amenities and services for each ship include full-service spa and separate fitness center, equipped with modern machines and cardio equipment as well as free weights – both with dedicated professionals to attend to each. Onboard Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler, a partial indoor/outdoor pool will be featured on the aft end of the ship.
Crystal’s reimagined Crystal Mozart sets sail this month. Crystal Ravel, Crystal Bach, Crystal Debussy, and Crystal Mahler will set sail in 2017.
Jana Williams Fite says
Hi, my husband and I have never been on a river cruise before and as I’m doing my research, I see some really awful comments about river cruising in general. Many reviews I’m reading talk about less time on the river due to water levels, way more time on buses than they had anticipated, no ability to just wander around on your own, not enough time to shop or just hang out instead of going on the tour, cancelled flights, docking 2 hours away and having to be bused in to see anything, rushing to see everything………..is this the norm with river cruising? I need to know the downsides, not just the pretty pictures on the website. Thanks in advance.
Ralph Grizzle says
This is all true … about 1 percent of the time. In fact, having done more than 30 river cruises, I have missed zero river cruises because of cancelled flights (be smart, realize that thunderstorms on the East Coast can cause delays and cancellations – head to Europe a day in advance to give yourself a buffer). I have had one slight detour because of water levels. We boarded 20 miles from Passau instead of in Passau. The next morning we cruised into Passau. So I have spent about 20 minutes on buses dues to water levels in 30+ cruises. Docking two hours away? Never heard of that. Of course, you’re always two hours away from somewhere. Maybe they’re referring to Linz, where you can take a trip to Salzburg, which is about two hours away. Not sure. River cruising is the pretty picture that we paint it to be. That’s why we love it.
GeezingInVA says
I guess there are plenty of potential passengers to fill these newbuilds, but it seems some of the lines are hijacking the Europe Rivers cruise experience like they did with ocean cruising: the ship is the destination. We’ve only enjoyed seven Europe river cruises so far over the past ten years (along with more than 20 ocean-going cruises over 30 years), and the draw for us versus ocean cruising is the extended daily immersion ashore into the right-outside-of-your-cabin local village/town/city all day and well into the evening (rather than everybody back onto the ship before 5 PM to spend the next 15 hours looking for something to do aboard the ship). These newbuilds look to be glorious, with their smaller passenger counts, every-suite-is-unique, butlers, enhanced staff-to-passenger ratios, and multiple dining venues, but all of those enhancements will come, literally, at a much higher cost that my wife and I would rather spend ashore. Just my two cents worth.
Aaron Saunders says
I don’t think you’re alone, Karl. Crystal seems to be filling a niche on the waterways of Europe that caters to luxury cruisers in search of the best of the best but, of course, something like this isn’t for everyone. Still, with demand growing for river cruises of all shapes, sizes and price-points, a little healthy competition is bound to be a good thing.
GeezingInVA says
You’re absolutely right about a little competition at all price points being a good thing for passengers, especially as all of the lines continue to temporarily struggle filling the ships that are out there already. I wonder what first-time Europe rivers cruise passengers on these luxury ships will think when their ship does the first tie-up alongside another river cruise ship, and their nice suite balcony looks into the next ship’s lounge for the day? 😉
Aaron Saunders says
That’s the challenge, of course. Crystal may be designing some very cool staterooms, but there’s the risk that its passenger base – which, one would suspect, would be initially culled from its oceangoing clientele – will make of that. Experienced river cruisers know to expect multi-ship docking; ocean cruisers who are newbies to European river cruising may be taken aback by this.