Virtuoso in dialogue with Crystal CEO
CRYSTAL Cruises’ interim President & Chief Executive Officer Jack Anderson has told the Virtuoso advisor network the cruise line is set to announce relaxed final payment policies, which will “obviate any payments due or additional financial risk to customers through to the end of the year”.
An update from Virtuoso to its members yesterday, obtained by Cruise Weekly, confirmed the ongoing impasse between the consortium and Crystal (CW 03 Sep), which has seen all Virtuoso marketing for the cruise line currently suspended.
Anderson, who was appointed to his new role earlier this month (CW 02 Oct), has advised Crystal’s parent company, Genting Hong Kong, is conducting a restructuring of its debt as well as obtaining bridge loans and discussing equity investment, “and that during this time Crystal is necessarily under extraordinary cash flow management limitations”.
Virtuoso said while it was encouraged by Crystal’s intentions to “refund and pay commissions with a mindset of recovery,” at this stage there was no clear indication of when that may be.
“As a result, we continue to advise our members to exercise caution and assess individual business risk tolerance for booking Crystal,” Virtuoso said.
The update noted advice from Crystal was that it was working systematically on refunds, including a recent agreement with a credit card provider which saw an acceleration in refunds for guests who had used that form of payment.
“We understand that they are continuing to work through agreements and procedures with other credit card providers to attempt to accelerate additional refunds due,” Virtuoso noted.
Crystal has also extended its no deposit policy, reduced down payments from 25% to 15% when they become due, and waived administrative fees through until the end of the year.
“We have a long and mutually respectful relationship with Crystal; however our highest mission is to advocate for you, our members,” Virtuoso added, saying it looked forward to once again promoting the cruise line when it had repaid all outstanding obligations.
“In the meantime Mr Anderson has personally committed to providing Virtuoso candid updates on their progress when additional details and timelines may become available,” Virtuoso’s update to advisors concluded.