LOS ANGELES -- The
15-year-old Crystal Harmony will leave the Crystal Cruises fleet in
December and will be transferred within Crystals parent company NYK
(Nippon Yusan Kaisha) to NYK Cruises, which sells to the Japanese
market.
According to
Crystal, the line is working on plans for a new ship to replace the
Harmony.
But assuming
Crystal orders a ship in the near-term, it would likely take at
least two years to bring on the new vessel. That leaves the line
with two mid-size vessels, the 940-passenger Crystal Symphony and
the 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity.
The 930-passenger
Harmony will leave Crystal after its scheduled drydock in
December.
Crystal altered its
scheduled itineraries
on the Symphony from January through May
of 2006 to cover for what the Harmony would have done. The Symphony
will drop its Asia season and add a
Panama Canal transit, cruises to the Amazon and around Cape Horn,
an Atlantic crossing and a 10-day Mediterranean cruise. Crystal
said complete details of its 2006 season will be posted April
4.
The Harmonys summer
season in Alaska will be canceled.
NYK Cruises targets
the Japanese market and currently operates one ship, the
592-passenger Asuka. NYK officials described the Japan market as
greatly expanded, with demand far exceeding supply.
Koji Miyahara, NYKs
president said that cruising remains a core business for
NYK.
By contemporary
standards, the Crystal Harmony is better suited for the Japanese
market, said Crystal president Gregg Michel.
The Harmony was
refurbished in 2002, but its design, which predates Crystals other
two ships, leaves it with smaller bathrooms and fewer penthouse
accommodations.
To contact
reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].