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Crystal Cruise Lines, generally marketed as Crystal
Cruises, is a luxury cruise line founded in 1988 and notable for its
medium-sized, high-end ships,
Crystal Harmony,
Crystal Symphony and
Crystal Serenity, which each hold about 1,000 passengers. The line
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen
Kaisha. The line has its headquarters in Century City, Los Angeles,
California.
The first Crystal Cruises ship
Crystal Harmony
(50142grt) was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (yard number 2100) and
was christened by Mary Tyler Moore. She was followed by the
Crystal Symphony (51044grt) in
1995, built by Kværner Masa-Yards (yard number
1323) at Turku. Her godmother was Angela Lansbury. The larger third delivery
was Crystal Serenity
(68870gt) in 2003, built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique (yard number H32) at
St Nazaire. She was christened by Dame Julie Andrews in Southampton. All
three ships initially ran together, but in 2005
Crystal Harmony was
transferred to the parent company's NYK Cruises in 2005 as
Asuka II.
Readers of Condé Nast Traveler have voted the line Best Large-Ship Cruise
Line for 16 years. Readers of Travel + Leisure have voted Crystal Cruises
World's Best for 15 consecutive years.
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