Luxury travel advisor Steven E. Shulem, the nomadic proprietor of Strictly Vacations in Santa Barbara, Calif., boarded the Crystal Serenity on Jan. 17 with significant hopes for the 116-day Grand Voyage by the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East.
Right after all, it was virtually two a long time earlier that his Crystal Globe Cruise finished early in Perth, Australia, as borders begun to close amid some thing named a novel coronavirus.
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“Let’s hope I get via all 116 times,” Shulem wrote on Facebook on Jan. 16. “Last time on working day 56, we were all dumped in Australia.”
Properly, this time he gained an e mail – on Day 3 – that the Earth Cruise would end Jan. 30 in Aruba amid the monetary disaster of Crystal’s dad or mum company, Genting HK.
“Well, they say history repeats by itself. I was not capable to finish the 2020 Planet cruise and now on working day three of this environment cruise Crystal goes bankrupt,” Shulem posted on Fb. “We will all be off the ship following 7 days and have our fingers crossed that anyone will acquire them, and we can all return to just one of our favorite cruise traces.”

Shulem, who was contacted on the ship by TravelPulse by cellular phone on Jan. 25, claimed there may be a glimmer of superior information coming for Crystal Cruises.
Previously in the working day, Shulem reported all workers have been named into a conference and informed there was a probable customer who wanted the crew to keep on being intact in hopes the ship could resume sailing. How probably this state of affairs is remains to be observed.
“I have to consider they would only say a little something like this if they have a incredibly serious buyer, a person who has currently revealed them their cash,” Shulem explained. “Everyone – the butlers and staff members – ended up all dancing close to when they heard that. It’s huge information, but we really do not know who the customer is and really do not know when it is going to transpire, but that is what the employees on the ship ended up told.”
As of Jan. 19, Crystal has suspended ocean and expedition cruises through April 29, 2022, with river cruises suspended by Could 2022. Crystal Symphony’s very last voyage was to end in Miami on Jan. 22, but the ship remains in Bimini under an arrest warrant attained by a fuel supplier. Travellers were ferried to Fort Lauderdale.
Onboard Crystal Serenity, most passengers contacted their journey agents, who booked flights from Aruba or reserved rooms at resorts on the island. Crystal did aid passengers rebook flights if the line at first booked the flights.
Nonetheless, Shulem – who was the travel agent escort for Signature Vacation Community – explained several passengers will disembark the Crystal Serenity and board Regent 7 Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Mariner in Aruba. The Mariner formerly canceled its 120-day Entire world Cruise and changed it with typically Caribbean itineraries. As it turned out, the 7 Seas Mariner can pick up Crystal Serenity travellers who want to carry on sailing.
“Regent has been doing the job 24/7, such as weekends, to modify its itinerary, get the job done with the Aruba governing administration and with Crystal, get the job done with baggage transfers and the Ritz-Carlton, and attained out to the vacation agent neighborhood so they could permit their clientele know about this,” Shulem mentioned. “I’m the Signature host and performing with Regent right, but I explained to individuals to talk to their journey agents. Regent did really well with this and gave us a fantastic price tag and created it a seamless working experience. It sounds like about 80 folks, I believe that, will shift in excess of to Regent and take the cruise everywhere from 13 to 94 times. We’re so joyful. … Folks are corresponding with their vacation brokers, so it was extremely straightforward to send out a fast e-mail indicating, ‘hey my cruise is ending, support me get property.’ So, the vacation agent community has definitely stepped up to support rescue them.”
As travel advisors have been executing considering that the pandemic commenced.
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Shulem said there are about 380 travellers on the Serenity.
Did he expertise a perception of déjà vu that a Environment Cruise he was escorting when once again was halted prematurely?
“This is way even worse due to the fact the past one particular was canceled on Day 59, so we obtained to enjoy most of the cruise, and it was not even a pandemic then, it was nations around the world closing and something termed a coronavirus,” Shulem said. “It turned into one of my ideal yrs of my lifestyle getting in Australia for 17 months. This is different mainly because after Day 3, the full detail went sour. Issues are will we get our cash again, will the cruise line continue to be in small business, and when are they coming again if they do? Those people were being not concerns we experienced two years ago when we believed it was a non permanent pause. We experienced no concept of the nightmare it would be to get our clients’ funds again.”
But many customers did pick to return to Crystal when it resumed cruising in summer months 2021. “It was a awful yr with Crystal, and however the clientele continue to wanted come back. They’re in really like with Crystal and guess what? They did appear back again in 2021 and absolutely everyone was raving about it as if it under no circumstances went away.”
So, the information is sad, tinged with anger, for numerous loyal Crystal travellers and Shulem, who was a best vendor for the luxury line for far more than 20 decades. Crystal worked tough to build near relationships with vacation sellers, from web hosting lavish gala trips for top producers to being responsive to any questions.
“Like the staff on ship, shoreside folks are incredibly engaging with the vacation agent local community,” Shulem mentioned. “It’s scarce that you function with a cruise line and have a query about enjoyment, and you can communicate to the leisure person. Or you can converse about food with the meals-and-beverage director or lodge director. Crystal had all people magnificent galas all these several years, which was a superb way for the vacation agent group to touch the shoreside staff. So quite a few journey brokers, like Crystal clients, truly feel quite related to Crystal Cruises. I cherished the way they have river cruises, the yacht, Antarctica – there’s a large amount to provide, from 7 days to a full Planet Cruise, they actually did it all.”
As for Shulem, he hopes to board the 7 Seas Mariner for about 13 days. Following that? Probably head to Iceland to see the Northern Lights and then “just veg out in a bungalow on the beach in Mexico.”