Celestyal Crystal

The 1980-built Celestyal Crystal cruise ship (fka Louis Cristal) was initially named as "Viking Saga" (ferry ship) and owned by Rederi Ab Sally. MS Celestyal Crystal is a megayacht-designed luxurious passenger liner with fleetmates the 1982-built Celestyal Olympia and the 1994-built Celestyal Journey (fka MS Ryndam, and Aegean Goddess). All boats are operated by the Greek travel brand Celestyal Cruises (2014-rebranded from Louis Cruises).

The vessel (IMO number 7827213) is currently Malta-flagged (MMSI 229001000) and registered in Valletta. Before 2020, it was Greece-flagged (MMSI 240695000) and registered in Piraeus.

History - construction and ownership

After a fire damaged the entire superstructure in 1990 (during drydock reconstruction), the burnt-out hull was used as the basis of the brand-new Sally Eurocruiser ferry boat. The diesel engines were kept from the original ship. The hull was lengthened by 13 m (43 ft), the passenger capacity increased by 452 berths. The rebuilding cost USD 140 mill. In 2014 Louis Cruises announced the launching of a new authentic Greek cruise brand and currently, the two sisterships - Louis Cristal and Louis Olympia (Celestyal Olympia) are branded Celestyal Cruises.

Decks and Cabins

Celestyal Crystal staterooms (476 total) include 59 Suites (53 with step-out balconies), 313 oceanview staterooms (including the 6x Window Suites), 163 interior. The ship has no standard balcony cabins. There are also 6 wheelchair-accessible cabins. Because of the vessel's old design, staterooms as sizes and types vary greatly. The total number of cabin categories is 12.

All Celestyal Crystal cabins as complimentary amenities offer private bathrooms (WC-toilet, shower), smart HDTV, phone, radio/alarm clock, electronic safe box (in the closet), individual air conditioning. All cabin decks are interconnected via 4 lifts (passenger elevators).

Wheelchair-accessible cabins (for disabled passengers) are located on Deck 5. They feature wider doors, accessible bathroom (ramp), wooden floors. All Suies are with refrigerators (mini-bars). Suite balconies extend by 5 ft / 1,4 m from the ship's bulkhead. Veranda lengths vary between 9-19 ft (2,8-5,8 m).

The boat has 10 decks, of which 9 are passenger-accessible and 6 with cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Olympus Restaurant is the main dining room onboard Celestyal Crystal. It is complimentary, features Greek cuisine specialties, and also has a dinner a la carte menu. The MDR restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner Thalassa Bar serves the restaurant's outdoor seating area and also offers traditional Greek coffee. The L-shaped Amalthia Restaurant is a buffet-style restaurant open for breakfast and lunch, with waiter service for dinner (between 7:30-9:30 pm). The breakfast menu includes hot food choices, yogurt, cereals, and juices. There is a 4-course dinner menu with starters, soup/salad, main dishes, desserts. Other dining options include the Olympus Restaurant, Leda & Aura (casual dining).

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Passengers might also enjoy a huge array of facilities and diverse onboard activities, all with the relief of a modern and sophisticated cruise liner. The Muses Lounge is a 2-deck high theater/main show lounge with tiered seating and a dance floor. The grand-style entertainment program offers live music and dance shows, as well as a magician and acrobatic performances. The Casino (gaming bar lounge served by the Eros Bar) offers gaming tables and several slot machines. There is also a video arcade and a small library.

The conference room Symposium hosts lectures, seminars, corporate meetings and conferences at sea. Eros Lounge & Bar is the Wi-Fi spot and offers live band music performances and large-size TVs for live sporting events. Other Lounges & Bars include Horizons Bar, Thalassa Bar, and Helios Pool Bar. Celestyal Crystal also has a Wellness Center, Sana Beauty Center, sauna, gym, two swimming pools, Jacuzzi, medical center, Internet area, duty-free and travel value shop (Agora), photoshop.

Itineraries

MS Celestyal Crystal itinerary program was initially based on 3- to 8-day Greek Islands cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean Sea) leaving from homeports in Turkey. During winter, the ship operated in the Caribbean Sea on Cuba cruises out of homeports Havana (Cuba) and Montego Bay (Jamaica). The cruise embarked from Havana every Monday, and from Montego Bay - every Friday. Transatlantic crossings were offered on relocation voyage (RepositionCruises.com) between Europe and the Caribbean. The Caribbean cruise program was operated for 2 years (2016 - 2018).

Since 2018, the cruise liner's itinerary program is in the Eastern Mediterranean with roundtrips from homeport Piraeus-Athens. Next tables show the 7-day itineraries as call ports and port stay times (arrival/departure).

7-day "Idyllic Aegean" itinerary

7-day "Eclectic Aegean" itinerary

7-day "3 Continents" itinerary (Holy Land cruise)

For the Christmas holidays (December 2019 - January 2020), the liner included in its "Holy Land" (Cyprus-Greece-Turkey-Israel) itinerary also two Egyptian ports - Port Alexandria and Port Said.

Due to the Coronavirus crisis, the Celestyal ship Crystal was paused for two years (March 2020 thru April 2022) restarting on April 18th from Lavrion. The 7-day itinerary "Iconic Aegean Cruise" visits Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes, Heraklion, Santorini.

MS Celestyal Crystal cruise ship (ex-Louis Cristal) was originally built in 1980 as "Viking Saga" (cruiseferry) for Rederi Ab Sally.

In January 1990, during reconstruction at Finnboda Shipyard (Nacka, Sweden), the vessel's entire superstructure was damaged by fire beyond repair. The burnt-out hull was cut into several sections, which were transported to Finnyards shipyard (Rauma, Finland) and used as the basis of a brand new ferry boat named "Sally Eurocruiser" (without a car deck). The ship's hull was also lengthened by 13 m (43 ft), and the passenger capacity was increased by 452. The marine diesel engines were one notable part retained from the original Viking Saga ship. The rebuilding cost approximately 700M Finnish markka (USD 140M). As this was a completely new vessel, in most sources she is usually listed as such.

In September 2014 Louis Cruises announced that the company is launching a new brand with an authentic Greek cruising experience. The two ships, Louis Olympia and Louis Cristal, are branded Celestyal Cruises now. In 2015, they were renamed Celestyal Olympia and "Celestyal Crystal".

In 2015, a time-chartered vessel was added to the fleet - Celestyal Odyssey (now Blue Dream Star). In 2016, the company purchased the Celestyal Nefeli (former MS Gemini).

Celestyal Crystal refurbishment 2015 review

The ship's drydock refurbishment in 2015 (November-December, in Piraeus-Athens Greece) resulted in the following changes:

Added were 26 new balconies to Oceanview staterooms on deck 6. Another 17 new balconies were added to Oceanviews on deck 7. All 43 new balcony cabins are in the category SBJ (Balcony Junior Suite/new for the brand). Currently, besides the 43 new Junior Suites, the ship also has 8 Balcony Suites (SB) and 2 Grand Suites (SG). Each of the new cabin verandas extends 1,4 m (4,5 ft) from the ship's bulkhead and has a length between 2,8-5,8 m (9-19 ft).

Grand Suite balconies were extended and refurbished. Extensive renovations and redecoration were done to 21 Suites and 227 Oceanview staterooms.

All public areas were also renovated and upgraded. Hotel amenities upgrades were also implemented, along with general maintenance works.

Cuba cruise itineraries 2016-2017

In 2016, the Celestyal Crystal ship started a year-round Caribbean cruise itinerary program with 7-night voyages and round-trip departures out of Havana Cuba and Montego Bay Jamaica. The new Caribbean program (November 21 through March 2017) was followed by summer Mediterranean roundtrip itineraries out of Greece and Turkey. The line's Cuba operations were formerly branded for the North American market as "Cuba Cruise".

The ship's Cuban itinerary included 2 days (overnight stay) in Havana before departure and visited Maria La Gorda (later replaced by Punta Frances), Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. Departures from Cuba were on Mondays, from Jamaica - on Fridays.

In June 2016, the Celestyal company announced adding a new Cuban port of call (Punta Frances) to its 2016-2017 Caribbean itinerary program. The new port replaced Maria La Gorda on the 7-day Cuban itinerary. Located on Isla de la Juventud, Punta Frances has nearly 3 km (2 mi) of white sand beaches.

The revised 7-day Cuban cruises were all-inclusive deals with embarkation in either Havana or Montego Bay.

• Havana (Tuesday / departure at 5 pm)
• Punta Frances (Wednesday / port stay 1 pm - 6 pm)
• Cienfuegos (Thursday / port stay 7 am - 3 pm)
• Montego Bay (Friday / arrival 8 am, departure at 8 pm)
• Santiago de Cuba (Saturday / port stay 8 am - 4 pm)
• Sea day (Sunday)
• Havana (Monday - arrival at 9:30 am).