Royal Caribbean Adds Endeavour to Silversea Fleet
Royal Caribbean Group has received court approval to purchase the ultra-luxury expedition cruise ship Endeavor. Built and delivered to Crystal Cruises in 2021, the ship will be renamed Silver Endeavour when it officially joins Silversea Cruises’ fleet this month.
Genting Hong Kong, parent company of Crystal Cruises, declared bankruptcy back in January 2022, with the fate of Crystal Endeavor unknown.
Silversea joined the Royal Caribbean family in July 2018 when the cruise giant purchased two-thirds of Silversea’s shares. In July 2020, Royal Caribbean acquired the remaining one-third shares.
Royal Caribbean Buys Crystal Endeavor for Silversea Fleet
The purchase price for Endeavour was $275 million and fully financed through a 15-year unsecured term loan, guaranteed by a German export credit agency. The acquisition is expected to gradually increase earnings, cash flow and benefits to investors.
“With Silver Endeavour, we are seeking to grow our world class fleet to meet the exceptional demand for ultra-luxury expedition cruising, while also enhancing our profitability profile and affirming Silversea’s position as the industry’s leading ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.
As Crystal Endeavor, the ship was built to PC6 polar class specifications for expedition itineraries and designed specifically to take its guests to the world’s most remote destinations, including both polar regions.
“The expedition cruising industry is poised to resume accelerated growth driven by demand among high-end, affluent customers for travel to remote and hard-to-access destinations,” said Roberto Martinoli, president and CEO, Silversea Cruises. “This ship will be the fourth vessel to join Silversea’s fleet since 2020, which demonstrates our commitment to growth.”
Silver Endeavour offers the highest standards in the industry in terms of space-per-guest ratio, and crew-to-guest ratio, as well as top-notch accommodations and public areas.
The ship’s state-of-the-art expedition amenities offer guests some of the most immersive and luxury experiences available. This includes carrying several zodiac boats for remote exploration.
“Delivering the best vacations in the world, responsibly, is Royal Caribbean Group’s purpose,” Liberty said. “While our acquisition only covers the physical vessel, we want all of our guests to know we go above and beyond to take care of them.”
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What Happens to Crystal Endeavor Passenger Deposits
Royal Caribbean Group has said that it would like to protect the deposits of guests who were originally booked on Crystal Endeavor by allowing the deposits to be used towards a new booking on any of the Royal Caribbean brands; Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.
“We believe those Crystal guests will receive back their deposits, but we want to give them added assurance,” Liberty added.
If Crystal Endeavor guests do not receive their deposits back from Crystal or other sources, Royal Caribbean Group will refund any amount paid on their new booking up to the amount of their lost deposits from Crystal. Complete terms of the offer will be provided on each brand’s website soon.
Silver Endeavour is scheduled to enter service in winter 2022/2023, with its inaugural season sailing in Antarctica starting November 2022.
