Former Crystal Cruise Ship Heads to New Home

The now-defunct Crystal Cruises’ final newbuild ship is heading to a new home.

Mulitple industry sources have reported that luxury line Silversea Cruises has acquired Crystal Endeavor, Crystal Cruises’ first expedition ship that launched in 2021.

On June 8, 2022, Silversea Cruises filed to trademark the name Silver Endeavor, effectively keeping the ship’s original name but just changing the prefix.

crystal endeavor submersible
Crystal Endeavor and its submarine (Photo courtesy of Crystal Cruises)

Earlier this year, Silversea’s president and CEO Roberto Martinoli hinted that the company was considering more expedition newbuilds, saying during a press conference that it was “one hundred percent” considering new expedition ships and that “after sustainability, it’s one of our first priorities.”

Currently, Silversea operates four expedition ships: Silver Explorer, Cloud, and Wind sail in polar regions, while the brand-new Silver Origin — which debuted in 2020 — sails in the Galápagos Islands.

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Adding Crystal Endeavor to the fleet will enable the brand to quickly add capacity in popular polar regions such as Antarctica. Expedition cruising is a fast-growing sector of the cruise industry, with some brands debuting their first expedition ships this year including Viking and Seabourn.

The mega yacht-style Crystal Endeavor is currently in Gibraltar, and could sail as soon as later this year following a Silversea rebrand, which would line up with the 2022-2023 Antarctica season.

expedition lounge crystal endeavor
The Expedition Lounge on Crystal Endeavor (Photo courtesy of Crystal)

The vessel includes a fleet of 18 Zodiac boats, a submarine that has space for up to six guests plus a pilot, 14 kayaks, and a remote operated vehicle (ROV) that allows those onboard to see underneath the ship.

Following her delivery to Crystal Cruises last year, Crystal Endeavor operated an inaugural season in Iceland as well as several Antarctica voyages before Crystal wound down its operations at the beginning of 2022. Her last voyage to Antarctica was in February, just weeks after the news came out that parent company Genting Hong Kong was at high risk of going bankrupt.

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