Crystal Cruises is downsizing its 3 "Exclusive" class boutique ships and removing the private luxury residences which would have occupied the top deck of the original design. The delivery, scheduled initially for this year, and pushed back to 2019, is currently set for 2022.
The future luxury class of cruise ships was first announced in 2015, after Genting Hong Kong acquired Crystal Cruises from NYK. Each of the ice-classed ships would have had space for 1,000 guests, including the owners of 48 ultra-high-end "Crystal Residences" - luxury condominiums at sea, that range between 600-4000 ft2 each.
According to a recent report by the line, the "Exclusive" class will change its name to "Diamond Class" and reduce in size from 100,000 to 65,000 GT, with 800 instead of 1,000 passengers, reflecting a 20% reduction in tonnage-to-passenger ratio.
Genting-owned Lloyd Werft contracted to build the new Diamond class ships. In 2016 Genting also bought 3 smaller German yards in order to secure capacity for the growing orderbook, and has invested heavily in upgrades to meet the demands of cruise construction. The yards are unified under MV Werften group and are building Star's Global class, Crystal Endeavor "megayacht" class, and Crystal River Cruises' Rhine class inland cruise ships.