Many of those on board had tickets to cruise on to California. They were all ferried to Fort Lauderdale. And amidst the chaos and panic, many of them were left to fend for themselves.
“Five hours in, we get off the ferry only to find all the luggage dumped everywhere, colors and numbers NOT together, luggage falling down, no porters and NO CRYSTAL REPS. NONE,” Serenity passenger Allyn Jaffrey Shulman wrote on Facebook. “No one giving instructions. No one helping the older folks. It was a shameful sight.”
“What a dreadful, disgraceful end to a so-called luxury #cruise line,” Cruise Law News publisher and maritime attorney Jim Walker tweeted.
A third ship, the Crystal Endeavor, was held in Ushuaia, Argentina. They were forced off the line’s most luxurious ship on Friday afternoon. And allowed to return to the ship on Saturday. They then set sail again headed to Uruguay.
Luxury ships business liquidation
Crystal Cruises is owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Genting Hong Kong. Billionaire Lim Kok Thay started the cruise, ferry, resort and gambling boat business in the 1990s.
