The steel cutting for Crystal Cruises two new additional Rhine-Class river yachts took place at the MV Werften shipyard in Wismar on 09 January 2017. The two new 110-passenger river yachts are scheduled to enter service in Spring 2018.
 
Present at the steel cutting ceremony was the Genting Group Executive Chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Economics Minister Harry Glawe and numerous other guests.

The luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity has arrived back into New York having successfully completed its 32 day Northwest Passage cruise, which covered 7,297 miles. According the Crystal Cruises, the voyage is the first of its kind to be made by a larger cruise ship.
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 “We are humbled and thrilled to have completed such a monumental journey,” said Edie Rodriguez, CEO & President, Crystal Cruises. “As Crystal is constantly seeking new ways to share the world with our guests, the Northwest Passage represents an especially massive undertaking that was made possible by the extreme dedication of our expert destination team and expedition partners. We now look forward to beginning the planning process in delivering another memorable experience for guests on our 2017 sailing.”

The 68,870 gross tonne Crystal Serenity was captained by Master Birger J. Vorland. During the most northerly portion of the cruise, Crystal Serenity was escorted by the RRS Ernest Shackleton, which provided ice breaking capabilities as well as two helicopters and additional expert expedition crew.

 “From day one of planning the voyage, we were committed to ensuring the safety of our guests, crew and the ship,” said Captain Vorland. “In addition to carrying two veteran Canadian Ice Pilots, Crystal Serenity’s bridge team received ice navigation simulator training to prepare ourselves for the conditions, and prior to the voyage, the ship was outfitted with forward looking sonar, ice searchlights, ice radar, and a thermal imaging system was installed.”

​After carrying out a six-month evaluation, the luxury cruise ship operator Crystal Cruises has announced that it has dropped plans to relaunch the SS United States.
 
Launched in 1952, the SS United States was the fastest ocean liner ever built. The liner has been docked in Port of Philadelphia for the past 20 years.
 
In February 2016, Crystal Cruises and the SS United States Conservancy publicly announced that they had plans to convert the iconic ocean liner into a modern, luxurious cruise ship which would comply with modern safety requirements. Crystal Cruises stated it would conduct an in-depth feasibility study costing more than $1 million. Although expensive, doing so the cruise line no doubt also gained valuable publicity.
 
Whilst the SS United States is accordingly structurally intact, the task of returning the ship to her seagoing state would have been overwhelmingly challenging. Although the project to relaunch the ship has been dropped, Crystal Cruises has said it will be making a donation of $350,000 to the SS United States Conservancy.