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Crystal's Diamond-class newbuild will be under 100,000gt

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This was the design revealed in 2015, for a newbuild of larger than 100,000gt. What's now called the Diamond class will be smaller than that
Crystal has confirmed its Diamond-class newbuilds are going to be smaller than the 100,000gt-plus originally announced and won't have the 48 top-deck Crystal Residences.

What was first called the Exclusive-class design and envisioned to carry 1,000 passengers in all balcony-suite rooms has changed since its July 2015 reveal.

In a profile for Seatrade Cruise Review's December issue, new Crystal president and CEO Tom Wolber said the concept was renamed Diamond class and would be different than initially conceived.

Travel Weekly is now reporting a size range of 60,000gt to 65,000gt with capacity for up to 800 passengers.

A Crystal spokeswoman indicated the exact size hasn't been decided but confirmed: 'We are looking at smaller ships without the residences for now.' She said the ship is still expected for 2022 delivery.

Crystal's newbuild plans have evolved considerably since the splashy announcement in July 2015 about expansion under Genting Hong Kong's ownership. Back then the first large ocean-going vessel was intended to be built at Lloyd Werft and enter service in late 2018.

The date was put back a couple times as it transpired that Genting Hong Kong needed to acquire and invest heavily in further shipyards with much greater capacity to realize its ambitions for Crystal and other brands in its portfolio. MV Werften is going to build the Diamond-class vessel.

The Crystal spokeswoman also confirmed the showroom planned in a historic building on Miami's Biscayne Boulevard, close to the Crystal office, was dropped. The main purpose of that would have been to showcase the Crystal Residences to prospective buyers.

Crystal's sister company, Resorts World, is managing that building now.