Almost three years after Crystal was acquired by A&K Travel Group, a company with deep roots in luxury tours, Crystal's passengers will be offered branded Abercrombie & Kent experiences.
Starting this month, passengers on select 2025 sailings will have access to pre- and post-cruise tours and midcruise overland tours from A&K. More options are planned for 2026 and 2027.
The partnership between the two luxury brands seems like a natural one. But arranging the logistics and getting to know what cruisers want has taken time because the company wants to get it right, said Kate Thompson, senior vice president of marketing strategy for A&K Travel Group, which owns both Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal.
"It will gradually build as we learn and also as we build the teams," she said.
She likened the partnership between Crystal and A&K to watching a plant grow and referred to 2024 as the year they planted the seed. "We'll get to the flourishing part a few years down the line where we've got a full program," she said.
In the fall, Crystal began selling A&K programs on 2025 Asia and Africa cruises, including pre- and post-cruise tours and overlands for its world cruise, Asian grand journey and other cruises in India.
This year, it added nine pre- and post-cruise and overland experiences that are mainly available for cruise itineraries that begin or end in India, Italy, Spain and South Africa. For instance, Crystal and A&K are offering an overland tour through India that includes exclusive visits to the Taj Mahal at sunset and sunrise and attendance at a Holi celebration in New Delhi.
More overland experiences in September will soon be offered, Thompson said.
Next year, the line will have A&K-branded programs in Iceland, Italy, France and Alaska, she said, adding the company hopes to repeat some tours it offered in South America earlier this year for guests on its current world cruise.
Crystal will work with other tour operators for excursions in many of its destinations, although A&K is expected to provide some shore excursions in markets where it has a strong presence.
Now that the line's itineraries stretch into 2027, A&K has more time to plan from a touring perspective, and Crystal has enough time to sell the tours it offers, Thompson said.
The two brands also are trying to strike a balance between the tour length and how in-depth or light to make them, and matching what it offers with cruise destinations.
"The cruise client is just quite particular," Thompson said. Some guests want to get "under the skin of the destination" and others want a "slightly lighter experience," if they want to get off the ship at all, she said.
The brands are also figuring out how to use their tour products to introduce people to cruising. For example, guests who book A&K's 24-day Ancient Kingdoms and Dynasties private-jet tour will receive an included nine-night Crystal cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon.
Travel advisors said the paired offerings would add depth to the Crystal product.
"It will add a whole new flair to land offerings out there," said John Lovell, president of Travel Leaders Group. "Each cruise line tries to do something different and to bring different experiences. But with A&K already operating in many of the ports and many of the countries [Crystal is] going into, I truly believe the Crystal clients will enjoy that. Plus the A&K client will enjoy the Crystal cruise, as well."
Travel advisors who sell Crystal said their clients don't seem to mind that the A&K partnership has come along slowly.
"I haven't had any complaints on anything Crystal," said Diego Riveron, who used to work in sales for the former Crystal Cruises and now sells for Luxury Cruise Connections. Pairing the excursions and pre- and post-cruise tours with the cruise experience "will be a beautiful marriage," he said.
Tom Baker, president of CruiseCenter, said the focus on moving excursions to Crystal has been slower than anticipated, but that hasn't bothered his clients.
CruiseCenter did almost $1.5 million in Crystal business last year "and barely a client brought it up," he said. "Surprisingly, most clients don't even know the two are connected."