Crystal Cruises Will Not Make the SS United States Great Again
Photo Credit: An evaluation ordered by Crystal Cruises found that the SS United States, shown docked in Philadelphia, is "structurally sound" but cannot feasibly be returned to service. Flickr / Don Robson
Skift Take
Crystal Cruises, which has been on a spending spree since it was acquired last year, finally found something it won't buy.
Luxury line Crystal Cruises announced plans in February to bring the historic SS United States back to its earlier glory — pending a feasibility study.
Now that the study is done, the cruise operator says that plan is impossible.
While the 1952 ship is "structurally sound," according to the evaluation, Crystal Cruises said updating it to meet current standards for oceangoing vessels would be too challenging and force too many changes to the original structure. The ship has been docked in Philadelphia for 20 years.
Edie Rodriguez, the CEO of Crystal Cruises, said earlier this year that the comp
