Cruise Ship E&S

By Lisa White, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, 3/1/2008

Back in the late '50s and early '60s, the cruise line industry consisted of a few small ships that offered three- and four- night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas. This industry has come a long way in a short time.

The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reports that the cruise line segment has experienced more than 2,100-percent growth since 1970, when an estimated 500,000 people took a cruise. In 2006, more than 12 million people chose cruise vacations, with an estimated half million more cruising in 2007.

Consequently, the number of cruising vessels has increased significantly in the last 20 years. Nearly 40 new ships were built in the '80s, close to 80 new ships debuted in the '90s and 88 new ships were introduced between 2000 and 2007, reports the CLIA.

In the early days of cruising, the ships' 1,000 or so guests were treated to one dining program that had everyone jockeying for the coveted second seating at mealtimes. Those days are long gone. Not only are today's cruising passengers able to choose from more than a dozen restaurants on some ships, but an average of 2,000 to 4,000 guests enjoy more dining flexibility in terms of mealtimes. CLIA's 2006 Cruise Market Profile found that 69 percent of cruise line guests rated fine dining as one of the biggest advantages of cruising.

Cruise Line Dining
Peter G. Whelpton, a cruise line consultant based in Palmetto Bay, Fla., is a 45-year veteran of the cruise line industry and a former executive vice president at Miami-based Royal Caribbean International, one of the world's top cruise lines. "Today's cruise lines are trying to be all things to all guests," he says.

To accomplish this, ships offer a more international menu that includes a variety of food items that were not available 40 years ago. Specialized restaurants range from popular chains, including Benihana and Johnny Rockets, to top-of-the-line signature eateries that offer everything from French to Mexican fare. This doesn't even take into account the ships' pizza parlors, ice cream shops and numerous snack bars. "On many voyages, passengers can eat in a different restaurant every night without leaving the ship," Whelpton says.

Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines has expanded its food and beverage operations on its ships, which include 15 vessels that set sail in the past 10 years. In addition to a greater overall volume of food, the cruise line has also added a variety of foodservice areas, including New York City-style delis, Asian and Indian stations and upscale reservations-only restaurants on some ships, says Vance Gulliksen, Carnival's public relations manager.

New enhancements include upscale, reservationsonly supper clubs onboard Carnival's Spirit and Conquest class ships. The cruise line also has an exclusive alliance with renowned French chef Georges Blanc. This has led to a revamp of menu items, which now include gourmet fare like milk and corn-fed chicken with caramelized garlic and asparagus; grilled tiger shrimp with ginger-lemon oil; and veal foreshank osso-buco with mushroom polenta. Carnival has also introduced gourmet- style "Spa Carnival Fare" selections that are lower in fat, calories, cholesterol and sodium.

On one of its newest ships, the 2,974-passenger Freedom, the twolevel Freedom Restaurant offers a wide range of breakfast, lunch and dinner alternatives, along with a 24-hour pizzeria serving seven different kinds of pies and Caesar salad.

This 1,400-seat eatery also includes meat-carving and pasta stations, a 35-item salad bar, a New York Citystyle deli, an Asian specialty area, and a grill serving hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken and steak sandwiches. Located upstairs is an upscale seafood venue serving bouillabaisse, ceviche, conch fritters, fried oysters and other ocean delicacies.

These venues complement Carnival Freedom's traditional main dining rooms, the two-deck-high Posh Restaurant, located aft, and the forward Chic Restaurant. Here, guests have a choice of six appetizers and soups, two salads and six entrées, including a nightly Georges Blanc Signature Selection.

Freedom also includes a patisserie with specialty coffees and decadent sweets, a sushi bar featuring traditional Asian specialties, a wine bar offering a variety of vintages by the bottle or glass, and 24-hour stateroom service where guests can have freshly made sandwiches, salads and other fare delivered to their cabin anytime.

Late-night buffets feature a different international theme each night, along with a more elaborate Gala Midnight Buffet, as well as a chocolate extravaganza featuring a wide variety of all-chocolate desserts, held once on each voyage.

Unlike the main dining room meals, which are included in the cost of the cruise, most ships' specialty restaurants have surcharges ranging from $15 to $35 per person. Some Carnival ships feature two twin-level dining rooms, one with capacity for 1,061 and the other for 744.

According to Frank Weber, Royal Caribbean's vice president of food and beverage, the main dining rooms on Royal Caribbean's ships also are laid out for large-volume operations. "For example, if we have 4,000 guests onboard, the dining room seats 2,000 in two separate seatings," he explains.

Like land-based foodservice operations, cruise line restaurants work within different day parts. Cruise lines typically serve continental breakfast as early as 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m., with a full breakfast offered starting at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. Lunch service generally runs until 2 p.m. Many ships offer an afternoon tea, as well. Room service is typically available anytime.

A Different Perspective
"During cruises, there is foodservice going on 24 hours a day," says Ron Daitz, who spent 21 years with Royal Caribbean and now works as a consultant for the cruise line. He has designed the galleys for a number of its ships, in addition to working on menus and specifying foodservice equipment as the company's food and beverage development manager.

Efficiency, dependability and safety take priority when designing and specifying cruise ship galleys, which typically cost $15 million to install, according to Daitz. "These vessels depend on efficient equipment that lasts and can be serviced easily," Daitz says, adding that he would only deal with manufacturers who had spare parts in stock that they could ship immediately. "When I was employed at Royal Caribbean, I would visit equipment manufacturers to make sure that spare parts were in stock, because there are no deliveries at sea."

Because of the ships' inaccessibility, equipment maintenance and training are key. "Preventative maintenance, in particular, is critical," Weber says. With cruise lines' constantly changing multinational staff, galley equipment must be easy to operate, clean and maintain.

When Royal Caribbean designs a new ship, its goal is to further improve on the galley design and flow. To do this, new technology and equipment innovations play a vital role. "We evaluate equipment and technology to see how it can help improve our operations. It is an ongoing process," Weber says. As Royal Caribbean's food and beverage development manager, Daitz would often work with equipment manufacturers to provide more shipfriendly features and design modifications that took into account the heavy volume and space constraints in ship galleys.

For example, all equipment needs to be secured to galley floors, there can be no ground wires and wells needed to be smooth and polished. Ben Clement, Carnival's director of ship building, says much of his ships' foodservice equipment is custom-made. "Most of our refrigeration, dishwashing equipment and ovens are custom and modified to meet our needs," he says.

Weber adds that marine safety requirements also need to be met. "Our ships' equipment needs a specific IP rating," he says. IP or Ingress Protection ratings, developed by the European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization, specify the environmental protection an enclosure provides.

Cruise lines also have to adhere to U.S. Public Health Service regulations, which differ from the NSF's. Daitz, who was active with the U.S. Public Health Service and served on a joint committee for the NSF, says equipment design modifications are typically needed to meet the necessary standards. "The U.S. Public Health standards are the highest in the world," Daitz says.

To accomplish this, cruise lines identify equipment manufacturers that will provide the modifications the U.S. Public Health requires. While some may be minor, like changing out bolts or screws, other requirements are more extensive. "For example, while a standard refrigerator only has its bottom corners coved, the U.S. Public Health Service requires that a ship's refrigerator have all coved corners," Daitz says.

These requirements also may include the use of more stainless-steel construction, as opposed to painted surfaces. Screws also must be round and not square. In addition, Weber says, ships are prohibited from operating any equipment with an open flame, like wood-fired ovens or charcoal grills, due to fire hazards.

Ships' HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) programs also differ from land-based operations, Daitz says. Due to the variety of food and the impossibility of accurately tracking the many ingredients and products, each department performs its own HACCPbased food safety procedures. Consequently, the HACCP program for vegetables would be conducted separately from the bakery program.

Go with the Flow
Most ships today have multiple restaurants and seating areas, but not all dining rooms have a dedicated kitchen. "There may be one galley used for three restaurants," Daitz says, adding that, due to different hours of operation, it is sometimes possible to use the same equipment for different restaurants. Satellite kitchens also are common on cruise lines.

According to Gulliksen, on most of Carnival's ships, the galley resides between both dining rooms. "This provides a central location for our dining staff to serve guests, which enhances service levels," he says. Royal Caribbean's galleys are typically located in the middle to aft on the ship.

When docked, a vessel takes delivery of food on the lower decks or provision rooms. "These have huge walk ins," Daitz says.

Cruise lines try to avoid replenishing the food supplies at ports of call, due to the lack of control over food quality. An exception is made during voyages lasting more than a week. In this case, perishables may be "topped off " during the voyage.

Weber says Royal Caribbean's 59 ships produce everything onboard to feed between 2,300 and 4,200 guests. "We prepare an average of 15,000 meals a day on each ship to feed between 3,500 and 3,800 guests and 1,000 to 1,500 crew members. This includes snacks and room service," he says. Clement says Carnival's 22 ship galleys range in size from 10,000- to 20,000-square-feet and accommodate between 1,452 and 2,974 guests.

"Each ship has multiple galleys. There is one for the crew, a main galley for the restaurants and smaller galleys for individual restaurants," he says. Royal Caribbean's galleys are connected through a vertical core of elevators. "On Deck 1 would be the provision and prep rooms, while Deck 2 would hold the main galleys," Weber says.

On most ships, galleys are broken down into departments, each with its own food type. For example, there are sections devoted to vegetable preparation, roasting, bakery items, fish and soup.

Carnival ship galleys have areas set up for each meal course, such as salads, soup, entrées and dessert, Gulliksen says. Food is ordered using a computer-based system.

"All of Royal Caribbean's vessels have a butcher shop, pastry shop, bakery and ice carving area," Weber says. All food prep for each food type is accomplished within the departments, rather than in the main galley. Its equipment is spread out, with each galley containing equipment necessary for each area's specific function.

The vegetable prep area includes a salad washing machine, potato peeling equipment and slicers. Royal Caribbean's main galleys, where food is prepared, have cooking equipment, including deep-fat fryers, combi ovens, tilting pans and steam kettles.

Areas considered "clean," where food is prepared and cooked, are separated from "dirty" areas, such as provision rooms. The production areas on Royal Caribbean's ships are limited to food that has been cleaned and washed. Boxes and containers are banned from the main galleys.

Provision rooms also are typically segregated by food type. There is a cooler for fresh fruit that is separate from another cooler for produce. Dairy products and deli items also have separate cooler storage. Chicken, meat, fish and ice carvings for the buffets each have separate freezers. Weber says galleys have refrigerator and freezer space for the day's meal ingredients. There also is a hot galley for storing cooked and heated food.

Each galley department makes requisitions for what they need for the day. Timing is crucial, with everything leaving the refrigerators and freezers simultaneously. Staff transport this food on pallets or carts to the galley on an elevator.

After the food is offloaded to the appropriate areas, Royal Caribbean's department provision masters then organize ingredients for the day's meals. Staff perform prep work for items like stocks and soup in the production galley. The final steps for meals take place in the finishing galley. "Each of our ships' restaurants has its own finishing galley, where food is cooked and plated," Weber says.

The route food takes, from delivery to the plate, is a complex process on Royal Caribbean's ships. "Take the flow of a chicken, for example. The chicken arrives frozen on the ship's dock. After going through logistics, the temperatures are checked and the chicken is stored in its designated freezer. Before it is ready to be prepared, the chicken is sent to a temperature- controlled thawing room for a couple of days. It is sent to a butcher shop for prepping and then to the cold poultry storage room. When the order comes through, the main kitchen sends the chicken up to the production galley, where it is then cooked and plated," Weber explains.

The process is much the same on Carnival ships, Gulliksen says. Food is stored in refrigerated areas and brought up to the galleys on a daily basis. "In addition to the galley for the main dining room, there also is a galley for the poolside restaurants, which is located on the Lido Deck," he says.

The cruise line segment continues to experience between 8-percent and 10-percent growth each year, Whelpton says. Consequently, the market for specialized equipment to meet ships' unique needs will increase over the next several years.