Cruise Lines Are Delivering More Sophisticated, Sustainable Culinary Experiences

Cruise lines continue to enhance the food-and-beverage options onboard cruise ships, coming up with new ways to surpass passenger expectations while making culinary operations more sustainable.

That was the message from cruise line executives at the recent F&B@Sea event, which took place March 28-29 in tandem with Seatrade Cruise Global in Fort Lauderdale. The six leading cruise lines account for over $2 billion in food and beverage annually. The show gave food-and-beverage suppliers the opportunity to show off their products to the massive cruise line market.

To kick off the event, cruise line executives participated in the State of the Cruise F&B Industry Keynote. The panelists agreed on the importance of culinary offerings to the passenger experience, despite a lingering misunderstanding among consumers about the quality of fare available onboard.

“The strongest brand pillar at Celebrity is culinary; that’s what we’ve always invested most of our capital in—not only in the quality of product but also the quality of our employees,” said Cornelius Gallagher Jr., vice president, food and beverage operations at Celebrity Cruises.

Still, added Gallagher, “there’s a preconceived notion that the cruise industry and food onboard is all about volume, and a big part of what we all do here is to try to change people’s perception.”

“We still need to do a better job of getting the message out,” agreed Wes Cort, vice president, food and beverage operations for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “The impression is there’s an abundance of food [on cruise ships] but they’re not sure about the quality. And we don’t get credit for making nearly everything from scratch—you don’t see that in hotels or in many restaurants.”

Shore excursions are one way Norwegian is raising the bar on its culinary offerings, sourcing such authentic experiences as quaint Italian restaurants in Naples, where guests can try their hand at making pasta. “We try to find authentic experiences, more so than people experienced in the past,” said Cort.

Celebrity sources food locally “wherever our ships go, where it makes sense,” said Gallagher, serving wild-caught branzino in the Mediterranean, for example. “Bringing the destination on board and local sourcing are important,” he added.

Cruise lines are also rising to the challenge of serving guests who follow restricted diets, such as vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. “Guests have become a lot more demanding in terms of dietary restrictions, so the pressures of delivering what guests want is becoming more and more difficult,” said Richard Morse, senior vice president, food and beverage for Carnival Cruise Line. All Carnival ships feature the Menu Mate food ingredient program, powered by CertiStar software, through which staff and guests can find food options that are allergen friendly.

That trend is here to stay, noted Morse. He added that cruise lines are much more focused on the culinary experience than land-based accommodations. “Hotels have kind of walked away from food and beverage, except for large resorts,” said Morse. “Food, beverage and entertainment are what make the guest experience and what brings people back.”

Just like in other industries, supply chain interruptions since the pandemic affected culinary operations on ships, which had to find workarounds. “QR code menus saved our lives,” said Jacques Van Staden, vice president, global food and beverage operations for MSC Cruises. “They enabled us, because of the sourcing challenges, to adapt and make substitutions to the menus.” Supply chain issues are “leveling out, becoming more stable—not stable in pricing, but stable in supply,” added Van Staden.

Higher prices and inflation are impacting operations as well. For example, when egg prices dramatically increased recently, Norwegian served smaller eggs. “We have to make accommodations,” said Cort, adding that Norwegian has become more proactive about its food supplies, keeping a safety stock in place in certain locations.

Cruise lines are also saving money—and the environment—by embracing sustainable strategies. “When you look at inflation, you can cut costs or control costs,” said Celebrity’s Gallagher. “We looked at low-hanging fruit—we reduced waste.”

Norwegian’s Cort pointed to the line’s first sustainable bar at sea, the Metropolitan Bar, onboard the Norwegian Prima. Its zero-waste cocktails include ingredients such as banana syrup, made onboard from banana peel leftovers.

As part of its goal to reduce waste by 40 percent, Carnival has eliminated single-use products. “We are very proud of that,” said Morse.

And Van Staden said MSC will kick off a project in June to determine “what does it take to get to zero waste.” For example, cruise lines collectively spend $50 million a year on produce that spoils, said Van Staden. “But what if you had a large production room next to the vegetable room, and you dehydrated everything, and used it for chips and snacks?”

As many new cruise ships launch in the coming years, agents can expect to see exciting new food concepts debut. “Most new ships are pretty large, so we have spaces we can be innovative with,” said Norwegian’s Cort. “We still have to have the traditional—the French restaurant, the steakhouse, teppanyaki, Italian—but we can take risks and have fun with some of the others. That’s what we love to do.”

At Celebrity, said Gallagher, “when we design a new ship, there’s an element of tradition, an element of evolution and an element of revolution.” As an example of Celebrity continually innovating with new technologies, he pointed to Le Petit Chef experience at Le Grand Bistro, in which guests are entertained with 3D tabletop animation, choreographed with the serving of a menu created by Celebrity’s Michelin-star chef. “You have to incorporate risk into your strategy.”

Expect to see more integration of food with beverages, including non-alcoholic beverages, on Carnival ships. “These are not the mocktails of yesterday,” said Morse. “I’m excited about the evolution of what the food offerings will be, with all of these new plant-based foods coming out. Overall it will be a better guest experience.”