Hello!
Today we will tell you how meals are organized on board a cruise ship.
As a rule, the food system on cruise liners of standard class companies is the All-Inclusive,
which is familiar to many tourists, except for drinks.
On cruise ships, chefs traditionally elevate the process of cooking to the rank of art.
Over the course of a week-long cruise, over 3,500 different ingredients are used to prepare
all sorts of culinary delights.
Every week, 6,680 passengers embark on a journey aboard the world's largest cruise ship, Symphony
of the Seas.
And all these people need to eat three, four, or even eight times a day.
Everything needs to be calculated - this is breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus snacks, plus
food at night and constant round-the-clock food around.
And it never stops.
Ship kitchens are open 24/7.
They employ a team of chefs, numbering more than 1000 people.
They prepare over 30,000 meals every day.
And they do it all in compact kitchens and on a rocking ship.
So how does all this food end up on the plate?
We should start from the loading bay on Saturday.
This day is very important, because on Saturday all new food is delivered to the second deck
of the liner.
When loading is in progress, all the workers are very busy, and this creates a certain
tension.
Food Inventory Manager Jaret de Silva orders food for 23 different restaurants on the ship.
Every week, Jareth allocates $1 million to purchases.
And all this for only seven days of food.
Sometimes Jareth adjusts his entries depending on who comes on board.
For example, more kids means more chicken fingers.
Jareth monitors the situation daily, clarifying which of the products have already been used
and which have not.
Based on this, the following orders are adjusted.
Although by and large, when the ship is in Miami, and the number of passengers is almost
always the same, the amount of food required is repeated for each cruise.
On the day of loading, about 30 trucks arrive at the Port of Miami.
Forklifts carry food on 500 pallets, all of which must be loaded onto the ship by 4 p.m.
Any delay in loading can prevent the liner from leaving on time, so very high demands
are placed on logistics.
More than 273,000 kilograms of food and drink are calculated for just one week of sailing.
Once on board, all products move along the service corridor of the ship.
The crew corridor is called I-95, and it runs the entire length of the ship on the second
deck.
Products are distributed to points in different places, where they should be.
There are about 20 different storage areas on the ship, divided into freezers, refrigerators,
built-in cold stores and dry stores.
Seafood, meat, vegetables and fruits are all separated and stored in separate refrigerators.
By the end of the cruise, all these fruit boxes will be almost empty, so a reserve stock
of fruit is created, which will last for another two days of the cruise.
There are also six freezers that store 700 pounds or 300 kilograms of ice cream, which
will be eaten completely in a week.
Dry goods are stored on the lower deck.
These pantries are stocked with spices, chocolate and coffee.
It's just a pleasure to be in such a pantry.
The elevator takes food down.
Jareth's team checks the quality of all food every day.
If fruits or vegetables ripen faster than expected, then they will try to turn them
into another dish.
For example, overripe broccoli can be added to broccoli soup with cheddar cheese instead
of just being thrown away.
Once all the inventory is ready, the restaurants on the upper decks start ordering groceries
from Jareth.
The cooks come downstairs, pick up the order and take it away for cooking.
And then this guy appears, the German Eladio Riho Riho - the chef of the cruise ship.
He says that he is responsible for any food on board this beautiful ship, for everything
that the passengers eat.
Everything they have on the table: beautiful potatoes, rice, pate, pastries, salad, shrimp,
this is the responsibility of the chef.
Riho's team of 280 chefs manage the kitchens 24/7.
Each cook works 10-12 hours a day.
Contracts with them are usually concluded for four months and without a single day off.
Some people start working at 8 am until 2 pm, then a break and at 5 pm they return to
work, providing dinner at 9:30 pm.
Then at 22 o'clock the second group starts to work.
She works all night until 10 am.
Thus, two groups provide food for passengers 24 hours a day.
The chefs on board prepare about 100 different menus throughout the week.
All menus are designed at Royal Caribbean headquarters in Miami.
And every week the chefs stick to the same menu rotation, cooking everything from rack
of lamb to hand-rolled sushi.
Food must be varied in order to meet the International Passenger Standards of Symphony of the Seas,
where holidays are organized in a variety of price categories.
Here they try to please everyone and make sure that every passenger can find everything
he wants.
All cooking takes place in 36 kitchens, or galleys, as they are called on the ship.
There are 12 specialty restaurants on board, where food costs up to $50 per person.
And each of these restaurants has its own small galley.
In these cramped spaces, the chefs have to prepare food every day according to the menu.
Jamie's Italian serves fresh pasta, while Hooked serves over 2,000 oysters per cruise.
But the largest amount of food is reserved for the main restaurant, which spans three
decks and serves up to 6,000 people a day.
This meal is included in the passenger's ticket price.
Before food reaches the main galleys, it is prepared in one of the kitchens in the I-95
service corridor.
One of the rooms is a butcher's shop.
Here the workers are engaged in cutting meat.
About 15,000 pounds or 6,800 kilograms of beef and 9,700 pounds or 4,400 kilograms of
chicken pass through the butchers every week.
There is also a room for cutting vegetables and a place to defrost fish.
Lobster is the most popular dish in the main restaurants.
Every week, about 2,100 pounds or 1,000 kilograms of lobster tails are cooked on the liner.
After all the preparations, the products are sent upstairs to the main galley.
The ship's largest kitchen is categorized.
These are desserts, bread, cold dishes and hot dishes.
For dessert, the chefs prepare cakes, chocolate and about 100 different types of pastries.
The bakery bakes 40 types of bread from all over the world right from scratch.
But the real bustle begins just before dinner.
At this time, 6,000 hungry passengers are languishing in the main dining room.
At this time, the main role belongs to Riho.
After all, before the preparation of dinner begins, he must approve all the dishes.
Riho tastes each dish and gives his comments.
The cooks take note of his remarks and start cooking.
Cooks can see the number of ordered dishes on the screens.
The system also keeps track of how much inventory is being used.
In the refrigerator compartment, salads and appetizers such as carpaccio come together.
In the hot food kitchen, chefs prepare soups, sauces, side dishes and main dishes.
When everything is ready, the waiters begin serving dishes to hungry passengers in the
main restaurant.
This grandiose work is carried out by a team of 1085 people, consisting of cooks, waiters,
dishwashers and auxiliary workers.
Together they cook about 11 million meals a year.
And they do all this on a sailing ship.
At sea, the ship shakes, so all the equipment is built with this in mind.
Sometimes it happens that the cart with dishes can unexpectedly roll away.
Therefore, all chefs are attentive to this.
And yet, if the crew members do their jobs right, the passengers won't even know there
might be a problem.
They just go on eating carelessly.
And now let's see specifically what the passengers are treated to.
Of course, it is impossible to taste all the dishes in a week on a ship the size of four
football fields.
Abby and Sophie will tell you which dishes are the best and which should not be missed.
Most passengers spend most of their dining time in restaurants, as the cost of food is
included in the price of a cruise ticket.
But the unusual dishes that are offered on the ship are not found in ordinary restaurants.
These are signature dishes.
Abby and Sophie decided to try the most popular dishes in eight different restaurants to determine
the best dish.
On the fifteenth deck is the Mexican fast food restaurant El Loco Fresh.
This casual Mexican eatery is included in the ticket price and serves buffet-style nachos,
burritos and quesadillas.
But it was decided to try the taco dish.
The flat cakes in it are no different, but the meat is surprisingly juicy and has a pleasant
spicy taste.
On the 12th deck of the ship is an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant.
Lunch in Wonderland costs about $50 per person and is not included in the ticket price.
The food here is presented in a very creative and fun way.
You can find these adorable magic mushrooms on Instagram and you should definitely try
them.
This dessert is called "Mystical Mushroom Garden".
This is something unusual.
Almond sponge cake and pistachio-white-chocolate mousse decorate the mushroom filling.
The red hat is peach icing.
The sponge cake is served with pistachios, red velvet cake and chocolate cake crumbs,
as well as mango sherbet.
Then we move to deck 8, where the most luxurious restaurant on the One Hundred and Fiftieth
Central Park ship is located.
Appetizing appetizers and impressive main courses blend perfectly with the atmosphere
of the restaurant.
Popular dishes at this establishment include crispy pork belly served at the table, duck
duet and fried cheesecake.
However, be aware that this is a very trendy place, and one dish can cost you $50 per plate.
The ship's chef, Riho, suggested trying Harris' beef stew with fried leeks and mashed butternut
squash.
This dish turned out to be one of the best meals aboard the entire ship.
It is very soft and tender, just melts in your mouth.
One has only to touch it, and it crumbles.
On the same deck is the restaurant Jamie's Italian or Jamie's Italian.
This is the restaurant of the famous talented chef from the UK Jamie Oliver.
Jamie's has a much more casual vibe than 150 Central Park and the menu is slightly cheaper,
$35 per person.
Alfredo truffle pasta, fettuccine with Alfredo creamy truffle sauce, Parmesan cheese, truffle
oil and truffle shavings are prepared here.
There is a ship's Dog House hot dog stand on deck six.
Everything on the menu is included in the ticket price.
Many consider this the best place for a quick bite.
Classic Koni-Dog is prepared here.
It's a hot dog in a bun topped with a spicy meat sauce.
The other hot dog has chicken and apples and is really good.
Opposite the Dog House is the Playmakers ship's sports bar.
Everything you can try from chicken is here: wings, nachos, sliders, chicken cutlets.
This meal has an additional charge and is offered from the menu.
Here you can also try the chic Campfire cookies for $6.
These are warm chocolate chip cookies topped with marshmallows and nutella.
It is served with a scoop of ice cream and a glass of milk.
These beautiful cookies are sticky at the bottom, but the fluffiness of the marshmallows
actually balances out that stickiness.
Hooked is Royal Caribbean's newest restaurant on deck sixteen.
Here you can taste various seafood.
For $35 per person, you can get fresh oysters or crab cakes from New England.
But many people advise trying Maine lobster rolls.
These pieces of lobster claws are mixed with mayonnaise and green onions.
They are served on a buttered and toasted roll.
What you can really like about the lobster roll is that it didn't have too much mayonnaise,
and there was quite a lot of lobster itself.
Because a bad lobster roll is just too much mayonnaise and not enough lobster.
Izumi Restaurant on Deck 4 is a pan-Asian concept of Symphony of the Seas.
The menu includes sushi, udon, ramen and fried rice, all at à la carte prices.
Translation a la carte from French sounds like "on the map."
In the a la carte restaurant, vacationers can feel like part of a privileged society,
as well as try something that is not served in the general buffet.
Here you should try the roll with creamy truffle and tempura lobster.
The Chef's Signature Roll costs $16, but it's big in size.
The roll consists of kampacha, salmon and asparagus, topped with a slice of tempura
lobster mixed with ponzu and spicy mayonnaise.
And if that's not enough, you can add a drop of truffle oil.
After trying many dishes, Abby and Sophie try to identify the best ones.
But this is very difficult to do, given how many meals they ate in a week.
Sophie enjoyed truffles and truffle pasta at Jamie's Italian, and Abby enjoyed lobster
rolls at Hooked.
However, all these dishes
are quite expensive and are paid extra.
Therefore, among ordinary restaurants, the winner is El Loco Fresh.
The filling of the bars was very tasty, especially the pork and beef.
Thus, the taco dish is
the best dish included
in the ticket price.
That's all.
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