The whopping amount of food chefs make on cruises
Take a typical town totalling 6100 or so people. Then try and consider just how to feed, water and supply them all daily.
Once you've done that, set them adrift hundreds or more nautical miles out to sea for 10 or 14 days, or even longer.
Congratulations. You've now got a rough idea of what it takes to operate Royal Caribbean's mammoth Ovation of the Seas, the world's fourth largest cruise passenger ship.
The daily challenge to feed as many as 20,000 meals to 4500 or more passengers, not to mention a sea-going workforce of about 1600, aboard such a huge vessel, across eight speciality restaurants with over 150 different dishes, is near Herculean.
On a typical seven-day cruise, passengers can choose from more than 40 types of bread, 100 kinds of pastries, 40 different types of fruits and 80 kinds of vegetables.
To keep passengers fed and happy, nearly 250 culinary staff need to toil in windowless and spotless state-of-the-art galleys (it's not a kitchen – this is a ship, after all) below the main decks far removed from the holidaying passengers.
And that's just what's required for the preparation and delivery of the food, not to mention the complications posed by modern-day, first world dietary and allergy requirements.
Food is one thing but what about that timeless cruise staple, the cocktail: 272 kilograms of limes, 340 kilograms of lemons, 1360 kilograms of pineapple, 1700 kilograms of oranges, 30 jars of cherries, 15 jars of olives... The list goes on (and on) and don't even ask how many of those funny little umbrellas might be required, though, at more than 180 beverage staff, the ship needs nearly as much personnel to for drinks as it does food. No wonder Ovation of the Seas features a special robotic barman.
Ovation Food is unloaded into the huge fridges on board the cruise ship. Image credit: Anna Kucera.
Once cruising was a pastime dominated by Americans and a handful of other Western nations but it is now a truly global pursuit with countries such as China embracing the idea of a holiday on the high seas. Menus need to be tailored accordingly, no less for Australians, now boasting the highest cruise market penetration per capita of any nation.
"The expectations of Australian guests are very high," says Daniel Ledo Trujillo, Ovation of the Seas Madrid-born executive chef. "They are tough guests to please."
By that, he doesn't mean we complain a lot, or any more than anyone else. It's just that, coming from a multicultural society and being increasingly well-travelled compared with previous generations, we're exposed to a multitude of cuisines.
Wonderland is where food and fantasy collide. Image credit: Royal Caribbean International.
It's making us much more knowing and demanding. But some old favourites remain. Something that distinguishes the Australian cruising palate from other nationalities is a love of lamb which means that any voyage involving Australians needs to be well-stocked with this meaty staple.
And if an army is said to march on its stomach then a ship sails on one, too, with food an increasingly integral part of the cruise experience. That means that Trujillo and his team are always sure to prepare more food than they need, as you can never judge the exact appetite of the passengers on each cruise.
At sea, the executive chef's days are long, beginning as early as 7.30am and not finishing until 10pm or so, though the 35-year-old Spaniard does manage to sneak away for a well-deserved siesta in the middle of the day.
Anthony Dennis cruised aboard the Ovation of the Seas as a guest of Royal Caribbean.
Written by Anthony Dennis. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz. Image credit: Anna Kucera via Stuff.co.nz and Royal Caribbean International.