Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Cruisewhiz Craig or Confessions of a Cruise Ship Gourmet?
By Craig Satterfield, ECC

Food served on a cruise ship is probably the most popular subject from cruisers.  You run into a friend on the street bragging that he just got back from a cruise.  The typical first question is not, “Where did you go?” but rather, “How was the food?”

A modern day cruise ship offers an almost unlimited choice of food options served around the clock. There are almost as many questions about food service from our clients as there are menu items.  There seems to be a lot of confusion with guests on dining options and what costs are involved in this new trend of eating what you want when you want to. Some first time cruisers might think that food is not included in the cruise fare, or that alternative dining options are included.

As counselors, we have an obligation to simplify this new maze of culinary confusion to make our clients secure that they will never go hungry.  Is that even a possibility?

Less than 15 years ago, meals were served pretty much exclusively in the dining room. These menus had large selections of as many as 6 types of soups, endless salads, 10 or more choices of green vegetables, (anyone care for some braised celery?) and potatoes cooked 6 different ways. Added were steaks, chops, poultry, pastas, and desserts, finished up with coffee, tea and a frandaise platter each night. You would need to show up for breakfast, lunch and dinner at your assigned times or you might just go hungry. On top of that passengers expected a lavish midnight buffet served, yes, at midnight every night.  Except for maybe mid-morning beef bullion served on deck and afternoon sandwiches by the pool your life was religiously connected to the main dining room if you wanted a meal.

Remember the days when you returned to the ship from exploring a port around 2:30pm to 5:30pm when there was absolutely no food available? You were almost ready to chew off your paw.  Lido buffets were still a rare option. Hungry guests paced around for that first tray of cocktail hour hors’deuves to show up in the bar before dinner.

Speaking of the Lido, the first time I was on a ship with an actual buffet serving breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks, it was on the Holland America Line’s older Rotterdam of 1956.  I have to give the then Dutch-owned cruise line credit for this now extremely popular venue to chow down at.

Within the past few years, major cruise lines have gone crazy with dozens of dining options, Norwegian Cruise Lines being the first to offer pretty much an alternative for every one and for every meal.  This idea came from NCL’s parent company, Star Cruises. They market primarily to an Asian clientele based in Singapore. Here cruising is very different as you purchase a cabin then pay for all meals and entertainment separately, basically a floating hotel resort.

Modifying this to Western needs, NCL added themed restaurants, some with service charges.  This basically equals to a standard tip that you might pay in a nice restaurant on shore.  It is very important that a counselor qualify a client on this type of dining program in advance.  Some people will find they love the flexibility and selection of the restaurants and others might resent the idea of paying for food after forking out (pun intended) the hundreds to thousands of dollars to sail on these ships.  I have found that if clients know in advance what to expect, this most important aspect of cruising with NCL is satisfied.  It really takes trying Freestyle Cruising to know for sure if you personally enjoy it.

Other lines offer the traditional first and second seating, open sitting options for the main dining room and an array of international restaurants. So many more choices than in the past.  How do we filter through all of the types of dining options and themed restaurants on today’s modern ships?  Do we even try?  You bet we do!

The costs: Cover charges for these dining choices are generally small, anywhere from $10 to $30 per person. This does not cover the cruise line’s costs of having a special menu and a dedicated kitchen and staff to operate it.   You would pay at least $75 per person if you were to dine like this on land. These restaurants are truly a bargain.  In addition superstar chefs like Jacques Pepin for Oceania Cruises, Todd English for Cunard and Nobu Matsuhisa, probably the World’s best-known Japanese chef for Crystal Cruises have designed many of these restaurants’ menus. The snob appeal is priceless.

The themes: Steak houses have become very popular on ships so Carnival has changed their supper club concept to a steak house.  For $30 diners can choose escargot on brioche, a Caesar salad mixed at your table, a filet or double thick lamb chop, with a selection of potatoes, mushrooms and the customary creamed spinach.  Finish it off with desserts like a flourless chocolate cake or a scoop of Bailey’s Irish Ice Cream and you are in culinary heaven.

On Princess ships, Sabatini’s a Northern Italian bistro offers a top deck location with a view.  For only $20 diners can choose from 8 choices of antipasti like Polpettini de Grancio, which is, grilled crab cakes with a roasted chili remoulade or Prosciutto e melone, a rich Parma ham and melon.  The feast continues on with a selection of special soups and or salads, a pasta and main course like Gamberoni al Aglio, yummy tiger prawns over steamed polenta.  If you don’t have room for the dessert the waiter will pack it to go. It makes a great midnight snack of expresso crème brulee, which is my downfall, or tiramisu, white chocolate semi-freddo with Limoncello crème or a freshly whisked zabaglione.

Luxury lines offer their specialties at no additional charge and clients can sometimes make reservations for them before they board the ship. These lines want everyone to dine there. Crystal Cruises offers two options, the Northern Italian Prego and Asian inspired Silk Road to every passenger at least once. At Silk Road my black cod with miso was remarkable along with a beautiful selection of sushi and sashimi. At Prego, the rack of lamb was superb.  This is another great reason to promote and sell the luxury cruise lines.

Dealing with clients who do not like the idea that a cruise line charges extra for food can be a challenge. Use these alternatives as a positive. You might be urged to say, “You don’t have to go to them and pay, just eat at the free restaurants,” but don’t.  The idea of keeping this argument positive is to give the guest “permission” to go against their principals and maybe actually reserve a night and really enjoy it.  Those converts are usually the most excited about their new experience and tell friends which can be referrals to you.  Happy guests tell the World. 

Use these ideas to sell the sizzle of the flexible dining options of today’s cruises. This is just another reason not to stay home.