Behind the scenes of the world's largest cruise ship

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It goes without saying that if you own the world's largest cruise ship, with more than 9,000 guests and crew, you'll have something to eat. Forbes.com was invited for a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen aboard the Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas while she was making her debut in the United States. Without having to wash the dishes or peel the potatoes, we had a glimpse of what to fill a lot of hungry stomachs.

But to answer the question you probably ask yourself, while lobster, duck and fillet of beef are the most popular products, potatoes are the best food, over 5,000 pounds a day. And if ever you are asked to help prepare the dishes, find a way to politely refuse. Every day, more than 65,000 plates of food are served.

On Symphony of the Seas, there are three main galleys to serve the 11 free restaurants with each of the 12 specialty restaurants that offer 350 different dishes with their own dedicated kitchens. There are also 50 child-specific options on the different menus. However, all restaurants share a pastry kitchen where the creation of these art confectionery centers you admired on your last cruise takes up to six months. The pastry chefs work there when they do not mix and do not cook.

According to Bruce Venter, roving company manager for Royal Caribbean, Symjoy's most popular restaurant is Windjammer, which serves over 5,000 breakfasts, from as many as 2,000 dinners to as many as 2,000 dinners. At mealtimes, you need a choreography that would be the pride of Bob Fosse or Martha Graham. While the ship is almost four football fields long with more than 6,500 passengers and 18 bridges, even in its main restaurants, food is prepared in batches instead of banquets. The screens of various cooking stations indicate each time that a customer of the dining room places an order so that the responsible cooks can see the total number of lobster tails needed. When a server takes an order, it scans the ticket before returning to the dining room, thus reducing the number of things needed.

Royal Caribbean uses decades of data in what Venter calls a combination of "art and science" in order to never miss out on what you want while minimizing waste. Sometimes new menu items can be detrimental to the system, for example when mozzarella risotto was added and it was more popular than expected. There are also screens that control the amount of energy consumed so that cooking stations can be opened or closed depending on demand. Then there is this thing called weather. Sometimes rain or rough seas require schedule changes in various shows. Even a 30-minute switch may cause culinary chaos. This avoids what Venter says, because "the left hand and the right hand always speak". In the main dining room The goal is to bring in and out the guests in about 90 minutes, but the waiters are trained to make the guests happy, which means they speed things up if they rush to attend a show or slow down if it's a family or romantic party. go to the restaurant.

Of the 2,200 crew members, 365 are part of the culinary team and are responsible for feeding the guests and teammates. There are three stewards just for the crew. The Food & Beverage team also has safety responsibilities on board the boat, as it does for the entire crew. So, in addition to preparing the perfect soufflé, the cooks know how to lower the lifeboats.

Deep in the bowels of Symphony is a corridor that runs along the ship, known as I-95 after the interstate highway from Maine to Key West. If you ever get there, look left and right before entering. Trolleys filled with fruit boxes and carts containing mineral water combine with the race of crew members as they had just entered the HOV lane.

When Symphony of the Seas returns to its new Miami dock after every seven-day cruise, loading new consumables takes about eight hours. Provisioning plans are sent to each supplier, indicating the exact times they need to arrive at the pier. The chefs are on the pier, opening boxes of goods at random, tasting strawberries and tearing lettuce heads to make sure everything is fresh. "This allows our suppliers to remain vigilant," says Venter.

There are more than 20 gigantic stores, including freezers and refrigerators, whose temperature is checked every six hours. More than 300 tons of food and drinks are provided on each cruise. By the way, the Royal Caribbean has 25 ships. Food planning should be done months in advance. For example, when a ship leaves the United Kingdom, the menu will be adapted to the tastes of the largest proportion of British guests. With customers around the world, all types of special requests based on diet and religion must be met. With dozens of nationalities among the various members of the culinary team, there is probably no special request that can not be satisfied without notice. Incidentally, each ship carries two extra days of food in case it should stay at sea longer due to weather conditions. It takes at least six months of planning to come up with a new dish because of the importance of serving so many people and its impact on the supply chain.

You may have guessed that for safety reasons, which, according to Venter, is the top priority, you can not have open flames, which means no wood ovens or gas barbecues. Nevertheless, Venter says that there is nothing that has served on land if the line will not be used on its ships. As you can imagine, the focus is on the types of cuisines that most people like, including steaks, Italian, Mexican, etc., depending on the location of the ship.

During each seven-night cruise, guests eat 9,700 pounds of chicken, 60,000 eggs, 15,000 pounds of beef, 700 pounds of ice cream (ice-cream delicacies for specialty restaurants are prepared on board), 2,100 lobster tails, 2,500 pounds of salmon, 5,300 pounds. of bacon, 5000 pounds of fries and more than 2000 pounds of wings. More than 40 varieties of fruit and 80 kinds of vegetables are served and almost 3,200 slices of pizza are consumed every hour. The Hooked Seafood specialty restaurant serves more than 2,200 oysters, while the bartenders prepare 124 specialty cocktails and pour 450 cases of champagne. There are 161 types of sweets served at Sugar Beach and, including its own Starbucks, over 1,500 pounds of coffee are used.

As far as specialty restaurants go, they range from chef Jamie Oliver's famous chef to steak, seafood, Japan and the fantastic wonderland, where guests are greeted by the Mad Hatter and eat a cuisine. gourmet theme inspired by Alice in Wonderland. According to Venter, the kitchen staff in specialty restaurants is rotating, which he says is motivating and allows them to develop their culinary skills.

So you're probably wondering, how does it taste? The filet mignon and lobster tail I had last night were excellent, the steak especially as good as the one I had at any restaurant, and it was in the main dining room. As usual with many cruises, if you fancy choosing more than a main course or appetizer, this is presented to you with a smile. This is perhaps a good reason why you will find a state-of-the-art gym and jogging track that bypasses the entire ship.

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It goes without saying that if you own the world's largest cruise ship, with more than 9,000 guests and crew, you'll have something to eat. Forbes.com was invited for a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen aboard the Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas while she was making her debut in the United States. Without having to wash the dishes or peel the potatoes, we had a glimpse of what to fill a lot of hungry stomachs.

But to answer the question you probably ask yourself, while lobster, duck and fillet of beef are the most popular products, potatoes are the best food, over 5,000 pounds a day. And if ever you are asked to help prepare the dishes, find a way to politely refuse. Every day, more than 65,000 plates of food are served.

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On Symphony of the Seas, there are three main galleys to serve the 11 free restaurants with each of the 12 specialty restaurants that offer 350 different dishes with their own dedicated kitchens. There are also 50 child-specific options on the different menus. However, all restaurants share a pastry kitchen where the creation of these art confectionery centers you admired on your last cruise takes up to six months. The pastry chefs work there when they do not mix and do not cook.

According to Bruce Venter, roving company manager for Royal Caribbean, Symjoy's most popular restaurant is Windjammer, which serves over 5,000 breakfasts, from as many as 2,000 dinners to as many as 2,000 dinners. At mealtimes, you need a choreography that would be the pride of Bob Fosse or Martha Graham. While the ship is almost four football fields long with more than 6,500 passengers and 18 bridges, even in its main restaurants, food is prepared in batches instead of banquets. The screens of various cooking stations indicate each time that a customer of the dining room places an order so that the responsible cooks can see the total number of lobster tails needed. When a server takes an order, it scans the ticket before returning to the dining room, thus reducing the number of things needed.

Royal Caribbean uses decades of data in what Venter calls a combination of "art and science" in order to never miss out on what you want while minimizing waste. Sometimes new menu items can be detrimental to the system, for example when mozzarella risotto was added and it was more popular than expected. There are also screens that control the amount of energy consumed so that cooking stations can be opened or closed depending on demand. Then there is this thing called weather. Sometimes rain or rough seas require schedule changes in various shows. Even a 30-minute switch may cause culinary chaos. This avoids what Venter says, because "the left hand and the right hand always speak". In the main dining room The goal is to bring in and out the guests in about 90 minutes, but the waiters are trained to make the guests happy, which means they speed things up if they rush to attend a show or slow down if it's a family or romantic party. go to the restaurant.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING

Of the 2,200 crew members, 365 are part of the culinary team and are responsible for feeding the guests and teammates. There are three stewards just for the crew. The Food & Beverage team also has safety responsibilities on board the boat, as it does for the entire crew. So, in addition to preparing the perfect soufflé, the cooks know how to lower the lifeboats.

Deep in the bowels of Symphony is a corridor that runs along the ship, known as I-95 after the interstate highway from Maine to Key West. If you ever get there, look left and right before entering. Trolleys filled with fruit boxes and carts containing mineral water combine with the race of crew members as they had just entered the HOV lane.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING

When Symphony of the Seas returns to its new Miami dock after every seven-day cruise, loading new consumables takes about eight hours. Provisioning plans are sent to each supplier, indicating the exact times they need to arrive at the pier. The chefs are on the pier, opening boxes of goods at random, tasting strawberries and tearing lettuce heads to make sure everything is fresh. "This allows our suppliers to remain vigilant," says Venter.

There are more than 20 gigantic stores, including freezers and refrigerators, whose temperature is checked every six hours. More than 300 tons of food and drinks are provided on each cruise. By the way, the Royal Caribbean has 25 ships. Food planning should be done months in advance. For example, when a ship leaves the United Kingdom, the menu will be adapted to the tastes of the largest proportion of British guests. With customers around the world, all types of special requests based on diet and religion must be met. With dozens of nationalities among the various members of the culinary team, there is probably no special request that can not be satisfied without notice. Incidentally, each ship carries two extra days of food in case it should stay at sea longer due to weather conditions. It takes at least six months of planning to come up with a new dish because of the importance of serving so many people and its impact on the supply chain.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING

You may have guessed that for safety reasons, which, according to Venter, is the top priority, you can not have open flames, which means no wood ovens or gas barbecues. Nevertheless, Venter says that there is nothing that has served on land if the line will not be used on its ships. As you can imagine, the focus is on the types of cuisines that most people like, including steaks, Italian, Mexican, etc., depending on the location of the ship.

During each seven-night cruise, guests eat 9,700 pounds of chicken, 60,000 eggs, 15,000 pounds of beef, 700 pounds of ice cream (ice-cream delicacies for specialty restaurants are prepared on board), 2,100 lobster tails, 2,500 pounds of salmon, 5,300 pounds. of bacon, 5000 pounds of fries and more than 2000 pounds of wings. More than 40 varieties of fruit and 80 kinds of vegetables are served and almost 3,200 slices of pizza are consumed every hour. The Hooked Seafood specialty restaurant serves more than 2,200 oysters, while the bartenders prepare 124 specialty cocktails and pour 450 cases of champagne. There are 161 types of sweets served at Sugar Beach and, including its own Starbucks, over 1,500 pounds of coffee are used.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING

As far as specialty restaurants go, they range from chef Jamie Oliver's famous chef to steak, seafood, Japan and the fantastic wonderland, where guests are greeted by the Mad Hatter and eat a cuisine. gourmet theme inspired by Alice in Wonderland. According to Venter, the kitchen staff at specialty restaurants is rotating, which he says is motivating and allows them to expand their culinary skills.

So you're probably wondering, how does it taste? The filet mignon and lobster tail I had last night were excellent, the steak especially as good as the one I had at any restaurant, and it was in the main dining room. As usual with many cruises, if you fancy choosing more than a main course or appetizer, this is presented to you with a smile. This is perhaps a good reason why you will find a state-of-the-art gym and jogging track that bypasses the entire ship.