Two Challenges
As we focus on Europe and food and beverage in this issue, two industry challenges become apparent. Europe is the second largest cruise market and ship deployment region in the world and is expected to maintain this position over the next decade, if not longer. This year, the European brands’ market capacity is for an…
MSC Building Up Globally
“We are investing in new ships and are also prepared to invest in many different regions in the world,” said Gianni Onorato, president and CEO of MSC Cruises. “What you are seeing are initiatives by a company that wants to be an increasingly important player in this industry. “The first stage of our goal was…
Global Procurement Strategy
Carnival Corporation will spend about $9 billion on operating expenses per year, including more than $1 billion on food products (the company does not break out its beverage spend). Julia Brown, chief procurement officer, told Cruise Industry News in an exclusive interview that about 35 to 40 percent of the supplies are sourced globally, 35…
A Global Italian Brand
At Costa Crociere, the core daily focus is to exceed guest expectations. “This is our mantra; we put our guests at the center of every decision in every department,” Neil Palomba, president, told Cruise Industry News. “And, we focus our activities to ensure that guests are fully satisfied prior, during and after their cruise.” Continuous innovation has…
Royal Caribbean: Major Player in Europe
Royal Caribbean Cruises is a major player in European markets with its three brands. Said Stuart Leven, vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): “We market Royal (Caribbean International) as a family product, Celebrity as an upscale luxury product, and for Azamara we focus more on the destination experience as the ships often stay…
Delivering the Experience
At Holland America Line, there is a true passion to delivering the wow behind the food experience aboard, according to Frits van der Werff, vice president, food and beverage. Case in point, world famous sushi chef Andy Matsuda was set to board the Koningsdam to train chefs working at Tamarind, the line’s Asian-fusion restaurant. “I…
Pushing the Connectivity Limits at Sea
Delivering a quality guest experience for connectivity means pushing the limits of technology, delivering heaps of bandwidth and optimizing download and upload pipes down to the last byte of data. What was minimally accepted technology just years ago, like Netflix streaming, is now expected to work regardless of where you are: at home, at work,…
Food and Beverage: Pleasing All
Serving close to 5,000 passengers and 1,600 crew aboard the Anthem of the Seas, Executive Chef German Rijo has a galley staff of 174 preparing and cooking meals, plus 65 in utility positions. Passengers tend to eat more than three meals a day, sometimes double, being on vacation and enjoying themselves, he said, so the…
Reducing CO2 Emissions
Hypothetically, a large cruise ship running on biofuel, with a maximized hull shape and air lubrication, waste heat recovery, and speed and route optimization could be very energy efficient and consequently emit less CO2, according to research compiled by Evert A. Bouman, researcher in the Department of Energy and Process Engineering at the Norwegian University…