Jacob Roth has passed away.

Roth was best known for his long food and beverage career in the cruise industry and had retired most recently after working for B&S Global Cruise Supply, but was best known from his time with Apollo and Celebrity.

He was a self-made man who worked his way up the corporate ladder from executive chef to become a director of food and beverage operations at Celebrity Cruises.

Along the way he was the owner at JR Cruise Services, and also director of food and beverage operations at Apollo Ships Chandlers. He was also an executive chef, shipboard, with Holland America Line, starting on the ships in the 1960s.

Along the way he also served in a pivotal industry role as president of the Marine Hotel Association (MHA) Board of Directors.

At Celebrity, Roth launched new ships and was part of the team with Michel Roux, helping set the brand apart for its food and beverage quality and operations.

Roth was known to be highly experienced in the field of quality control and specifications and he made numerous journeys to South America, Australia, Europe and Canada to audit suppliers on specifications of products to be delivered to the ships.

As a leader Roth had the proven ability to work effectively with a team of truly multinational managers and employees.

Roth worked both in hands-on and senior level management onboard ships as well in the corporate offices. He has a no-nonsense, open minded and positive management style according to industry peers.

Roth’s people-focused leadership style has helped him during the change operating transition phase from Dutch to Indonesian crew and European to Pilipino crew from 1973 to 1975, and again during the transition from Apollo to Celebrity Cruises in 2001 and 2003.

Roth is survived by wife Anne and son Richard.