The Marine Hotel Association (MHA) teamed up with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to deliver a scholarship program to cruise line chefs at the CIA’s Hyde Park, New York, campus this past October.

MHA member cruise lines were able to nominate chefs for the program, with participation from Princess, Disney, Norwegian, Lindblad, Virgin, Windstar, Oceania, Regent, Marella, Mystic and Anglo-Eastern, the latter of which runs hotel operations for various expedition and niche brands.

Titles attending ranged from executive chefs to corporate chefs.

The five-day program was designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of top culinary professionals from cruise lines.

Chefs Together

The course focused on refining leadership styles, problem-solving techniques, and operational management skills in high-pressure culinary environments.

“We were able to share ideas and challenges from our daily operation, with all the chefs coming from different brands, different ship sizes and different styles of cooking and work environments,” said Didier Lailheugue, corporate executive chef at Norwegian Cruise Line.

Among the highlights Lailheugue said it was good to better understand plant-based food and how to build a menu with a limited amount of traditional protein options.

Raffaele Saia, executive chef at Oceania Cruises, said that the course had a good amount of time with professional instructors.

“We can interact and confront different points and opinions,” he said.

Kurt Timmermans, senior executive chef at Virgin Voyages, said that the program allowed chefs to get out of their comfort zones and look at different ideas and approaches.

“That included our thoughts about certain ideas, issues the other chefs are dealing with, and brainstorming together to see the best outcome in certain situations,” he said.

“I feel that one of the keys that I will take from the program is that the industry is struggling in certain areas globally and that all the companies are dealing with the same issues, all in their respective groups of guests. The key to take away is that coming together and discussing this within certain groups helps one another to grow and that together we can make the industry better wave by wave. That together we stand stronger. This program was a door opener to have these discussions.”

Going Forward

The MHA plans to offer two scholarship programs on an annual basis going forward, one in spring and one in fall, both with the CIA at the association’s New York and Singapore locations.

The five-day October course served as a pilot program of sorts, with attendees providing feedback on the curriculum for future courses.

Next up, the MHA has its 40th anniversary conference and trade show in Naples, Florida, March 27-29.