Heineken Global Duty Free announced it is accelerating its draught beer training program for its cruise line partners.

The Heineken Passion & Quality Training program has been developed to address the dynamics of the onboard draught experience, where speed of service is a priority, the company said.

Launched in the EU in 2023, the training program has doubled year-on-year, with over 1,000 crew members trained to date.

The expanded 2025 program will now welcome another 1.500 bar personnel across training program in Europe and Mexico to complete the Heineken draught pouring quality ritual that epitomizes the principles of former Heineken president, Freddy Heineken and his legacy, “The only reason to order a second beer is the quality of the first.”

Led by the best draught masters from the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, the training takes place in the onboard bars so that crew are in their natural working environment with familiar set-up and equipment.

The shoreside program includes Athens, Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Cozumel and Southampton.

Christian Klimpke, Global Account Manager Cruises, commented: “Quality is at the heart of Heineken wherever we operate, and crew engagement is fundamental to the success of our Cruise business. Our focus on quality extends beyond the beer to the people entrusted to fill the glass.  The Cruise training programme has been highly successful, and is very popular with bar teams who become valued Heineken ambassadors.  The training helps busy on-board bars to better meet the expectations of guests, driving results for our Cruise partners and Heineken, but also increasing guest satisfaction too.”

Participating cruise lines include Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Holland America, MSC, Princess, P&O, and Royal Caribbean.