Feeding the masses at sea

 

In contrast to my earlier article on food at sea in the 1950's here is a summary of information gleaned from a recent article in  the Economist (December 20, p32).

The largest current cruise ship is the Star of the Seas at 250000 tons she is the largest playground at sea for 7600 guests and 2350 crew.

With a dining room of 500 tables and 25 other restaurants 6000 people will eat in a 2.5 hour period The chef with his 344 other chefs and 1700 catering staff will have served and cleared up 100000 meals in one day.

This is not take away food but fresh food prepared on board ship daily, a lot of it.

A sample of the magnitude of the food on board is 25000 items of which include 15000 lobster  tails and 400 tons of bottled water. 

In one day they will serve 6800kg of protein. 

This requires large storage facilities. 210 square metres alone for frozen fish. The dry store holds 4 tons rice and 2 tons sugar and there are chilled rooms for milk, cream, butter etc.

A three week planning cycle is necessary to keep pace with the feeding habits of the passsengers.

In a buffet style environment there is also a lot of waste food that has to be dealt with. 

Some of it is burnt  to produce enough energy to powere the gigantic water slide on board.

What a world.



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