The logistics of feeding passengers on modern mega-cruise ships involve industrial-scale operations descended from the kitchen revolution of Auguste Escoffier.
The Star of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean, is the largest cruise ship in history. At full capacity it carries around 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew. It is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, weighs 250,000 tonnes (almost five Titanics) and boasts more than 20 decks, seven swimming pools, an ice rink and the world's largest water park at sea.
The ship's 344 chefs and 1,700 front-of-house staff prepare, serve and clear up about 100,000 meals a day. Ingredients for a week-long cruise cost $1.5m. The main dining room seats 500 and turns tables three times per evening, serving nearly 6,000 diners in under two and a half hours. There are 26 restaurants in total.
Daily protein service runs to 6,800kg (15,000lbs). The fish freezer is 210 square metres -- about five times the size of the average London flat. The dry store holds two tonnes of sugar and almost four tonnes of rice. An internal corridor known as the "i-95" runs the full 300-metre length of the ship.
The organisational model aboard mega-cruise ships descends directly from Auguste Escoffier's division-of-labour reforms in professional kitchens.
The ship uses software called Crunchtime to monitor ingredients in real time, predict required portions using AI and historical data, and optimise mise-en-place. In 2023 the top three cruise lines spent $2.5bn on ingredients alone.
A norovirus outbreak can destroy a cruise. In 2014, 630 passengers fell ill on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas.
Thirteen at a table is unlucky only when the hostess has only twelve chops.