While travelers enjoy fun in the sun aboard all-inclusive cruise ships, a complex supply chain with hundreds of players works behind the scenes to keep it all going.
If you’ve ever had anxiety about hosting a dinner party, you’ll be awestruck to discover the massive effort that keeps a full-capacity cruise liner afloat -- and its passengers fed and happy. Let’s take a closer look at the intricate logistical planning necessary to ensure that travelers have an unforgettable vacation experience.
Turnaround Days
“Turnaround Days,” or the periods when a ship embarks and disembarks from a port, are crucial components of the cruise supply chain. An article in the New York Times details the logistics involved on a typical turnaround day for the cruise ship, “The Oasis of the Seas,” owned and operated by Royal Caribbean. The Oasis -- which holds approximately 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crewmembers -- is the largest cruise ship in the world, and in the span of a 10-hour “Turnaround Day,” its crew loads and unloads 12,000 passengers (and their luggage), while also cleaning and sanitizing 2,706 rooms, 16 passenger decks, and 4 pools.
On these days, it’s quite literally all hands on deck as crewmembers must swiftly and efficiently load the rations and supplies necessary to sustain the passengers and crew until the next port is reached -- a span of up to several days.
All You Can Eat (and Drink)
Oh, and if you’re wondering about those famous all-you-can-eat buffets, here are a few statistics that will make your head spin. When the Oasis cruises to the Caribbean for a seven-day voyage, all the provisions for the week go with it: “The islands visited don't have the quantity — or the quality — of supplies to meet the needs of the ship,” says Raimund Gschaider, Royal Caribbean’s vice president for hotel operations.
According to Mashable, the Oasis stocks its two dozen cold storage rooms with 18,314 pounds of beef, 19,723 pounds of chicken, 7,070 pounds of fish, 10,680 pounds of hot dogs, and 5,400 pounds of lobster tails. And that’s just the meat. As for alcohol? At the outset of its journey, the Oasis is stocked with 31,900 bottles of beer, 6,136 bottles of wine, and 2,057 bottles of assorted spirits.
Food and alcohol is stocked at port, but how do cruise ships manage to provide fresh water for thousands of thirsty passengers? Most cruise ships employ the use of specially engineered desalinization systems that use reverse-osmosis to make seawater drinkable. On board the Oasis, 2,000 tons of fresh water are produced every day.
And what about wastewater? The majority of cruise ships employ state-of-the-art treatment facilities that clean wastewater before it is released into the ocean. On the Oasis, 1,200 pounds of wastewater are treated per day using ultraviolet light coupled with bacterial and chemical systems, ensuring that wastewater expelled from the boat doesn’t pollute the sea.
How Does the Food Get from the Farm to Your Plate?
Predicting Passenger Needs
In order to plan for their passengers’ massive need for supplies, cruise ship operators make use of big data to analyze passenger trends and predict traveler behavior. According to an article by Condé Nast Traveler, the popular cruise line Cunard uses a passenger’s nationality as a factor in determining what type of wine they’re most likely to prefer.
In addition to this helpful background data, specialized analytics are used in real-time to determine passenger eating habits. For example, Royal Caribbean employs head counting technology that can alert crewmembers to when and where passengers are going to eat. This ensures that kitchens are prepped and ready to serve hungry passengers during peak serving times.
These sophisticated analytical tools, coupled with the manpower of countless crewmembers and suppliers, ensure that the only thing passengers have to worry about during their vacation is getting a sunburn -- everything else is smooth sailing.
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