Chef
Plain sailing
During an eight-day cruise around the Canary Islands onboard the Braemar John Gore caught up with the man in charge of the onboard experience - Fred Olsen’s hotel manager, Joachim Scherz
OBH: Tell us how you came to be in this onboard role. JS: I have worked in the cruising industry for 23 years with Seabourn, Regent and Celebrity cruise lines. I chose Fred Olsen nine years ago because I share its vision of a hands-on approach to guests and smaller ships.
What are the key challenges you face on a floating hotel? I would say produce first and foremost. Plus the fact that the expectations of our guests are very, very high. We produce about 15,000 plates per day on board, and the challenge is to maintain consistency. We have a pre-set menu cycle and then adjust what is served based on consumption history. Normally we get it right and we get a lot of positive feedback.
Where do you source your ingredients? Fred Olsen has a central supplier in Southampton which supplies the whole fleet and these are flown out to us. Most is sourced in the UK but our beef comes mostly from the US; lamb is from New Zealand and fish is primarily from Denmark. Sometimes we also buy local produce – fresh fish, for example.
Tell us about the onboard operation. The hotel department is obviously the largest. Out of a crew of 370, 294 are directly involved with the welfare of the guests. We have a galley staff of 69, with an executive chef in charge. We have two main kitchens, our own onboard bakery and a dedicated preparation area.
How do you handle special meal requirements? We have a dietary meeting at the beginning of each cruise and usually we have about 20-30 special requests per cruise. We do not have the facilities to do kosher or halal because for that you need a separate kitchen.
How much wine/Champagne is consumed on an average cruise? We cater for two bottles of wine per person per day. Since going all- inclusive consumption has increased 450-500% which was a surprise as we thought, because of the demographic, our guests didn’t drink! At the moment this has only been trialled on Braemar, but Balmoral and the sister ships will follow in the next couple of months. Then the company will decide whether to include it in the fare.
Why do you think Fred Olsen repeat levels are so high? We have a very loyal repeat 'family' – around 55-60% of all guests – who love the fact that waiters and staff remember them and their requests, and make them feel special. This is only something you can do on smaller vessels. I don’t think they come back for the ship, it’s the service and the recognition that is most important.
That goes for our crew as well. If we don’t recognise how good they are, we will never be successful. We have a very high staff retention rate, with something like 1,500 years’ service with Fred Olsen in the dining room! That is very unusual.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Every day is different and it’s never boring. I enjoy spending time with guests. Where else do you get the opportunity to travel the world for free? At present I have over 1900 ports in my logbook of the past 20 years. We work at a fast pace and put in a lot of hours, but it doesn’t matter.
Tell us what a cruise ship needs to replenish every cruise? We load 180-200 tonnes in total for a 14-day cruise including one toilet roll per person per day! So on this eight-day cruise with 800 guests and 400 crew we would be looking at 10,000 toilet rolls! Food consumed during the eight-day cruise includes: pork: 1,222.61kg; butter: 182kg; beef: 722.98kg; milk: 1,778kg; lamb: 522.90kg; cream: 25.5l; poultry: 1,180kg; whipping cream: 585l; fish: 961kg; cheese: 363.95 kg; potatoes: 2,280kg; flour: 596.00kg; vegetables: 4.76 tonnes; ice cream: 386l, butter portions: 11,200.
We have a very high staff retention rate, with something like 1,500 years’ service with Fred Olsen in the dining room! That is very unusual for the cruising industry
Pictured: On deck dining onboard the Braemar (above); and (left) Joachim Scherz
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