Food & beverage
Dining with a difference
Dining has always sat at the heart of cruise travel, with the buffet a mainstay of the on-board experience. However, the risks posed by Covid-19 are set to fundamentally reshape this aspect of cruising. Elly Earls speaks to Wes Cort, vice-president of food and beverage for Norwegian Cruise Line; chef, mixologist and consultant Kathy Casey; and Fabio Scaglione, director of F&B at Celebrity Cruises, to find out how protocols are changing in the wake of Covid-19 and what post-pandemic dining might look like.
Y
ou might remember a study from May 2020 that went viral. Japanese broadcasting network NHK teamed up with health experts to simulate how quickly a respiratory virus like Covid-19 could spread at a buffet, particularly when people don’t wash their hands. While some experts called the situation artificial, it certainly made its point. One infected person managed to spread the UV substance used to signify germs to food, serving utensils, platters and even the faces of some of the other ‘diners’. The buffet, a staple part of the cruise experience, was shown to be one of the worst places to be dining in the midst of a pandemic.
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
And yet the cruise industry is adamant that it isn’t going anywhere. The buffet will change – with staff serving guests rather than guests serving themselves – but it’s not going to be entirely wiped out of existence. “Guests love that portion of cruise travel – being able to craft their own meals,” says Kathy Casey, the owner of an agency specialising in F&B concept development that has been working with cruise lines for more than 20 years. Cruise passengers are also an increasingly diverse group of people, and the variety of the buffet allows everyone on board to find something they like. “It was evolving before the pandemic and now it might change dramatically,
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