Am I going to see any food inspired by the locales we visit?

We're going on the Voyager of the Seas--first cruise ever--and it's going to different ports in the Adriatic. Do you know if there are any menu items that "honor" the places we're visiting, you know, like Italian food for the Italy parts of the cruise and Croatian food when we're in Dubrovnik?

Or is it all pretty much American food from start to finish no matter where the ship sails.

We're going on the Voyager of the Seas--first cruise ever--and it's going to different ports in the Adriatic. Do you know if there are any menu items that "honor" the places we're visiting, you know, like Italian food for the Italy parts of the cruise and Croatian food when we're in Dubrovnik?

 

Or is it all pretty much American food from start to finish no matter where the ship sails.

The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), an arm of the US Center for Disease Control in the USA pretty much controls all food products going onto and off of any ships that call at US Ports. This control extends to those ships even when they are not in US Ports.

As a result, the vast majority of cruise ships - regardless of where they are sailing - are required to purchase food products that are from "Certified Vendors". Those certified vendors are certified by the CDC, and as you probably can guess, exist only in the USA.

It is still possible to try to reproduce local dishes using American products. But there is another challenge. All the menus onboard most mass market ships are corporate menus.

These menus are tried and true. They have been tested for many months and years onboard ships and have received the highest ratings from the mostly American passengers. The menus cannot be changed by the onboard management.

The next challenge in trying to reproduce local dishes is the very fussy eaters we encounter on most mass market ships.

If the ship reproduces local dishes, do they choose to make them authentic - in which case most passengers wouldn't like them. Or do they choose to "Americanize" them, and then get many complaints that they are not authentic?

If we do try to make them authentic, some passengers go ashore and eat the same dishes, then complain that the dishes they had ashore were better. Hardly surprising that the locals can produce a local dish better than the Ship's German Executive Chef and his Filipino cooks can - especially when the locals use fresh ingredients and the ship is required by the CDC to use frozen and canned ingredients.

In any case, the passengers complain. Since many of the onboard management staff receive bonuses, pay increases, and promotions based on those critical comment cards, they are very reluctant to even try to introduce local dishes that have proven over the years to destroy the guest satisfaction ratings.

The bottom line is - if you want to try to local dishes, you really should. But let the ship's staff do what they do best and let the locals show you what they do best.

Bruce, your comment is so interesting! And makes so much sense. Thanks for the background on why ship menus are as they are.

Bruce, you've summed up why I simply cannot see myself going on too many more cruises. I enjoy the relaxation and multiple ports. But it can be very difficult to connect with the local culture, food, music, history, etc in any meaningful way. It makes cruising too much like the Cliff's Notes version of travel for my taste.

YMMV.

The menus are pretty much the same for every ship within a cruiseline, no matter where it's going. The exception may be on the "luxury" lines....but on the mass-market ships, don't count on "local" fare.

The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), an arm of the US Center for Disease Control in the USA pretty much controls all food products going onto and off of any ships that call at US Ports. This control extends to those ships even when they are not in US Ports.

 

As a result, the vast majority of cruise ships - regardless of where they are sailing - are required to purchase food products that are from "Certified Vendors". Those certified vendors are certified by the CDC, and as you probably can guess, exist only in the USA.

 

It is still possible to try to reproduce local dishes using American products. But there is another challenge. All the menus onboard most mass market ships are corporate menus.

These menus are tried and true. They have been tested for many months and years onboard ships and have received the highest ratings from the mostly American passengers. The menus cannot be changed by the onboard management.

 

The next challenge in trying to reproduce local dishes is the very fussy eaters we encounter on most mass market ships.

If the ship reproduces local dishes, do they choose to make them authentic - in which case most passengers wouldn't like them. Or do they choose to "Americanize" them, and then get many complaints that they are not authentic?

 

If we do try to make them authentic, some passengers go ashore and eat the same dishes, then complain that the dishes they had ashore were better. Hardly surprising that the locals can produce a local dish better than the Ship's German Executive Chef and his Filipino cooks can - especially when the locals use fresh ingredients and the ship is required by the CDC to use frozen and canned ingredients.

 

In any case, the passengers complain. Since many of the onboard management staff receive bonuses, pay increases, and promotions based on those critical comment cards, they are very reluctant to even try to introduce local dishes that have proven over the years to destroy the guest satisfaction ratings.

 

The bottom line is - if you want to try to local dishes, you really should. But let the ship's staff do what they do best and let the locals show you what they do best.

Excellent explanation. NCL Epic served a "regional specialty" each night in the Western Caribbean, but I think it was just a "gussied up" version of a regular entree, you know, add some cocunut milk or something. A backstage tour of the galley was incredible, seeing where all that food is prepared :)

Bruce, you've summed up why I simply cannot see myself going on too many more cruises. I enjoy the relaxation and multiple ports. But it can be very difficult to connect with the local culture, food, music, history, etc in any meaningful way. It makes cruising too much like the Cliff's Notes version of travel for my taste.

 

YMMV.

Septane,

You have prety much summed up the gist of North Americans taking a cruise. Many will go because they can have a tiny taste or glimpse of other cultures - without getting out of their comfort zones. It's quite alright to watch a few natives from an air-conditioned bus - so long as they can get quickly back to the ship to eat more hamburgers and drink Diet Coke.

I sailed in Hawaii for many years.

One of our first stops was Hilo on the Big Island.

There were 2 buses waiting on the pier.

One bus took passengers (for $10) to visit the longest erupting volcano in modern history. Truly a once in a lifetime experience, not to be missed.

The other bus (free) was a shuttle to the WalMart on the other side of town.

The Walmart bus was packed with passengers, with a long waiting line to catch the next bus.

The bus to the Volcano? Nearly empty.

Our next stop was Fanning Island in the Kiribati Republic.

This was a time capsule, where you could visit a tropical coral atoll that showed us what Hawaii and Tahiti were like 400 years ago. We visited primitive canibals, who really wore grass skirts every day and had never owned shoes. These people had never seen a light bulb or ice. And they spoke English, so we could actually talk to them and find out what their lives were like. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience, akin to boarding a time machine and traveling into the past.

Most passengers stepped ashore off the tender, and asked where the internet cafe and Starbucks were located.

When they found that nothing like that existed on the island, they turned directly around, reboarded the tender, and went straight back to the ship to watch CNN and drink more Diet Coke.

The cruise lines are so successful because they give the public what they really want.

Was the key word in Hawaii "Walmart" or "free"?

Your posts are great...and true.

For those that want real "local" food, find a local restaurant a few blocks away from the port, not right across the street from the port. Enjoy what they have to offer...order something you've never heard of. Then, for dinner, head to the Lido deck or the MDR and share your experiences with fellow passengers over a steak, or lobster or a classic, tried-and-true ship's entree. Both dining experiences are possible.

For those that want real "local" food, find a local restaurant a few blocks away from the port, not right across the street from the port. Enjoy what they have to offer...order something you've never heard of.

that's what we did. We asked the locals what they like to eat and where at and got some great non tourist food in port. I had cou-cou in barbados with a stew and we also had flying fish. Curried conch with coconut dumplings in st Kitts. Some amazing johny cakes too.

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