Cruises leaving from unlikely places (like Greenland!)--how do they get provisioned?

[Nitemare]

Saw a Ponant ship on a recent vacation (gorgeous ship), so did some research, and noticed they have a few cruises that start or end (or both) in Greenland.

 

How the heck do they provision these cruises? Some of them go to zero truly populated areas, and the Greenland ports themselves are barely village sized.

 

Heck, the one I looked at, the embarkation port only has one flight/day in and out from outside the country!

[navybankerteacher]

Saw a Ponant ship on a recent vacation (gorgeous ship), so did some research, and noticed they have a few cruises that start or end (or both) in Greenland.

 

How the heck do they provision these cruises? Some of them go to zero truly populated areas, and the Greenland ports themselves are barely village sized.

 

Heck, the one I looked at, the embarkation port only has one flight/day in and out from outside the country!

 

Ships do not need to take provisions on at every port. Many ships can go a couple of weeks without re-provisioning. The real question is: why would anyone want to fly to someplace in back of beyond to board a cruise ship? I can't help thinking that it is some sort of exercise in "Look at what I can do, folks!"

[CruiserBruce]

The cruise lines ship intermodal containers all over the world to support their ships. If you watch closely, you will see these intermodal containers off loaded next to the ship. An "intermodal container" are those metal boxes that stack on ships, are stacked on a truck, stacked on trains and can be slipped into cargo planes. All without changing the load.

 

World cruises, "Grand" Voyages- long cruises- like 60 days routes- and even 15-20 day repositioning cruises get replenishment at different ports.. We did a 19 day Florida-Alaska repo cruise a few years ago. The Captain told us the maximum time the ship could go without fresh fruit and vegetables was 10 days. So, at the 10 day mark, containers were waiting for us in Costa Rica. Other items, like frozen fish and beef, the ship can go further. But on our behind the scenes tour, it was very obvious, as we neared 14 days, the cupboards were getting pretty bare. And not just for food. Booze, seasonings, sugar flour, etc, all were getting low.

 

We have also seen another reason for this sort of shipping/supply is to meet our needs for "American" items. American cuts of beef for example, which would not be standard in other parts of the world.

[Keith1010]

Yes, if the cruise begins in a port it will get provisioned there. Some items are flown in and others arrived by container.

 

I am not aware of traditional cruise lines that would start or end a cruise in Greenland.

 

Sites are carefully selected to get passengers to and from the ports where the cruise starts and ends and to provision the ship according.

 

Keith

[cruiseryyc]

We have also seen another reason for this sort of shipping/supply is to meet our needs for "American" items. American cuts of beef for example, which would not be standard in other parts of the world.

 

Just curious - what is an "American cut of beef" and how is it different from anywhere else in the world??

[CruiserBruce]

Just curious - what is an "American cut of beef" and how is it different from anywhere else in the world??

 

For example (and this is an example only), what if prime rib is not a standard cut sold in Europe? But Americans love it. From our travels we know Europeans don't eat the same cuts of beef as Americans. So a cruise line that caters to Americans will seek to keep items Americans like available. Yes, there will also be European oriented items, but there will be American favorites as well.

[PennyAgain]

I am fascinated by the provisioning that goes on with ships when they come into port. On one cruise I watched as a mountain of bottled water was taken on the a cruise ship. It seemed like an impossible amount but once the ship sailed many people were walking around drinking bottled water of that famous brand.

 

I've traveled on some very small ships and have always watched the provisioning. On one small ship where we spent time away from major ports we were thrilled when fresh eggs were boarded and oddly, very oddly, they were from Wisconsin!

 

On a Columbia river boat trip I did last year, the ship ran out of fresh fruit, bread and cream for coffee. Never could figure that out as we were never far at all from some town or another. It had to be poor planning.

[donaldsc]

I am fascinated by the provisioning that goes on with ships when they come into port. On one cruise I watched as a mountain of bottled water was taken on the a cruise ship. It seemed like an impossible amount but once the ship sailed many people were walking around drinking bottled water of that famous brand.

 

I've traveled on some very small ships and have always watched the provisioning. On one small ship where we spent time away from major ports we were thrilled when fresh eggs were boarded and oddly, very oddly, they were from Wisconsin!

 

On a Columbia river boat trip I did last year, the ship ran out of fresh fruit, bread and cream for coffee. Never could figure that out as we were never far at all from some town or another. It had to be poor planning.

 

We have a friend who did a transatlantic to Europe on a major line - can't remember which one. They ran out of bananas 3 days out of port. Figure that one out.

 

DON

[navybankerteacher]

We have a friend who did a transatlantic to Europe on a major line - can't remember which one. They ran out of bananas 3 days out of port. Figure that one out.

 

DON

 

Royal Caribbean Mariner on a November 2012 trans-Atlantic, Rome to Galveston, ran out of tomato juice (except, of course, in the bars) and started strict rationing of butter.

[Shorex]

The real question is: why would anyone want to fly to someplace in back of beyond to board a cruise ship? I can't help thinking that it is some sort of exercise in "Look at what I can do, folks!"

 

Out of curiosity I checked the Ponant website and found a round trip Greenland cruise. The cruise starts and ends in Kangerlussuaq, the major commercial airport in Greenland with scheduled service from Copenhagen (that would handle provisioning). Ponant markets primarily to Europeans so flying in from Copenhagen to start the cruise would not be unreasonable.

 

The ship goes as far north as Thule, well above the arctic circle and within polar bear habitat. A far north cruise (although not this particular one) is on our bucket list, and it would never occur to us to consider or care about what "folks" would think.

[SadieN]

Just curious - what is an "American cut of beef" and how is it different from anywhere else in the world??

 

So true. Just going to any of our local ethnic markets is an experience.

We label (name) and cut our meat differently than other countries.

 

Our experience is Rome. Very difficult to get a chuck roast or anything similar to chuck at the butchers. Didn't even see a prime rib. But was able to get steaks sliced to order, could have even ordered veal. Markets rarely carry anything larger than thin steaks.

[greatam]

Multiply all the cruise ships in the world that need provisioned by a 100 times at least and you see the problem of supplying the US Military in places like Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan. Djibouti, etc. etc.

 

This is the kind of stuff we do for a living-moving food and staple items worldwide for cruise ships, food purveyors large and small and the US Military (who purchase through US vendors primarily). It is a totally fascinating business. Think of all the steps from a farm in Iowa to the DFAC (dining facility) in Bagram AFB, Afghanistan. It is NOT hard logistically to get product any place in the world. Just takes good planning, good co-ordination and sometimes, a VERY healthy pocketbook.

 

One of our most interesting moves was in the late 90's out of Kazakhstan-TURKISH lemonade. We actually had to hire a guy with a cart to move 6 pallets from the very small factory (someone's house actually) to the transhipment point where the product could be loaded in a container and sent to NYC. The guy that was the original purveyor just sold his import business in Brooklyn for about 5 million. And to think it all started with a cart and horses.

[CPT Trips]

We have a friend who did a transatlantic to Europe on a major line - can't remember which one. They ran out of bananas 3 days out of port. Figure that one out.

 

DON

 

Too much monkeying around?

[CruiserBruce]

The instances of ships running out of items quickly could easily be explained by not receiving all or part of an expected order. Stuff happens. Humans are involved.

[SadieN]

We have a friend who did a transatlantic to Europe on a major line - can't remember which one. They ran out of bananas 3 days out of port. Figure that one out.

 

DON

 

 

Mom and Sis were on a cruise that also had a banana problem. Evidently the bananas delivered were either too ripe or too green to be used (don't remember which). Once the bananas left over from the previous cruise were gone there was almost a revolt, lol.

[greatam]

The instances of ships running out of items quickly could easily be explained by not receiving all or part of an expected order. Stuff happens. Humans are involved.

 

Happens all the time. We frequently have orders for say 6 pallets of one product going to one place. And when it is time to pick it up, they only have 4 pallets ready. Or the assembly line broke down so there is NO product. Or last week, one of our bigger shippers had an order for 26 pallets going to 5 different venues. On about 14 of the pallets, the labeling was wrong. It was all labeled for overseas consumption and did NOT meet USDA/FDA rules for labeling.

 

If that would have been a cruise ship provisioning in NYC/NJ/Florida or any other US port, those pallets could not have been loaded on the ship. And no one would have had strawberry shortcake that week (they were frozen strawberries).

 

Bananas are VERY difficult to haul. There are a couple of very specialized "banana haulers" in the USA. They are the ones with the reefer trailers/containers that say Chiquita all over them. IF a truck breaks down with a load of bananas on destined for a cruise ship, you just may not have many bananas.

 

I can't imagine someone getting upset because they didn't have bananas (and I love bananas). Just too much other stuff on a cruise ship to eat.

[jocap]

We were once on a cruise which was due to pick up fresh veg. in Le Havre, France. Right under our balcony, a stack of trays of mushrooms being hauled on board, slipped and crashed to the dock. Within minutes, there were 14 dock workers, officers and officials from the port, all standing staring at the vast pile. One worker looked up at us, winked and gave a Gallic shrug before getting back to his work.

There were probably complaints the next morning that there were no mushrooms with the bacon....

[BruceMuzz]

We have a friend who did a transatlantic to Europe on a major line - can't remember which one. They ran out of bananas 3 days out of port. Figure that one out.

 

DON

Very easy to figure out.

All the major cruise lines do their purchasing from a central office in the USA. Orders are placed months in advance of the cruise. The multitude of items ordered are consolidated somewhere into containers and then either flown or floated to the final destination. If the supplier is not able to furnish all the perishables that were ordered many weeks or months ago, the ship finds out about it the day before the delivery.

 

If the order was short on bananas, the ship has less than 24 hours to find some. But first they need to put the order through their corporate office in the USA - where it is probably the middle of the night. When their purchasing colleagues come to work the next morning and find the emergency order for bananas, they are already almost out of time. If the ship happens to be in Scandinavia, for example, or just about anywhere on a Saturday or Sunday, it is unlikely that they will be able to locate a half ton of bananas on short notice - of if they do locate them, the local supplier is going to charge them a fortune to deliver them to the ship.

 

By the way, the United States Public Health Service claims jurisdiction on every cruise ship in the world that carries American passengers, sells tickets in the USA, or calls at a US Port - regardless of where that ship happens to be sailing. The USPH people insist that all the meat, fish, and poultry served onboard the ship must be; 1. Frozen for a minimum 72 hours before preparing it for you, and 2. Purchased from a US Certified Vendor. The only US Certified Vendors are located in the USA. So all the "protein" items must be flown in frozen or sent frozen on barges from the USA many months in advance.

 

USPH also "strongly recommends" that all fresh fruit and vegetables are also purchased in the USA and transported to the ships - wherever they might be. That explains why when your ship is sailing off Italy in mid-summer, and you see those fantastic Italian tomatoes in the markets, you are being served mealy tomatoes on the ship that were picked green in California many weeks ago and flown at high expense to Italy "for your health and safety".

 

And for those of you who will ask, "What about those cruise lines that offer a tour where you go shopping at local market with the Chef and bring the food back to the ship?"

Yes, it is possible. USPH does not absolutely forbid it - yet. And a cruise ship does not have the personnel or resources to run into a small town, hoping to find enough bib lettuce at the market to feed 5,000 people for 2 weeks. We do occasionally make local purchases in ports - but only when we absolutely must do so. The corporate office frowns on these purchases and the possible health risks they incur.

 

Even so, the logistics of procuring enough bananas or tomatoes (for example) for a ship carrying several thousand people on a regular reliable basis nearly requires a cruise line to fly them in from a reliable supplier rather than just hope that the local merchant; 1. Shows up at all, 2. Is not fertilizing or spraying them with something that could harm you, 3. Will not decide to charge an extra $10,000 because he knows the ship must have them.

[donaldsc]

[quote name=greatam;39718819

Bananas are VERY difficult to haul. There are a couple of very specialized "banana haulers" in the USA. They are the ones with the reefer trailers/containers that say Chiquita all over them. IF a truck breaks down with a load of bananas on destined for a cruise ship' date=' you just may not have many bananas.

 

I can't imagine someone getting upset because they didn't have bananas (and I love bananas). Just too much other stuff on a cruise ship to eat.[/quote]

 

They were not upset. They just thought it strange enough to tell us.

 

DON

[BruceMuzz]

So true. Just going to any of our local ethnic markets is an experience.

We label (name) and cut our meat differently than other countries.

 

Our experience is Rome. Very difficult to get a chuck roast or anything similar to chuck at the butchers. Didn't even see a prime rib. But was able to get steaks sliced to order, could have even ordered veal. Markets rarely carry anything larger than thin steaks.

 

Aside from the US Government regulations requiring cruise ships to serve beef purchased in the USA, there are other considerations.

Americans are possibly the most finicky eaters in the world.

American beef has a unique taste, owing to the artificial feed and all the hormones and other chemicals pumped into American cows.

When my employer re-positioned 2 ships to sail in Argentina, we attempted to convince the US Public Health Service to let us purchase and serve that marvelous Argentinian Beef on our ships, rather than spending a fortune to fly US beef down to South America.

We invited a group of our frequent cruisers to have dinner (on us) in a hotel where we served them Argentinian beef. They hated it. Argentinian cows eat only grass, giving the meat a more natural taste that our American guests did not like.

We scrapped the idea and continued flying the frozen American beef to South America.

[dorisis]

Saw a Ponant ship on a recent vacation (gorgeous ship), so did some research, and noticed they have a few cruises that start or end (or both) in Greenland.

 

How the heck do they provision these cruises? Some of them go to zero truly populated areas, and the Greenland ports themselves are barely village sized.

 

Heck, the one I looked at, the embarkation port only has one flight/day in and out from outside the country!

 

believe it or not, but there are other countries that have all the necessities for human life.

[Rufferto]

While cruising the Med last year on X, we did a behind the scenes tour of the kitchens. The Head chef for Celebrity was on board with us because he was there to train the other chefs and staff on the new menu they were introducing. During the Q&A session, a question was asked about where the food came from. He said everything was flown in from Miami. Asked if anything was purchased locally, he said “maybe some berries”.

So everything on Celebrity (and I also imagine RCCL) is sourced from their Miami warehouses, no matter where the cruise ship is. Next to nothing is sourced locally.

As for Greenland, I imagine the logistics cost is a huge part of the cruise fare.

[CruiserBruce]

So everything on Celebrity (and I also imagine RCCL) is sourced from their Miami warehouses, no matter where the cruise ship is. Next to nothing is sourced locally.

 

 

The way to check this is to look at some of the items on board. For example, on our recent Baltic cruise on HAL's Eurodam, the milk products and soft drink products were clearly locally sourced, as the labels were in Danish (sailed out of Copenhagen) or other European languages. It isn't hard to see other things like bottled water and so on, are in fact, locally obtained.

 

On this cruise we had several local theme nights, where local beers, food and similar were served. Some of this was acquired locally, I would assume.

 

Additionally, we watched salmon being brought on in Bergen (Norway). The boxes- hard frozen- had Norweigian labeling on them. So local products can be used, at least on other cruise lines besides Celebrity.

[John Bull]

 

By the way, the United States Public Health Service claims jurisdiction on every cruise ship in the world that carries American passengers, sells tickets in the USA, or calls at a US Port - regardless of where that ship happens to be sailing. .

 

errr, I don't think so, Bruce.:rolleyes:

 

You're effectively saying the US public health service has jurisdiction over every cruise ship of every country in the world bar North Korea.

Simply not so.

Your insider-knowledge of a US cruise line accepted, but you're seriously over-stating the powers of the US government. ;)

 

JB :)

[navybankerteacher]

errr, I don't think so, Bruce.:rolleyes:

 

You're effectively saying the US public health service has jurisdiction over every cruise ship of every country in the world bar North Korea.

Simply not so.

Your insider-knowledge of a US cruise line accepted, but you're seriously over-stating the powers of the US government. ;)

 

JB :)

 

Actually, JB, what Bruce posted was that the USPHS "...claims jurisdiction..." - not that it "...has jurisdiction...". There is a huge difference.

 

As a practical matter, I believe that the USPHS would attempt to limit cruise line sales in the US if there were proof that said lines were operating with reckless disregard --- and, I also believe that USPH's UK counterpart would also CLAIM appropriate jurisdiction in such a case.