food costs

[easyed]

does anyone have a guess of the per diem cost of food on cruise ships?

[eh2zed]

does anyone have a guess of the per diem cost of food on cruise ships?

Your question is a bit ambiguous. There is no cost for food on cruise ships for the passenger (only exception I know is easyCruise). Its included. If you are asking what on average does a cruise line pay per day per passenger for food that would depend on the cruise line itself. Crystal, Regent, etc would pay much more than NCL or Carnival or RCI, etc.

[paul929207]

For us it is free unless you go to the specialty resturant. (OK, we pay for it as part of our cruise, but no separate charge).

 

If you mean the amount a cruise line pays, this will vary from line to line. The high end will spend more.

[cruisinbuddy]

Actually I know what you mean. Being a Chef, I'd say I know a little about " Food Cost". Now I've been on 5 cruises and I'd have to say that for the average diner, not the ones who take 3 dinners, and feast at the buffet, then get a few slices of pizza, and then for dessert have a burger & fries, for lunch, etc., the cruise line spends @ $20.00 a day per person and then a bit more for lobster night. Don't forget, they buy in bulk.

[BobBeaSea]

Just a guess but mass market lines - about $8.00 pppd. Slightly above mass market - about $11.00 pppd. Luxury lines, about $25.00+ pppd.

[BruceMuzz]

Some of you got pretty close.

 

NCL is the bargain basement leader at $7.25 per passenger per day.

Carnival is next at around $8.15 per passenger per day.

 

Most of the middle range to premium lines are spending between $10 -$12.50 per day.

 

Silver Sea is around $24 per day.

Seabourn is at $28 per day.

 

Aftet all these years in the business, I still can't understand how we manage to feed people massive portions of food 6 to 8 times a day for this kind of money.

[vmom]

I had read a post a while back which listed the current costs for all the major lines. Don't know where that post is now.

 

How do you find out that info? I find it very interesting.

[newmexicoNita]

I had read a post a while back which listed the current costs for all the major lines. Don't know where that post is now.

 

How do you find out that info? I find it very interesting.

I have seen it as well. lets keep looking, I think Buzz is a little off just like he was on the number of Americans that smoke. Buzz, which cruise line do you work for or do you want to let us know?

 

Nita

[sail7seas]

Let's please leave BruceMuzz the privacy of not asking which line he work(ed)(s) for. If he cared to say, he would. His information is so helpful and we know it is accurate. If we pester him asking for private information, he may 'disappear' and we'd be the losers. ;)

 

JMHO.......

[BruceMuzz]

Nita,

I must admit that like most cruise ship management people, I am no expert on smoking. I don't even smoke myself (at least not directly). The smoking numbers I report are the ones I read in the newspaper or on the internet.

 

Having been a F&B Manager on many ships for many years however, I can confidently claim to be an expert on Cruise Line Food Cost. My salary, bonuses, and continued employment for the past several decades were all directly based on meeting those all-important budget number targets. I often dream (or have nightmares) about food cost targets.

 

I can add a bit more info that may interest you. The food cost budget for every ship changes slightly nearly every week. Our accounting people use historical data as well as some very educated guesswork to determine how many kilos of chicken, lobster, steak, and everything else you folks will consume in a given week, with a particular demographic, on a given itinerary. These "guestimates" are normally remarkably accurate.

The Mass Market Cruising Public are far more predictable than you would ever imagine.

[sail7seas]

That is so interesting.

 

What would make the food consumption differ from week to week on the same ship, doing the same itinerary with the same number of pax aboard? Other than more or less children?

 

Or does it vary slightly by number of people in their 60's vs. 70's? By whether more are from the East Coast than from Middle America or more people from Canada on a given week?

 

Do those sort of variances really change the food consumption?

[BruceMuzz]

Sail,

There are a number of variables that have profound effects on food consumption:

Age of the passengers (older passengers typically eat less)

 

Number of teens onboard (they typically eat far more - and more often)

 

Number of sea days (people eat far more on sea days than port days)

 

Geography (Midwestern Americans generally eat more than Americans from the East and West Coasts; Northeast Americans are rarely impressed with the quality of the frozen lobster tails and tend to order other dishes instead) (US West Coast people prefer lighter dishes; US East Coast people go for the heavy stuff)

 

Nationality (Americans and Brits eat far more beef and potatoes than most other nationalities) (Americans are particularly fussy about food. They tend to play it safe and stick to the basics. Europeans and Asians will try and enjoy just about anything)

 

Climate (People tend to eat heavier in cold climates than in hot ones)

 

Itinerary (Cruisers have specific expectations on specific itineraries. If the ship is sailing in Mexico for example, they tend to go for any onboard Mexican dishes. This seems quite strange to us, as the ingredients were purchased in America, prepared by Austrians, and served by Asians.)

 

Price (People sailing on low budget cruises tend to eat more than those sailing on higher priced cruises.)

 

*** Disclaimer: These are only generalities about mass market feeding. If you see yourself represented somehow in the above comments, please do not take this personally. It is not about you. Your mileage may vary.

[sail7seas]

Thanks, BruceMuzz...

 

I find this really interesting but after reading your last post, I see it makes sense as a generalization. Not much of the demographic presentation you outlined is really surprising. It's logical.

 

[bUU]

That point Bruce made about, "The Mass Market Cruising Public are far more predictable than you would ever imagine," really applies much more broadly. For practically everything, the mass-market is remarkably predictable.

 

Some esoterical related to this... Not every prediction is used to ensure 100% availability of whatever is desired, though. Perhaps Bruce can comment on that from the cruise ship perspective, but more generally, such predictions are often used so as to ensure availability some very high percentage of the time (let's say, for demonstration purposes, 98%) but not 100% of the time, because the cost of failing to provide the extra marginal amount of satisfaction that would come from having availability absolutely all the time is smaller than the cost of ensuring the service is able to support that extra percentage of availability.

[BobBeaSea]

Bicker, I had to have a drink so I could understand your post. :D I think I know what your point is. I just hope Bruce can figure it out. :)

[bUU]

Bruce is a really smart guy... he'll have no trouble! :)

[gojanie]

Hmmm. less than $10 a person sure sounds cheap to me...It cost me a dollar in the supermarket just to buy 1 apple these days.

 

Glad they can do it cheap...just surprising seeing the amount of waste that there is on a ship.

[Doug R.]

Actually I know what you mean. Being a Chef, I'd say I know a little about " Food Cost". Now I've been on 5 cruises and I'd have to say that for the average diner, not the ones who take 3 dinners, and feast at the buffet, then get a few slices of pizza, and then for dessert have a burger & fries, for lunch, etc., the cruise line spends @ $20.00 a day per person and then a bit more for lobster night. Don't forget, they buy in bulk.

 

So that was you following me around during my cruises? :D

[mr green]

I saw the figure of $11.00 to $13.00 average,per person, per day, for the 'Mass Market Cruise Lines', a couple of years ago.

I guess that my wife and I just don't buy right.:rolleyes:

 

john

[flvol77]

Some of you got pretty close.

 

NCL is the bargain basement leader at $7.25 per passenger per day.

Carnival is next at around $8.15 per passenger per day.

 

Most of the middle range to premium lines are spending between $10 -$12.50 per day.

 

Silver Sea is around $24 per day.

Seabourn is at $28 per day.

 

Aftet all these years in the business, I still can't understand how we manage to feed people massive portions of food 6 to 8 times a day for this kind of money.

 

JMO you can see it in NCL's food that they are the bargain basement leader.

[Multi-Cruiser]

I'd be interested in seeing just how much food waste there is on an average sailing and how the cruise lines deal with it. There has to be a lot of waste.

 

Bryan

[BruceMuzz]

The average mid-sized cruise ship today generates between 7 and 10 tons of garbage per day. This includes food waste, sewage solids, glass, metal, plastic, paper, and many other things.

 

Food waste is compressed in a giant trash compactor - to get most of the water out. It is then dried, and finally burned as fuel for boilers.

 

Glass is pulverized nearly to dust and sold to recyclers on shore.

 

Aluminum and tin are compacted and sold to recyclers on shore.

 

Other metals are carted away by waste management companies.

 

Plastics that do not create noxious gases are burned in the ship's incinerators when the ship is more that 3 miles at sea.

 

Plastics that do create noxious gases when burned are compacted, baled, and carted away by waste management companies on shore.

 

All other combustibles (paper, wood, etc.)are also burned in the incinerators. The heat from the incinerators is recycled to the distillery that produces fresh water.

 

Sewage solids from sewage treatment are compacted, dried, and burned as fuel for the boilers.

 

All residual chemicals (photo, engine room, medical, etc) are stored in special containers and off-loaded as hazardous waste at very high cost to waste management companies on shore.

 

Residual ash from incinerators and boilers is off-loaded as hazardous waste at very high cost to waste management companies on shore.

[Multi-Cruiser]

I knew there had to be a lot of trash generated on the ships, but I had no idea it was that much. It looks like the cruise lines are the ultimate recyclers. They have trash handling down to a science. That's excellent. Much less trash for landfills and they put it to good use onboard.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Bryan

[bepsf]

The average mid-sized cruise ship today generates between 7 and 10 tons of garbage per day. This includes food waste, sewage solids, glass, metal, plastic, paper, and many other things.

 

Food waste is compressed in a giant trash compactor - to get most of the water out. It is then dried, and finally burned as fuel for boilers.

 

Glass is pulverized nearly to dust and sold to recyclers on shore.

 

Aluminum and tin are compacted and sold to recyclers on shore.

 

Other metals are carted away by waste management companies.

 

Plastics that do not create noxious gases are burned in the ship's incinerators when the ship is more that 3 miles at sea.

 

Plastics that do create noxious gases when burned are compacted, baled, and carted away by waste management companies on shore.

 

All other combustibles (paper, wood, etc.)are also burned in the incinerators. The heat from the incinerators is recycled to the distillery that produces fresh water.

 

Sewage solids from sewage treatment are compacted, dried, and burned as fuel for the boilers.

 

All residual chemicals (photo, engine room, medical, etc) are stored in special containers and off-loaded as hazardous waste at very high cost to waste management companies on shore.

 

Residual ash from incinerators and boilers is off-loaded as hazardous waste at very high cost to waste management companies on shore.

 

 

Bruce--

 

I was under the impression that food waste was chopped up and served to the fishies?

 

...and that some lines - HAL in particular - recycle their dry waste paper (there are recycling bins in the staterooms for sale sheets/daily programs, etc. I understand that HAL specifically contributes its recycling revenue to the Crew Fund.)

[Happy ks]

I'm not at all surprised by the food cost, if you figure $10-12 pp/pd at home for a family of 4 you have a weekly budget of $280-336. That is a generous amount of money for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we usually spend around $180-200 per week at the grocery store. We eat or prepare almost all our own meals at home.

 

What the cost does not include is the labor. I know when I worked at a hotel/banquet facility our guests were always surprised at how a buffet would cost them more per person than a served meal. The reason being a buffet is prepared and served by more kitchen staff than a served meal. Servers are generally paid less than minimum wage as they receive gratuity, trained kitchen staff can be the highest paid staff on the property. Not to mention the fact that more food is prepped and cooked for a buffet than a served meal.

 

So, actual food cost per person cannot be determined just by what is paid to the supplier for the food alone.

 

I know a lot of people on CC argue that little kids and babies don't eat much, so their fare should not be as high as other pax. In reality, since the labor cost is the same, the cruise line is not saving a huge amount of money by a baby or toddler not eating much food. It might be nice if they gave them a slight discount, perhaps $50 or so for the week.

 

Then we should argue the person taking more than their "fair share" should be charged more than the average person. I've seen both adults and kids in the buffet taking heaps of food that will contribute to the waste bucket without first being eaten.