ship resupply question

[vbscoot]

I have watched many times workers loading the ship with supplies at the start  of a cruise.  Having only been on cruises from the US ports, I am wondering about European cruises. We are scheduled B2B on cruises leaving from Venice and Barcelona (total of 26 days).  Is it safe to assume that things would come from a more local supplier?  Which means different brands of food?  Or anything else that would be noticed?  Just curious if we may notice anything new.  I know that even sodas , when bottled in different locations, can taste different .  Just wondering if anyone has inside info on  how the lines go about purchasing their supplies and stocking their ships.  Some things must be on a weekly basis and others probably maybe months.

thanks

[TheOldBear]

This was mentioned on a QM2 'behind the scenes' tour. During the transatlantic season, Cunard does the vast majority of its re-provisioning in Southampton. Only minor amounts of consumables [principally dairy] are replenished in Brooklyn.

 

I would assume for Med based ships, a major influence on port selection are the ship's chandlers available at each port - not just the attractions for the passengers.

[BlueRiband]

CC's resident industry insider, BruceMuzz, has a long post about provisioning.  In this reply from 2007 he outlines the reasons why ships provision with known providers that must keep detailed records of their chain of custody:

 

"...Not so long ago the ships were pretty much autonomous as soon as they left home port. They were able to purchase whatever they wanted or needed wherever it might be available - or wherever it might have a good price.

 

"Not so any more.

 

"There are too many worries about food quality in 3rd world countries. What would happen if they purchased some marvelous local lettuces or fish that was tainted. Everyone aboard could get sick...

 

"Lastly, cruise lines now have very strict budgets about how much the ship is allowed to spend on a weekly basis. The basic rule is: If it's not an emergency, you cannot buy it locally. The Cruise Line's bean counters want total control over what is being purchased - and at what price.

 

"So now most cruise lines purchase foods only from certified vendors in American Ports. Most modern cruise ships can store 2 or 3 weeks worth of frozen, dry, and canned goods. Only very perishable goods like fresh fruits and vegetables are purchased on a weekly basis.

 

"The US Public Health Service is also very involved in what and how ships that call at American Ports purchase their food items. They insist on Certified vendors used for any foods (like vegetables and seafood) that could possibly cause illness.

 

"If the ships are not calling at American Ports, they usually purchase the goods in the USA and air freight them to the best foreign ports for provisioning...

 

"There is an additional concern that cruisers rarely think about. When provisioning goods in an American Port, the Union Stevedores MUST load those provisions. These Stevedores are extremely expensive. So most cruise lines have alternating heavy and light provisioning days in their home ports. The heavy provisioning day sees 2 or 3 weeks worth of non-perishable goods loaded by a large crew of union stevedores at very high cost. The light provisioning day sees a very light load of essential perishable goods loaded by a very small crew of stevedores at a very low cost. In the end the average loading fees are lower under this system, but the quality of perishable foods suffers as a result."

[njhorseman]

Regardless of what "BruceMuzz"  said in 2007 you can be sure at least some of the ship's packaged food supplies will be purchased overseas and not shipped from US sources. You give a good example when mentioning sodas. In fact I've been on ships leaving from US ports that still had a supply of European-bottled soda and water on board having just repositioned from a summer season in Europe to their winter home ports in the US. 

 

[GUT2407]

I was told by a hotel director on Princess that all their supplies are from USA except in Australia and NZ where they take local produce, true or not, I don’t know but it’s what he said 

[BlueRiband]

In the case of highly processed beverages and foods, like the European-bottled beverages you mentioned, the manufacturers would have food safety protocols that would be available.   No ship that is subject to USPHS inspection would bring in provisions that could affect their sanitation score. 

[njhorseman]

9 minutes ago, BlueRiband said:

In the case of highly processed beverages and foods, like the European-bottled beverages you mentioned, the manufacturers would have food safety protocols that would be available.   No ship that is subject to USPHS inspection would bring in provisions that could affect their sanitation score. 

Right, but ships in the course of an overseas season do not have to be worried about USPHS inspections. They're only applicable to ships calling on US ports, so the ships have to comply with whatever regulations are in place in the countries where they are making port calls, not the US. I used the example of foreign bottled soda and water still being used after repositioning to the US to disprove blanket statements claiming that everything is shipped from the US. It simply isn't true, at least not for all cruise lines.

[Capt_BJ]

on a Viking River Cruise a lil while back, on the Danube, an excursion was offered: accompany the Chef on a trip to the large farmer's market in Vienna. Sounded fun and we went ....

 

Found out the chef had done some apprenticing work at the hotel we honeymooned at (Grand Hotel Point Clear Alabama) and so enjoyed some good conversation.  He mentioned that he could buy NOTHING for the ship himself - unless an emergency as has been mentioned - everything was bought 'by the company' and delivered.   This was primarily for quality control.  Altho his buying food was IMPLIED it was clearly not the case.    (He did buy a bag of limes .... said they were getting low and bar would not give him any!)

 

Obviously a Danube river cruise was not getting food from the US ..... but we noticed no lowering of quality.  Last year we did Viking Ocean from London, thru Norway (2 weeks) and I'm sure they too used 'local sources'.  The diet coke tasted a lil different ... but nothing major.

[njhorseman]

Some cruise lines offering an upscale experience will allow the ship to make some purchases of local fresh food.

 

For example on Oceania we've seen an executive chef buy fish directly from local fishermen and then cook it that evening on a grill set up in the outdoor seating area of the Terrace Cafe.

[Shmoo here]

On my recent Hawaii/Tahiti round trip cruise (28 nights out of San Diego), we resupplied in Honolulu and Papeete.  In Papeete, there were at least 4 big shipping containers (I presume sent ahead from US port somewhere) on the dock next to the ship.  I saw 5 pallets of sodas being loaded into the ship out of one of those containers.  Not sure what was in all the other containers.

[jocap]

On a 28 day cruise out of the UK, the provisions went on board at Southampton for the 10 day crossing to Barbados. We were then replenished for the next 18 days. The line, P&O, had two large ships based in Barbados for the winter, doing 2 weekly cruises, so it appeared that the provisions were flown from the UK to Barbados for all the ships. 

A hotel manager was worried that he didn't have enough supplies - mainly small items such as marmalade pots- for the 18 days before replenishing in Southampton. He mentioned that the large ships didn't have the amount of storage room like ships such as Aurora which was purpose built for world cruises, and had massive storage facilities.

We did have those wonderful small, sweet bananas brought on board at Madeira.

[Capt_BJ]

I think the answer here is that cruising is big business and the logistics behind keeping the ships fed and fueled is a big deal .....

 

LOGISTICS ..... that's the big dog in this discussion and if you are a history buff you know that the reason we won WWII was LOGISTICS

 

In the European theater the Germans were still trying to move things by horse while the Allied Armies buried them in trucks.

 

In the Pacific we could move FLOATING DRY DOCKS to repair ships while the enemy could not move food ......

 

[Kartgv]

27 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

On my recent Hawaii/Tahiti round trip cruise (28 nights out of San Diego), we resupplied in Honolulu and Papeete.  In Papeete, there were at least 4 big shipping containers (I presume sent ahead from US port somewhere) on the dock next to the ship.  I saw 5 pallets of sodas being loaded into the ship out of one of those containers.  Not sure what was in all the other containers.

 

We watched the same thing in Papeete on that cruise several years ago.   Our ship sailing was actually delayed because the supply barge was late arriving and unloading.    There was a lot of fresh produce, so I doubt the barge came all the way from the US.   What impressed me the most was watching security dogs sniffing each pallet, as well as the ship's supply officers very thoroughly checking each one.   We saw some pallets rejected.    

Edited April 23, 2019 by Kartgv

[rkacruiser]

My experience:  on a long cruise, i.e. a world cruise or an  Asia/Pacific cruise, the ship's store rooms are "stuffed to the gills" with the appropriate supplies.  But, as these supplies run out, they must be replaced.  I have experienced some local purchasing of items, particularly food items, that are unique to the region being sailed.  The cruise line's desired scenario is that containers filled with items from the United States will rendezvous with the ship at specific ports.  Most of the time it happens; sometimes it doesn't

 

On my Volendam Asia Pacific cruise, the container containing, among other items, toilet tissue, didn't make it when the ship reached China.  The Hotel Manager had to arrange for the purchase of toilet tissue from a Chinese company.  There was an obvious difference when such tissue had to be used.

 

It's amazing to me that the cruise lines are as successful as they are in supplying their vessels.  Even in North American ports, with all of the ships that sail from them on a given day, just think of the huge amount of "stuff" that has to be acquired, transported to the pier, and loaded!

[donaldsc]

8 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

on a Viking River Cruise a lil while back, on the Danube, an excursion was offered: accompany the Chef on a trip to the large farmer's market in Vienna. Sounded fun and we went ....

 

Found out the chef had done some apprenticing work at the hotel we honeymooned at (Grand Hotel Point Clear Alabama) and so enjoyed some good conversation.  He mentioned that he could buy NOTHING for the ship himself - unless an emergency as has been mentioned - everything was bought 'by the company' and delivered.   This was primarily for quality control.  Altho his buying food was IMPLIED it was clearly not the case.    (He did buy a bag of limes .... said they were getting low and bar would not give him any!)

 

Obviously a Danube river cruise was not getting food from the US ..... but we noticed no lowering of quality.  Last year we did Viking Ocean from London, thru Norway (2 weeks) and I'm sure they too used 'local sources'.  The diet coke tasted a lil different ... but nothing major.

 

I was booked on an Azamara tour in Japan where we were going to tour a local market with the chef.  He was going to buy supplies there and we were going to have the stuff he bought for dinner that night.  I guess that rules vary.

[Canuker]

When in Rome...

[Sancho_proudfoot]

I asked the head chef on the Brilliance of the Seas about this last year (turned out he was, quite literally, from just down the road from where we live).

 

Apart from rapidly perishable stuff, RCL ship container loads of dry, canned and bottled goods out from the US, and they have warehouses near each 'home port'.

 

They fly in meat, fish etc, quick frozen.

 

Occasionally they can buy vegetables and salad stuff through certain suppliers around their ports of call.

 

(I did notice on the Brilliance (out of Amsterdam, round the Baltic) that the potato chips (crisps) were British, the little butter pats were French and the milk cartons were German)

 

 

[Hlitner]

Most US based cruise lines use a combination of supply methods.  Many lines will ship (ahead) all of their beef and must of their frozen seafood products.  Produce is generally sourced from local vendors who specialize in supplying ships.  You can get a good feel for the process by looking at the various trucks that show up at the pier to supply your ship.  You will usually see some containers (likely sent from the USA) and also truckloads of produce (usually packed on large skids or pallets).  

 

But over the years we have seen all kinds of interesting supply methods.  Once, when on a HAL cruise, a group of us "harassed" the beverage manager (who was a real friend) about the ship not having any Guinness in cans (they only had bottles).  At the next port he went off the ship and purchased a few cases of Guinness cans :).  Many years ago, when we cruised on the bo uget line,  "Regency"  on their small Regent Spirit, we made friends with the both the Executive Chef and the Maitre'd (both French).  When the ship was docked in Nice, France....we went ashore with those two senior crew and watched while the chef purchased a few hundred pounds of fresh fish (which was on the menu that same night).  Perhaps the irony was that the old budget line actually did serve fresh  wild caught fish on many nights (which they always purchased in the local port) while the more "classy" lines now use frozen farmed fish.

 

Hank

[Aplmac]

The Carnival ship plying their Southern Caribbean route out of San Juan, P.Rico

chooses to re-supply at Havensight dock, St. Thomas, USVI

rather than at San Juan -because St. Thomas is Duty Free

and San Juan is not!

 

More than once I've seen the containers being unloaded at Havensight.

And then we got soap in the bathroom -lol!

.

[SteveH2508]

On an Azamara cruise (Singapore to Sydney) we had kangaroo one night and crocodile another night - both locally sourced. The kangaroo was superb - the crocodile was not so good.

[Mike981]

Years ago we were leaving out of Los Angeles and one of my favorite memories from the trip, was watching the port yard action. So many containers being moved around at the same time. Largest port operation I had ever seen.

[njhorseman]

12 hours ago, Aplmac said:

The Carnival ship plying their Southern Caribbean route out of San Juan, P.Rico

chooses to re-supply at Havensight dock, St. Thomas, USVI

rather than at San Juan -because St. Thomas is Duty Free

and San Juan is not!

No..it has nothing to do with St. Thomas being a "duty free" port. Both the USVI and Puerto Rico are part of the United States and as such the goods shipped by the cruise line from their suppliers in Florida or elsewhere in the 50 states are just going from one location in the US to another location in the US regardless of whether it's to PR or the USVI, so no import duty applies. Besides, even goods coming from a foreign country to supply the ship can be "in bond" and not subject to duty because the goods are not being sold or consumed in the location they being shipped to, they are merely transiting through that location for eventual consumption on the ship. How do you think it is that the cruise lines can supply their ships located in Europe, for example, with goods shipped the the US without paying customs duty? It's because the goods are not for consumption in the European country to which they are shipped.

 

The reason they don't resupply the ships in San Juan is strictly logistical. There's no way they can pull a large convoy of trucks up to the ship to unload the supplies. There's no room at the Old San Juan piers to do it.

[Aplmac]

18 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The reason they don't resupply the ships in San Juan is strictly logistical.

There's no way they can pull a large convoy of trucks up to the ship

to unload the supplies. There's no room at the Old San Juan piers to do it.

.

That last bit definitely makes sense!! No room!

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, njhorseman said:

The reason they don't resupply the ships in San Juan is strictly logistical. There's no way they can pull a large convoy of trucks up to the ship to unload the supplies. There's no room at the Old San Juan piers to do it.

Not so sure about not being room.

 

Many years ago I was in San Juan every month doing Trans-Canal. San Juan was one of our 2 turnaround ports and we always loaded victuals.

 

We were at the Old San Juan piers.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Not so sure about not being room.

 

Many years ago I was in San Juan every month doing Trans-Canal. San Juan was one of our 2 turnaround ports and we always loaded victuals.

 

We were at the Old San Juan piers.

Well apparently Carnival doesn't think there's enough room or perhaps there are other logistical issues in PR.