Policy re: Preparation of Open-Flame Desserts (Baked Alaska, Bananas Foster, etc.)

A friend insists Baked Alaska is regularly served on Royal Caribbean ships, yet I thought open flames were verboten on cruise ships--certainly at the dining table. The thought of hundreds of desserts being flambeed on a ship at sea seems an insurer's nightmare--and a textbook example of unintended consequences. Ditto with Creme Brulee, unless the kitchen staff caramelizes the sugar topping in a broiler, rather torches it. On a related note, I saw a YouTube video showing an extremely rude cruiser raking his waiter over the coals because his Cherries Jubilee was not flambeed to his liking, resulting in a dessert awash in alcohol, so he claimed.

What's the policy on open flames (tobacco products excluded)? I'll note that a few chefs I saw on Getaway were cooking with magnetic induction ranges. Is that the norm?

For the record, I am not contemplating preparing a Baked Alaska in my stateroom.

I don't know how it is on RCCL however the days of the Flambe Baked Alaska parade have become extinct on Norwegian AND Carnival. I believe I also had Steak Diane Flambe on a ship long ago....

I know that in Teppenyaki they don't do the flaming volcano trick either, no open flames.

Incredible. These are professional people doing the flambes. To think they allow anyone to light cigarettes, cigars and pipes crazy rule.

MSC do a full parade of baked Alaska on one of the Gala nights.

It's quite a spectacle and tastes yummy too.

At the risk of having my fingers slapped, Royal Caribbean does do baked Alaska but it is not flaming and they don't parade it either.

It was a number of years ago when the subject of cherries jubilee came up and eveyone said they no longer did the flames. However, I had just come back from an NCL cruise and they DID flame them in Le Bistro. I was trying to get a picture and the waiter lit them a couple of times for me.:D I do understand that they now no longer do it for real.;):)

I've seen Baked Alaska on NCL but not sure how recently I've seen it. Flames kinda draw your attention when it is nearby :)

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On our Holland America cruise last year we had bananas foster flambe prepared tableside in one of the speciality restaurants. Also saw them prepare cherries jubilee.

On our Holland America cruise last year we had bananas foster flambe prepared tableside in one of the speciality restaurants. Also saw them prepare cherries jubilee.

Real flames--or LED "flames"? ;)

On our Holland America cruise last year we had bananas foster flambe prepared tableside in one of the speciality restaurants. Also saw them prepare cherries jubilee.

The "no flaming" policy is new for 2014 based on insurance issues according to our Pinnacle Grill waiter on Ms Westerdam july 2014. I miss the Steak Diane!!!!

Real flames--or LED "flames"? ;)

Yes, real fire.

The "no flaming" policy is new for 2014 based on insurance issues according to our Pinnacle Grill waiter on Ms Westerdam july 2014. I miss the Steak Diane!!!!

And I will miss the bananas foster! I wonder if they can prepare it in the kitchen and then bring to the table?

And I will miss the bananas foster! I wonder if they can prepare it in the kitchen and then bring to the table?

I will be on the Ms Nieuw Amsterdam in eight days so I will inquire about open flames in the kitchen.

I am fairly certain that celebrity has no such "open flame" rule as they prepared open flame dishes in the Normandie restaurant on Celebrity Summit when I went... As for Royal Caribbean, their weekly menu shows cherries jubilee, crème brulée and baked alaska, though I don't think they're prepared tableside.

We were on the RCCL ship "Nordic Empress" in the late ninties, and there was a rather nasty incident, where the flames went back up the rum bottle, and it exploded.

A lot of people were injured. It was not a nice experience as a lot of people were upset, screaming and am sure the insurance companies had a field day.

Of course I felt sorry for the passengers that were injured, but also the wait staff who were involved.

They dont really have any laws to protect them, and I am pretty sure that their employment was terminated at the next port of call, and they were flown to their home countries.

Sad all round really.

Flambe dishes on cruise ships are pretty much a thing of the past.

The US Coast Guard, who claim jurisdiction over every ship that sells tickets in the USA or that carries US Citizens - anywhere in the world - claims that flambé dishes are a fire hazard.

Most of the major insurers of ships - like Lloyds - are not happy about open flames in dining rooms. Cruise lines can still offer flaming dishes, but their insurance rates go up by a factor of millions of dollars per year.

So who do you want cooking your meal?

A chef who hopefully has been trained to do so in a safe galley?

Or a waiter who until last week was an unemployed villager in a remote village in the Philippines, who has never even eaten in a proper restaurant - much less cooked

Bananas Foster for anyone?

Thanks one and all for the information. Intriguing answers. As said, "hundreds of flambes in a ship's MDR" sounds like the lead of a tragic news story.

Cunard still prepares open flame entrees and desserts but they are offered only in the dining rooms for those paying the "Grill" fares. Perhaps the insurance costs you've mentioned are calculated into the fares. I've observed this done only by a head waiter or the Maitre D'.

I will be on the Ms Nieuw Amsterdam in eight days so I will inquire about open flames in the kitchen.

According to the Head Waiter from the Ms Nieuw Amsterdam Pinnacle Grill, they brulee desserts in the kitchen with a torch but no longer flambe' menu items.

According to the Head Waiter from the Ms Nieuw Amsterdam Pinnacle Grill, they brulee desserts in the kitchen with a torch but no longer flambe' menu items.

Thank you for this added insight. All in all, I prefer cruise ships not flambe anything on the open sea, as it sounds like a Dino De Laurentiis plot.