Reprovisioning

Just idle curiosity about reprovisioning... Is it always or typically accomplished solely at the port of embarkation? How often, if ever, is reprovisioning accomplished at a port-of-call?

If you have some specific insight into the cruise I'm planning (ms Noordam, 10-night, February 2008), that would be especially interesting.

Most ships get the bulk of their foods at the port of embarkation. However, there are some additional items that many times have to be provisioned in other ports depending on the actual length of your cruise such as fruit and vegetables.

Keith

Fuel is put aboard at various ports of call during a cruise.

We were on a 7 day cruise that turned into a 10 day cruise due to hurricane Katrina. We had to stop for fuel and additional food.

the cruise lines TRY to limit repovisioning to the embarkation port, but that doesn't always work out ... Katrina is a perfect example (as a previous poster noted, a 7 day cruise turning into a 10 day cruise requires emergency provisions).

we've been on a couple of longer cruises (10 and 14 nights long) and when there were onboard adult-only seminars with cruise line execs, this question comes up every time. For security reasons (as well as budget reasons) the preference is to reprovision in the embarkation port ... but especially for longer cruises, repositioning cruises, etc. they don't have a choice.

What I was surprised to find out was that they would SHIP (fly or truck) provisions to a future port, versus buying local in that port.

Sometimes they pick up items in port when they are "special items". I was on Regent in the Baltic and the head chef went into the farmers market while we were in port and purchased fresh berries and currants -- they were fabulous colors! It was a special treat!

Provisioning and Bunkering procedures have changed rather dramatically in the past few decades.

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.

Fuel can be cheaper in some countries, but the quality is suspect. I worked on three different ships that were stranded in very out of the way places when bad fuel clogged the engines.

Luckily most modern ships can make all the fresh water they need, so there is no longer any worrying about bunkering local water.

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.

Most modern ships can carry enough fuel for 14 to 21 days cruising. They don't want to carry that much for shorter (7 or 10 day cruises) because it takes extra fuel to carry the weight around. A typical 7 day cruise ship tops up to about 10 days worth of fuel in it's home port every week. This leaves a bit extra in case of weather emergencies.

Only world cruises, or extremely long cruises bunker fuel in ports other than their home ports.

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.

A year and a half ago, we dined with the exceutive chef of the NCL Spirit and asked this very question. We were informed that the cruise line only picks up food stuffs at the port of embarkation and that all food is ordered through a company buyer in Miami. He explained that on many islands, the demands of a large cruiseship could not be met routinely.

I just want to highlight that all of this depends on the lengh of the voyage and where it is. For example, if you sail on a seven day cruise they can probably provision all of the items only in the port of embarkation. But, if you are on a 12 day cruise some items such as vegetables and fruits need to be provisioned during the course of the cruise. And, if you are on longer voyages some items (again, your fruits, vegetables, those items that can spoil, etc.) need to be provisioned multiple times).

Keith

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.

Trying to figure out how the quality of perishable food suffers.

My company delivers quite a bit of meat, produce, and specialty foods to cruise ships in NYC. The meat is usually loaded in the packing houses in Iowa/Nebraska on Wednesday/Thursday for Sat/Sunday delivery. And the produce is loaded (usually in California) on Tuesday/Wednesday for Sat/Sunday delivery. We deliver both directly to the ships. Loads are kept under constant refrigeration at the specified temperature.

The produce market in NYC is open from midnight Sunday until noon Friday, so no chance to drop it off at the market for further delivery if the cruise ship leaves on the weekend. Hunt's Point and Brooklyn meat markets are open the same hours, although some of the individual meat houses (especially on Little West 14th St) are open on Saturdays.

The produce and meat is actually fresher going to a cruise ship than if we deliver it to the meat or produce houses and they in turn deliver it to the end user (restaurants, green grocers, etc).

And here I was under the impression that HAL's Maasdam sometimes picked up fresh lobsters in Halifax or Maine during her Canada/New England cruises. Guess I was wrong again. :o:

Also, I was sure we were bunkering fuel on Noordam last January in one of the islands. Might have been St. Maarten??

You are correct, Sail, about taking on fuel at St. Maarten. When I was aboard the Noordam in November, I saw a fuel barge alongside the ship. Don't know about the lobsters, but I do know from previous cruises that fresh regional specialty items are taken aboard at different ports.

I was on a cruise that embarked and departed San Juan on a Sunday. They did not reprovision the ship there. The reprovisioned the ship on our last day (Saturday) in St. Thomas. I was told that there were union problems in San Juan that wouldn't allow them to load the ships on a Sunday.

Greatam,

Using alternating heavy and light loading schedules in home ports in order to reduce the costs of union stevedores has a serious negative effect on perishable goods, as the quantities must be absolute minimums in order to reduce the stevedore costs. The number of stevedores required is determined by the number of pallets or containers that must be loaded. The Union is very strict about this. The ship typically needs quite a lot of perishable items on alternating weeks. But the home office is usually not willing to request (and pay for) the additional stevedores (dictated by union regulations) that would be required to load the additional goods. So instead the ships are told to hold onto older perishable items that might be better thrown out, or stretch the quantities they have, in order to reduce orders -and in turn - quantities of goods that need to be loaded.

Or sometimes, the cruise line's purchasing people just tell the ship to alter menus and delete perishable items so they need not be ordered, thus saving the cruise line many thousands of dollars in stevedore fees.

Groan......... :( As someone who loves veggies and fruit and makes that a huge part of my diet, that is not what I want to read. :eek: To date, out of a great many cruises, thankfully, we have yet to feel deprived of fresh produce but now I know it could happen on any given cruise.

Hi, I think it depends on the cruise line. When we did the 14-day Norway cruise on Regent recently, we had many days when we had the "fresh fish from the XXX market (the port we had been in that day)". Also on one of the sea days, we made an "unscheduled" stop for Norwegian waffles while we were cruising a fiord. I think most of the 700 passengers on the Regent Voyager thought this was a lot of fun and the waffles (which the lady had been up since 3 AM that morning making for us) and the homeade strawberry jam were fabulous.

I think the vast majority of the food is certainly planned ahead. but it made for a special voyage to have so much that was fresh and local.

Best, NJBelle

...To date, out of a great many cruises, thankfully, we have yet to feel deprived of fresh produce but now I know it could happen on any given cruise.

On a 14 day Mediterranean cruise last year the grapefruit disappeared after the tenth day. Gawd, how I missed my morning grapefruit. :mad:

On our recent Celebrity cruise we had nice fresh fruit at the beginning of the cruise. I particularly like pineapple, but this disappeared mid-cruise, only to appear again on the last few days. Homeport was Dover, all of the food comes from the USA but I suspect they took on a new consignment in Copenhagen, probably also flown in from the US.

When the home port is not in the US, they could use any port of call that has good air connections to the US to reload, I suppose.

I will be interested to see what they do on the South America cruises. Will everthing come from the US there as well? On Costa they certainly had Brazilian ice-cream:p

On our recent Celebrity cruise we had nice fresh fruit at the beginning of the cruise. I particularly like pineapple, but this disappeared mid-cruise, only to appear again on the last few days. Homeport was Dover, all of the food comes from the USA but I suspect they took on a new consignment in Copenhagen, probably also flown in from the US.

 

When the home port is not in the US, they could use any port of call that has good air connections to the US to reload, I suppose.

 

I will be interested to see what they do on the South America cruises. Will everthing come from the US there as well? On Costa they certainly had Brazilian ice-cream:p

Most of the "soft fruit" (Thompson seedless grapes, plums, peaches, etc) will come from South America.

I am in charge of logistics planning for about 40% of the soft fruit that moves from South America in the winter time. The farms/companies that ship to the USA from South America are either co-owned/licensed by USA companies (Del Monte, Dole, etc) or have branches in the USA. The fruit MUST meet US standards or it cannot be brought into the US. So to compete in the lucrative winter market when the US has a shortage of soft fruit, Chile has the same standards as the USA.

I am in Chile/Peru 4 times per year overseeing our logistics and I frequently run into USDA inspector supervisors checking over crops in the field. After the scare 18 years ago (cyanide in a very few grapes-political protest when Pinochet was still in power), the Chilean fruit industry guards the fruit carefully to prevent any contamination.

So some of your fruit on the ships will come from South America. Otherwise, it will have to be shipped to the US, checked through customs and the duty paid, then transported back to South America. That is not going to happen.

I know Carnival ships all of its liquor/gift shop items to the Gulf Coast ports from Miami, Florida. I have been on the Fantasy and the Holiday and they were short on items in the gift shops because the trucks did not make it on time.

Dave