Since its inception in 1873, Holland America Line has hosted more than 10 million cruise passengers, with a current noteworthy 720,000 passengers annually. It's an achievement made more impressive by the cruise line's emphasis on culinary excellence. The company has garnered awards and accolades in the cruise industry, ranging from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences International Star Diamond Award, the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Award, and the High Deluxe Five-Star-Plus Rating from the World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society.

“Our talent lies in listening to the guests, really understanding their wants and needs,” says Director of Culinary Operations Steve Kirsch. “As a result, we enjoy great loyalty. Our Mariner Society of repeat cruisers is so faithful they wouldn’t think of cruising with any other ship line. Our crew is trained to identify and connect with guests, which helps us provide better service through positive, ongoing relationships. Service becomes more elevated and personalized by paying attention to guests’ unique preferences.”

Holland America Line is “pledged to an extraordinary five-star dining experience throughout the duration of every cruise—and to applying this ethos to every dining venue and meal experience aboard ship,” asserts Kirsch. With an average ship’s capacity of 1,500 guests, each meal service represents a banquet and catering challenge of formidable proportions.

SIGNATURE OF EXCELLENCE
With the advent of the fleet’s newest Vistaclass cruise ships, Holland America developed its $425 million Signature of Excellence initiative. The new platform is designed to meet guest expectations with exceptional service, dining, entertainment, and exotic destinations.

The Pinnacle Grill is one aspect of that design, profiled as an elegant reservations-only venue featuring fine wines, gourmet cuisine inspired by the Pacific Northwest, and top-of-the-line tabletop décor. Guests pay a surcharge of $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner to dine in an intimate, exclusive setting. Sample entrées include Pan-Seared Rosemary Chicken with Cranberry Chutney, Grilled Sea Scallops with Marjoram Pomodoro Coulis served on Curried Hollandaise Spinach with Fried Capers, and Lamb Rack Chops with Drizzled Mint Sauce.

Another facet of the Signature of Excellence program is the Culinary Arts Center. Presented in association with Food & Wine magazine, this experience offers guests the opportunity to interact with and learn from visiting guest chefs in an exposition kitchen setting. Free 45-minute cooking demonstrations featuring three products are broadcast on the ship’s in-stateroom televisions. Private two-hour cooking classes for 14 to 16 participants are offered for a minimal surcharge.

The demonstrations and cooking classes are popular, offering cruise passengers opportunities to learn about foods, wines, and the culinary traditions of the ports they visit. Visiting chefs have included Brad Farmerie of the Monday Room in New York, David Kinkead of Sibling Rivalry in Boston, and Dean Fearing of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.

The innovative “As You Wish” dining, another Signature of Excellence feature, was introduced in 2008, giving guests the option to choose from traditional pre-set seating and dining times or a completely flexible dining schedule. The main dining room is two-tiered, and one tier has been designated for evening flex dining. The flex guest may either reserve by 4 p.m. or walk up at any time during dinner hours and ask to be seated. The main dining room features elegant china, starched linens, silver service, and fresh flowers.

THEMED EVENTS
Themed dining in the main dining room plays a significant role in dinner service, with regional favorites mirroring the ports of call. The Master Chef’s Dinner, Captain’s Dinner, and Indonesian Lunch are regular weekly banquet events throughout the fleet.

The Master Chef’s Dinner incorporates entertainment with each course, as cast members serenade and waitstaff parade in formal chefs’ jackets. Napkins are presented to guests with a flourish of lively song and dance. The salad course is introduced as the waiters juggle produce, using dramatic effects in the presentation of each dish. A final theatrical touch is the procession of Baked Alaska, when the flaming desserts are wheeled into the dining room and presented to each table.

“Logistically, the changing themes present a certain labor intensity,” says Kirsch. “We are fortunate to have lots of manpower, but it takes all afternoon to stage the dining room for something like the Master Chef’s Dinner. There’s versatility in being able to add theatrics with lighting and scenery and change out table linen and floral displays to great effect. Having a wealth of entertainers onboard gives us an advantage in creative theming. We can readily create a program that dovetails with the menu.”

BUFFET INNOVATION
Holland America Line was the first in the cruise industry to introduce a full Lido buffet restaurant on all their ships. The Lido buffet addresses traffic challenges with the use of individual food islands including a pasta station, sandwich station, and dessert station, where guests can request custom dishes prepared to their specifications. Guests may also help themselves to a full buffet, featuring extensive salad options and carving stations offering poultry, seafood, and U.S. Choice beef entrées. A hot food line offers flavors of the world, with international cuisines changing daily. Holland America’s philosophy is one of small-batch cooking, attempting to offer as many choices as possible in the total buffet design.

In the late evening, the Lido buffet offers foodservice for wee-hours snacking or dessert. Each night of the cruise offers a different theme in the buffet design. The Chocolate Extravaganza features three chocolate fountains including dark, milk, and white chocolate with fresh fruits and marshmallows; chocolate-dipped cookies and pretzels; 10 varieties of chocolate cake; and a vast array of dazzling chocolate pastries and petits fours. Various food stations offer chocolate flambé desserts, a chocolate martini bar, and sugar-free chocolate creations. There’s even a learning component with a tasting station offering the perfect pairings of wines with chocolate.

“The Chocolate Extravaganza is visually exciting, with a beautiful display of bountiful chocolate confections … it’s over the top,” Kirsch says. “Guests are on deck in the night air, drinking their favorite beverages, listening to music, socializing, and enjoying amazing desserts. It’s wildly popular, with lots of photo opportunities. From an operational standpoint, the limit in staging is about an hour and a half with warm tropical temperatures. We offer the chocolate buffet from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., so it works out very well for us.”

Creative banquet theming around ports of call is also a specialty of the company. For example, a recent offsite gala was held in Istanbul for passengers of the Grand World Voyage. Guests were treated to an event at the historic Binbirdirek Cistern, built in 330 A.D. The vaulted space was dramatically lit, and an elaborate banquet was staged with a variety of Turkish delicacies such as baba ganoush served on bruschetta, lentil balls, freshly fried fillo pastry filled with feta cheese and vegetables, minced meat kebab with herbs and pistachio, and traditional Asian rice-stuffed mussels. Three performance areas with stages featured a variety of colorful local entertainment.

After the gala event, guests returned to the ship and were regaled with a Turkish Bazaar Dessert Extravaganza buffet surrounding the Lido pool. The pool area had been transformed into a fantasyland with Aladdin on his magic carpet suspended above the pool. Even the bear sculptures by the pool had magically morphed into camels. As the ship set sail, a stunning fireworks display lit up the night sky over the Bosphorus.

Kirsch remembers another standout cruise for the Young Presidents’ Organization, with 900 kids aboard ship expecting something unique and different each day. “On the first day of the Alaskan cruise, we adopted a ‘foods and fruits of the world’ theme, ordering exotic fruits from every corner of the globe. We set up a full-ship dine-around, with 20 food and beverage outlets featuring diverse international cuisines with accompanying displays of fresh fruit.

“Another night was devoted to a Harry Potter theme withcorresponding scenery, costumes, and menus,” says Kirsch. “A blowout event was the ice cream extravaganza, with three lines of joyful kids intent on trying all 100 flavors of ice cream. We set the bar high, but it’s a pleasure to try and outdo ourselves with every banquet and gala event.”

Nancy Fox is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.