This is the age of gratification, particularly more so when it comes to food. Eating habits and preferences are as varied as the guests themselves on a cruise ship. Being up to date with changing trends is part of a cruise ship chef’s job and knowing the subtleties of each style will impress not just guests but one’s superiors too.

Broadly, the world has classified eating habits into vegetarian and non-vegetarian, but these are far too loose for today. Vegetarians themselves are classified into lacto-ovo vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians and vegans. The first consume milk products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt as well as eggs, but no meat, poultry or seafood. The second will have milk products but no eggs, meat, poultry or seafood.

Vegans on the other hand subsist only on a plant-based lifestyle and will avoid any food with ingredients that come from animals. This includes milk products, eggs, honey and gelatin.Some are fruitarians and subsist mainly on raw fruit, nuts and seeds.

Cruise ship chefs must be aware that non-vegetarians are also sub-divided. Flexitarians eat mostly vegetables, but are not averse to trying out meat dishes on occasion. Pescatarians will eat vegetables as well as seafood and fish, often as the latter is considered a healthier meat option. Raw foodism follows a principle where only uncooked and unprocessed food is consumed. It mostly involves vegetables but can include meat dishes such as ceviche and sushi which is made of raw fish, beef carpaccio, steak tartare or koi soi.

Other prominent eating styles cruise ship chefs may come across on board include paleolithic diets, lactose-free and gluten-free eating habits. People usually follow the latter two as their bodies are unable to digest the sugar (lactose) and the protein (gluten) that exists in dairy and wheat products respectively. The former is more of a health diet in which people try to follow the food habits of cavemen in the belief that human digestive capabilities were not suited to processed foods. It involves eating seafood and lean meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and almost no dairy, grain, added salt or sugar.

Spending one’s retirement years on a luxury floating hotel with amenities galore might seem like a dream of the rich. But more than ever now, this is a possibility for an increasing number of senior people with many examples of the elderly spending years on cruise ships.

In a host of developed countries, the norm is for the elderly to live in assisted living facilities, where the entire gamut of household chores are performed by staff and basic medical amenities are usually available on site. It allows companionship with people of a similar age and care when required.

For many, traveling the world as independent older people becomes increasingly easy on a cruise ship. Instances have been noted of older folk who have lived on board ships like the Queen Elizabeth 2, Crystal Serenity and Cunard cruises for seven to 12 years. Some reports suggest retiring to a cruise line is even cheaper than assisted living facilities.

How do they do this?

Sometimes, as with all hotel ventures, cruise ships have empty rooms that offer them no revenue, and companies will opt to fill these up at lower rates. The ideal person who is not bound by requirements of returning to work is the retired elderly. Cruise ships prefer having them over as they rarely, if ever, create a nuisance, and typically have standard regimens making it easier for staff to provide facilities.

For the elderly, spending their retired lives on board a cruise ship is the perfect way out of a lonely life in a city or suburb. Cruise ships offer all facilities and amenities they might want – from meals of different types, to housekeeping and room service, exercise classes and spas, movies, entertainment, and even basic medical care.

A few lucky retirees even get by for free, by offering their skills on board, such as giving lectures on destinations the cruise ship will dock at or topics of special interest.

Some cruise ships such as The World offer luxury residences at sea, where passengers own apartments – some live on board full time, some several months of the year. The average age of residents is reported to be 64, and the cruise line sails to various ports based on recommendations from the residents.

Cruise Lines International Association reported that 24 million passengers are expected to go on cruises this year, up from 15 million a decade ago. Of these, 25 per cent are between 60 and 74 years old, and another 25 per cent are aged 50-59. It appears that many retired folk find it financially more sensible to live aboard a cruise ship than in other retirement facilities in costly areas.

Cruise ships offer excellent quality, resort-style amenities, unlimited entertainment and activities to either mix up every day or maintain a schedule, no worries about grocery shopping, other needs met a few steps away, and travelling the world at a leisurely pace. With a varied age group, cruise ships also offer retirees the opportunity to meet different people of all ages – from infants to teenagers, adults and other seniors – and multiple nationalities.

Selling exotic locales on cruise packages happens with beautifully crafted images, but getting guests to come back over and over again, is a result not just of gorgeous places, but also delicious food. Cruise ship chef jobs are meant not only to satisfy appetites, but create interesting gastronomic experiences for foodies.

Knowing the variety of exotic ingredients available and how to use them will give you that edge over others, and offer that twist to every day dishes that will leave cruise ship guests mind-blown. One secret ingredient making waves around the world today is black garlic. It’s a type of caramelised garlic used in Asian cuisine, but its sweetish, almost-charred and complex flavour has allowed it to work with everything from ranch-style dressing to confits and even sandwich spreads, steak rubs, pâtés and even savoury ice cream.

In lieu of Tabasco, chefs are now moving to gochujang, that piquant Korean addition that has been discovered to go so well with spaghetti Bolognese, curries and fajitas. Cruise ship kitchens could be smart to stock this versatile ingredient that holds its own in popular Korean food but can slide over to the fusion section as required – used with corn on the cob, burgers, pulled pork or even a bloody Mary.

Based on which part of the world the cruise liner is in, adding locally sourced exotic meats to the shopping list can help raise the bar of the cruise ship kitchen. Kangaroo meat – relatively inexpensive in Australia – offers a delicious gamey flavour in comparison to regular steaks, and can be used in burgers, sausages and even pizza. Like kangaroo, another Aussie meat – emu – is also nutritionally valued being low in fat and can serve as a delicious option to health conscious travellers.

Stocking up on achiote in the Caribbean, grains of paradise in Africa, amchur powder in India, machalepi in Greece, fennel pollen in Italy or dried kaffir lime leaves in Thailand means you’ll get the real deal when you source it locally and also add authentic flavour to your dishes.

It’s important to read about various ingredients and have a taste when you get the chance – such as visiting a local market or food street when in port. Locals will only ever use good quality ingredients and checking out how these are used in cooking will help you develop a vision of incorporating them on board.

By tasting local ingredients on their own and also in various dishes, you will get an idea of the quantity to be used as well, since over use is an easy way to turn what could have been an amazing, exotic dish into something quite unappetising.

The key to doing well in any industry, including hospitality, is to keep upgrading your skills and innovating. Even small things like substituting an exotic spice for a regularly used one can subtly change the nature of the dish, something that will find favour with well-travelled food lovers.

Cruise ship jobs, particularly in the galley, offer a great experience, not just in terms of work but also in terms of life learning. Cruise lines often have at least one multi-cuisine restaurant, no matter how big or small the vessel is. Guests come with different preferences, and this style of menu allows them a variety of choices.

Taking on a job as a cruise ship chef will be easier if you have experience with different styles of cuisine. Getting trained in a reputed culinary institute will also get you up to speed on the latest trends in various culinary cultures. But it isn’t just the dishes that are multi-national. The chefs on board come from a number of different places around the world too.

As a cruise ship chef, your colleagues and work mates could be from your home town, speaking your own language, or from anywhere around the world. It’s possible to have 20 or more nationalities working in the same kitchen every day. Working with people from your own community builds familiarity and comfort, but being with people from different places offers its own share of learning.

Most cruise companies require the chefs they take on to have a minimum level of understanding English, as this is a universal language learnt in most countries around the world. Being fluent in English is an added perk as it ensures you are able to follow instructions with ease and also communicate difficulties and issues without trouble.

Being in close quarters with so many nationalities also allows you to learn about cultures from various places. Often, throughout life, people are restricted to culture from their own communities, barely exposed to cultures even from other states in their own country. Religious norms, social life, and even hygiene practices can differ. Working with people from cultures different from your own will open your eyes to a global culture, an understanding and respect of other people’s beliefs, as well as tolerance.

It’s also a great place to learn a new language – or several if you wish! Hanging out with your chef mates from different places lets you swap treasured recipes you would never have come across even in a restaurant serving that particular style of food.

Influential American photographer Harvey Lloyd once said that “travel is like an endless university; you never stop learning”. With cruise chef jobs, this quote holds true all the more. The learning never stops – not with the pots and pans in the kitchen, or with the people you live and work with alongside.

It’s not just humans who have godparents. Traditionally, godparents take a keen interest in a child’s upbringing, and in many cases in times long gone, played a part in naming the child. The tradition of godparents also exists in the maritime industry, although obviously in not quite the same way.

Godparents of cruise ships reveal the name of the vessel. Ship naming goes back into history, with evidence leading even to the third century BC, of Babylon – in modern day Iraq – celebrating the launch of a ship. Many of the main western civilisations, including the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, had a tradition of calling on their gods for protection of ships before they set sail.

But it was the Vikings who had a major role to play in modern-day ship naming by godparents. This ancient Scandinavian civilisation would have a sacrifice and mark the launch of their fearsome ships with blood. Later, the Medieval Ages changed tradition to be a little less gruesome, and offered wine instead. It was believed that the godparents would ensure the safety of the ship and its passengers.

Earlier, religious men or officials led the naming ceremony, but now it is mostly women who christen ships. Cruise ships typically have a grand ceremony for the christening with the godmother, godfather – or in some cases, godparents – appointed to officially reveal the name by smashing a glass bottle on the hull of the ship. The ship is decorated with flags and lots of ribbon, and a band strikes up with song as the bottle hits the ship. These days, it’s often a bottle of expensive champagne.

It is usually celebrities or famous people who are called on to christen cruises and become their godparents. The Queen of England was called to be godmother of P & O Cruises Britannia and her granddaughter-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge christened Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess. In both cases, a Nebuchadnezzar, a 15l bottle of champagne, was broken against the hull in celebration.

Actress Dame Helen Mirren is godmother to P & O Cruises’ Ventura cruise line. Sometimes, more than one person is named godparent of the cruise. American dance company The Rockettes christened the Norwegian Breakaway. While most godparents don’t have much to do with the cruise line after the ceremony, The Rockettes featured on a few sailings.

Royal Caribbean cruise line Anthem Of The Seas wanted to do things a little differently and had a contest to select the godmother of the ship. Disney and Royal Caribbean took things a bit further and went fairytale, appointing Tinkerbell from Peter Pan and Princess Fiona from the Shrek series to be godmothers to their cruises Disney Wonder and Allure Of The Seas.

A cruise ship kitchen is unlike anything one has seen before. In the maze of stainless steel fridges, compartments, and cooking stations, cruise ship chefs and others in the culinary department ensure that everyone on board – guests and staff – are well fed and happy. The galley – or kitchen – is divided into sections for ease of management: usually hot galley and cold galley, pastry and bakery.

The hot galley includes all types of cooking such as vegetables, fish, soup and grill. Generally, hot, savoury items are made in the hot galley, while desserts, cakes and ice creams come together in the pastry section.

Various hierarchical positions on cruise liners mean that hard work and experience can take you places. In the hot galley, stocks that will be used in main courses, soups and broths are made from scratch. In the pastry section too, everything is made from the ground up, including the base of the strawberry tart or the filo of a specialty baklava.

A lot of cleaning and gutting goes on in the meat section of the hot galley, and it’s imperative that staff in all cruise ship kitchens keep their workstations impeccably clean. Separating kitchens not only helps with management and division of work, but also ensures that absolutely no aromas get mixed. Nobody wants their exotic dessert catching the strong aroma of garlic.

In both, cruise ship chefs need to have a keen sense of taste to maintain a perfect balance of flavours and a sense of aestheticism to allow for beautiful plating that will tantalise any guests’ taste buds.

Usually, in a hot galley, the work environment is warm and crowded as chefs attend to service requirements during meal times. Since all meals need to be served hot, they must wait until they receive the order before they can attend to it.

In the pastry section, it is usually cool and calm as ingredients such as chocolate and butter must be kept at a low temperature. Many pastry items such as ice cream, mousse or cakes can be prepared in advance and simply plated right before delivery.

Further, chefs in a hot galley often need to make meals according to the guests’ taste – some want their steaks medium rare, others would like their burgers with wedges instead of fries, or their vegetables grilled instead of fried in butter. This is rare in a pastry section – guests hardly ask for a ‘not-so-sweet’ ice cream or a cake that’s been steamed instead of baked!

That said, savoury kitchens – or the hot galley – allow chefs to tweak recipes and they do not have to be perfect with measurements. They can always add salt to a sauce or throw in a few ingredients for a balance of flavours in a soup. Pastry chefs, on the other hand, do not have this luxury. Recipes in this section rely on absolutely accurate measurements. One cannot add more sugar to a pie after it has been baked, or increase the amount of butter in a puff pastry so it flakes accordingly.

Cruise ship chef jobs are unlike land-based jobs in a few respects. One of these that has nothing at all to do with your culinary skills is dealing with seasickness.

While most cruise liners sail in calm, placid waters during excellent weather, a slight swaying of the ship might be inevitable. Seasickness is a type of motion sickness that comes with being on a vessel in the water for some time.

Presumably, it is caused by being on an object in motion, such as a ship, that moves in opposition to our body’s natural inclination for balance. If you feel nausea, dizziness, stomach cramps and vomit while on the cruise liner, you could be suffering from a bout of seasickness.

The severity of seasickness varies from person to person. Often, if you stand on the bridge of the ship and watch the waves, your body anticipates the direction of movement and adjusts its balance accordingly, just as it would when you drive on a twisting road. However, down in the belly of the cruise liner – which is where most staff work and live – you might not be able to see the waves.

Some professional mariners believe that three-quarters of people get acclimatised to the motion of the sea and are naturally cured. But for first timers, a number of solutions have been suggested. If you are close to a port hole or can look out to see from the window of your restaurant, watch a stable object such as the horizon. Avoid reading or using a computer, but if you must, take frequent breaks to look at something stable.

Another easy way is to ensure that you move away from strong smells and take deep breaths of fresh air. Keeping your cabin clean will ensure that you avoid this sea-sickness trigger. Eat healthy, but light food. Cruise ships offer delicious food to crew too, but greasy, high-fat food as well as heavy, sugary treats are unlikely to stay down when you feel nauseous. It’s a good idea to take small sips of water frequently to stay well hydrated.

Although there is no real scientific evidence it, ginger has often been used to alleviate nausea. Perhaps a cup of ginger tea might help. But avoid the milk – as well as other dairy products – as these are known to be harder to digest. Staying away from alcohol when the sea has swells will do you good, as it is known to dehydrate.

If the weather forecast shows swells and you know you are prone to seasickness, ensure you are well rested and hydrated in advance, and eat appropriately. The best foods are light and bland, such as crackers, toast, or a light fruit such as apples. It is also believed that sucking on a slice of lemon can help relieve nausea, as do a few olives.

If you feel comfortable taking medication, cruise ships have an on-board doctor who can help. Stores for crew will also stock over-the-counter anti-seasickness medication. It is advisable to take this before you are actually sick as vomiting will make it hard to keep the pill down.

Seasickness, like motion sickness, normally comes on with a headache and a feeling of general uneasiness. Giving the pill a half hour to work will ensure further symptoms subside. If you are due to go on duty, ask for medication that does not cause drowsiness.

Regular passengers would be baffled by the thought of imagining how a cruise ship kitchen works. A floating hotel that sails over days on glassy seas is indeed an idea of ingenuity in the hospitality world. But over decades, the art of storing, cooking and serving sumptuous food by cruise ship chefs has been perfected to a point that its modus operandi has fascinated all who love good food.

So how does a cruise kitchen serve thousands of meals each sitting and guarantee that every passenger has his or her fill, enjoys the food and often comes back for more? The key is cooking for the masses. While the look and feel says gourmet, the basic preparations are made with numbers in mind. So even though a passenger’s crème brulée might come served in an individual ramekin, the mixture is made – along with a thousand others – in a vat.

Food on a cruise ship is measured by the ton, with some reported figures being 60 tons for a 10-day supply. Staff works in tandem with suppliers to receive the stock on time, and usually forklift the huge load onto the ship at port. At the start of each cruise run, fridges and pantries are filled to the brim with stock, categorised according to type. To ensure, top quality, a specially employed person will check each consignment – of everything from tomatoes, eggs, fish fillets and flour to caviar, liquor, chocolate and sprinkles – so that nothing mediocre even reaches the kitchen.

Freezers and refrigerators are often numbered, with one or two saved for prepared plates. Sides like cold salads are prepared and left in the fridge for the chefs to simply plate up and speed out of the kitchen so guests are not kept waiting.

To make sure ships get their consignments on time, the cruise company selects suppliers at least three months in advance. Come rain, wind, snow or shine, the supplier must ensure his/her stock reaches the port at the time discussed. If consignments are delayed, or even part of the stock is late, the supplier will have to get it across to the ship at the next location on his/her own expenses.

With so many thousands of passengers, the amount of food and number of dishes prepared is staggering. Cruise ship kitchens have transformed from boring galleys serving a sloppy mess of food to spick-and-span operations dishing out meals worthy of reviews. To keep on top of it, staff works round the clock. Due to the volume, there could be a few people solely dedicated to doing a single task – such as cutting onions, boning beef or washing lettuce.

To maintain consistency among chefs in different shifts, some cruise kitchens tape up images of the final look of each finished dish. And to save space, everything is made from scratch, from sauces and mayonnaise to birthday cakes each day.

Some food gets special treatment on board – caviar and foisgras, which can cost quite a bit, are often stored under lock and key. Sometimes, as on the Regal Princess, even much-lovedNutella and Oreos are kept under a watchful eye! After all, they are the ultimate comfort food of all ages.

There’s a growing breed of youngsters straying away from career paths traditionally chosen by their families. Many have a passion for food and travel, which can be expensive as on-the-side hobbies when you work run-of-the-mill jobs you don’t really enjoy. The smart and able ones turn these passions into jobs, and everyone knows that if you love your job, it ceases to be one.

Cruise ship chef jobs are something like that. Working on board offers you the option to indulge in your favourite hobbies of travelling and cooking at the same time, all the time. Being paid wages that are higher than land-based jobs of a similar level is just an added bonus.

The main point here is that cruise ships never go anywhere boring, and they never serve anything boring. Their aim is to give guests the time of their lives and entice them into coming back for more, or at the least, give them a top-notch review. This means, as a chef on board, you get to cook all the dishes you’ve dreamed of and visit places you thought were the stuff of wishful thinking.

Itineraries are often what you’d expect on a celebrity vacation page – the Caribbean islands close to south America, Alaska in north America, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean in Europe, Cape cruises in Africa, the islands of Australasia and delightfully colourful Asian cruises. Each port is as breath-taking as the last, and your social media feed is sure to be the envy of all your friends.

Double that up with your love for cooking and you have a winner! Cruise ship menus are far from ordinary. While they will have staples such as classic pizzas, burgers and other comfort food, you can work your way up to a specialty restaurant, where an experience will carry you a long way in the rest of your career.

Many top celebrity chefs have opened restaurants on cruise lines. America’s Guy Fieri has his Burger Joint on Carnival, Japan’s Matsuhisa Nobu serves his signature dishes on Crystal ships, America’s Todd English has his restaurant on Cunard, America’s Geoffrey Zakarian is on the Norwegian ships along with compatriot Buddy Valastro’s Carlo’s Bake shops, Frenchman Jacques Pepin features on Oceania, Australia’s Curtis Stone on Princess Cruises, as well as Britain’s Jamie Oliver, America’s Michael Schwartzand Devin Alexander on the Royal Caribbean.

Work is hard, but when you love travelling and cooking, being a cruise ship chef is like a dream come true.