Is cruise ship food good for staff? Cruise employee films staff food on board

Food stylist / Angela Casley. Photographer and prop stylist / Babiche Martens. Plates from Flotsam & Jetsam. ph: (09)361 3831.All other props, photographer's own. Picture / Babiche Martens

Cruise ship food doesn’t always have the best reputation but on some cruise lines, passengers can indulge at dozens of eateries, sometimes run by Michelin-star chefs.

The question some travellers may ponder is where the waiters, chefs and servers in these restaurants, as well as other parts of the ship, go to get their own breakfast, lunch and dinner, and how good it is.

It’s tempting to imagine staff scurrying down to the belly of the ship and being dished up guest leftovers or cheap slop.

According to one cruise ship employee who has worked on a cruise ship for more than 400 days and is now on Royal Carribean’s Wonder of the Seas, it’s far nicer than many expect.

Bryan James, who regularly shares videos about what life is like on the ship, shared a clip revealing where and what he ate.

The food changes “quite a bit”, James said, but typically involved lots of tables with various types of food that were “really plain and simple”.

One table was a “crepe section”, where chefs stood behind bowls of toppings that staff could choose from, before making them into a crepe.

“Sometimes it might be, like a fried rice or pad thai,” James said.

Other tables didn’t change much, such as a large salad bar, which had white bowls of fresh vegetables, legumes, nuts and sauces. Other tables held dishes of cut fresh fruit and cheeses and meats.

“Pretty much anything you could want at a buffet is what we’ve got here,” James said.

According to the staffer, he was allowed to eat upstairs with the guests but said it was easier to eat with fellow employees.

“The food’s really good so I don’t have any complaints.”

James said he wasn’t a dessert person, but the desserts on offer for crew were “very good”.

Viewers appeared surprised at the high quality of the food.

“Looks better than guest buffet,” one woman commented.

One person asked why James was allowed to eat with guests.

“It’s encouraged for entertainment employees to spend time with guests by spending time at the guests venues,” James explained.

Many other cruise employees or former employees claimed food was far nicer than what they had on other cruise lines.

“I’d work for free if this was the food we were getting fed,” one person commented.

“Not the ship I was on lol, nothing like this,” another stated.