Food plays a major role on a cruise and cruise lines have to balance a lot of different concerns when setting their menus. Passengers want a lot of choices, for example, but cruise lines don't want to waste money on items that a few people like, that aren't popular overall.
It's a challenge that explains why both Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) have dedicated pretty much 24/7 pizza shops on their ships. Pizza is cheap, easy to make, and the ingredients don't go bad quickly. The same can be said of Mexican staples like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, which is why both cruise lines also offer free quick-serve Mexican restaurants on many ships.
Basically, both cruise lines want food that a lot of people like in order to cut down waste. Speed of preparation is a factor, too, and it's those two things that have caused Royal Caribbean to make a decision to slim down its Main Dining Room (MDR) options, eliminating the "classics" section that was available every night.
Both cruise lines want people to love their food, eat a lot of it, and be excited about it--and an easy way to make that happen is to bring in a celebrity partner. Royal Caribbean has Jamie Oliver-created Italian concepts on many of its ships while its Celebrity brand has menus and restaurants created by Daniel Boloud.
Carnival has burger and barbecue concepts created by Guy Fieri, with Guy's Burger Bar being a free eatery on most ships, and it has Emeril's Bistro, a restaurant concept created by Emeriil Lagasse on two of its ships. Now, the famed celebrity chef is taking on a bigger role with the cruise line.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Emeril Named Carnival's Chief Culinary Officer
Lagasse was already a big name based on his restaurants when he became a television star hosting a live show on Food Network. "Emeril Live" aired from 1997 to 2007 and was a hybrid of cooking show and talk show. The series made the chef a big star and his "bam" catchphrase became fairly universal while his fame ushered in a new era of celebrity chefs.
So, you can thank (or blame) Lagasse for Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Giada De Laurentiis, and countless others. Now, the former Food Network personality has joined Carnival as its chief culinary officer. The chef already has created Emeril's Bistro, which Carnival has on its two flagships, Mardi Gras and Celebration.
The famed chef, however, won't just be creating restaurants for the cruise line, he will be involved with menus and culinary operations fleet-wide.
"Food is key to the fun of a Carnival cruise,” said Carnival President Christine Duffy. “Emeril’s restaurants on our two new ships have been a great addition to our dining offerings and guests rave about the food, which will also be on Carnival Jubilee come next December. With Emeril’s culinary expertise and broader profile on our ships, along with our wildly popular partnership with Food Network star Guy Fieri, Carnival will feature two iconic talents in the food and dining industry across our fleet.”
Emeril Isn't Just Taking a Fake Title
While NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal was named Carnival's Chief Fun Officer in 2018, that role was largely ceremonial The cruise line made the nature of the role clear in a press release.
"As the newly appointed 'CFO,' O'Neal has partnered with the cruise line, lending his fun, larger-than-life personality and playful spirit to inspire America to Choose Fun with Carnival when planning their next vacation, and in their everyday lives," the cruise line shared.
Lagasse's role will be more meaningful. As chief culinary officer, the chef will "support Carnival’s skilled chefs with guidance on food trends and techniques as well as advise on future menu items and dining concepts. Guests will also see his input on the menus of main dining rooms fleet-wide, including entrées designated as 'Emeril recommends' picks," the cruise line said.
The chef/restaurateur/TV personality also made it clear that he wasn't merely lending Carnival his name.
“I’ve been creating and operating restaurants for many years but developing my restaurants with Carnival and learning about the cruise industry has been an exhilarating experience. I love Carnival’s focus on food and fun and the many great dining options they offer their guests. I’m looking forward to building on our success at sea with Carnival’s exceptional culinary team,” Lagasse said.
The chef and restaurant owner currently hosts “Emeril Cooks,” which debuted on Roku earlier this year.
