Chef on the world's largest Royal Caribbean cruise ship explains how he landed his job serving 125,000 meals every day
A chef who works on the world's largest cruise ship whipping up food for millions every single year has explained how he landed the dream gig.
Gary HBT Thomas, 51, is the Director of Fleet Operations/Culinary at Royal Caribbean and is a crucial part to the whole operation at the cruise company.
His role involves overseeing 'culinary operations across 30 ships and three private destinations', which includes the Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas vessels.
The chef's teams produce a staggering 125,000 meals every single day, which involves everything from planning what's on the menu, to ensuring enough stock has been purchased.
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"Everything is planned very carefully," Gary told UNILAD. "All of our menus are developed in partnership with my corporate culinary team, our product development teams and senior leadership.
"Across the fleet, we operate 87 different dining concepts, and on Icon of the Seas alone there are 27 venues - 14 complimentary and 13 specialty restaurants."
After making his way through the ranks, Gary now oversees catering across Royal Caribbean and tells UNILAD he's built teams 'capable of operating at the very highest level'.
He also explained how he got the job that serves a staggering number of meals on board the cruise ship.
"I progressed into this position through performance and internal promotion," the chef stated. "Over time, I took on increasing responsibility, delivered consistently at scale, and built teams capable of operating at the very highest level."
The thought of 125,000 meals sitting in front of you is certainly a daunting prospect, though Gary broke the specifics down for us to provide some sense to it.
Nonetheless, even with a team of chefs, it's a staggering amount of food.
"On an average sailing, we’re feeding around 7,600 guests and 2,700 crew members," Gary explained. "That adds up to roughly 125,000 meals every day, served across 27 dining venues, with food options available 24 hours a day."
While Gary may be the star of the show, he certainly sees the success of the catering department on Royal Caribbean as a real team effort.
When asked what his secret is to maintaining a smooth dining experience, Gary said: "There’s no secret - it’s my team. I lead around 6,700 chefs working across 42 kitchen operations on 30 ships worldwide.
"Alongside them is my immediate corporate team of 16 culinary experts, all with decades of experience at the very top of the hospitality industry. Without them, none of this would be possible."
The key to the whole operation running smoothly is of course good tasting food, and based on the thousands of dishes he's served, Chef Gary has his favorites.
"One of my personal favourites is the truffle burrata with heirloom tomatoes at our Italian restaurant, Giovanni’s," the chef said. He also issued a shout out for the Oysters Rockefeller at the Empire Supper Club - so if you're ever on one of Chef Gary's ships, you know what dishes to order!
Topics: Cruise ship, Royal Caribbean, Travel
Callum Jones