The five foods you should never eat on a cruise ship
A CRUISE expert has revealed which foods guests should steer clear of when boarding the ships.
Seasickness is bad at the best of times, but coupled with a dodgy stomach from some bad food, it can be even worse.
That’s why Ashley Kosciolek and Katherine Alex Beaven have put together a list of the foods you should avoid from the cruise buffet, if you want to dodge the tummy bugs.
First on their list is pre-prepared sushi.
They recommend avoiding something that could have been left out for a while in favour of something that has been made fresh right in front of you.
They told Cruise Critic: “If there’s sushi at the cruise ship buffet and you don’t know how long it’s been there, consider giving it a pass for something you can see being made right in front of you.”
Next up on their list of dodgy dining options is ice cream, because of how many people could potentially have come into contact with it.
Some cruise ships will have self-serve ice cream machines, which means a lot of other people will have touched it.
Guests are touching the handle, then using the same hand to hold the ice cream cone in – which sounds pretty gross and a potential hotbed for germs.
Ashely and Katherine recommend using a bowl instead of a cone, or using a napkin when operating the ice cream machine.
Thirdly, they recommend dodging the scrambled eggs at the cruise breakfasts.
Most of the vats of scrambled eggs are powdered and made quite a while before you’ve reached them.
Instead, they suggesting opting for made-to-order eggs at an omelette station.
They said: “Pick your favourite ingredients, ham, cheese, onion, tomato and peppers, and watch as the chef makes your delicious omelette, fresh on the stove.”
Eggs aren’t the only items of food that can get left out for a while – with pizzas also often sitting to go stale and beyond their best.
Ashley and Katherine say that asking for a fresh slice is always acceptable, but also recommend finding the onboard pizza counter – which most ships will have.
Finally the pair urge passengers to avoid communal condiments in favour of individual sachets, if possible.
Similar to the ice cream machine, if everyone on the ship is using the same bottles, a lot of hands are touching them.
They said: “Ask cruise ship buffet staff for individual sachets of your favourite HP or Heinz variety instead. If they aren’t available, use a napkin to dispense what you need.”
Meanwhile, a cruise worker revealed the sign that no one wants to see onboard that means stormy weather could be coming.
In a video on Tiktok, cruise guest Emma (@emmacruises) revealed the method staff take to get their guests ready for choppy seas.
The footage shows a blue bag strapped to a banister on a ship’s stairwell full of sick bags.
She said: “It is never nice to find that your cruise line has put out these sick bags.
“That means that the weather is going to be rough.”
Meanwhile, these behind the scenes videos show what life is like for people who work on cruise ships.
And these are the secret codewords you never want to hear while on board a cruise.