Eat, Drink, Cruise | Charles Steadman, Virgin Voyages

Ken Taylor: 00:00:02

Have you ever wanted to know how was that done on bord who's really behind the various initiatives that take place within the bars and restaurants at sea? Or how to transit hospitality really impact the F&B experiences that are fantastic, and that guests enjoy while cruising? Then eat drink Cruise is your podcast, sustainability, unique and distinct experiences, reshaping beverage consumption, culinary innovation, supply and demand and today's commercial world. And the people that make all of this happen is actually what our eat drink cruise podcast aims to cover. In 2024, the outlook for cruising expects to see over 35 million guests on board which is a 12% increase year on year according to cruise lines International Association. And so this podcast really becomes a sneak peek behind the scenes of a dynamic industry. Whether you're a cruise expat or a successful supplier or newcomer supplier or just an FMB, fanatic, bite size conversations are what this podcast are all about. My name is Ken Taylor, and welcome to the show. We have a great lineup of different players throughout the business, including operators and consultants and influencers. It's a holistic perspective on the status of cruise f&b Today we're talking today about a brand that's really made a splash in the last few years, a new brand in the business virgin voyages. And, you know, when you look online and do a little kind of investigation of your customer, many obviously people are doing that it really is kind of a breath of fresh air. And I think if you're talking to a virgin voyages, employee or executive team member, you're probably going to hear that, you know, it's a new something about a new perspective on what really cruising can be. And I think that's maybe been, you know, at the at the at the base of how this product got put together. So who better to talk to then one of the guys has been around this brand since the beginning, I believe is Charles Steadman. Charles,

Ken Taylor: 00:02:14

you've been there since the beginning and putting this together?

Charles Steadman: 00:02:18

Yeah, for the most part is that you can start with a piece of paper and a pen. Yeah, it was a pretty blank piece of paper from that side. But now it's been very exciting to kind of be brought into the fold. And you know, we actually started with the to ship quarter then went to three of them went to four. So we definitely put the cart before the horse. And now we get the horse back in front.

Ken Taylor: 00:02:37

That's awesome. Charles is Director of Food and Beverage experiences and strategic partnerships. So for you know, close to my heart is food and beverage and many people that sail the sailors that join or make a decision to cruise on Virgin Voyages, I know, are thinking about the food and beverage offering. And you know, it's important, I think it's a focus probably for all the cruise lines. So we kind of focus on that with this podcast. Thank you very much, Charles, for for joining us. You live in Miami. But I understand you spent a long time in Chicago. So you're a transplant to Florida from Chicago.

Charles Steadman: 00:03:13

Yes, I found the value of the ocean rather than like Michigan. Chicago has a great food scene, a great food and beverage scene. You know, there's a lot of great restaurant groups have originated from there. But I do like that committee down here to keep me young looking as much as possible.

Ken Taylor: 00:03:31

You know, and it keeps you healthy and it keeps your skin good. And you don't have to deal with the winters in Chicago. See, we you and I we go to the NRA show in May, which is probably one of the best times of the year. And I don't know that I go back more than once or twice, twice a year. I don't spend the winter there. But it is a tough city, but it is still one of my favorite cities. And as you mentioned, it's that whole F&B scene. I mean, it's just impossible ignore it's probably next to New York, I would think in the US. But when you think back on Chicago, like what do you miss, now that you're a Floridian for the number of years, but you've been in the state.

Charles Steadman: 00:04:06

It's kind of like a new I agree with you in terms of that kind of thread to like New York City, but kind of feel it's wider and cleaner streets, and less of the you know, kind of that quick movement. But from a culture perspective, from an architectural perspective, you spend a lot of time and like, you know, kind of the kind of Irish town and in the kind of south side and you know, going into like the different neighborhoods and you know, even just doing that touristy thing of the canal tour, right for the architectural. It's just amazing, you know, and I kind of feel there's a, a more of a home set of kind of growth of food and beverage professionals in that area and also from a chef driven concepts, you know, you're just seeing all these different areas kind of move around so much in New York, but at the same time I feel it's a bit more wholesome and less cutthroat.

Ken Taylor: 00:04:53

Yeah. So I mean, was there a favorite restaurant that you have or do you like when you go back to Kobe, go back through this may Do you have do you have a spot you want to make sure you get or that you remember?

Charles Steadman: 00:05:05

I mean, I'll give you two. I'll give you the guilty pleasure which if people know they know, Portillo's for can't grow with a good Portillo's, you know, hoppy sandwich, but actually I'm very excited because they're actually gonna be opening up a location down here in Miami but Maple Ash. Oh, hands hands down phenomenal Steakhouse. I think it's probably one of the top three brunches I've ever been to, you know, as well from from a service perspective design elements. I mean, the whole kit and caboodle you know, from that, and I know they're opening up a location down here in Miami. So I'm very excited to see that that opening and it's going to support them as well. Let's all stop

Ken Taylor: 00:05:44

awesome. Do you I mean, do you have a favorite spot and Miami like do you Where are you Where are you going right now these days

Charles Steadman: 00:05:51

was sad that Cue closed. But right across the street is Uci. So he is thinking not just only a great restaurant, but one of the best happy hours and then a little bit of a CNBC in spots. Mila I think really kind of delivers on that mediteration kind of approach and indoor and outdoor and you know, whether you're kind of by yourself and you want to sit in the bar and kind of people watch entertain some friends or we sit down for dinner to celebrate. It's always just a great experience.

Ken Taylor: 00:06:18

So this is the Eat. Drink. Cruise podcast. So we have to ask all of our guests who join us their favorite cocktail. Now there's food and you know, you talked about some good stuff there but what is arming so you've been putting together these bars and and and restaurants the overall experiences onboard Virgin since since a few years now as you're in three ships, right.

Charles Steadman: 00:06:42

Three ships that were the fourth one next year!

Ken Taylor: 00:06:45

And you know, there's got to be what is your favorite cocktail? What What's your go to drink?

Charles Steadman: 00:06:51

Ken, that is hard, I mean I've it's I've got six brothers you know obviously and seven boys God bless him mom kept trying for the girl didn't happen it's like asking who my favorite brother is. But he's great. Right now it's I'm kind of it depends on the mood, you know, maybe it's the the cancer sign that I am or whatever, maybe from that. But right now I'm kind of on a Mezcal Negroni kick. I think just in general, you're seeing kind of the agave spirits really just just pick up you know, not just in the US. You see it in Europe and other countries as well. We just recently launched a ship down in Australia. So a lot more agave spirit kind of movement down there. Same thing in Singapore. But just that kind of earthiness and that little bit of like a hint of smoke to kind of play with the bitters and the sweets and everything from that a complexity of Vermouth is right now kind of my jam.

Ken Taylor: 00:07:38

We're hearing that too a lot, which is kind of cool. So that takes us to bars on board Virgin, you know, the new drinking consumer. Right? That's, that's definitely something I'm sure you're talking about. And the concepts when you look at your concepts, I'd love to hear more about the different ones. I know, I know, there's Sip, which is a champagne experience. Do you actually sell caviar?

Charles Steadman: 00:08:01

Yep we do it in a few different ways whether or not fun little cones or egg shells or the full tin but we do in the evening caviar service at our champagne lunch Sip,

Ken Taylor: 00:08:11

I you know I you know it's been 10 years in the business I I'm I'm amazed and you know thrilled to see this you know that being part of an experience that guests are interested in and it really speaks to the kind of guests that you guys attract the sailors that you guys call them onboard onboard those ships it's it's definitely a guest interested in and something unique and distinct. So you know, there's there's a dark house, gym tonic, Athletic Club, is there a focus on healthy low and No, and I know that's a trend in today's consumers, but we're How do you define that?

Charles Steadman: 00:08:50

Definitely a trends definitely, it's something where I'm in the process of doing kind of a bigger menu review right now that it will kind of launch in early summer. And a big kind of strategic shift for that is really focusing on no and low right, so non alcoholic and low ABV, alcohol volume, you know, beverages and I think you know, when we look at the consumer in general and we look at the market that we market to to bring our sailors and thanks for call them sailors or passengers on board. From that piece of the pie, which is a very niche when it comes to these we have a bigger piece of the pie since it's kind of adults only, you know, an adult by design, we'd like to say. So we're definitely seeing not just from a trend perspective, but from Sailor feedback and even from crew feedback of you know, wanting more offerings from a non alcoholic and a low alcoholic kind of spectrum. And we're actually in our q1 wellbeing, quarter focus, which includes a wellness social so from four to five daily on the ships, we kind of focus on a no and low complementary, happy hour or social, to really kind of bring some awareness. I think when people come on vacation like that the inhibitions go down a little bit. You know, there's a to try something new in difference, and I think when you prime the pump with a little bit of liquid tulips moment, we do see that kind of like purchase afterwards or that, you know, interest afterwards for people to try new things as well, which are in the known low?

Ken Taylor: 00:10:14

Well, in the new area of creating new experiences that, you know, break the mold, if you will, for cruising, I know that's always been an objective. And, and getting away from that stigma, right. And, you know, there's, there's a very competitive cruise industry out there that, you know, there are different approaches to some of the some of the things that are being done on board from a food and beverage standpoint, but there's also some very strong familiarities that, that create this sort of competitiveness, and one of them is this beverage package thing that everybody's run to, which has been going on for probably 1012 years, and just generate cruise lines. Beverage revenue is certainly helps, it wasn't always thought to be the case. But I think in the end, it probably is the case your approach at Virgin is to offer a tab explain the the differences of a beverage package, but not being a beverage package onboard? Virgin.

Charles Steadman: 00:11:15

Yeah, and I mean, there's I've kind of four main pillars and kind of like the design of the overall say beverage kind of like program. And you know, one of them is basically bringing affordable luxury, right and choice to our sailors that come visit us on the ships. And specific to the traditional cruise package just had a lot of time researching, you know, and and looking and it's on a seven day voyage or three C days, you always get it and you know, there's formula key, you know, kind of spreadsheets out there for everything. And it really just break it down to just one word disruption, right? What are we after. So it's smart disruption, kind of looking at, you know, kind of, again, that affordable luxury in finding that value that that choice of not being stuck in a say a box of a package can be sometimes. And it's that differentiation, right to really look at more of a land based approach to kind of purchasing beverages on the ships, you know, kind of goodbye to the menu of the same wine glasses, or glasses of wine across like the same kind of house wines, house wines all over, really focusing more on that specialization. So, you know, for us, we do have bar tab, which is a kind of a preload, where you kind of purchase for 300 to get $50 in credit, we have a couple of different tiers from that. But it just gives you that choice, right. So you can use it all to get a beautiful bottle of champagne or nice Cabernet or whatever this you know, or Magnum of this, but or you can buy a round of drinks for your new friends that you just met at the draft house bar. It's not having the teacher maximum or the turnaround. And then well, my wife needs one now too. So I'll be right back. And yes, we'll go round you into the seat and you come back up and say. So it is really kind of given that choice back and just that flexibility for people to choose what they want. And you know, even for non alcoholic for coffee, for juices and things like this, where we

Charles Steadman: 00:13:07

avoid having to nickel and dime with the different packages out there. Now, they're very successful. And you know, there's value to everything. But we just want to show that little bit that disruption and kind of give that choice back to our sailors.

Ken Taylor: 00:13:19

And it doesn't drive consumption, which let's be honest, you know, you are counting drinks, when you buy a package and there's wastefulness there probably you know, and I'm sure the other cruise lines would be a great conversation to have maybe in a panel discussion at either the F&B@Sea show or even in other environments, where it's like, I know there's consumption, we're trying to sell product, but same time, it's not really on trend as much to drink a ton as the as the Gen Z-ers make their way into the drinking scene. It's really interesting to watch. So that's, that's a very interesting perspective. And I think it's obviously successful for you guys, which is, which was great. You're in a unique position. Because while many cruise lines have product development teams, you're in the experience development. And it's an ongoing, you know, immersive in the operation type of a role. And it also includes the strategic partners that you get to, to to work with to create these experiences. I'm interested in the show that you guys have launched. It's been on board for a while. It's called dual reality. But it's not just something you can see on board. You're actually doing this around the country. Tell me about the show.

Charles Steadman: 00:14:36

Yeah, definitely. Dual realities, kind of our acrobatic cirque du soleil is kind of Romeo and Juliet story. It's actually one of our original shows that we've worked with to develop for the launch of scarlet lady, our first ship in 2021. And, you know, a lot of again, this, see that word again, disruption is, you know, how do we market ourselves not just the traditional cruisers, but also bring in kind of new potential cruisers into like the pool. And a lot of that is really kind of blurring that land and see kind of like divide, where we're going to now take one of our shows, which has been very successful, you know, for entertainment shows, and we're going to kick it off in Boston do a multi city tour around the US and kind of bring that awareness right that we are a little bit different where, you know, kind of like the the mermaids or the ships, the lady ships or after we'll have the siren song to woo people from land out to sea. So that's a great example of, you know, how we're kind of marketing into key key cities and key markets and really specific demographic and more of a psychographic of, you know, millennial mindset young at heart, whatever you want to call it. But you know, we definitely have this approach if we welcome everyone, but we may not be for everyone. And you know, what, I think part of that, too, is the appeal and draw of new sailors, which could have the potential to get new cruisers across, you know, other companies as well. So to come into the market, and really see what this experience on Virgin voyages is about and what cruising is, and how we are your take on it.

Ken Taylor: 00:16:03

Yeah, and so art and culture, I mean, that is definitely a an unique topic for cruising. And so obviously showcasing it in cities where you'd expect to see it like, like he kicked us off in Boston. And you know, I think that's, it's an interesting approach. And you guys are not unfamiliar to putting yourself in this. In this area. I think you've been part of art basil. You just sort of incorporating in your DNA, you know, in your DNA itself, the whole music and art, you know, kind of combination out there is part of your brand. And even with your partners with let's talk beverage partners, so Heineken silver, for example, here's where I mean, artists are coming on board explain this to me, because I think it's interesting. You know, there's they're coming on board and they're developing these murals. There's music what what is that promotion about?

Charles Steadman: 00:16:58

Yeah, so this is a fun one. So obviously, with not just virgin voyages, but virgin as a general and Richard Branson, who's a fun, fun, amazing and beautiful soul. You know,

Ken Taylor: 00:17:09

I'll interrupt you real quick. You've met Richard Branson.

Charles Steadman: 00:17:13

Oh, yeah,

Ken Taylor: 00:17:13

he's definitely on the leadership team has had a chance to hang out with him, right? What's What's he like?

Charles Steadman: 00:17:21

Infectious in a good way? No, it's very charismatic. I mean, there's just a great energy about him. And you know, I'm definitely not like an energy who person but I do appreciate it. But no, just just very involved. I mean, he's not at the office every single day, but he'll pop in randomly. He definitely supports all the launches, supports any initiatives and things that you know, we're doing, also kind of layering in, you know, we're right now we're testing on a few different itineraries throughout the Caribbean and perhaps in the past by Necker Island. So now, he tends to pop on with maybe 70 of his new closest friends and have a great time and shake hands and kiss babies and, you know, no babies and boy, the ships, but, you know, it is something interesting where there is that level of involvement and but very gracious. I mentioned a, you know, kind of a child at heart or kind of young at heart kind of mentality that embodies what Richard Branson is. I mean, he's in his 70s, and he's in better shape than ever was, and is gracious to everybody. Oh, stop and take a picture. And if you feel uncomfortable, say, Hey, can I take a picture with you? Can I use your phone? You know, the crew just adore him? I mean, I adore him. I mean, he's just a very gracious and amazing person to really kind of have behind the brands to promote, you know, the positivity and inclusion.

Ken Taylor: 00:18:33

Which is which was great. So on the Hynek consumer, I didn't interrupt you on that. But so the artists comes on board, they painted murals, but how to tie that into the whole music and everything else.

Charles Steadman: 00:18:43

Yeah, so I mean, part of that DNA within virgin is obviously music art. I mean, it's a lot of it's kind of fun thing. So the live artists series. So this is second year doing it and we partner up with Heineken folks in Heineken silver, in the, you know, really just more of, you know, how do you bring this like amazing mural opportunity onto the ships? How do we then activate the space afterwards, and you know, kind of kicks off really with like looking at, you know, say Heineken so for creating an artist's brief and really aligning with, you know, both brands, so you have those synergies, you know, the artists will then come on board and paint a mural and this isn't a call out of a bottle placements or canned placements or, you know, the product punching through a wall or anything like that. It's really just looking at a commissioned piece of actual art, right, you know, this is what it is and when you do hold the like the say, the honey consumer, the product, instead, it just comes alive, saying now, this makes even more sense. You know, it is something where from that interactive, kind of like, you know, kind of yearling or muralist, comes on board. You know, there's just a lot of questions, people stop and ask the artists they're very engaging, you know, we have some great product displays just to kind of highlight that partnership. And then once that void is over the mural is completed. Then now we have a DJ that comes on board. And similarly To the artists getting the artists brief, the DJ to get second music briefs to kind of highlight, you know, kind of like what that kind of combined brands kind of focus is. And then we'll do additional kind of DJ sets and kind of fun things in the the dock space, which where we do this, and then, you know, again, it comes alive from an art side comes alive from the music side, you know, we do some great sampling and kind of promotion from that side as well. And then we actually have it kind of

Charles Steadman: 00:20:23

staccato where we'll do one mural on this a scarlet lady ship, and then another one on the violent lady ship, and then back to Scarlet from mural number two, then back to valiant lady from Euro number two on that ship. So it runs for about a four month kind of program for this. And it gives us numerous opportunities, one to highlight, you know, our connection with not just local, you know, Miami artists, but also national and international artists. The other part too, is, you know, also from the music scene, you know, it's kind of a fun time of year with all the different award shows and things going on. But you know, our DJ that came on to support last month, you know, she plays like all the after parties and fun things. So it's not just like the, you know, we bring a lot of great personality, on board that really are passionate about kind of other art or music. And I think that it also, you know, aligns with the partners we select, you know, Heineken has got some great music, programming our programming, you know, and for us, again, you mentioned Art Basel, like, you know, we've done programming there before, as part of our blurring of land and sea. So it's just a very immersive, fun experience for our sailors. And, you know, it also just tells a great story that, you know, we really want to kind of promote the arts and music and responsible consumption, of course,

Ken Taylor: 00:21:34

again, this is part of your role, which is really unique, you get to be able to develop these, obviously, everybody has partners on board, you guys go after smaller partners to, you know, unique and distinct partners that can really contribute, I think you do you refer them to as The Creative Collective or explain that a little bit.

Charles Steadman: 00:21:52

Yes, we have a great kind of Creative Collective. And this includes not just food and beverage are some amazing chefs and bar personalities. I know mission for dual reality. So seven fingers, which is a phenomenal production company kind of pumped up to a reality for Virgin Voyages. But this collective is it's really just not necessarily like the big name, you know, or the cookbook, or this app, but really those that are out there that are passionate, you know, they're approachable, they're, they're up and coming or they're established, but you know, they haven't loved working in the kitchen or necessarily behind the bar creating, right, you know, because, you know, we do love that creation aspect. And, you know, we've got over 20 eateries on board, six major restaurants, we don't do the dining hall kind of thing. And, you know, the over 25 bars on board, and, you know, there's a lot of creative that needs to be involved to avoid, you know, that cookie cutter, or to kind of fall into that kind of kind of tunnel vision of being able to set it to have something unique and fun and different, because each of the spaces are designed to have its own personality, from background music, to the menu offerings to the decor, even the smell, sometimes you know, from it, but using the collective, it's really to kind of focus on it, whether it's a menu or recipe developments, you know, also kind of tying in to doing things where they might be involved with their land based restaurants, you know, so it is a fun kind of collective of a group of people that we're very proud to work with to really kind of deliver an amazing approach again, very land based to food beverage,

Ken Taylor: 00:23:17

obviously got a lot of things that you've been working on, I was really intrigued to note that, you know, we as a group, the group I work with MarketTeam has been involved in vibe for many, many years. And it's kind of what made me kind of think about the cruise industry and an awards program or a recognition program for the cruise industry. But you know, many of the cruise lines are actually finalists in this year's vibe Awards, which will be announced shortly. But Virgin is a finalist and more than I've seen in a long time I noticed you're a finalist and five vibe awards Vibe is the beverage conference in the US the most notable beverage kind of industry conference, and I think you're down for a number of different potential awards their best overall included which means that would be overall not just the cruise industry but best overall in general, you know, at least in the segment, that segment of hospitality, alcohol free is another one. What is it that you guys submitted for the alcohol free program?

Charles Steadman: 00:24:23

A lot of it is kind of focusing on a few different things. So we have our kind of design bars you know, you mentioned a few gin and tonic and these other kind of spaces on the ship Athletic Club you know the dock and dock house even razzle dazzle where there is a stronger focus on non alcoholic and more wellness kind of driven selections. It is finding that that nice balance of you know detox retox or whatever you want to call it you know for but you know from from a smoothie selections from kind of the typical non alcoholic right going to offerings that you see across you know chips, hotels restaurants. In addition we We have a strong program, which we're building, you can further mentioned that many of you on no and low, because we do see that is not just a trend, but it is something that's here to stay not just as a fan, but definitely a trend. You know, so it's kind of highlighting those program aspects across. Within that we have what we call happening. So which are activations on board. And so you know, we do have a coffee cup in class we have what's the T amount of the caffeinated experience, right for the cup of tea cupping class, we utilize our entertainment team, which we have a persona called the balancer are things like the fitness guru on board, you know, for our movement flow values on the go. So kind of think you're doing some bite activity motion arounds, you know, while maybe stopping for a moment, have a quick little ginger shot and kind of chat health and wellness and nutrition, you know, so it's really more of a holistic approach. Rather than just saying here's a smoothie right, or here's a cup of coffee, it's goes into a great partnership with intelligentsia coffee and JoJo teas, it goes into utilizing entertainment to really drive messaging home, you know, talks on nutrition and in the talks on kind of wellness. So it's really more comprehensive approach, rather than just giving a menu, right, which is important

Charles Steadman: 00:26:06

as well, because people do look for those those offerings and more than one or two.

Ken Taylor: 00:26:11

And then best LTO, you were telling me about seven seas sipper, which I guess is it seven, seven drinks and seven bars on board, a little a little, essentially a Safari on board some extent.

Charles Steadman: 00:26:25

Yeah, it's kind of a cocktail scavenger hunt is and the seven seas sippers, which I did a great kind of partnership with diazo for that one, because it has seven drinks and seven different bars, you basically will go to each of the bars, you have the drink, you get a stamp, and then you get this little kind of cool pirate map that kind of takes you around the different areas. And then once you finish all seven drinks, you know that you have an opportunity to win a secret prize, you know, which I don't know what the prize is here. Gotta keep some Mississippi mystery to it. But we do also offer non alcoholic versions for that as well. You know, because for those that are coming on board that may not want to participate, or seven drinks. It's not meant to be done in a day. But sometimes, you know, we see people that get full of vim and vigor, you know, but also to kind of balance it out. So it really kind of creates like a pathway for those that really wants that kind of foolproof experience a pathway for those that want that nano call experience, and also a pathway and this kind of resonated when you mentioned before, as you're looking at this generational shifts where we haven't seen phones again, what is this, but this moderation of consumption is real, right? And we're kind of seeing it and kind of when I'm in restaurants and looking at kind of check averages and looking at kind of what people are ordering and, and things around. For me I like to be a fly on the wall. But it's you know, kind of morphosys to kind of sustained drinking as opposed to power drinking. You know, and I think that moderation, you know, something where people are looking to find that balance of a foolproof cocktail, or going to the next place of a non alcoholic. Again, it just gives that choice back and you know, one of our tenants you know for the overall program is given the choice back and the opportunity to choose your own adventure. But the seven seas CIP is

Charles Steadman: 00:28:03

definitely a great one. And we'll be kicking off another one as well this year in July as part of our eat drink festival.

Ken Taylor: 00:28:08

Well, congrats on all the programs and congrats on the recognition at vibe, which is held in San Diego. But also F&B@Sea coming up on April 10 and 11th. The seat trade global shows on the eighth of April. And of course it goes right through. And it's exciting to see it being held at the Mana Wynwood center, convention center there. So we're really excited about it. The awards program too. So F&B@Sea awards will be on the 11th. And I hope to see you there man.

Charles Steadman: 00:28:38

I appreciate it. Definitely fun to be there was such a great event last year and very excited to see I was expanded into this year. And that reminds me I've got two more to submit. So I got to end but you know, Thanks, Ken. For that one. Your you know,

Ken Taylor: 00:28:50

it's a great panel of industry enthusiasts that our judging from all over the industry from Cal Poly and the dean of hospitality to industry professionals that know the business really, really well. Both writers and people that have done the work. So we're really excited to see how that comes together. And that's not too far off. So good luck on that as well. Charles really been good chatting with you. Thanks so much for joining the podcast. Thanks.

Charles Steadman: 00:29:16

Appreciate it. Have a good day.