We celebrated the U.S. debut of Royal Caribbean’s newest ship with an on-board Chopped showdown between three of their most seasoned chefs.
We have plenty of experience over the years shooting on cruise ships and creating custom short-form cooking competitions for Food Network, but the inaugural press week for Royal Caribbean’s newest ship Anthem of the Seas came with its own set of unique challenges. If you thought maneuvering equipment around multiple decks of a cruise ship was difficult, it gets even harder when there are hundreds of VIP guests from New York City and around the country onboard to get their first look.
We had to keep our crew small and stay nimble in order to accomplish an ambitious shoot schedule that had us shooting all over the ship, including a day-of request to wrap up an hour early so the ship could set sail sooner! We selected locations onboard that best served the needs of the cooking competition but also showed off signature attractions that can only be found on a Royal Caribbean ship, like the breathtaking entrance off the North Star viewing deck.
We were honored to have Royal Caribbean executive John Suley join us to pick the winning dish, serving to underscore the amazing taste in dining options available to passengers. His presence also gave this integration a unique through-line with a special Caribbean-themed episode of Food Network’s Chopped in which he was a guest judge and our spot aired.
