Royal Caribbean says it cut food waste by 52% across 30 ships
Matthew No Fluff Cruising · Aug 27, 2026
The short answerRoyal Caribbean reports cutting cruise ship food waste by 52% across 30 ships, exceeding its own 50% reduction target. For scale, the fleet serves about 29 million pina coladas and 40 million pizza slices a year.
The reduction comes from predictive modelling rather than portion cuts, which is the same AI forecasting the company’s leadership has described publicly. It can now forecast burger demand in fifteen-minute windows on a given ship.
Worth knowing what this is not: a change you will notice at the buffet. It is a supply-side efficiency, and the savings stay with the company.
Sources
Tier 1 = the cruise line’s own published material · Tier 2 = an established cruise-news outlet- TIER 252% food waste reduction across 30 ships, annual serving figures
Royal Caribbean Blog, checked 27 Aug 2026
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