by Kylie O'Brien | Sep 15, 2022 | Guest Service, Superyacht Crew Training, Table Settings |
How to Set a Table for a 3-Course Dinner
A three-course meal on board a super yacht would be classified as a casual dinner, consisting of an entree’, main meal and dessert. It would often be reserved for just the family or primary charterers onboard.
As a superyacht stewardess is just a part of the job, right? Well, yes and no. It is in the steward/ess job description, but what makes a dining experience just that little bit extra is all the effort you go to. Please let me explain further.
For an informal three-course dinner, you will need to consider the following to create a truly magnificent dining experience:
Table linen.
In this instance, as it is an informal dinner, I would recommend using the evening placemats and serviettes. Depending on the menu, choose colours that will complement the food. If the yacht doesn’t have evening placemats, or you are just purchasing new table linen, then look for delicate fabrics such as fine linen in gold, silver, black and intricate lace weaves for that luxurious feel. If you need a little inspiration on opulence, have a quick look at the CHRISTOFLE website.
The table centrepiece.
The centrepiece or table decorations again would be kept to a minimum. Consider a less is more approach. Use elegant hues such as creams, whites, and gold to bounce the soft candlelight around the room.
Cutlery.
Next to go onto the table is your freshly polished cutlery. As previously mentioned, this will consist of entrée, main and dessert cutlery. Forks on the left and knives on the right, the main cutlery is laid down closest to the plate, and then entrée will sit next to the mains on the outer side. Should soup be on the menu, then the spoon will be placed on the right side of the main fork. The placement of the dessert cutlery has been debated over and over, but as a traditionalist, I would lay the dessert cutlery in two ways. The first would be to like to lay the cutlery directly above the main plate with the spoon below the fork, with the spoon handle facing to the right and the fork to the left, which the service staff will pull down once the mains have been cleared.
Or I would leave it off the table together until the main has been completely cleared, then I would lay the appropriate cutlery just before the service of the dessert. It really depended on how many guests were eating and how formal the guests liked to be served.
Glasses.
Lastly, consider the crystal wear. Do your guests drink wine? What wine will compliment the food. Because it is a three-course dinner, consider just placing a water glass and a wine glass on the table. I know this may upset some people, but nowadays, our guests know what they like, and indeed, the chef knows what wine will compliment the food. Of course, it is not a big deal if you would like to set the table with a water glass, a white wine glass and a red wine glass. But for an elegant dining experience, I would lay the table with minimal glass wear.
Finally, as a superyacht chief stewardess, you would always consider cultural diversity and differentiating service customs when you are briefing your junior crew onboard.
Purchase Your Copy of The Stewardess Bible and The Chief Stewardess Bible
Here:
How to Set a Table for a 3-Course Dinner
- Table Linen
- Table decorations
- Place mats and napkins
- Cutlery: (soup) Entrée, main, and dessert
- Glasses: Water and wine
Soupspoon only if required. Accompanying condiments, salt and pepper, and extra wine glasses to be kept on the waiter’s station to be served if and when needed.
by Kylie O'Brien | Dec 28, 2017 | Product Reviews |
Superyacht luxury product reviews
Well, what a lovely surprise, I’ve just received some Jo Loves & Le Labo Christmas Cheer. The beautiful Ruth from Superyacht luxury sent me some delicious luxury beauty products to reviews for you all.
Now before I start off, I would like to say that I fall into the 35-45 year old demographic and my skin is typically dry and very sensitive.
Further, I am not paid to review these products, and the opinions are solely mine.
From joloves.com: “Jo loves was created by Jo Malone. Jo Malone MBE has been described as an ‘English scent maverick’ and the woman responsible for creating some of the world’s most loved fragrances.
Originally a facial therapist, Jo fell in love with fragrance while working from her discreet skin care clinic which she set up from her London home.
Discovering an instinctual talent for creating scented products by hand in her kitchen, word of her exceptional potions quickly spread and soon Jo was unable to keep up with demand.
From these artisan beginnings, Jo launched her first brand, Jo Malone London, which gained cult status around the world. In 1999, Jo sold the business to Estée Lauder Companies and remained Creative Director until she left in 2006.” www.joloves.com.
A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future. – Coco Chanel
Before I give you my opinion here is what jo loves has to say about their product:
A luxurious foaming gel for hands and body, designed to be used every day as a hand wash or shower gel to gently cleanse and scent your skin.
In my opinion, the product and packaging present elegantly and would sit nicely in the bathroom on board any superyacht. Further, the soap offers a delicate and familiar fragrance which is reminiscent of a bygone era.
Jo Loves Pomelo Hand & body cleanser 200ml.
I was happy to find that the soap didn’t dry out my sensitive skin, and I will happily continue to use this product.
On a less constructive note, I could not find an ingredients list, so I’m really not sure what I was putting on my body, which is something that I always consider when choosing beauty products.
La Labo – Santal 33
Moving onto the La Labo – Santal 33, I received the 60ml hotel size body lotion which is packaged in a standard bottle.
Without doing any research on this product, in my opinion, this product oozes masculinity. Just think of the Marlboro man mixed with an American retro Barba shop, and then you will find this delightful elixir.
Sure enough, when I did look to see the who, what, where, why and how behind this product, I found the whole website is geared towards the male consumer.
Some other reviews disagree and have stated that this range spans ages and genders. The founders themselves have said that “We never thought about who was going to wear it regarding gender at Le Labo. We are more thinking of the souls — perfumery has to be sexual to me — it has to create an attraction, an addiction.”
For me, this is a man’s fragrance, and there are many other beautiful scents out there that will appeal to your female guests.
So if you are looking for a gender-neutral product for the guest bathrooms then perhaps this product isn’t for you. If you are looking for his and her line, then I would recommend this range for him.
The lotion goes on with ease, and it is far from greasy, The fragrance was not to my liking, but my husband found it quite nice. The scent does stay on the skin for a while, but some people do not mind that either.
On the positive Le Labo claim to be “Plant-based, genderless, claimless, cruelty-free”.
Free of any promise other than making you feel good while using it”. Which is a massive plus in my book. Further, I did find the ingredients to Santal 33 which are:
“Enriched with vitamin E, vitamin A, aloe vera, coconut and olive oil, this paraben-free hand and body lotion perfumes, softens, and smoothes your skin”. For better results, have someone else apply it to you… gotta love the sexy marketing tactics here)
by Kylie O'Brien | May 3, 2016 | Housekeeping |
Please note: It is not the intention of the author to belittle you, rather, it is to slightly educate you as to what will happen if you do.
Why a superyacht stewardess should NOT flush tampons down the toilet
The menstruation cycle of a woman is a standard monthly occurrence. However, it is not a topic that is readily discussed amongst men, especially not seafaring men.
(Let’s be honest here, it’s not the most delicate subject to talk about, and it does make many people very uncomfortable)
Nonetheless, in the Superyacht industry, it is the engineers (typically men) who have to sort out the problem when women dispose of their feminine hygiene products correctly.
This article will discuss Why a superyacht stewardess should not flush tampons down the toilet.
The “NO tampons in the toilet” instruction came from the engineering department; where the personality characteristics of an engineer varied as much as the oceans themselves.
Some would bark the command… “don’t put tampons down the toilet”, others would approach the subject a little more delicately. However, the message was always the same.
Needless to say, that, throughout my long career as a Superyacht chief stewardess, I always had a mandatory chat with the new stewardesses about not putting tampons down the toilet.
My go-to reason was so that it wouldn’t block the toilet system.
Fair enough, I thought, (I mean, I had not given the subject much more thought than that). It was not until recently when I decided to write about this subject that I wanted to know a lot more. So off I went to ask an engineer, and this is what I found out:
- A marine toilet is NOT like a standard household toilet.
- It is a vacuum toilet constructed by the intricate use of smaller pipes with Y pieces, which twist and turn to the yachts specification.
- The pipes which are used can be 6 times smaller than those used in a private house.
- At the end of this pipework sits a macerator which cuts the human excrement and toilet paper into smaller pieces which then passes through to a holding tank.
Now, should material other than bodily fluids and purpose made tissue (i.e. toilet paper) be flushed down the toilet and get stuck in the pump, then ultimately this can interfere with the guest’s toilets.
This will depend a lot on the construction of the pipework, but basically, if you flush a tampon down the toilet, which the system can then Not the process, the whole system will need to be shut down until the problem can be resolved.
This will make for a very unhappy boss and guest. Not only that, but your fellow crew member has to then sort out a very unpleasant problem. They will first have to find the blockage, which means opening up the pipework and removing the culprit responsible for the blockage.
Now as you can imagine, the culprit will be used a tampon or too much toilet paper, or other materials such as dirty tissues or other material.
As I mentioned above, each engineer is different, and I have had the pleasure of working with some brilliant personalities and with some undesirables.
One engineer comes to mind; he would bark commands at everyone. Concerning this topic, he said,
“If any of your girls block the system then I will give them the bucket to clean it out”.
To summarise why a superyacht stewardess should not flush tampons down the Toilet:
- A marine toilet is NOT a standard household toilet
- It is constructed with smaller pipes and a lot more bends
- The vacuum system is delicate
- If the pump gets compromised, it does not only affect the crew area; it can also affect the guest accommodation
by Kylie O'Brien | Mar 15, 2016 | Guest Service |
The Power of a Smile In Guest Service
We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. – Mother Teresa
The power of a smile in body language is significant.
It’s a way to show your guests and customers that you have a strong desire and commitment to keeping them happy. If you work in a guest services field one of the most important things you can do is to learn to separate your personal and professional life. Maybe you woke up this morning and you weren’t feeling well. Or maybe you are having a lot of personal upheaval in your life right now.
The bottom line is that these are personal issues that have no place in your workplace. You need to learn to shut out all of your personal concerns when you are at work and give your full attention to your guests and customers. They don’t want or need to know that you have personal issues going on. What they need is to see you with a smile, exuding positive body language, and being there to greet and help them with whatever they need.
The Power of a Smile In Guest Service
Now that the power of a smile in body language should be clear to you,
It’s important that you set an example for others in your workplace. It doesn’t matter if you are an owner, manager, or a regular employee, leading by example is a great way to get the message across to others that smiling and making the right impression on guests is essential to the success of your business. So what can you do as only one person?
You can help to start building a culture where smiling and positively greeting every guest becomes commonplace. You can help others to learn about how important non-visual communication is. Even if you aren’t in a position of leadership you can lead by example. Given enough time your co-workers should notice the way that you treat customers, and management will as well. This can lead to further career advancement opportunities for you, and it may also prompt management to urge other workers to adopt your example.
We’ve all heard the old saying that the customer is always right. The truth is that while the sentiment is a great way to look at customer service, it’s actually far from the truth. In fact, in many cases, customers are wrong and get upset about something that is not the fault of the business they are at.
Does this mean that you should tell a customer they’re wrong? No, of course not. You may have to explain the position or policies of your business, and you may not be able to give them the resolution that they want. However, you should never be as harsh as to tell a guest or customer that they are wrong. Instead, you should remember to approach them with a smile, and always be respectful to them. Even if they don’t like what you have to tell them, the fact that you use nonverbal communication such as smiling will help to make the encounter with them less hostile and more positive.
Is the key to both your success as a person and the key to the success of the business that you own or work for. Remember that a lot of how we communicate as people is nonverbal in nature.
If you approach a guest or customer with a frown and a slouch you are going to get your interaction with them off on the wrong foot. At that point, even if you have nothing but wonderful things to tell them they will already get a bad feeling just by looking at you.
Instead, you need to make sure that you stand up tall, show them that you are a positive person, and always greet them with a smile. You want your guests and customers, to feel welcome and appreciated, and showing them a smile is a great way to start this process.
The Stewardess Bible is on Sale Now!
by Kylie O'Brien | May 13, 2015 | Guest Service |
A good cup of coffee is like warm liquid gold, and learning how to make a great cup of coffee is like one of the many things in life that “you just have to know”.
Traditionally a great cup of coffee comes from fresh coffee beans, but I believe you can produce a fantastic cup of Joe, with whatever you have at your disposal.
History:
The name Coffee in English was a word adapted from the Dutch Koffie, who borrowed it from the Turkish Kahave, who in turn borrowed it from the Arabs Qahwa.
A possible origin of the name is the Kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia, where the coffee plant originated.
The History of Coffee: The history of coffee goes as far back to the 9th century, when a humble Ethiopian goat herder called Kaldi noticed that his goats became spirited after eating the berries from a certain tree.
He reported this information to the monks who in turn made a drink out of the berries and discovered that they could stay awake longer to pray. From Ethiopia it is said that coffee spread to Egypt and Yemen.
As interesting as the goat herder story is, the first credible evidence of coffee as a drink is in the middle of the fifteenth century in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen.
By the 16th century it had spread throughout the world, reaching Europe, the Americas, Persia, Turkey and North Africa.
The 10 Steps of Coffee:
According to the National Coffee Association of America, there are 10 steps to producing coffee, these are:
- Planting
- Harvesting the cherries
- Processing the cherries
- Drying the beans
- Roasting the beans
- Milling the beans
- Exporting the beans
- Grinding the coffee
- Brewing the coffee
- Tasting
- Tasting the coffee
Buy Good Coffee:
Now this is an important step, buy the best coffee that you can afford! It’s one of those things that the better quality coffee you buy, the better cup of coffee you will make.
Storing Your Coffee:
Storage is integral to maintaining your coffee’s freshness and flavour.
It is important to keep it away from excessive air, moisture, heat, and light — in that order — in order to preserve its fresh-roast flavour as long as possible.
It has been a popular myth for years now that you should always store your open bags of coffee in the fridge or freezer, however, this may lead to the deterioration of the coffee as contact with moisture is a big no-no.
Instead, buy your coffee a quality airtight ceramic or glass container and store in a cool, dry and dark place.
How to Brew Your Coffee:
OK, here is the fun part. There is no right or wrong way to making a cup of coffee… it’s up to you and how you like your coffee.
- What is important is that you get the measure of coffee to water ratio right.
- You do not recycle used coffee grind.
- Your coffee has been stored appropriately for freshness and aroma.
- Whether you are using a top of the line coffee machine or a simple kettle for instant coffee, make sure your equipment is clean.
- The coffee you use should be no older that 2 – 3 weeks old.
- Use bottled water if the water in your area is not clean.
- If you are reading this article then that means that you can afford your own or have access to a computer… whenever possible buy fair trade coffee, your conscience will thank you for it.
- Enjoy Your Coffee
Now all the hard work is done, sit back, and take a minute to smell that beautiful aroma, and taste that amazing flavour.
Serving Coffee:
When serving coffee remember that coffee drinkers are very particular about the way they drink their coffee.
There is in excess of over 36 known coffee bean types in the world, with over 60 different ways of making coffee. So it’s no wonder that many stewardesses get a little intimidated by the thought of making a double macchiato skinny latte, for example.
However, in my experience the most popular types of coffee that my guests enjoyed are as follows:
- Cappuccino: Is an Italian coffee drink, which is traditionally prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam. Sprinkle chocolate or cocoa over the top for something special.
- Espresso: Is coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Espresso is generally thicker than coffee brewed by other methods.
- Café Latte: Is a coffee-based drink made primarily from espresso and steamed milk. It consists of one-third espresso, two-thirds heated milk and about 1cm of foam.
- Drip/brew/filtered Coffee: Is a method which involves pouring water over roasted, ground coffee beans contained in a filter.
- This was most popular in the mornings, where simple coffee was required.
- This should not be mistaken with Café Americano which is coffee prepared by adding hot water to espresso.
Regardless of the type of coffee you will be required to serve, you will need the following:
- A tray: ready, neat and clean
- Sugar bowl (white sugar, brown sugar, sweet’N Low and Candela)
- Coffee cup with underline and relevant coffee spoon
- Milk creamer with the coffee or tea orders as per the guest requirements
- Water glass
- Service napkins
