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F OGHORN talked to Heather Henderson of StarLite Cruises in Clearwater FL about food service. PVA members since 1981 StarLite Cruises started as a dinner cruise operation which is still at its heart before expanding its base to include other adventure-themed vessel excursions. After attending the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2016 in January Heather realized that StarLites food service and variety differentiates us from the other dining cruises around the country and she wanted to share how their family-run business operates. FOGHORN Lets start by having you briey describe StarLite Cruises. Can you provide some history about the operation Heather Henderson StarLite Cruises currently operates seven vessels three of which offer dining service. The en- terprise was founded in 1986 providing upscale sit-down dining service on the StarLite Princess a brand new authentic paddle wheeler built to satisfy the new demand for a fine dining approach to a dinner cruise. This new concept vessel QA How StarLite Cruises Provides 280 Individually Prepared Meals on a Dinner Boat Every Night was complete with a full-service galley designed to serve a choice of four entrees and featured large picture windows an open stationless main dining room with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers. The StarLite Majesty dining yacht was added in 1996 and offered the same level of service as the StarLite Princess. We have operated in the Tampa Bay area since that time. In 2006 the Calypso Queen was aquired and offers a tropical party dinner cruise with a casual buffet. The StarLite Princess was replaced by the StarLite Sapphire dining yacht in 2012. Are your dining vessels Subchapter T or K We operate one subchapter K vessel two subchapter T vessels all of which provide dining services aboard. Excellent. How many passengers do you carry annually and how many employees do you have We carry approximately 125000 passengers annually on our dining service vessels and employ a total of 70 to 90 active employees at any one time across all of our operations. Tell us a little about StarLite Cruises dining service. And what is the pricing structure like On our dining yachts we sell our tickets two ways. One is a split ticket which means small parties purchase an admission ticket covering the cruise and entertainment. Once on board they order and pay for dining and drink service in much the same way they would in any restaurant. The customer has the option of spending less on a chicken entree as compared to the price of a filet mignon steak just as customers do in a land-based restaurant environment. This also gives the customer the option to just sightsee if they dont want to purchase a meal. For groups and gift certificates the customers purchase includes the cruise admission and the meal service. When the ticket includes the meal service the customer gets the same choice of entrees to select from as our a la carte customers although their menus do not have any prices on them since that is prepaid before the cruise. On our Calypso Queen buffet cruise the customer has a choice of sightseeing only or the cruise with the buffet meal service included. So StarLite Cruises offers ne dining on a dinner boat. That sounds nice. How many different entrees are available to diners during a dinner cruise And aside from the entrees what else is served Our food offerings are actually quite extensive. While we do offer a buffet cruise we are known for our upscale sit-down dining. 6 MAY 2016 FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS FOOD SERVICE