ICYMI: The New York Times goes behind the scenes on cruise operations

Earlier this week the New York Times published a long piece on the operations of cruise ships with a focus on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Regular cruisers already know about the tons of food consumed each trip or the thousands of towels washed daily, but this article goes into further detail and explains how Royal Caribbean looked to other industries to improve operations and efficiency.

A few years ago, Royal Caribbean brought in experts in industrial productivity, including DHL and the German carmaker Porsche, to help manage complex flows on the ship. As an example, the efficiency experts helped determine where to locate waiter stations in the main dining room to reduce the number of footsteps needed to serve hundreds of diners simultaneously.

Read the whole article to learn more about how each new generation of ship creates a new set of logistical challenges for the cruise lines.