SENIOR EXECUTIVE CHEF REPORT, INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS 31 MAY 2008 Ship: Independence of the Seas From: Marco

Marrama Senior Executive Chef Date: 31 May 2008

Supporting Operation I would like to thank Hotel Director, the Executive Chef Ivo Jahn and his entire galley team along with the F&B Directors Joao Mendonca and Errol Saldanha, Restaurant Operation Manager Ivelin Hristov and Inventory Manager David Adams for their support and cooperation during my stay on board the Independence of the Seas. Galley Operation The opening of Independence has been very successful with no major issues from Galley side. The most difficult task to accomplish was to make sure all areas of the Galley were prepared to step in revenue cruises menus, as the inaugural season was very short compared to previous ones for the same class of ships. The galley had to work hard, as most of Galley Chef de Parties had mostly worked on a 7 days run out of Miami and were not familiar at all with other menus needed on a 10, 11 and 14 days run. The same applies to Windjammer Caf and Jade were new cycle menus have been introduced. I am happy to say that both Windjammer lunch and Jade lunch menu for 14 days run master cook recipes have been completed and pictures taken, so there is a reference in place for Galley Management and crew to use file to meet and maintain Company standards. UK Caf Promenade sandwich cycle has also been introduced by Corporate Baker Robert Heindl. The predominant English demographic onboard since first revenue cruise has shown consumption and food trends completely different from what we have experienced in the Caribbean and unfortunately results are reflected in food cost, too high compared to forecasts, but a lot of effort is in place by Executive Chef Ivo to monitor and reduce it as much as possible. The good ratings so far achieved clearly show that if standards are well in place and quality and consistency become the focus, there is no need to change anything at all from what we currently do. Galley Management

Galley Management continuous effort in managing galley staff and monitoring production is going to be the major factor for a successful season in Europe. In several occasions when certain products might not be available or food production is becoming too heavy, shortcuts can be seen and rectifying mistakes is a must before they become new standards in place. Mistakes so far found and rectified are mostly related to a nocommunication in place from Chef de Partie side to Galley Management. Galley Management can not police stations heads 24 hours a day, but a both way and dynamic communication has to come in place to reduce waste of time and effort from all sides of operations. Until Galley Management is not fully confident in the strength of certain areas like sauce and vegetable station extra supervision is a must.

Dining Room Service An increase in overall dining room ratings clearly shows that commitment by dining room staff to meet and exceed guest expectations. The area, where focus has to come in place, is in regards to AVOs related to food allergies. In several occasions, I had to step in and change food prepared, as AVO description did not reflect what guests really needed. As Head Waiters are in charge of AVOs, it is crucial menu knowledge and I have no hesitation in asking a Galley Manager to see the guests for these specific cases, as a simple negligence might result in serious illness an a definite poor in ratings. I am extremely happy of the handling of Indian guests onboard. Menu need to be provided to the guest the night before, so they are made aware of what is available including Jain food, but this is all the guests are going to get. These are the standards and this is what we serve. I spoke with F&B Director to ensure Indian flyers are in the room on Embarkation, so guests are aware of what is going on and it stops right at the beginning of the cruise all these AVOs for Indian food, as Indian guests are never happy with it. Executive Chef on the other hand will have to ensure on a daily basis that Galley complies with Gold Anchor Standards Indian food items. Food knowledge and training is also a must. Too many waiters and some Head waiters are still struggling with menu knowledge ingredients and English guests are so picky and have no mercy when it comes to complain, so the capacity to eliminate or limit guest chance to complain is a must. I have also spoken to Restaurant Manager Ivelin regarding crew food. Too many waiters consume guest food and this trend has to stop. Ivelin is trying his best to stop waiters taking food on the line for later consumption, but still too many staff is violating Company policy, which if not rectified will also results in Culinary Review non compliance. Windjammer Windjammer Caf is the busiest venue on the ship and guests love it. They also prefer to go for dinner regardless if it is a formal night or not like, certainly completely different trend from the Caribbean. 700 to 800 guests seems an average number for Casual dinner. There is definitely a higher consumption in Carvings, meats, vegetables and especially for desserts, well reflected in a higher food cost. The Jain food has been fully implemented and as it is available to all guests and people do eat it, a full time cook has been allocated for this duty, which means also when the ship will be back in the States, that extra par will have to be kept.

Galley Specialists Galley Specialist needs to focus on even plates and plate covers distribution among decks. Too many times I have found waiters not using 9 inches plate covers and then I found too many covers in the dish wash area. Same applies for 9 inches plates and shell plates. A better distribution needs to come in place and monitor china breakage. Inventory There have been a lot of lessons learnt on the 4, 10 and 11 days runs regarding food trends and food consumptions. I had a meeting on the last day of the cruise with both F&B Directors, Executive Chef and Inventory Manager. I have asked the Inventory Manager to provide a cost comparison between what it is consumed on a Freedom class ship out of Miami and Independence and difference of prices paid for all fruit, vegetable and dairy products. David assured me that he is ahead of the game and that such report will soon be compiled. In order to ensure store keepers are well aware of the product changes, control better the food boxes and take count of stock on hand, I do recommend an extra 2 par level store keepers in Provision area for the European season, certainly the current one extra par is not sufficient. Inventory Manager is also faced for instance with issues related to cheeses: he orders some varieties and new ones are instead delivered, which creates confusion also on Galley side on what to order and not. Executive Chef Ivo is on a daily basis in the stores to check what is available and what needs to be used to avoid spoilage. The next 14 days cruise should be able to cover all runs that ship does and to have enough data on hand to control product onboard based on guests consumption. It is crucial that ship continues to monitor food cost and on the other hand to maintain standards so far achieved. Royal Caribbean has invested a lot of money on this European season and to take shortcuts to make food cost, I do not think that it is the Company goal. The Inventory report on consumption and cost differences will be able to identify and highlight differences in cost and consumptions. Portofino and Chops Grille I spent 2 full days in both venues last cruise to ensure standards were in place. I found too many non-compliances to be rectified, which show the need to have one Windjammer Sous Chef to spend one full day from preparation to service, generally a port one, in each venue and to ensure standards are met and exceeded. This is the only way standards can be maintained. Portofino has a limited number in Rosenthal pasta bowls. They have been ordered, but it will take sometime to receive them. At least a total of 60 skewers are needed in Portofino at all times. Pastry Corporate Chef Robert Mead just left few days ago and provided a full report on pastry operations. CONCLUSION

I kindly request that this report is kept on file and to be used as an overall performance tool to monitor status of Galley operation. If you have any concerns, you can e-mail me on my personal: marramamarco@hotmail.com or my remotemail address mmarrama@rccl.com. Best Regards Marco Marrama Senior Executive Chef Voyager Class and Freedom Class