b'Galley Tour Among the First at Ocean CayMSC offered a behind-the-scenes galley tour for areal look inside culinary operations.Key AccessT he Conference at Sea aboard the MSC Divina in December provid-ed an intimate platform for hotel and food and beverage vendors to connect with relevant executives from a number of cruise operators.Panel discussions, networking sessions, hosted dinners and otherThe cruise was activities provided a strong platform for vendors and cruise line de- among the first MSC voyages to cision makers to connect aboard MSCs 3,500-guest Divina. MHAthe new Ocean members were also among the first to see MSCs new Ocean CayCay MSC Marine private island in the Bahamas. Reserve.The time spent with our supplier partners was invaluable, helping them to better understand the new concepts we are developing, as well as our strategic challenges, allowing for great dialogue and in fact we learn just as much from them since they are facing many of these same developments across the hospitality industry, said John McGirl, COO at The World, a residence cruise ship, and president of the MHA.Most valuable was probably the one-on-one meetings but for me its the combination of having time to be together to have some inter-esting discussions and the one-on-ones, explained Johan Westermark, managing director, Nordic Seafood Cruise Supply. The individual vendor session worked out to be one of the most valuable events for us. The one-on-one time gave us a great intro-duction to new suppliers, as well as connecting with many we are currently working with, added Bruce Tschampel, vice president of hotel operations for Lindblad Expeditions.Contacting new customers who receive hundreds of cold calls every day can be very challenging, but the one-on-one meetings guarantee at least a few minutes with each buyer, explained Michael Yang, account executive at Blue Venture Inc., a major seafood supplier to the cruise industry. Multiple Cruise line participants ranged from MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line to Apollo Group, Lindblad Expe- award-winning ditions, The World, Windstar, CMI Leisure and Mystic, among others. PPE brand leaderThe size was small but quaint. A lot of face time with each cruiseContact us today for line contact. Great group of new business contacts, noted Nina Huntercomplimentary samples.of PanaPesca USA LLC, which is supplying MSC-certified oysters800.833.1181and other seafood products.www.tronexcompany.com/cruise'