The Marine Hotel Association’s (MHA) Symposium at Sea brought cruise line executives and suppliers together in an intimate format over a three-night cruise on Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas.

Suppliers were able to hear from cruise line purchasing, hotel and food and beverage executives on topics ranging from forecasting, onboard trends, consumption, what they look for in suppliers, how to win business, managing inventory in seasonal deployment markets and much more.

Other topics included beverage trends across the industry, tariffs and regulations, free trade zones, logistics and the push to do more local purchasing globally.

During the event, one cruise line pointed to a shift of its procurement strategy from using distributors as intermediaries to working directly with manufacturers. This change follows a major bid process involving roughly 200 suppliers, which led to 70 new direct manufacturer agreements.

To support this new model, the company is developing its own warehousing network. Plans include two warehouses in North America, covering the Northeast and Northwest, and two in Europe, serving ships operating in the Baltic/Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Product storage will begin in early 2026 and ramp up from there.

Participants also learned what private destination growth means for them, as cruise lines are now procuring food and beverage and other items for their private islands at larger volumes than ever before. Coming soon are branded partnerships at bars both ashore and aboard.

In addition were cocktail hours and speed networking sessions, where each cruise line hosted a table. Suppliers were able to rotate throughout the room, giving each attendee one-on-one time with each cruise line participant.

Dinners on two nights had cruise lines hosting tables located in the ship’s 2,600-seat main dining room, with cruise line executives switching tables on both nights so attendees were able to dine with different representatives from various brands.

Cruise lines attending included major corporations as well as smaller and niche lines, plus vessel management companies overseeing hotel and catering.

The cruise sailed roundtrip from Royal Caribbean’s state-of-the-art Terminal A in Miami with port calls at Perfect Day at CocoCay and Nassau.

Next up for the MHA is its annual trade show and conference, being hosted in Naples, Florida, March 29-31.

Read a full report from the MHA’s Symposium at Sea in the upcoming winter edition of the Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine.