Onboard Pastry Chef — Cruise Ship Dining Mastery

American Cruise Lines; Dubuque (IA); On-site; USD 46,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel covered

Room and board

Uniforms

Training

Job summary

American Cruise Lines seeks a Pastry Chef to craft a wide variety of desserts onboard its river ships for the 2026 season. You will follow a daily dessert/pastry matrix, testing new recipes to delight guests and crew, with a focus on presentation and flavor pairings.

This full-time, exempt role offers onboard living quarters and a challenging culinary environment, with responsibilities across dessert production, station setup, and inventory control.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in Culinary Arts or pastry & baking, or 3–5 years of quality pastry production.
• Basic understanding of professional baking and pastries.
• Problem solving, organization, and self-motivation.
• Pass pre-employment drug test and background check.
• TWIC credential.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and serve items per procedures, recipes, portions, and presentation.
• Set up, maintain, and break down station per FDA standards.
• Taste all products to assess quality.
• Notify Executive Chef of shortages or equipment issues.
• Maintain accurate counts of food prepared to prevent discrepancies.
• Schedule production of all baked goods.
• Maintain inventory of fresh baked goods.

Skills

Problem solving

Organization

Self-motivation

Dessert production

Education

Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts or pastry & baking

Job description

American Cruise Lines seeks a Pastry Chef to craft a wide variety of desserts onboard its river ships for the 2026 season. You will follow a daily dessert/pastry matrix, testing new recipes to delight guests and crew, with a focus on presentation and flavor pairings.

This full-time, exempt role offers onboard living quarters and a challenging culinary environment, with responsibilities across dessert production, station setup, and inventory control.