Stews have historically been underserved by software to help get the job done. But with these handy apps, you can kiss goodbye to piles of paperwork and endless spreadsheets.
Airtable: for inventory and work lists
Excel is not made for inventory! Meet Airtable — the most robust solution for inventory management and work list creation. Stews can manage owner wardrobe and uniform inventory, track pantry items, maintain records of toiletry and medical supplies, take pictures directly in the app and seamlessly sort and filter data. The platform’s kanban-style view enables the creation of dynamic daily, weekly and monthly agenda work lists that can be rearranged, eliminating the need for separate tools. Import current Excel CSV files to your Airtable base for a smooth transition and download CSV files in Airtable to forward copies of your inventory.
Sevenstar: for yacht preferences management
No more outdated preference sheets and long, run-on Word documents! Sevenstar’s digital yacht preference management software helps you streamline owner and charterer preferences. It offers different preference forms for owners, owners’ guests, charterers and crew to fill out. When a form is completed, an automatic profile is created in the yacht’s Sevenstar app, which stews can edit, update and attach recipes to, as well as ship set-up pictures taken directly in the app. You can easily download guest preference profiles to print or upload to AI chatbots for quick reference.
Claude: for guest book profiles, editing emails and reading preference sheets
If you’re tired of generic responses and sounding like a bot when using AI to edit, it’s time to use Claude, a large language model that helps edit your emails and crew profiles while maintaining your authentic voice. Claude offers a more enjoyable user experience and allows users to upload documents for analysis.
Chief stews can upload guests’ Sevenstar preference profile PDFs directly into Claude and ask for specific information about guests. For example, when you need to remember how each guest prefers their coffee, prompt Claude with, “Can you tell me how every guest profile above says they like their coffee?” Claude will then list each guest by name and their coffee order in seconds.
Canva: for creating menus, landing pages and more
While many of us are familiar with using Canva for creating printable menus, you can also use its website-building feature to create a simple landing page for your yacht that can easily be edited daily. When designing your template, consider including the following elements: a page featuring your crew with their profiles, the daily menu, itinerary and daily events, and a weather report.
To make your yacht’s landing page easily accessible, use Canva’s QR code feature to generate a link to your website. Print out the QR codes and place them in frames around your yacht. This way, guests can quickly scan the code and access all the important information about your yacht and their stay.
Perplexity: for brainstorming itineraries and housekeeping questions
When it comes to brainstorming itineraries, events, activities and restaurants for guests, or needing to figure out a housekeeping or laundry question such as stain treating or plant care — Perplexity takes center stage. This AI-powered tool acts as a virtual assistant, prompting stews with relevant information, suggestions and pictures, and bookmarking web pages where the chatbot discovered the information, effectively replacing the need for time-consuming searches.
Arc: for multitasking online
As chief stews are constantly multitasking one zillion things, they need a web browser that can keep up. Arc is the perfect solution to declutter your web browsing experience — it helps you stay organized and allows you to split your screen into up to four sections.