Oceania Cruises Is Best Cruise Line For Foodies

Photo Courtesy of Oceania Cruises

Oceania Cruises’ Marina ship at sea.

Oceania Cruises has figured out the way to anyone’s heart is through their stomach. And as such, it has carved an impressive niche in the cruise business by offering the best cuisine at sea. In fact, over the years, the cruise line has won numerous awards for its dining offerings from Cruise Critic, Town Country, Fodor’s Travel and Travel Weekly’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

The restaurants on its ships are on par with those found in world-class destinations such as New York, Paris and London. Craving Asian food? Dine at Red Ginger. French Food? Jacques will surprise you with its authentic

French Country dishes. If steak is your fancy, you can have a memorable one at Polo Grill. Canyon Ranch Spa Cuisine is also offered and best of all, all of restaurants are offered for no additional dining surcharge, as they are included in the fare (with the exception of wine-parings). From the interior decor to the custom dishes, each restaurant will have you in disbelief that you are dining while out in the open sea.

Photo Courtesy of Oceana Cruises

Oceania Cruises’ La Reserve restaurant is now offering a seven-course dinner experience called La Cuisine Bourgeoise by Jacques Pepin.

Legendary Jacques Pepin, Oceania’s Executive Culinary Director, recently upped the ante and created a new, extravagant dining option for Oceania’s Marina and Riviera ships. Formerly a chef at the five-star Plaza Athenee in Paris, he has created a seven-course dinner experience called La Cuisine Bourgeoise by Jacques Pepin. Limited to 24 guests in the La Reserve dining rooms, the meal features classic French dishes from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Each course is dramatically served from gleaming silver trays and paired with expertly selected wines by Wine Spectator. Dishes recently offered included a lobster souffle, filet of sole and filet of beef (a wine surcharge is applied).

And that is not all. Oceania also offers an array of food-related programs ranging from cooking classes and land excursions that will impress even the savviest of foodies.

Oceania’s successful culinary programs and offerings was created by Kathryn Kelly, its Director of Culinary Enrichment. Her series of land-based Culinary Discovery Tours are at select ports including Venice, Portofino, Marseille, Oslo, and Barcelona, to name a few, giving passengers the opportunity to experience firsthand the local culture of each destination through personally-led tours with Oceania chefs for visits to local farmers’ markets, wineries and top restaurants. Participants learn such techniques as how to select ingredients used in traditional recipes and what wines pair best with different types of cuisines. “We try to connect our guests with where we are traveling,” says Kelly. “So we get off the ship and we go to markets, we go to restaurants and we go to food manufacturers—anything we think might be really special and intimate.”

While on board Oceania’s Marina and Riviera ships, passengers can sign up for culinary classes offered in state-of-the-art teaching kitchens. Here, it is possible to take professional-quality classes at individual fully equipped work stations and learn how to prepare a variety of cuisines from Italian, Arabesque, Moroccan and Greek to Cuban as well as favorite dishes featured in Oceania’s restaurants. Oenophiles can participate in wine seminars and vintage wine tastings.

So while you can eat to your heart’s content on an Oceania ship, you can also take some valuable knowledge home with you as a souvenir. The sea is the limit.