How dining is changing on cruise ships
Cruising is returning to Australia and there’s a veritable smorgasbord of offerings in the restaurant sphere.
Alfresco dining with a double water view – ocean on one side, pool deck on the other – seems obvious on cruises, yet the majority of ships’ restaurants have always been indoors. It’s one aspect of cruising that is changing for the better, as people prioritise fresh air and open spaces.
As cruising returns to Australian shores this year and continues to thrive around the world, travellers are keen to get back to the good life at sea: eating and drinking with the breeze in their hair, the sun on their skin and the crew at their service.
Here’s what we can expect from the new-wave culinary scene.
Outdoor dining
Enjoy your food and margaritas with an extra sprinkling of salt as more meals and happy hours are shifted outside. Seabourn guests can now have breakfast poolside at The Patio, previously used only for lunch and dinner. And in the evening, at The Club, social butterflies are encouraged to float out the door for cocktails. The all-inclusive line has also added 300 food and beverage items to menus.
Celebrity Cruises’ two newest ships, Celebrity Edge (which is coming to Australia for the 2023-24 summer season) and Celebrity Apex, offer a Dinner on the Edge experience on a platform that moves from deck to deck, suspended over the ocean on the side of the ship. Another area, the Rooftop Garden Grill, serves “gourmet backyard favourites” such as smoked chicken wings, seafood skewers and filet mignon. The line recently upgraded its perks for passengers to include alcoholic drinks in fares.
Other ships where you can dine under the stars include Silversea’s poolside Hot Rocks, Windstar’s romantic Candles, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s promenade deck called The Waterfront, lined with bars and restaurants.
Celebrity chefs
Collaborations with famous chefs are back in vogue. Owner of Sydney’s Aria, Matt Moran, will headline Cunard’s Great Australian Culinary Voyage aboard Queen Elizabeth, departing January 28, 2023. While sailing to Melbourne and Burnie, Moran will create exclusive dishes and host talks about his passion for our local produce and food culture. Other special guests – including chefs Mark Olive and Darren Purchese, foodie couple Terry Durack and Jill Dupleix, and wine critic Huon Hooke – are expected to join the five-night journey for a program of dinners, cooking demonstrations and shore excursions.
For its new polar ship, Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant worked closely with Alain Ducasse, who holds an incredible 17 Michelin stars. Nuna By Alain Ducasse restaurant serves a la carte breakfasts, lunches and dinners incorporating the legendary chef’s signature dishes as well as his preferred tableware and design. Ponant is also offering a gastronomy-themed cruise on Le Lyrial, accompanied by three renowned chefs, Pierre Herme, Marc Haeberlin and Philippe Faure-Brac. Gala dinners, wine-tastings and lectures are planned for the weeklong sailing through Malta, Montenegro, Croatia and Italy, departing Valletta on May 20, 2022.
Known as the cruise line for foodies, Oceania has a long partnership with Jacques Pepin, author of 30 cookbooks and a regular on American television. As Oceania’s executive culinary director, he will host a cruise from New York in September, while his daughter Claudine Pepin, also a chef and godmother of the 684-passenger Sirena, will join its July cruise from Edinburgh.
Silversea engages the finest local chefs for special occasions. At the naming ceremony of Silver Dawn, to be held in Lisbon on March 31, Portuguese chef and cookbook author Leandro Carreira will present talks and classes in this new ship’s test kitchen, the SALT Lab. Many of Silversea’s shore excursions also involve regional stars of the food scenes in ports of call. For example, in Naples, guests can make pizza with the world’s best pizzaiolo, Franco Pepe, or cook with Peppe Guida, chef-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa.
Celebrity Cruises has a new culinary ambassador, Daniel Boulud, founder of the award-winning Daniel in New York, who joins the line’s own Michelin-starred chef Cornelius Gallagher. Boulud’s first restaurant at sea, Le Voyage, is onboard the just-launched Celebrity Beyond, and he has also curated the Chef’s Table wine-paired degustation.
Onda by Scarpetta is found on NCL’s Norwegian Spirit (coming to Australia next summer) and its new class of ships, Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva. This Italian eatery is part of the Scarpetta portfolio of restaurants at hotels in London, New York, the Hamptons, Las Vegas and Miami.
Cultural cuisine
Exploring a country through its food is nothing new, but some cruise lines go beyond serving pasta when in Italy. Viking has Mamsen’s, which specialises in Scandinavian fare, based on the recipes of the owner’s Norwegian mother. Traditional cakes, heart-shaped waffles and a midnight snack of ertesuppe (pea soup) are staples.
Forget farm-to-table. Quark Expeditions has introduced tundra-to-table on Arctic cruises. Served aboard its new 199-passenger Ultramarine, the experience showcases the culinary traditions of the Inuit culture in Greenland and the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. The four-course menu includes dishes prepared by Inuit chefs, who will teach passengers about the origins of the ingredients and cooking style.
Look forward to fresh seafood caught in Arctic waters and free-roaming game such as musk ox.
Azamara is offering wine and culture cruises this year, including a transatlantic voyage in August that features stops in Bilbao and Gijon, with guided tours to the best Spanish bakeries, restaurants, wineries and cider houses, and Leixoes (Porto), to sample Portuguese port, tripe and seafood.
Plant-based menus
Vegan and plant-based dishes have become permanent fixtures on luxury cruises, even in the steakhouses. For people who have never had the inclination to cook or eat these foods, the complimentary meals on cruises offer a no-risk opportunity.
Oceania was among the first to introduce 250 vegan dishes, followed by another 200 plant-based options such as Hawaiian poke bowls, kimchi soup and coconut-vanilla cashew creme brulee. The line’s biggest ships, Marina and Riviera, also have vegan juice and smoothie bars on the pool deck every morning, as well as dedicated kitchens for afternoon culinary classes.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers more than 200 plant-based dishes including Vietnamese summer rolls, Osaka power bowls, and sorbet spiked with Champagne and vodka.
Azamara’s vegan menu is offered in its three restaurants, with a hearty dinner selection of six entrees, four soups, 16 mains and eight sides. Passengers can try a meat-free version of Peking duck pancakes, tempura vegetable tacos, chickpea curry or cauliflower steak.
Health and safety protocols
With all crew and passengers required to be vaccinated (and boosted), passengers are not required to wear masks while seated in ship bars and restaurants. Specific rules vary across cruise lines and may change throughout the year.
Along with fine dining and alfresco venues, most ships continue to offer a buffet. However, instead of self-service, staff wearing masks and gloves do all the dishing out.
Viking has food stations in some venues on its ocean, river and expedition ships, with passengers served by a chef or waiter, and some dishes cooked to order. Azamara holds its “destination immersion’’ buffets and White Party events outdoors, with tables spread around the pool.
Silversea has enhanced its buffet offering with table service. The selection has also been expanded to include complimentary caviar, a wider range of seafood, fruits and berries, and high-quality meats such as Italian Piemontese and American Angus.
Additional cleaning and sanitation protocols are enforced in dining venues on all ships, with everyone required to wash their hands or use hand sanitiser before entering. Larger ships have installed basins and soap dispensers next to restaurant entrances to thoroughly lather up. Shared items, such as salt and pepper shakers, have also been removed from tables.
River cruises
The rooftop deck or open-air terrace of a river ship remain the most sublime spots to enjoy the view with a chilled glass of Champagne or German beer. Downstairs in the dining room, the communal dinners with waiter service continue to be a highlight, while the breakfast and lunch buffets operate in the most hygienic way, served by staff wearing masks.
Uniworld, one of the few river cruise lines that offers 24-hour room service, has its own celebrity chef in the family. Bea Tollman, the company’s founder, chef and author of A Life in Food, created several onboard dishes including her signature chicken soup and homemade honeycomb ice cream.
Emerald Cruises has Fabian Morreale, from the French version of Top Chef, serving a traditional provencal dinner on its Rhone/Saone river cruises.
Scenic also has a culinary cruise with Top Chef alumnus Bryan Voltaggio, departing Lyon on October 20.
France is certainly the hot ticket for foodies this year. Viking has just released a post-Seine cruise extension, Paris: A Culinary Experience, which includes visits to iconic patisseries, restaurants, cooking schools and the Jacquemart-Andre Museum for a workshop in the art of table etiquette.
On some river cruises, passengers are required to wear face masks in public areas on the ship, except while eating or drinking.
Uniworld follows the local country’s rules. For example, in European countries that have lifted all mandates, you can choose to ditch your mask when sailing along those waterways. Crew on all cruise ships must wear masks.
In the know
The federal government’s decision to lift its ban on foreign-flagged vessels on April 17 means international cruise ships can return to Australia next month. While most ships will not arrive until summer, others have been poised to pounce. French line Ponant has had two ships waiting in Noumea since 2020, ready to start its Kimberley cruise season. Le Laperouse is scheduled to depart on its first expedition from Darwin on April 28, followed by Le Soleal on May 28, subject to approval from the WA government. Silversea is also expected to revive its Kimberley cruises in June.
In Sydney, the first ship off the rank will be P&O’s Pacific Explorer on May 31 for a four-night party cruise. In Brisbane, Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess will operate from June within Queensland and NSW.
Among the first luxury ships to return in summer are Viking’s new Viking Mars and Viking Orion and Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth for cruises in Australia and New Zealand. Cairns-based Coral Expeditions is also planning international itineraries for its three-ship fleet.
The government has committed to engage with the cruise industry on improved processes for the safe resumption of cruising. Passengers, along with all crew, will be required to be double-vaccinated and tested before boarding.