Bon Appetit! For many people, cruises are a long day’s journey into dinner, the main event of the day. As mealtimes roll relentlessly past, the captain has the good grace to deliver several countries to the side of the ship!
Putting the “fine” in fine dining; cuisine on cruise ships has pushed the envelope to ensure the culinary experience at sea rivals the best restaurants on land. While many hipster restaurants back home have turned their back on classic cuisine in favour of fusions of this and mélanges of that; chefs on cruise ships don’t go in for these half-baked fads and concentrate on delicious and tastyfood cooked well.
It’s not just ultra-luxury ships that cook up superlatives when referring to their gastronomy; most premium and all-luxury cruise lines have a variety of speciality restaurants. Oceania Cruises is renowned for its epicurean excellence; to maintain this, the company has the highest percentage of culinary personnel devoted to dining with one chef for every ten guests!
Several leading lights of the British culinary scene showcase their talent aboard P&O Cruises’ ‘Food Hero’ sailings. On these dedicated voyages; the chefs present live cooking demonstrations to share secret tips and tricks; give presentations in the theatre to discuss their glittering careers; and host exclusive dinners where you can enjoy truly exceptional food and wine in their company.
Cruise guests have always been happy to select from an extensive menu and, whatever ship you choose, the choice of cuisine is as diverse as each restaurant is delicious. Formal dress codeshave been banished, and flexibility in dining times is now the norm. There’s no disputing that, from a culinary perspective, cruise lines walk the talk.
Seven-night Northern European City Escape with Food Hero Marco Pierre White onboard, sailing from Southampton on 9 December 2023 with P&O Cruises. Inside Stateroom from £649pp.
