10 Best Cruise Lines for Foodies in 2016

The biggest news in cruise food is that Seabourn has partnered with Thomas Keller, the can-do-no-wrong founder of Napa’s French Laundry, New York’s Per Se, and Bouchon, which has four U.S. locations.

This spring, Seabourn, a line known for catering to those willing to pay for deep luxury, debuted a new Keller restaurant (called, simply, “The Grill”) aboard the 600-passenger Seabourn Quest, with plans to add similarly fancy eateries—French Laundries at sea, essentially—to the line’s other two boats by late 2018.

The Michelin-starred chef is seeing to it that all of the line’s dining venues will use the best possible ingredients for his French-American creations, and that they’ll provide unrivaled service, too.

Aboard Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony is a restaurant called Silk Road, with menus by Nobu Matsuhisa. The inventive chef’s Japanese-Peruvian cuisine has earned him acclaim via his 22 Nobu restaurants, and now fans can enjoy his restaurants and sushi bars at sea.

Aboard the 62-guest Crystal Esprit, the culinary concept centers around the local ingredients of the Seychelles and the Mediterranean coast. On another ship to come, the 84-guest Crystal Ravel, whose maiden voyage departs in August 2017, a weeklong itinerary called “Bordeaux, the Wine Region & Beyond” will head into the heart of France’s wine region, including a visit to Arachon, a seaside town famous for its oysters.

Crystal passengers get free in-stateroom dining 24 hours a day, seven days a week—so breakfast on the balcony won’t be an extra expense.

In 2015, Oceania was named the best cruise line for foodies by both Fodor's and Berlitz. In 2014, SmarterTravel’s sister site, Cruise Critic, called it a “best dining” editor’s pick, while USA Today listed the line’s Red Ginger among the best restaurants at sea. In 2013, Oceania won “best dining” in the cruise category of Condé Nast Traveler’s readers’ choice awards.

Such consistent acclaim should be expected from a luxury line, especially when that line’s culinary director is Jacques Pepin. Pepin himself joins along for two Oceania voyages, including one that goes from Venice to Lisbon, and another that goes Venice to Rome. During both of those itineraries, guests get treated to special menus, culinary lectures, cooking demos, and other goodies designed to keep gourmand hearts (and palates) happy.

Poached egg and asparagus shot for Cunard at their Development Kitchen in Southampton. Picture date: Tuesday March 8, 2016. Photograph by Christopher Ison © 07544044177 [email protected] www.christopherison.com

England’s not known for having the world’s best food, but when you’re on the Queen Elizabeth taking a culinary tour of the British Isles, things get ratcheted up.

During the 12-night cruise (June 23 to July 5, sailing round-trip from Southampton), highlights include a Belfast food outing, a Stornoway black-pudding excursion, and a walk through the Bombay Sapphire distillery. Onboard will be quite a few food phenoms, including Michelin-starred chef Nick Nairn, Charles Sichel of the Maison Sichel wine company, and Jilly Goolden, the English TV personality and wine critic.

“This voyage is about bringing our guests the culinary delights from the British Isles, newly popular on the international gastronomy map,” says Richard Meadows, the president of Cunard North America. “With truly unique experiences like the cookery course in New Forest or the onboard ‘Art of Artisan Breads’ demonstration, guests will leave with fond memories.”

Even if you’re not taking this special-event cruise, Cunard is working to make sure that all of its passengers get the best possible gastronomic experience. On the Queen Mary 2, there are new restaurants, including the Carinthia Lounge, as well as the Verandah—a tribute to the famous Grill on the original Queen Mary. The Kings Court Buffet is “completely transformed” and there are new menus at Queens and Princess Grill. (New menu items are being introduced through 2016 onboard the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, too.) The afternoon tea selection in the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar is, the company says, “refreshed.” And Cunard’s new signature cocktail, the “Age of Discovery,” includes a rare blend of Savoy Select Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel and Jack Daniel’s Old No.7.

Sea Salt Accented King Salmon, Alaskan Regional Cuisine

Princess Cruises, the line that pioneered the “chef's table at sea” concept, has upped its F&B game over the past few years.

In January, the line debuted a new communal-plates restaurant (called Share) headed by Curtis Stone onboard three ships, plus special “Curtis Stone menu items” in all dining rooms and a “Curtis Stone Chef's Table experience” coming later this year. The company also announced a partnership with Ernesto Umichuro, whose gastropub fare (gourmet tapas, sp­ecialty beers, craft cocktails) is served in the ships’ new Salty Dog Pubs.

Last year, Princess partnered with chocolatier Norman Love, launching the fleet-wide "Chocolate Journeys" program featuring wine-and-chocolate pairings, chocolatey breakfasts, and cocoa-infused cocktails. Princess also introduced wine rooms whose pairing menus were put together with the help of famous vintners including the Mondavis.

And, starting this summer, passengers on Alaska-bound itineraries can partake in Princess’s "Cook my Catch" promotion­­: If you catch a fish during a port call in Juneau or Ketchikan, bring it to the ship to have it cooked and presented to you for dinner.

If you love Italian food, Costa’s your line. The Italian arm of the world’s largest cruise company—that would be Carnival—certainly makes the most of its Mediterranean headquarters.

"Our ships are true ambassadors of Italy's excellent culinary tradition," says Stefano Fontanesi, Costa’s executive chef. "We want our guests, who come from over 200 countries, to get to know traditional Italian dishes that are all prepared using traditional recipes." Onboard, more than 400 dishes represent 16 Italian regions. The new gala menu is by Bruno Barbieri, an Italian chef who has collected seven Michelin stars so far.

The line has also partnered with popular Italian brands Barilla, Illy, Ferrari Spumante, and Campari—and also with the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo to make its food more sustainable, with a promise to reassess food-prep processes, and to choose eco-friendlier ingredients and suppliers.

Also new this year, Costa will produce buffalo mozzarella onboard—guests will watch as expert cheesemakers combine ingredients, including buffalo milk curd from the temples at Paestum, and then sample it while it’s still warm.

And, of course, there’s pizza. Late last year, Costa created Pummid'oro, a new brand for the line's pizzerias, which is committed to using only natural yeast and Italian flour.

Later this year, Costa is offering two food-themed vacation packages: “Food and Chocolate Lovers,” starting September 21 in Savona; and “Food Lovers,” starting October 19 in Civitavecchia. The latter will take passengers to a market in Orvieto to gather ingredients for an Umbrian cooking class.

Windstar isn’t so much about the buffet. Instead, it’s about cooked-to-order cuisine that resonates with the destination du jour. Chefs are charged with creating daily specials that incorporate regional flavors, and invite guests to join them as they shop the in-port markets for the day’s fresh ingredients.

This year, Windstar has partnered with the James Beard Foundation to present a series of culinary-themed itineraries, with each sailing spotlighting a James Beard chef who presents a special dish each night, puts on cooking demonstrations, and interacts with fellow passengers.

“We know that one of the best ways to connect with a destination is through sampling cuisines and spirits,” says Joe Duckett, Windstar’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Our James Beard cruises simply heighten that experience with the company of expert guest hosts, themed activities, wine tastings, and informative lectures. Every Windstar cruise, however, makes a point to be as delicious as possible, so even if you can’t book a cabin on one of the James Beard cruises, you can still experience shopping with a chef in port, local flavors, and freshly prepared food throughout the journey.”

The next James Beard departure is from Lisbon on June 10, hitting Bordeaux, among other gourmet destinations; it’s hosted by Maria Hines, a past winner of James Beard’s “Best Chef Northwest” title. (An August 9 departure brings in Matt and Kate Jennings, four-time nominees for “Best Chef: Northeast.”)

The dining rooms aboard AmaWaterways’ European riverboats present delicious food that’s plated beautifully and paired with attentive service. There’s also all-you-can-drink wine and beer, at no extra charge.

Primus Perchtold, the line’s executive chef, won three gold medals at the European Championship of Culinary Art in Nuremberg—which is, in part, why AmaWaterways is the only river cruise line that’s a member of the prestigious Chaine des Rotisseurs.

Its tours, too, are fulfilling for anyone interested in the food arts. Shore excursions include visits to cooking schools, stops at specialty culinary shops, regional wineries, and private cellars.

The line is especially known for its wine-themed cruises, like the “Enchanting Rhine” itinerary aboard the 164-passenger AmaPrima, whose highlights include visits to famous vineyards, expert-led wine tastings, and tours of some of Europe’s best towns.

It’s to be expected that a French-flagged cruise line, one that offers in-suite butler service and refined accommodations, should have excellent food. And it does.

But Ponant isn’t resting on its Gallic laurels. The company, which specializes in polar expeditions but goes all over the world, is “elevating its epicurean experiences” even further, as a press release puts it, by collaborating with Ducasse Conseil, the consulting arm of Alain Ducasse’s food empire.

The partnership, announced earlier this year, will empower Ducasse Conseil’s experts to audit Ponant’s menus, develop new culinary concepts, and train the chefs who work the kitchens of Ponant’s 10 at-sea eateries.

“This collaboration,” said Jean-Emmanuel Sauvee, Ponant’s CEO, “will raise our culinary standards to a new level to better meet the highest expectations of our very discerning French and international passengers.”

Ponant’s other gustatory partnerships include those with Veuve Clicquot and Laduree, and the line frequently offers culinary-themed cruises through Europe aboard its newish fleet of yachts.

MSC Splendida

MSC, the world’s biggest privately owned cruise company, already had a bang-up roster of chefs, including Carlo Cracco (two Michelin stars), Jean-Philippe Maury (known as one of France’s best pastry chefs), and Jereme Leung. Then the Switzerland-based line approached Roy Yamaguchi for a partnership. He said yes.

Yamaguchi is currently at work—creating recipes and menus, choosing the china, curating the music—on a pan-Asian fusion restaurant for the MSC Seaside, a 5,000-pax ship that’ll come online in December 2017 and sail year-round from Miami to the Caribbean. Yamaguchi is the founder of the Roy’s line of restaurants, a James Beard winner, and the father of “Hawaiian fusion” cuisine, so his at-sea restaurant promises to be stellar.

MSC says that its chef partnerships are part of a broader strategy to collaborate with world-class experts who reflect the line’s focus on excellence. And, as Gianni Onorato, the company’s CEO, adds, “The enjoyment of good food plays an integral role in creating unforgettable emotions, as well as enabling guests to discover new cultures and tastes while cruising on our beautiful ships.”

I’d be remiss not to mention some other cruise lines’ efforts and achievements, too. Hurtigruten, for example, recently added a five-day itinerary, called “A Flavor of Norway,” to highlight Norwegian cuisines, enlisting Michelin-starred chef Andreas Viestad.

Aqua Expeditions offers “master classes” aboard its luxury Mekong and Amazon cruises, also with Michelin-starred chefs.

Abercrombie & Kent’s “Food & Wine of France” itinerary departs in September, while Tauck’s French culinary tours along the Rhone take off throughout 2016 and 2017.

Uniworld, for its part, offers “Connoisseur Collection”-themed cruises that provide deeply gastronomic excursions, including one to a truffle farm, another to the Remy Martin cognac estate, and another to La Couronne, where Julia Child first tasted French food.

Disney is in the game, too, having just debuted new menu items at its acclaimed Palo restaurant.

And the celebrity-chef partnerships keep on coming: Norwegian has Jose Garces, Royal Caribbean’s got Jamie Oliver (and the wonderful Wonderland), and Carnival has Guy Fieri. There’s even a MasterChef cruise heading to the Caribbean later this year, for fans of the popular TV cooking competition.