Set Sail on a Culinary Cruise
Oceania Cruises puts exquisitely crafted cuisine at the top of its itinerary.
There are many types of cruise lines that appeal to a variety of tastes. But one cruise line has built its reputation on appealing to taste itself. AAA travel partner Oceania Cruises has designed its cruise experience around cuisine since its inception in 2003.
Featuring a fleet of small, luxurious ships, Oceania Cruises offers an unrivaled vacation experience renowned for its gourmet culinary program, destination-rich itineraries that call on more than 400 ports across the globe, and spacious and elegant accommodations.
With the expertise of their Executive Culinary Director Master Chef Jacques Pépin and some of the most talented chefs from around the globe, the cruise line lays claim to having “the finest cuisine at sea,” rivaling top restaurants the world over. This culinary cruise tradition, combined with AAA Member-exclusive benefits, creates a journey that is a feast for every sense.
To consistently deliver an exceptional culinary experience throughout a voyage, Oceania Cruises focuses on three key elements essential to its award-winning culinary program: premium ingredients, a talented team and galleys of Michelin star quality.
Premium ingredients
Oceania Cruises sources the best possible ingredients from around the world. “You always have to go back to the beginning—you cannot produce extraordinary food with ordinary ingredients,” says Pépin.
These ingredients include fine French butter, cheese and flour; lobster from Nova Scotia (flown in fresh to the ship); jamón ibérico de bellota (ham) from the Iberian Peninsula; dry-aged certified Black Angus USDA prime beef; New Zealand lamb; and Azafrán de la Mancha saffron from Spain’s heartland.
If a cruise focused on good taste and good health appeals to you, indulge your appetite for more information with a Well-Traveled with AAA webcast dedicated to wellness and cuisine.
Sign UpOn each culinary cruise, local (and sustainable) fish is provisioned multiple times, ensuring the freshest and most flavorful seafood, whether a ship is sailing the South China Sea or the Italian Riviera. The cruise line has also expanded its plant-based menus for cruisers who prefer vegan or vegetarian dining.
Talented team
Oceania Cruises recruits its chefs from the finest restaurants such as Four Seasons Hotel Milano, Bulgari Tokyo and Relais & Chateaux. Some chefs have worked under such culinary legends as Paul Bocuse and Alain Passard and bring their high-caliber training and expertise to your table.
The combination of smaller ships (with fewer passengers) and dedication to a premium experience means that half of the onboard staff—one person for every two guests—is devoted to the ship dining service. The distinction and size of the culinary cruise staff across the fleet ensure that each dish (from stocks and sauces to pastries and petits fours) is created from scratch and perfectly cooked to order.
Top-rated galleys
The galleys aboard Oceania Cruises’ ships are some of the most spacious in the industry and feature equipment normally found in Michelin-starred restaurants. The galleys on Marina and Riviera are so large that, during construction, the shipyard thought someone had made a mistake. Fleetwide, the galleys include cutting-edge equipment such as Pacojets for creating mousses and sauces, centrifuges for making consommé and fresh juice, and Carpigiani gelato machines from Italy.
Ubiquitous cuisine
In addition to fine restaurant dining, the cruise line integrates food and drink throughout the travel experience. Culinary Discovery Tours™ enable guests to discover destinations through the lens of local cuisine. For example, cruisers may tour traditional markets onshore, dine at renowned restaurants and then hop onboard to hone their skills at The Culinary Center, preparing a dish using the ingredients they shopped for earlier in the day.
Oceania Cruises’ partner Wine Spectator offers sumptuous seven-course wine-pairing dinners, premium wine tastings and seminars led by discerning sommeliers.
Making health a priority
Oceania Cruises is working with their Healthy Sail Panel—a team of cross-disciplinary experts enlisted to guide the cruise industry’s way forward in response to COVID-19. Co-chaired by Governor Michael Leavitt, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the panel is composed of globally recognized specialists in public health to develop, implement and continually evolve industry-leading standards. Their Health and Safety Protocols cover all aspects of onboard and shoreside operations to protect guests, crew and the communities they visit.
Now, with their Travelers Assurance Program, you can book with complete confidence and peace of mind, knowing that should you need to cancel, for any reason, you will not lose a dollar. Couple that with their Best Price Guarantee, assuring that should there be another applicable Oceania Cruises public promotion that offers a better value through amenities or price, you can take advantage of it.