Health-conscious travellers get more choices
Oceania Cruises updates onboard menus with new plant-based cuisine options
Cruise news comes across my desk all the time, but announcements that truly catch my eye are few and far between.
This is particularly true of cuisine. As I wrote a few columns ago, cuisine on cruise ships tends to run the gamut between your typical North American dish and your typical North American dish prepared by a celebrity chef you haven’t heard of but who sounds impressive. Oceania Cruises (cruise.center/oceania) is taking a new and, frankly, creative approach to its cuisine.
Already noted for its high-quality on-board dining offerings aboard its fleet of six premium mid-sized cruise ships, Oceania has announced an industry first: an extensive and creative collection of new plant-based menus that will bring the line’s total number of healthy selections to more than 200 new items. This innovation is part of a new program called OceaniaNEXT. Starting with the line’s smallest ships — the Regatta Class — OceaniaNEXT involves extensive refurbishments to each vessel, along with a number of innovative improvements to the brand’s “soft” product. That’s where this new plant-based cuisine comes in. “These new plant-based options are flavourful, colourful, bold and creative. Our hallmark finest cuisine at sea now provides an innovative and appealing menu of choices that reflect our guests’ evolving palates and heightened focus on wellness while balancing our more decadent and extravagant dishes,” says Bob Binder, Oceania’s president and chief executive. Now, that doesn’t mean that surf and turf is going away. Rather, Oceania has designed these new menus to complement the existing dishes in The Grand Dining Room and the more casual Terrace Cafe. Oceania also is making its plant-based menu offerings available upon request in all of its specialty dining options aboard each ship.
Oceania’s news release sums things up nicely: “The range of cuisines includes Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian, Malaysian and more. “There are healthy power bowls and poke bowls, hearty pastas and pad Thai, light and refreshing salads and soups and even a variety of downright surprisingly decadent items to choose from including an ‘impossible’ cheeseburger, truffle mac and cheese, and an apple-oatmeal crumble with plant-based vanilla ice cream and coco-vanilla cashew crème brûlée.” Sounds tasty, no? It’s also excellent for cruisers who are looking to explore more worldly flavours on their respective voyages, while also making health-conscious dining decisions.
This is important: Many of Oceania’s cruises are more than a week in length and the line has made a name for itself in the industry for its epic Around the World in 180 Days world cruises. That’s the pinnacle of cruising achievement as far as I’m concerned. If I can ever get on one of those, I’ll probably need all the healthy culinary options I can get.
These new plant-based menu offerings aren’t just inventive; they also further the onboard atmosphere that Oceania has been cultivating for more than a decade now.
The line operates small ships sailing to interesting and uncommon itineraries, and health and active options have always been prevailing themes.
Guests can also find the Raw Juice and Smoothie Bar located on the Pool Deck of Oceania’s ships. This serves up raw, coldpress juices and vegan smoothies in the morning, a great way to start another wonderful day at sea or to welcome the day’s activities in one of the line’s worldwide ports of call.
Along with its new plant-based and gourmet food offerings, Oceania also features an extensive menu of vegetarian and gluten-free dishes. And that’s great news for cruisers all around; there is something for everyone to enjoy here.
Happy cruising.
Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored by Expedia CruiseShipCenters, 1-800-707-7327, www.cruiseshipcenters.com, for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Aaron Saunders may be contacted directly at portsandbowsaaron@gmail.com.