To Whom It May Concern:
We came across this information in the trades and thought it would be of
interest to this newsgroup as well. If this is somehow a repeat of an
earlier post, sorry we apparently missed it. This can always be ignored or
deleted. Likewise, if it is indeed a repeat of an earlier post, this should
offer a slightly different take and style of reporting from the trades on
the subject matter... for what it is worth.
Happy sailing,
John Sisker
SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at
(800) 724-6644 & (pagoo ID: 714.536.3850)
http://www.shiptoshorecruise.com
A kitchen worker carves smoked salmon at the Taste of Alaska themed buffet
aboard the Sapphire Princess.
More photosYes, the sunset certainly is magnificent here at the starboard
rail, but I'm afraid we won't be able to see it through to its conclusion.
We have to hurry back to our cabin to change for our 6 o'clock dinner
seating. And, you know, I just can't wait to wade through the latest
complaints of those cranky tablemates from New Jersey. Over the years, this
has been the frequent dining plight of the cruise-ship passenger. Galleys
were only big enough to feed the masses in two waves. Dining rooms were
configured for maximal use of space, which meant tables of eight in one
large hall. As a matter of necessity, strangers were thrown together
randomly at a given table and expected to make do with one another's company
for the duration of the voyage. But all that has changed. On ships today --
particularly newer ones -- the trend is toward flexible dining times,
variety of cuisine and premium dining in intimate restaurant settings, for
which a per-person surcharge is customarily assessed. As inveterate foodies
have fueled demand for culinary diversions, the cruise lines have responded
with cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, chef's dinners, specialty
buffets and shore excursions that call at vineyards, markets and acclaimed
restaurants. Of course, cruise vacations have always had a strong emphasis
on food consumption, but now the shipboard experience is prizing quality
over simple quantity and frequency of opportunity. "Food is playing a larger
part in everybody's life these days, and not just on vacation," said Andrew
Poulton, director of strategic marketing for Radisson Seven Seas. "People
are dining out more, spending more. They're becoming more adventurous in
what they try. You look back 20 years ago, how many sushi places and Thai
restaurants were there? Now they're everywhere. People are more interested
in exotic cuisine. . . . "It really has become a very important part of our
daily lives and has always been a huge part of the cruise experience. What
we're doing on the ships reflects what's happening on land." Rai Caluori,
senior vice president of fleet operations for Princess, added: "Expectation
has changed. It speaks to the cruise vacationer who wants more
flexibility -- particularly the younger guests. There's an extrapolation
that what they get onshore they can get on ship." Norwegian Cruise Line is
credited with pioneering the trend in 2000 with its launch of Freestyle
Cruising. It did away with the large dining room, the two dinner seatings,
the assigned tablemates and the nightly dress code. "The original ships in
the cruise industry couldn't accommodate people in any other way," said NCL
executive vice president Andy Stuart, "and they had convinced others in the
cruise industry that this was the only way to do it." No more. As others
have rushed to mimic NCL's model, dining space has been carved up into
multiple, restaurant-type venues. Smaller galleys have been built here and
there, particularly on the newer ships. And now just about every cruise
line's brochures trumpet the opportunity "to dine when, where and with whom
you please." An Alaska cruise last fall on Princess Cruises' year-old
Sapphire Princess was emblematic of the new wave. There was a traditional
dining room for passengers who prefer a fixed seating time, the same waiter
every night and the prospect of making new friends at the table (this
demographic skews sharply to the older travelers, say several industry
executives). But if passengers desired, they could opt for Anytime Dining.
This meant popping into any of four smaller restaurants when it was
convenient. Each served the same menu as the main dining room, but with an
additional themed entree. The selections were unchanged throughout the
cruise: fajitas in the Santa Fe restaurant, a center-cut pork chop in Savoy,
a savory osso buco Milanese in Vivaldi, and a fabulous dish of scallops,
shrimp, vegetables and Chinese noodles in Pacific Moon. There also were two
premium restaurants onboard, for which per-person surcharges were
assessed -- Trattoria Sabatini ($20), available on 10 of the 14 ships in the
Princess fleet, and Sterling Steakhouse ($15), which is on 11 ships. Our
experience at Sabatini was fantastic -- so much so that we returned for more
on another night. It had the decor and ambience of a friendly neighborhood
restaurant, with plenty of tables for two, and set itself apart from a
typical cruise dining experience from the start. Manager Nicola Fascella
explained that when Italians have friends over for dinner, they typically
bring out a little bit of everything in the kitchen. The diners pick and
choose what they'd like. He and the Sapphire's maitre d', Silvio Zampieri,
are trying to duplicate the experience here. They delivered. Guests are
handed a menu that lists eight antipasti items. Don't agonize over the
selection -- waiters come to each table with great platters of everything,
so you can have a little of this or a little more of that. What a glorious
parade it was, all served by an exceptionally attentive staff. In the first
wave: lean prosciutto with melon balls, porcini mushrooms marinated in olive
oil and tarragon, silvery anchovies, shrimp and marinated artichokes in
white truffle oil, carpaccio and arugula with olive oil and balsamic
vinegar, grilled zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes. Then came the next wave:
potato pancakes with a sprinkling of sevruga caviar, fried brie with a
black-olive tapenade, steamed black mussels in a marinara sauce, deviled
crab cakes with a salmon roe rouille. Now it was time for the third of six
courses. Salad, anyone? (We passed.) The pasta course was all three pastas
on the menu: pillowy gnocchi with interiors of smoked fontina cheese,
cannelloni tubes stuffed with ground sirloin and eggplant, and spaghetti
topped with scallops, clams, calamari and a tomato sauce. To this point,
this might sound like rank gluttony, but the portions were tasting-size.
Think of it as a feast by inches. The main event was lobster tail, brushed
with champagne butter and sprinkled with paprika, salt and pepper -- nothing
to overwhelm the succulent taste and texture of the seafood. It was cut from
the shell, tableside, by our waiter. Dessert was a blur: tiramisu and
panicotta with caramel sauce, I seem to recall. And, finally, the lily was
gilded aptly with a couple of fingers of limoncello. On another night, at
Sterling Steakhouse, beef was of superior quality, with such prodigious cuts
as a 22-ounce porterhouse, a 14-ounce rib-eye and a 10-ounce filet. But
compared to Sabatini, we found the service spotty and the setting
uninspired. The ship cordons off a dining area that doubles as buffet
seating during the day, so instead of dark woods and a clubby feel, you get
festive upholstery and glaring lighting. About the only concession to the
theme was Rat Pack music playing on the sound system. (Caluori says the
Crown Princess, which launches this summer, will have a dedicated
steakhouse, with leather booths, a faux fireplace, wine cabinets and the
like.) Neither did the decor in the other restaurants particularly reflect
the themes of Vivaldi, Santa Fe, Savoy and Pacific Moon. What they did have
was a lot of banquette seating, to accommodate parties of two without
requiring oceans of square footage. As in Parisian cafes, it's remarkable
how those several inches of space between the tables serve as a welcome
barrier of privacy. Each day at lunchtime, a succession of tasty delights
was also presented at a specialty buffet on deck. There was sushi one day,
fresh-catch barbecue another, a taste of Alaska (salmon and halibut in every
imaginable form) the next and one day's spread devoted entirely to
chocolate. Similar culinary variety can be found elsewhere on the water.
Learn by doing: Several cruise lines offer cooking demonstrations and
workshops for passengers, often led by guest chefs or cookbook authors who
make the sailings much like naturalists and history professors in the more
conventional enrichment programs. Holland America offers such a program in
conjunction with Food & Wine magazine, Radisson Seven Seas has contracted
with Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, and Silversea has an arrangement with
Relais & Chateau. Often, shore trips are part of the program -- stops at
Caribbean restaurants (Celebrity), for example, or visits to French markets
and vineyards (Radisson Seven Seas, Silversea). Some of the undertakings are
lavish. Crystal offers the Vintage Room, at which wine and champagne makers
select premier wines for a dinner gathering of 14 or 15 people, and the chef
builds a menu around the choices. "This is really for connoisseurs," said
spokeswoman Mimi Weisband, adding that the dinners are $150 to 200 per
person, depending on the wine selections. Celebrity sightings: Securing the
name of a famed chef is a coup for a cruise line. Leading the way is Cunard,
which got Boston's Todd English to lend his name and stylings to a premium
restaurant on the Queen Mary 2. With a $30-per-person price tag for dinner,
it is superb, in a plush, intimate setting overlooking the stern. We were
delighted with Maine crab cakes as a starter, followed by inventively
prepared main courses -- roasted lamb rack with black olive jus, and grilled
beef tenderloin over toasted garlic spinach (with a decadent Roquefort cream
sauce that held ham, peas and caramelized onions). Crystal has the gourmet
Italian cuisine of Piero Selvaggio, who has gained acclaim for his Valentino
restaurants in Santa Monica and Las Vegas; Seabourn has a similar
arrangement with Charlie Palmer; Celebrity works with Michel Roux. Carnival
also is getting in on the act. It hired Michelin three-star chef Georges
Blanc to design its menu and sent its chefs to his restaurant in Vonnas,
France, for two-week tutorials. Spice of life: Variety is all the rage where
dining venues are concerned. The Norwegian Jewel, for example, has 10
distinctly different restaurants, including French bistro, Japanese
teppanyaki house, tapas bar, steakhouse, sushi bar and Italian kitchen. "We
wanted to put 10 restaurants on our ships and let people go to a different
one every night of the cruise," said NCL's Stuart, noting that, typically,
three of those restaurants might have a surcharge. On the Queen Mary 2, the
choices included, in addition to Todd English, a marvelous 12-course tasting
menu at the Asian-themed Lotus, the Carvery, the Italian-themed La Piazza
and the Chef's Galley, which permits a select number of guests to sit at
tables in a room overlooking the kitchen and to observe and interact with
the chef as a wine-paired dinner is created for them. IN THE KNOW The menu
Premium dining options and culinary programs on several of the major cruise
lines: Carnival: The bar menu always seemed to be the most important bill of
fare on this line's Fun Ships, but that is changing. Michelin three-star
chef Georges Blanc was commissioned to upgrade the dinner offerings with his
signature blanquette de veau and bouillabaisse. Carnival chefs have been
sent to Vonnas, France, for two-week training courses at Georges Blanc
Restaurant. Several ships have also added reservations-only supper clubs
(for which there is a surcharge), with steakhouse menu items and an expanded
wine list. Carnival offers Total Choice Dining, with flexible hours, outdoor
seating, sushi bars and European-style cafes. www.carnival.com; (800)
438-6744. Celebrity: In the "Savor the Caribbean" program, guest chefs
conduct cooking demonstrations and lectures onboard, and when the ships hit
port, participants are taken to some of the notable restaurants in the
Caribbean. At Celebrity's premium restaurants (surcharge), dining is an
event, with tableside cooking, flambeed items, a cheese cart and other
indulgences. Ships offer such options as made-to-order pasta bars and
nightly sushi cafes. www.celebrity.com; (800) 437-3111. Costa: This line
concentrates on Europe, notably the Mediterranean, so it only follows that
its club restaurants (surcharge) feature the cuisine of Italy. Chefs
Gualtiero Marchesi (Milan) and Giampaolo Belloni di Zeffirino (Genoa)
collaborated on the menu. www.costacruises.com; (954) 266-5600. Crystal: On
this upscale line, the specialty restaurants may be sampled at no extra
charge. Asian cuisine can be found at the Jade Garden (Crystal Symphony) or
Silk Road (Crystal Serenity), and the Serenity also has a sushi bar. Gourmet
Italian fare is served on both ships. Serious foodies might want to avail
themselves of the Vintage Room (surcharge), an experience limited to 12-14
guests in which winemakers and the chef collaborate on a lavish wine-pairing
dinner. Crystal also offers Wine & Food Festival sailings, on which guest
chefs conduct demonstrations and prepare special dishes for the dinner
menus. www.crystalcruises.com; (866) 446-6625. Cunard: Acclaimed chef Todd
English (Olives restaurant, Charlestown, Mass.) is the marquee player on the
Queen Mary 2. If you don't make a dinner reservation in the hour or two
before you board, you might have to wait four or five nights to get a table
at his namesake restaurant (surcharge). The Chef's Galley (surcharge) gives
36 passengers an opportunity to dine in a room that overlooks a kitchen. The
chef interacts with them as he prepares a wine-paired dinner just for them.
Three specialty restaurants are offered in addition to the main dining room.
The Asian tasting menu at Lotus was a delight. The dining choices are more
traditional on Cunard's older ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2. www.cunard.com;
(800) 728-6273. Disney: Most of the dining choices on this line resemble
those at the Disneyland Hotel -- tailored primarily to young passengers
hooked on cartoon movies. Lumiere's re-creates the grand dining setting in
Beauty and the Beast, and Triton's revives The Little Mermaid. But Disney's
ships also provide a retreat for a quiet, grown-up dinner. That choice is
Palo (surcharge), which serves northern Italian fare. www.disneycruise.com;
(888) 325-2500. Holland America: The line recently launched its Culinary
Arts Center, presented in conjunction with Food & Wine magazine. Chefs,
cookbook authors and sommeliers are on the lineup for this year. Ships offer
premium dining at Pinnacle Grill. There are surcharges for the chef's dinner
and the Pinnacle Grill. www.hollandamerica.com; (800) 426-0327. Norwegian
Cruise Line: The line that pioneered Freestyle Cruising offers a wide
variety of dining choices on its newer ships -- French bistros, Italian
trattorias, steakhouses and teppanyaki rooms. Surcharges are assessed for
some of the restaurants. Dining options are more limited on the older ships.
www.ncl.com; (800) 327-7030. Oceania: Though its ships carry fewer than 700
passengers, the dining options are not the least bit limited. In addition to
the main dining room, there is a Tuscan option, a Spanish-themed cafe
(tapas, paellas) and a grill that serves steaks, chops and seafood. Oceania
does not assess surcharges for its specialty restaurants.
www.oceaniacruises.com; (800) 531-5658. Princess: Trattoria Sabatini is a
terrific upscale dining choice, available on 10 of the line's 14 ships.
Another premium option is Sterling Steakhouse. Surcharges are assessed for
each restaurant. Personal Choice Dining gives passengers a chance to sample
venues that might have a specialty dish on the menu -- Southwest, Italian or
Asian, for example. Also onboard are spa cuisine, specialty buffets and
wine-tasting seminars. www.princess.com; (800) 774-6237. Radisson Seven
Seas: This luxury line has contracted with Le Cordon Bleu cooking school to
conduct workshops and/or oversee an onboard restaurant, depending on the
ship. The line does not assess dining surcharges. Another offering is the
Spotlight series, in which passengers can select a cruise that is devoted to
jazz, antiques, photography, or food and wine. In addition to onboard talks
and cooking demonstrations, the shore excursions pay visits to vineyards,
markets and cheese shops. www.rssc.com; (800) 477-7500. Royal Caribbean:
Menus change daily and can be modified to reflect fresh, available
ingredients at Portofino (surcharge), a premium restaurant found on the
line's Radiance- and Voyager-class ships, as well as on the Empress of the
Seas. Chops Grille -- the name says it all -- is another surcharge
restaurant found on some ships. www.royalcaribbean.com; (800) 327-6700.
Seabourn: This small-ship luxury line contracted with celeb chef Charlie
Palmer to design more than 200 dishes to be served on board. In March, it
will launch the "2" restaurant, which will serve a small-plates tasting
menu. The line does not assess dining surcharges -- not even for dinners
served in a passenger's suite by a waiter. www.seabourn.com; (800) 929-9595.
Silversea: Relais & Chateau Culinary Arts cruises are available on this
small, luxury line, with lectures and cooking demonstrations by visiting
chefs and authors, and a "grand gourmet dinner" at the conclusion of the
cruise. Additionally, Silversea's Wine Series includes not only lectures and
tastings onboard, but shore excursions to wineries and cellars in Europe and
South America. www.silversea.com; (800) 722-9955.
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