Oceania is where I send food-obsessed clients who want luxury without the formality of Silversea or the price of Regent. The dining is genuinely outstanding — Jacques Pepin's French bistro alone is worth the fare — and the mid-size ships feel intimate without being cramped. The new Vista and Allura have taken the culinary programme to another level with 24-station cooking schools and Dom Perignon pairing dinners. If you eat well and care about ports, this is your line.
Oceania Cruises occupies a distinctive sweet spot in the cruise market — positioned between the premium lines (Holland America, Celebrity) and the ultra-luxury brands (Silversea, Regent Seven Seas) — and has built its entire identity around one proposition: The Finest Cuisine at Sea. The fleet of eight mid-size ships carries between 684 and 1,200 guests, large enough for variety but small enough that every restaurant, bar, and deck space feels uncrowded and personal. The line is owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings but operates with a completely different philosophy: unhurried, food-forward, and destination-obsessed.
The culinary programme is genuinely the best at sea in any category. French master chef Jacques Pepin has been Oceania’s executive culinary director since the line’s founding, and his namesake French bistro — Jacques — is the crown jewel of the dining fleet, modelled on a Parisian restaurant complete with show rotisserie and antiques from Pepin’s personal collection. Across the fleet, guests choose from the Grand Dining Room, Polo Grill steakhouse (serving 40-day aged USDA Prime Black Angus), Toscana Italian, Red Ginger Asian, Aquamar Kitchen for health-conscious dining, and the casual Waves Grill that transforms into a Neapolitan trattoria each evening. Every specialty restaurant is included in the fare — there are no surcharges.
The newest Allura-class ships, Vista (2023) and Allura (2025), have elevated the culinary focus further with a $12 million Culinary Center featuring 24 hands-on cooking stations — the first and largest cooking school at sea. These stations are used exclusively for teaching, staffed by dedicated chefs, and have been the highest-rated onboard experience for 14 consecutive years. Ashore, Oceania offers 46 Culinary Discovery Tours in over 40 destinations, where guests visit local markets with the ship’s chef before cooking regional dishes together back in the Culinary Center.
Beyond the food, Oceania delivers port-intensive itineraries that prioritise time ashore over sea days, with routes spanning the Mediterranean, Asia, South Pacific, Caribbean, Northern Europe, and around-the-world voyages. The dress code is country club casual — no formal nights — and the atmosphere is refined without being stuffy. Service levels are high, staterooms are spacious (the smallest veranda cabin is 291 square feet), and the guest demographic skews toward well-travelled couples over 55 who have outgrown mainstream cruising but do not want the rigidity or price premium of traditional ultra-luxury. For anyone whose idea of a perfect holiday starts with where and what they are going to eat, Oceania is the definitive choice.
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