Whether you’re out for a night on the town or sat on the sofa with your phone, there’s a whole world of dining options just minutes away. And boy, don’t we love it?
Easy international travel and a culturally diverse society have helped transform our palates, making exotic flavours from around the globe a normal part of everyday life.
For cruise lines, this shift in tastes has coincided with their own rapid growth and the expansion of the sector. Bigger ships meant more guests, and in turn that meant more restaurants with an ever-larger choice of specialities.
Spoilt for choice
Having multiple outlets each offering a different type of food makes perfect sense for major operators with thousands of mouths to feed on each sailing – after all, you never know what people might fancy on any given day.
However, the smart money in the industry is now backing a different approach, with some lines opting to set themselves apart by highlighting the cuisines specific to the regions being explored.
“Tying food to the destinations visited has become a major focus for some cruise lines, particularly at the luxury end,” explains David Selby, MD of cruise consultancy Travelyields.
“It’s a definite trend and is being driven by an increased awareness of sustainability and provenance. Consumers are becoming more concerned about cutting their food miles, discovering more about the ‘food history’ of destinations and enjoying local produce.”
The undisputed kings of regionalised menus are both Norwegian – Hurtigruten and its smaller rival Havila Voyages. Both offer immersive sailings along Norway’s rugged coast and have their roots in the mail delivery services of old. Given their long history at the heart of the nation it is no surprise that Hurtigruten and Havila Voyages set huge store in promoting Norwegian dishes, culture and producers.
Honouring heritage
Hurtigruten, for example, champions its ‘Norway’s Coastal Kitchen’ concept that ensures a staggering 80% of food and drink served onboard its fleet in the high season is local. The commitment covers meat, seafood, dairy, baked goods, drinks and condiments, and sees Hurtigruten buying ingredients from more than 70 Norwegian producers.
“We believe that showcasing the culinary heritage of the Norwegian coast is an essential part of providing an authentic and immersive experience for our guests,” says the line’s Culinary Director Øistein Nilsen.
“Norway’s Coastal Kitchen was created to connect travellers with the regions they sail through, offering menus inspired by the local landscapes. [It] has evolved significantly over recent years, becoming a standout feature in guest feedback, and serving some of the freshest produce available on any cruise ship worldwide. Furthermore, we embrace the natural rhythm of the coast by crafting menus that celebrate the best seasonal produce available year-round.”
As you would expect, suppliers are lauded in Hurtigruten’s marketing too. Examples include Strand Farm, a small farm in Ryfylke that focuses on quail meat and eggs; blue cheese maker Tingvollost Farm, which can trace its origins back to 1303; and salted trout producer Berg Gård.
Similarly, Havila Voyages serves a themed rolling menu of Norwegian delicacies, based around the ‘four flavours’ of the region – the fjords, the arctic, the archipelago and the polar seas. Again, menus are almost exclusively created with ingredients provided by local artisans. As a result, the line says it can maximise freshness and cater confidently for environmentally conscious guests looking to cut their impact and reduce waste. A ‘small plates’ dining policy also means that Havila Voyages generates just 58g of food waste per passenger per day, the lowest in the cruise industry.
Leading luxury
Regionalised dining is particularly popular at the top end of the market. Luxury line Silversea Cruises pioneered its SALT (Sea And Land Taste) culinary programme in 2020 with the launch of its fourth vessel Silver Moon, and the concept has now been rolled out across its 12-ship fleet.
Each night, the fine dining programme highlights flavours, cooking techniques and ingredients from the destinations being visited, with an associated programme of food-themed shore excursions and cooking demonstrations on board the ships.
Land-based day trips typically include visits to local markets or producers alongside internationally renowned chefs, sampling, cooking lessons and afterwards enjoying the food you have prepared. Silversea’s diverse options include exploration of Riga’s central market, cooking at a Cornish culinary school, tackling the coals for a traditional Italian barbecue in the Tuscan hills and foraging for seaweed in Guernsey.
Elsewhere, luxury operators Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises take a much more specific approach, preferring to link particular sailings to food heritage. RSSC examples include a planned 2026 ‘Spotlight on Whiskey’ sailing on Northern Europe taking in the Orkney Islands and Cork, with visits to the Highland Park and Jameson distilleries.
This year, Oceania offers a Barcelona to Istanbul 12-day sailing in September, overseen by French Master Chefs Alex Quaretti and Eric Barale. The pair will lead food tours in calls including Provence, Nice and Santorini, and prepare regionally inspired menus onboard.
Small ships, big taste
River cruise operators are similarly engaged in regional food. Upmarket Emerald Cruises makes a big noise about sourcing local ingredients for its South Asia programmes. “For our guests, immersion is a key USP for our brand, and gastronomy is central to that,” says Jonny Davies, Head of Sales at parent Scenic Group.
“Our small luxury ships bring fresh local produce onboard, which is especially true on our Mekong sailings, where chefs take daily market trips to bring the flavours of Vietnam and Cambodia.” For extra ethical kudos, the line works with KOTO, a restaurant in Hanoi offering culinary training to disadvantaged youngsters.
Meanwhile, mid-market operator Tui River Cruises is dipping its toe in regional flavours with the introduction of Austrian pastries, German Zamburinas (scallops) and a Danube-inspired gin cocktail for its European sailings.
The trend is going increasingly mainstream too. P&O Cruises is in the fifth year of Food Heroes, a programme of sailings fronted by celebrity chefs, including Jose Pizarro, Marco Pierre White and Shivi Ranoutar in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Major player Holland America Line is also stepping up efforts this year. It has revamped the menu of its Pinnacle Grill restaurants across its 10-ship fleet. Themed dishes will include Alaskan Crab chowder on Alaskan sailings, Prince Edward Island mussels for Canada and New England voyages and rib eye tacos in Mexico.
But while the emphasis appears to be on cruise lines to drive innovation, it seems the shift towards food-inspired itineraries could increasingly drive the sector. “I’ve been working with four destinations that want to attract cruise lines,” explains Selby. “They have the evidence that people are thinking with their stomachs. Ports can showcase regional producers as a great way of offering cruise lines something new for guests. It is a trend that is only going to grow.”
