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RCI Announces New Dining Options

From the Royal Caribbean Blog - The cruise line formally announced it was revamping its main dining room choices by investing in a multi-million dollar upgrade.

The exact changes are as follows:

• The main dining room menu has been revamped to offer a greater variety of choice.Royal Caribbean’s much-loved favorites such as aged hand-cut Manhattan steak, escargot bourguignonne, shrimp cocktail and crème brulee, are now available every night.
• To cater to its growing global clientele, Royal Caribbean will add more international food options in the dining room with a renewed focus on authenticity.
• Good news for dessert lovers – Royal Caribbean will offer a new “hot from the oven” blueberry peach crumble, sticky bread and butter pudding and sumptuous carrot cake.
• To better cater to those with special dietary needs, Royal Caribbean will introduce more heart-healthy, gluten-free and lactose-free food options. It has enlisted a registered and licensed dietician and nutrition consultant to evaluate existing menus, create new offerings for guests with dietary restrictions, and shape the cruise line’s current gluten-free and lactose-free program into a more guest-friendly experience.
• All low calorie, gluten-free and lactose-free options will be clearly identified with respective menu icons as well as menu selections that can be modified to fit these requirements for guests.? In addition to the new menu designations, Royal Caribbean is rolling out new daily gluten-free bread offerings, available on request in all venues, including specialty restaurants.
• All of the new main dining menu offerings will include upgraded entrees such rack of lamb, surf & turf, beef sliders and daily entrée dinner salads.
• As part of the investment, the cruise line will continue to focus on training which includes a sous chef certification program with the American Culinary Federation and a new wait staff training curriculum targeting the new menus, standards training, and allergen and dietary programs.
• Guests also will notice a change in the physical menu with a new fresh design featuring the cruise line’s international culinary team.

Source: Royal Caribbean Blog

MSC Kids Fun Time Dinners

MSC is now offering "Fun Time Dinners" for children ages 3 to 11

On our last cruise vacation we noticed most parents with smaller children opted for eating at the variety of cafe's rather than dine in the dining room. After a long day of fun activities, it's far easier to dine in an informal environment than going back to the cabin to shower and dress for the dining room.  

When parents want to dine in a more formal setting, MSC is offering an alternative. While the parents are having their first course, they can opt for the kids to dine in a separate area attended by Kid's Club staff members. After dinner the kids staff have planned activities at the Mini and Junior Club, as well as theme parties.

MSC is offering Fun Time Dinners on all their ships. Parents need to register in advance for the Mini or Junior Club, along with completing the dinner coupons.

MSC Cruises

Bon Voyage: Dieters Can Take Their Cruise Fun Seriously

When Carnival Cruise Line launched the latest of its three Dream-class ships in June - the Carnival Breeze - it raised the bar on cruise cuisine. 


Breeze offers full meals for just about every diet I can imagine. People traveling together who follow different diets can often dine in the same restaurant. Low-salt and low-fat dieters, vegetarians and vegans will find an excellent selection of dishes.

Bon Voyage: Dieters can take their cruise fun seriously

HAL Introduces Master Chef's International Dinner

Holland America Line introduced a new Master Chef's International Dinner in the main dining room of its ships, showcasing signature dishes from around the world. 

The exotic menu is offered once during a cruise, and features cuisine from six continents by Holland America Line's award-winning Master Chef Rudi Sodamin in collaboration with several of the line's expert chefs.

Guests can design their international three- or four-course meal by choosing each course from selections that represent a variety of cultures.

The 20-dish menu includes appetizers, entrees and desserts from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, as well as wine pairings from each region. Guests also can choose Chef Rudi's Tour Around the World, a pre-selected three-course meal by the master chef.

The international menu includes Scandinavian-style Seafood and Potato Chowder, Lebanese Lamb Shank, Argentinean Guiso Soup, Bourbon Glazed Beef with Grilled Portabella Mushrooms and Tofu and Vegetable Korma. Desserts include New York-style Cheesecake, Viennese Mohr im Hemd and Kiwi and Passion Fruit Pavlova, a traditional meringue-based Russian dessert.

Holland America's Summer Culinary Arts Program

During Holland America Line’s summer cruise season, the Culinary Arts Center program presented by Food & Wine magazine will host five of the world’s most celebrated chefs who will showcase their expertise and share tips with guests.

Chef Kevin Sbraga, Food Stylist Denise Vivaldo, Entrepreneur Sonia Hunt, Chef Angelo Sosa, and Chef Jonathon Sawyer will be aboard five of the line’s premium ships in July and August as part of the line’s robust Culinary Arts program that offers culinary enrichment opportunities for guests on more than 500 cruises annually.

During their cruises, the experts will perform complimentary cooking demonstrations in the Culinary Arts Center, the line’s state-of-the-art show kitchens aboard each ship. The interactive sessions include recipe handouts, food tastings and the opportunity for questions and answers and photos with the culinary celebrities.

Read full article at Cruise Industry News
Holland America's Summer Culinary Arts Center Program 

Feast or Famine: Will RCI's New Dining Packages Save You Money?

Who says sister lines don't share recipes? Taking a page off Celebrity Cruises' menu, Royal Caribbean has introduced seven new specialty dining packages available on four of its ships.

RCI's new packages are currently being offered on Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas. (Radiance and Splendour now feature several restaurants that debuted on the Oasis-class duo, thanks to recent massive refits.) At this time, there's no set date for expansion of the dining packages to additional ships.

Read full article at Cruise Critic

Onboard Gourmet Dining

Cruising has always been a great vacation value with room, food and activities included upfront. 

Major cruise lines have added upscale or unique dining experiences for an extra cost. Cruise prices have stayed relatively the same, and these additional onboard revenues are definitely adding to the bottom line profits of the major cruise lines - Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

Of course cruisers do not have to spend additional money to have a great cruising experience, but you do need to know many of the onboard restaurants do come with an addtional charge.

Carnival's Steakhouses - Each ship has a different name for the Steakhouses which all offer superb steaks, veal chops, lobster, fish of the day, lamb chops and other enticing entrees. The cost is $30 per person - and you should note some of the entrees are not included in the cost.

Royal Caribbean - Allure of the Seas features a whopping 26 dining options, and 12 incur an additional charge. 150 Central Park (shown above) restaurant on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas has a $40 per person cover.

Norwegian Dawn - Brazilian steakhouse for an additional $20 charge.

Disney Dream - Remy gourmet restaurant with a $75 per person charge - and that does not include alcohol.

Celebrity Cruise - Qsine onboard Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Summit and Celebrity Infinity with a $35 - $40 cover charge.

Crystal Cruises - Both Crystal Serenity and Symphony have Silk Road and the Sushi Bar with a $7 per person service charge for both.

Holland America - The Pinnacle Grill on the entire fleet with a $10 cover charge for lunch, and $25 for dinner. Kids priced at $12.50.

Cruise Ships Woo Foodies with Celebrity Chefs

Carnival's announcement last month that Food Network star Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) is getting a namesake burger joint on Carnival ships is just the latest step by the cruise lines to appeal to gourmets, gourmands and just plain fans of celebrity chefs.

Ships are wooing both serious foodies and those simply addicted to TV cooking shows on such networks as Food Network and Bravo with the cuisine of famous chefs shipboard. In some cases, passengers can even meet their favorite culinary star at sea.

Celebrity chefs at sea in 2012:

• Talented young chefs trained by New York celebrity chef Charlie Palmer (Aureole), serve up tasting menus at Restaurant 2 on the Seabourn Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest, using fresh ingredients gathered at ports. Palmer himself serves as the line's culinary advisor, with his dishes featured in the main restaurant on all Seabourn ships. No charge.

• Todd English (Olives in New York, Boston, Las Vegas) is behind the modern Mediterranean cuisine at his namesake restaurants on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Signature dishes include billowy pasta "Love Letters." Cover charge: $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner.

Read full article at ABC News

Silversea Interactive Cooking Cruise

Silversea Cruises will offer 20 voyages in 2012 that feature the exclusive "Relais & Châteaux L'École des Chefs" interactive cooking school.


Silversea features the only Relais & Châteaux L'École des Chefs cooking school at sea.

The free program provides guests with a special culinary curriculum, including hands-on instruction and entertaining events hosted by Silversea culinary trainer David Bilsland, a former instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London. He presents a program developed in collaboration with Jacques Thorel, the owner of L'Auberge Bretonne and a consulting Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux.

The curriculum for each of these cruises is designed to celebrate the cultural flavor of the ship's itinerary. Highlights include workshops covering topics from basic knife skills and kitchen terminology to sauces and baking; cooking demonstrations with wine pairings and interactive Q&A sessions; cooking competitions between Chef Bilsland and the ship's own culinary team.

A "Lunch and Learn" event offering small groups of guests a chance to sample a delicious meal of specially prepared dishes; and inspired "Take It Home" recipes that will give guests an edge when entertaining at home.

Also offered on select voyages is a "Market to Plate" experience that provides an escorted tour of a local market followed by a cooking class, and a "Culinary Outing," an instructor-escorted excursion to a local restaurant, hotel or other venue.

Following below is a small selection of the L'École des Chefs voyages for 2012:

Africa and Arabia
Voyage 2235: Silver Wind departs Athens Nov. 12 on a 16-day sailing to Dubai with calls in Alexandria, Sharm el Sheikh, Aqaba, Safaga, Muscat and Fujairah. Silver Savings fares start at $8,958.

Voyage 2236: Silver Wind departs Nov. 28 on a 7-day roundtrip sailing from Dubai with calls in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, Al Manama, Doha and Khasab. Silver Savings fares start at $5,198.

Asia
Voyage 4208: Silver Whisper departs Bangkok March 26 on an 18-day sailing to Dubai (a segment of World Cruise 2012) with calls in Ko Samui, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Cochin, Mormugao, Mumbai and Fujairah. Silver Savings fares start at $9,598.

Voyage 3211: Silver Shadow departs Tokyo April 25 on an 11-day sailing to Shanghai with calls in Hiroshima, Busan, Jeju, Dalian and Tianjin (Beijing). Silver Savings fares start at $7,238.

Caribbean
Voyage 4229: Silver Whisper departs Nov. 1 on a 7-day roundtrip sailing from Barbados with calls in Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, Isla Margarita and Grenada. Silver Savings fares start at $2,798.

Voyage 4230: Silver Whisper departs Barbados Nov. 8 on a 9-day sailing to Fort Lauderdale with calls in St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Barts and St. Croix. Silver Savings fares start at $3,638.

Northern Europe
Voyage 1218: Silver Cloud departs Copenhagen July 10 on a 16-day sailing to London with calls in Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Stockholm, Riga, Warnemunde (Rostock), Hamburg and Amsterdam. Silver Savings fares start at $8,398.

South AmericaVoyage 5204: Silver Spirit departs Buenos Aires Feb. 12 on a 7-day sailing to Rio de Janeiro with calls in Punta del Este, Rio Grande do Sul, Santos (Sao Paulo), Parati and Buzios. Silver Savings fares start at $4,838.

Voyage 5205: Silver Spirit departs Rio de Janeiro Feb. 19 on a 15-day sailing to Barbados with calls in Salvador de Bahia, Recife, Fortaleza, Belém, Tobago and Grenada. Silver Savings fares start at $7,598.

Transoceanic
Voyage 3227: Silver Shadow departs Vancouver Sept. 6 on a 16-day sailing to Tokyo with calls in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Kodiak, Kamchatka, Hakodate and Sendai. Silver Savings fares start at $7,798.

Visit www.silversea.com

Cruisers Have More Options - At A Cost

Seeking to give passengers more choices, cruise lines have expanded on-board options and the additional costs that sometimes go with them.

Carnival Magic features pub with a private label beer and a la carte pricing for food, and a for-fee Italian restaurant.

Norwegian Dawn features a Brazilian steakhouse that costs an additional $20 - and has been popular on the line’s newest ship, Epic.

The Disney Dream, Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, includes a $75-a-person gourmet restaurant (alcohol not included) called Remy.

Celebrity Silhouette (shown) offers new $149-a-sea-day cabanas in the Lawn Club area that previously held only grass, as well as an interactive grill. The price for that new restaurant has already increased from $30 to $40.

Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas, features 26 dining options. Of those, 12 come at an additional charge. Other extra-fee options on Allure range from a Starbucks to cupcake shop to Chef’s Table, a fine dining-and-drinking experience for $95 a person — an increase in recent months from $75.

Read more at Miami Herald

7 Major Cruise Trends for 2011

Cruise ships are sailing at full capacity with the expectation of 16-million passengers - an increase of 6% compared to last year.

With many new ships on the horizon for this year, CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) reports new cruise trends for 2011 . . . 

1. Cruise passengers are looking for more choices in their cruise dining experience. These choices include local food sources, guest celebrity/top chefs - and even more onboard speciality restaurants.

2. Private or exclusive shore excursions - and onboard experiences targeting families, children, sports, and active vacationers.

3. Shorter cruise durations. Many travelers are opting for several shorter cruises rather than the longer cruises - especially transatlantic

4. Top brand onboard spas, and unique spa treatments

5. Theme cruises focused on food/wine, culture, music and art

6. Passengers are booking cruises farther in advance - average 5- 6 months

7. Biggest growth expected from familes/multigenerational groups, baby boomers, first time cruisers, along with corporate groups and organizations