Among the esteemed hosts for the 2025 Specialty Cruises are authors, television personalities and chefs Claudine Pépin and Sara Moulton; Food & Wine 2023 Best New Chef Aisha Ibrahim; and Oceania Cruises’ own Executive Culinary Directors and Master Chefs of France, Alex Quaretti and Eric Barale.
“Oceania Cruises has always set the standard for onboard culinary excellence and immersive travel experiences, and our 2025 Specialty Cruises continue to raise the bar even higher,” said Frank A. Del Rio, President of Oceania Cruises. “These voyages are a celebration of our commitment to creating one-of-a-kind travel experiences, offering an unparalleled fusion of culinary and cultural offerings for our guests. Thanks to the impressive line-up of renowned chefs and experts to enhance our onboard programming, including specially crafted menu items in The Grand Dining Room and at the Chef’s Market Dinners in the Terrace Café by each of our culinary hosts, our guests are in the best possible hands.”
The 2025 Specialty Cruises collection highlights Oceania Cruises’ commitment to culinary excellence and elegant, ultra-premium, small-ship experiences. They will explore some of the most loved cruising regions of the world, including the Mediterranean, Alaska, and the Far East. Each will feature expert-led onboard programming including enrichment lectures, live cooking demonstrations and cooking classes, themed Chef’s Market Dinners in the Terrace Café, fireside chats, exclusive hosted shore excursions and more.
Oceania Cruises 2025 Specialty Cruises
- Sirena Godmother Cruise with Claudine Pépin: 14-day sailing from Barcelona to Dublin, May 20 – June 3, 2025 on Sirena: This special sailing will be hosted by cookbook author Claudine Pépin, the official godmother of Sirena and president of the Jacques Pépin Foundation. She has filmed three popular James Beard Award-winning PBS television series with her father, renowned Master Chef and Oceania Cruises Culinary Advisor Jacques Pépin, alongside her own career in the wine industry working with Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, and Kendall-Jackson Wineries. The sailing will include exclusive onboard events hosted by Pépin, including a Q&A and cooking class, Chef’s Market Dinner and more. Additionally, Pépin will be joining select shore excursions, denoted by “with Claudine Pépin” in the title. Joining Pépin onboard will be her husband, Professor Rollie Wesen, who will assist with culinary demonstrations; and food and travel writer Kristen Hartke, whose pieces on food culture and history appear in the Washington Post, NPR, Food & Wine among others. Hartke is a culinary producer and recipe developer for celebrity chefs and cookbook authors, and she also teaches food journalism at American University. On this sailing, guests will immerse themselves in the culinary arts and enticing destinations, including overnight stays in two cities renowned for incredible food and wine, Seville and Bordeaux.
- Sara Moulton Cruise: 9-day sailing from Barcelona to Athens, May 26 – June 4, 2025 on Marina: Embark on a culinary and cultural odyssey from Barcelona to Athens with chef, cookbook author and television personality Sara Moulton, who was recently named as one of the first two members to be welcomed to the Oceania Cruises Culinary Advisory Board. Onboard Marina, as she sails the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, guests can enjoy a live cooking demonstration from Moulton, savor her signature dishes on the menu in The Grand Dining Room and join her on select shore excursions and at exclusive onboard events.
- Food & Wine Best New Chefs Cruise: 10-day sailing from Seattle to Seattle, August 18 – 28, 2025 on Riviera: Share an incredible journey with Food & Wine 2023 Best New Chef Aisha Ibrahim aboard Oceania Cruises’ first-ever Best New Chefs Cruise. Experience special menus, cooking demonstrations, and fabulous pairings among the many epicurean discoveries at sea and on land in Alaska aboard the only true foodie ship sailing in the region. Travelers can be immersed in the culinary scene of the 49th state on an abundance of food-focused shore excursions while exploring the quaint towns built from the dreams of miners, loggers, and furriers, set against a backdrop of almost impossibly beautiful scenery.
- Culinary Luminaries Cruise: 12-day sailing from Barcelona to Istanbul, September 14 – 26, 2025 on Vista: Hosted by Oceania Cruises’ two Executive Culinary Directors and resident Master Chefs of France, Alex Quaretti and Eric Barale, this voyage promises to be the ultimate epicurean adventure for foodies. The voyage features sought-after gastronomic destinations in the Mediterranean and Adriatic where travelers will experience a cavalcade of Mediterranean icons, from Nice’s chic boulevards and Tuscany’s timeless hills to Santorini’s cliffside villages and Ephesus’ archaeological treasures. Cruise highlights include live cooking demonstrations, destination-focused Chef’s Market Dinners in the Terrace Café curated by the onboard culinary team, exclusive culinary panel discussions and Oceania Cruises’ legendary gala brunch.
- Oceania Club Reunion Cruise, 15-day sailing from Hong Kong to Bangkok, October 22 – November 6, 2025 on Riviera: Join distinguished Oceania Cruises’ hosts aboard Riviera for the line’s first Reunion Cruise to take place in Asia. Sailing from Hong Kong to Bangkok, this spectacular 15-day sailing features four overnight port stays in Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Bangkok; locally enriched entertainment; and luminaries from the worlds of food, wine, travel and culture to share their expertise, insights and anecdotes.
Among the Oceania Cruises’ hosts onboard will be Captain Demitris Flokos, one of the line’s first Masters; Leslie Jon, Oceania Cruises’ first ever cruise director who served onboard for 23 years, and Neli Arias, Head of the Oceania Club, who invite you to join them at numerous special events from Oceania Cruises’ gala brunch to exclusive dinners and cocktail receptions, to special shore excursions to show off this fascinating part of the world. The Oceania Club Reunion Cruise aboard Riviera is open to loyal Oceania Club members as well as curious travelers who are new to Oceania Cruises.
Tags: Frank A. Del Rio, Oceania Cruises
