Is this the most indulgent dining at sea? Here’s our verdict

To be honest, I’m a somewhat reluctant participant in the “Passport to Greece” cooking class. We’re in the Culinary Centre on board Oceania Allura’s maiden voyage and I’ve been invited to join as a media guest. As a former food-magazine editor, I’m assuming rather snootily that there’s not going to be much I can learn on board a cruise ship.

Of course I’m wrong. As soon as we start making an eminently quaffable Metaxa ginger spritz, I mistakenly add the ginger beer to the cocktail shaker, risking a minor explosion.

Chastened, I concentrate more closely on American chef Noelle Barille’s instructions and, after a fun couple of hours, come away with a new repertoire of dishes, including melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant dip), Corfu pastitsio (undercook the pasta if you’re preparing ahead of time) and what must be the world’s easiest dessert – strained Greek yoghurt with toasted walnuts and fragrant local honey.

I shouldn’t be surprised at Noelle’s level of expertise. Oceania Cruises’ tagline is “the finest cuisine at sea”, and it delivers on that promise across the board, including at its 10 restaurants and cafes.

With more than 700 different menu items prepared daily, it’s impossible to highlight more than a handful, but from a textbook goat’s cheese souffle at Jacques (named after the original executive chef, Jacques Pepin) to Peruvian-style beef short rib at Red Ginger and a perfectly medium-rare rib-eye with bearnaise at the Polo Grill, it’s pretty hard to fault either the quality of ingredients or the preparation.

At the Chef’s Market Dinner at Terrace Cafe one evening, there’s a paralysing array of Italian specialities, from baskets of breadsticks and focaccia to endless platters of antipasti, fresh pasta, calzone, roast pork, cheeses and desserts. I could be in a scene from the film La Grande Bouffe.

Meanwhile, Baristas serves excellent Illy coffee that you can accompany with a cookie, eclair, sandwich or slice of quiche from The Bakery – probably my favourite pastime on the ship is checking to see what still-warm-from-the-oven baked goods are on offer that day (and if the raspberry jam doughnuts are making an encore appearance).

Launching on Allura (and soon on sister ship Vista) is the Gerard Bertrand lunch, with six courses matched to the celebrated French winemaker’s drops. Organic and biodynamic wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon region are paired with an indulgent menu that starts with Sturia Oscietra caviar, progresses to Venetian “risotto” made with riced calamari, and ends with a Callebaut gold chocolate cake with a rich mousse filling.

Another new addition on this sailing is the Creperie, which also serves waffles and ice-cream sundaes. Purely in the interests of research I try the banoffee crepe, with banana, salted caramel and whipped cream, then retire to the sundeck for a well-deserved siesta.

The eating continues unabated on two immersive shore excursions. The first is to hilltop La Sabbiona, a winery with farmhouse accommodation near Faenza (famous for its ceramics), in the heart of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region.

We try squacquerone, a soft, fresh cow’s-milk cheese that’s served with piadina flatbread and caramelised figs; cured meats including coppa and ciccioli, and giardiniera (pickled vegetables). The main course is strozzapreti pasta with a sauce made from pork sausage and Centesimino wine, a rare red-grape variety grown by La Sabbiona’s Altini family. Thankfully dessert is a fruit salad.

In Montenegro a couple of days later, after a majestic arrival via the fjord-like Bay of Kotor (or Boka to locals), our bus driver negotiates the narrow mountain roads to Storia di Pietra, a modern winery where we’re rewarded with panoramic views of the bay below.

It’s the brainchild of Stefan Kascelan, who has taken over the original family farm and winery down the hill, and also created an impressive new business, with a range of endemic wine varieties such as Vranac, and much of the restaurant produce supplied from his nearby greenhouses.

Lunch is more cured meats and cheese, irresistible fried bread sticks (the snack his mother used to make after school), plus a ham-hock and cime di rapa soup that’s surprisingly moreish despite the 36-degree temperatures outside.

Back onboard Allura for our last day at sea, and – somewhat unremarkably – my body is begging me to skip the steak, pizza and afternoon tea. So it’s no to the Grand Dining Room and yes to cafe-style Aquamar Kitchen, where lighter options rule. A Yellow Sunshine smoothie (orange, banana, mango and ginger) and a chilled bowl of gazpacho is all I need.

And possibly a “Passport to Weight Loss” cooking class from Narelle.

THE DETAILS

Oceania Allura’s Mediterranean Melange seven-night cruise from Trieste to Athens visits Ravenna, Rijeka, Split, Brindisi, Corfu and Gythion (October 3-10, 2026), with promotional fares starting from $6250 per person for a Concierge Level Veranda Stateroom. See oceaniacruises.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Oceania Cruises.