New classes added for 2025, including a
spotlight on the Pacific Northwest, Polynesia, and Australia
Download high-resolution images here (Credit:
Oceania Cruises)
MIAMI, Nov. 21,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Oceania Cruises®, the
world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line,
celebrates 15 years of The Culinary Center, the first-ever hands-on
cooking school at sea, with an array of new classes for 2025
and beyond.
Announced 15 years ago ahead of the launch of Marina™,
the first purpose-built foodie-ship for the line, Oceania Cruises'
Culinary Center is now available on four of its elegant ships,
Marina, Riviera™, Vista™, and Allura™, its newest
ship due to join the fleet in Summer 2025.
In celebration of this 15-year milestone, Oceania Cruises has
added new culinary classes for 2025, putting the spotlight on
dishes from the Pacific Northwest of the
United States, Polynesia, and Australia, among others.
The Culinary Center boasts more than 60 current classes
taught in custom-built teaching kitchens with individual stations
and professional-grade equipment. The classes offer the chance to
explore a destination's culture and history through food, or to
hone core kitchen skills thanks to the faculty of dedicated Chef
Instructors.
Chef Kathryn Kelly, Oceania
Cruises' Director of Culinary Enrichment, is the founder and
driving force behind The Culinary Center and oversees Oceania
Cruises' team of 11 talented Chef Instructors.
She is also the chief architect of the line's signature range of
Culinary Discovery Tours™, a key part of The Culinary Center
program. These popular chef-led excursions, which are available in
more than 40 destinations worldwide, feature the opportunity to
learn to cook destination-inspired dishes back on board after a
morning of shopping for ingredients in local markets, or to learn
from local experts and artisans about the food and culture of the
region. Chef Kelly is planning a new swathe of chef-led tours for
2025 which will be announced in the coming months.
"We are the only cruise built by foodies, for foodies. Food is
at the heart of everything we do at Oceania Cruises - we have
literally built our ships around the culinary experience, from vast
galley spaces to an unparalleled range of restaurants. I am so
proud to say we were the first line ever to have a hands-on cooking
school at sea, and the popularity of The Culinary Center shows no
sign of abating. This is testament to the incredible work done by
Chef Kelly and her creative team, as they continue to drive our
culinary legacy," said Frank A. Del
Rio, President of Oceania Cruises.
Chef Kelly added: "It's been an amazing evolution over the past
15 years, from the first Culinary Center aboard Marina,
followed by Riviera, to the even more expansive Culinary
Centers on board Vista and her sister Allura, which
have twice the number of individual stations. I am thrilled to be
working with such a creative and collaborative team as we
constantly look for new dishes and class themes to introduce to our
curious guests."
When not on board, the team lives in locations all over the
world, from Christchurch, New
Zealand, to Riga, Latvia,
to San Francisco, California,
making them perfectly placed to keep their fingers on the global
food pulse to bring the latest culinary trends to the kitchen
classrooms on board.
The talented Culinary Center Chef Instructors have hundreds of
years of experience and fascinating career histories between them.
Backgrounds include an early career as Julia Child's executive assistant; executive
chef for world-renowned television shows such as "Sesame Street"
and "30 Rock"; and leading the food programs of blue chip companies
including Google and Amazon. With graduates from The Culinary Institute of America, Le Cordon Bleu, and
Boston University's prestigious
gastronomy program on the team, Oceania Cruises' guests can truly
learn from the best in the business.
New Classes for 2025
- Culinary Northwest Passage
One of the trendiest regions in the culinary world today is the
Pacific Northwest. Truly a celebration of the farmer and the
fisherman, this class is inspired by the innovative chefs from
Seattle to Anchorage. The Pacific
Northwest food scene embraces seasonality and is often revered as
the farm- and sea-to-table bedrock of modern American cuisine. This
class also includes some of our guest favorite fish and seafood
fundamentals. And the "deep dish" signature desserts are bound to
be some of the first recipes you will want to make when you return
home.
When our chefs travel to New
Zealand and Australia, they
marvel at the abundance of ingredients here. The seafood is
diverse, and the meats are prized all over the world. Working with
our "down under" chef colleagues, we've created a class that
celebrates the sea, the mountains, and the vineyards of this
special region of the world.
Make your early dinner plans as usual, then join us at
8:00 p.m. for a dessert and beverages
class before the evening show begins. You might prepare a decadent
lava cake paired with a glass of Champagne, or you might make a
crêpes Suzette paired with a Grand Marnier spritzer. Join us for a
marvelously sweet way to spend your evening between dinner and the
show.
After a day lounging on a pristine white beach complete with a
swim in a blue lagoon, doesn't some grilled seafood and an exotic
fruit drink sound divine? Polynesian cuisine celebrates fresh,
seasonal, and local ingredients with subtle influences from
France and China. Tradition
and family gatherings dictate the Polynesian "salt lifestyle." Join
us as we Tama'a Maitai – enjoy our meal Polynesian style.
Is there any better feeling than the first snowfall? For many of
us, it makes us want to bake our favorite cinnamon rolls or egg
casserole. Join us for a celebration of those leisurely days when
it is snowy outside and we want to share family favorites with
loved ones and warm our toes by the fire. No snow day brunch is
complete without warming or bubbly cocktails, so we'll share some
of our mixologists' most popular recipes for taking the chill off.
See you at brunch.
For additional information on Oceania Cruises' small-ship
luxury, exquisitely crafted cuisine, and expertly curated travel
experiences, visit OceaniaCruises.com, call 855-OCEANIA, or speak
with a professional travel advisor.
Additional information
Biography
Chef Kathryn Kelly, Director
of Culinary Enrichment
Chef Kathryn
Kelly is the founder and driving force behind The Culinary
Center, overseeing Oceania Cruises' faculty of dedicated Chef
Instructors. She is the chief architect of more than 100 unique
culinary classes as well as Oceania Cruises' signature range of
Culinary Discovery Tours™, immersive chef-led excursions offered in
more than 40 destinations worldwide.
Chef Kelly was one of the first members to be inducted into
Oceania Cruises' Culinary Advisory Board earlier this year thanks
to her inherent passion for food, for learning, and for sharing her
incredible knowledge and skills in inclusive, lively, and
informative ways.
She serves alongside the Board's co-chairs – Master Chef
Jacques Pépin, chef and television
personality Giada De Laurentiis, and
the line's two Master Chefs of France and Executive Culinary Directors,
Alex Quaretti and Eric Barale.
Chef Kelly completed her doctoral studies in Epidemiology at the
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
and holds two master's degrees in Community Medicine and
Biostatistics. After a fulfilling career in health care, she
pursued her lifelong dream of becoming a chef, graduating with
honors from The Culinary Institute of
America in the fifth decade of her life. Chef Kelly resides
on Amelia Island, Florida, and in Austin, Texas. She is an avid golfer and the
proud grandmother of her three "little sous chefs," Kate, Luke, and
Jack.
About Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises® is the world's leading culinary- and
destination-focused cruise line. The line's eight small, luxurious
ships carry a maximum of 1,250 guests and feature The Finest
Cuisine at Sea® and destination-rich itineraries that span the
globe. Expertly curated travel experiences are available aboard the
designer-inspired, small ships, which call on more than 600 marquee
and boutique ports in more than 100 countries on seven continents,
on voyages that range from seven to more than 200 days. Oceania
Cruises® has two additional ships on order scheduled for delivery
in 2027 and 2028 or 2029[1]. Oceania Cruises® is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
(NYSE: NCLH). To learn more, visit www.nclhltd.com.
[1] Delivery for the second Oceania Cruises ship
is contractually scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2028, but may
be delayed to 2029.
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