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| Crystal Penthouses have living rooms overlooking the sea. Hint: Order room service from Nobu. |
Dining is always special on a luxury cruise, but those guests who want to take it up a notch or two won’t have to look far on their favorite lines to snag a private dining experience with amazingly attentive staff and to-die-for wines. We asked the cruise lines to tell us what they consider their top offerings to be. Here’s what they said.
Crystal Cruises: The Vintage Room (available on both Crystal Symphony and Serenity) can hold up to 12-14 people. A couple or a four-some can even arrange a private dinner in the Vintage Room. Cool Touch: The experience can be completely customized. Guests can meet with the sommelier and choose wines that correlate to the places and/or vintages that are special to them and the chef will design a menu around it. Great suggestion if one is celebrating an anniversary or if a port visited holds special significance. The Ultimate Vintage Room Dinners, available just a few times each year, are seven-course, ultra-rare wine-pairing feasts.
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| Oceania offers very private dining in Privée aboard the Riviera and Marina. |
Note: All guests in the Penthouse category can order from Prego or Silk Road (including Nobu’s sushi) complimentary. The meals can be served course by course in one’s suite or on verandah by one’s butler. The top accommodations on Crystal Symphony, the Crystal Penthouses, offer private dining tables overlooking the sea.
Hint: When you’re ordering, consider the roasted kosher chicken, which needs to be requested a day in advance. We hear it’s amazing.
Oceania Cruises: On Oceania Cruises’ new Riviera and sister ship Marina, Privée’s dining room can be reserved for up to 10 guests who can select any number of courses from Polo Grill, Toscana, or a combination of both. Privée can be reserved for $250. Wine and other alcoholic beverages are an additional cost. The décor is one of the main attractions here. Privée is opulently decorated with Ferrari Red carpeting, oversized white baby crocodile throne chairs, ornate Baroque millwork, and backlit onyx-clad walls. A custom-made oval table illuminated by a white Venini glass chandelier is the centerpiece of the room.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises: Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers in-suite dining. Guests can select from an extensive room service menu and during normal dining hours, guests may also order from the Compass Rose menu, which changes daily and features continental, vegetarian, kosher and Canyon Ranch Spa Club cuisines. Dinners will be served course-by-course.
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| Le Champagne on the Silversea Silver Spirit has a menu created with the input from Relais & Chateaux. |
Seabourn: Private meals ordered from The Restaurant menu and served in the suite or on the verandah are a standard feature of Seabourn cruises. In addition, special private or semi-private arrangements are frequently made for guests celebrating special occasions. Recently, a captain and hotel director hosted an alfresco dinner for four to celebrate the guest’s birthday on board Seabourn Spirit. Seabourn staff is empowered to create exceptional events (aka Seabourn Moments) for guests during their cruises.
Silversea Cruises: This line has the only Relais & Chateaux restaurant at sea. At Le Champagne, dishes are created in collaboration with the master chefs of Relais & Chateaux. Here, guests can select from a gourmet menu of regionally inspired dishes in an intimate setting. The venue can be booked by guests for an exclusive or private gathering. For $1,500, a maximum of 12 guests can enjoy a private pre-dinner canapé party with exclusive Relais & Chateaux hors d’oeuvres, wine pairing and after dinner drinks from Silversea’s connoisseur beverage selection.
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| Candles on Windstar’s yachts is a dining area in the aft section allowing for romantic evening dinners. |
Windstar Cruises: Windstar, which has just completed an $18 million fleet-wide renovation on all three of its ships, offers a unique dining experience at Candles, at the aft of the ship, where guests can dine alfresco. On tap are fresh fish and grilled steak to enjoy while you’re out under the stars and the ship’s trademark sails.