Cruise Ships Woo Foodies with Celebrity Chefs

Nov. 5, 2011— -- 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.

Spikey-haired Fieri, so popular he has his own fan club, joins an ocean-going roster that includes famed Japanese chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa, culinary bad boy Todd English, steakhouse genius Charlie Palmer, Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelsson and Southern food maven and Food Network star Paula Deen (Paula's Home Cooking), to name a few.

The shipboard trend reflects the increasing interest in top chefs on land, says famed French Master Chef Jacques Pépin, cookbook author and PBS cooking show host (Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way), who earlier this year opened his first namesake restaurant on the Oceania Marina.

"Forty years ago mothers wanted their daughter to marry a lawyer or a doctor, certainly not a cook. Now we are geniuses," Pépin tells USA TODAY. "You used to go to a restaurant before theater. Now the restaurant itself has become the theater."

For the celebrity chefs, the cruise lines are committing to equipment never before used on ships such as a special rotisserie Pépin ordered up for his Jacques on the Marina.

"Very rarely do you have this type of thing where you can buy whatever you need and that's basically what happened here," says Pépin, who also serves as Oceania's culinary advisor.

For passengers, the big advantage of sampling the cuisine of a celebrity chef at sea is it's affordable, and often even included in your cruise fare. Plus, you can get a table.

While Samuelsson's Red Rooster Harlem takes reservations up to 30 days in advance, in the main dining room on Holland America ships passengers can order a Samuelsson-created signature dish of grilled salmon with miso, garlic, sesame and cilantro, served in a spiced tomato broth with kale, right off the main menu.

Nobu cuisine is available at Silk Road restaurants on the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony for a small service charge (and complimentary beginning early next year). Compare that to dinner at the chef's Los Angeles restaurant, where the Omakase tasting menu starts at $100 per person.

For those who think shipboard cuisine is all about buffets and basic meat and potatoes, think again.

Excite your taste buds with the creations of these 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.