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.

• Guy Fieri gets a presence at sea with handcrafted burgers and fresh-cut fries featured at Guy's Burger Joint on Carnival Liberty, beginning later this month, and to be introduced on several other Carnival ships over the next several years. No charge.

• Silk Road on the Crystal ships is the venue for shipboard cuisine by "Nobu" Matsuhisa including his famous spicy rock shrimp and melt-in-your-mouth Black Cod with miso. The current cover charge of $7 at Silk Road disappears early next year, as part of the line's move to all-inclusive pricing. Nobu himself will be making a shipboard appearance in 2012 (date to be determined). Some 20 other chefs also will be on board on several cruises for the line's Wine and Food Festival.

• Jacques Pépin has his namesake Jacques on the Oceania Marina, with the classic brasserie menu featuring such dishes as escargot, onion soup, steak frites and coq au vin. There's no charge. Pépin himself will host a 10-day cruise on the Marina from Barcelona to Rome, embarking on May 12, with Q&A sessions and cooking demonstrations. Oceania will also be bringing other noted chefs on board next year as part of its collaboration with Bon Appétit magazine including on two Bon Appétit Wine & Food Festival sailings in October.

• Making her second appearance hosting a cruise, Food Network star and Savannah restaurateur (The Lady and Sons) Paula Deen heads to the Caribbean on the Celebrity Eclipse, embarking from Miami on Jan. 21. The theme cruise will feature photo opportunities, Q&A sessions and cooking demos by Deen and her sons, too.

• Six top chefs, including Bravo TV's Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelsson, steakhouse impresario Charlie Trotter and renowned chocolatier Jacques Torres, have added signature creations to menus in the main dining rooms of Holland America ships, and serve on the line's Culinary Council, which advises on menus. The line also has a collaboration with Food & Wine magazine, and is bringing a whole bevvy of familiar faces onboard ships for cooking demonstrations and seminars in 2012, including Kevin Sbraga (Sbraga in Philadelphia) the Season 7 Top Chef winner, doing a 10-day Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam, embarking from Rome on July 17.