Oceania Cruises has announced the successful completion of an extensive new menu rollout featuring 85 new dishes for its Grand Dining Room on the line's newest ship, Riviera. The remainder of the Oceania Cruises fleet will incorporate the new menus over the next three months.

"Since the founding of Oceania Cruises 10 years ago, we have held a reputation for serving cuisine that is the finest at sea and even rivals the best restaurants ashore," said Kunal S. Kamlani, the line's president. "Our latest innovations in the Grand Dining Room are inspired by classic European fare, with a contemporary, creative touch. They reflect our ongoing commitment to provide an exceptional dining experience that starts with a thoughtful and meticulously researched menu concept, the highest-quality ingredients and the perfect execution of traditional culinary techniques."

Oceania Cruises devotes extraordinary resources to cuisine. While most cruise lines employ a single corporate chef, Oceania Cruises has an entire team at the helm of its culinary program, including its executive culinary director, renowned master chef Jacques Pépin.

Fleet Corporate Chef Franck Garanger, who travels the world sampling international cuisines to inspire his creation of dishes, led the team in conceiving the new menus. The Oceania Cruises culinary team has spent the past eight months designing and rigorously testing the new menu items. As the menus in the Grand Dining Room change daily, the rollout features a total of 85 new dishes, including three new lobster dishes and 10 new pastas and risottos.

New creations include dishes such as Pancetta-Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp with Kalamata Olive Sauce and Vegetable Julienne, Roast Segovian Suckling Pig with Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes, and Diver Scallops over Orange-Braised Endive with Vanilla Vinaigrette Salad. The new dishes also feature unique, high-end ingredients such as Castilla-La Mancha saffron, Lessatini olive oil from Nice and Ibérico de Bellota pork. There is also a selection of new Canyon Ranch® dishes, including Dover Sole Meunière in Lemon Butter Sauce with Sweet Leek Puff Pastry and Steamed Potatoes, as well as Pulpo a la Gallega: Octopus on Warm Potato Salad with Sweet Spanish Paprika de la Vera.

The rollout includes an array of new wines by the bottle as well as an extended list of wines by the glass.

Oceania Cruises' flagship restaurant, the Grand Dining Room, is a tribute to the five-star restaurants in Europe's grandest hotels, which inspired its dignified and elegant ambiance. Tuxedo-clad wait staff graciously serve course after course featuring classic European fare or delectable alternatives such as healthy, savory Canyon Ranch® selections or

New creations in the Grand Dining Room include Diver Scallops over Orange-Braised Endive with Vanilla Vinaigrette Salad, Pancetta-Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp with Kalamata Olive Sauce and Vegetable Julienne, and Roast Segovian Suckling Pig with Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes.

The 4,028-bed Norwegian Breakaway, due in May for weekly cruising from New York, is already being dubbed one of "the hottest" new cruise liners of 2013.   She'll be painted on the outside with an elaborately colorful rendering of Manhattan highlights by famed artist Peter Max.  Her amenities are just as colorful & will include an open-air, quarter-mile boardwalk & aquapark including 5 multi-story water slides. 

The brand new Royal Princess, which will have her debut in June, is another promising new ship.  She'll offer such features as a Skywalk, a glass-bottom walkway that will extend 28 ft beyond the edge of the ship & 128 ft above the seas.   

Last month, I set off from Southampton aboard the Saga Sapphire on a 15-night winter cruise to Norway & in "Search of the Northern Lights". 

Shipshape!  The ship, the Saga Sapphire,  is fully booked ("Not a cot's available," noted one of the asst cruise directors) - and I'm the only Yankee aboard;   the other 700 are British.   They're all older (remembering of course that Saga Cruises only takes passengers 50 & over and so the Saga name has been affectionately dubbed, among other things, as Send A Granny Away!).  On first glance on this trip, they're a hearty bunch - mostly long-married couples bundled-up in sweaters, woolen scarves & boots. Mostly, they seem to be great travelers (Nile River steamers & even trekking in lower Hindustan kind of stuff), very interested & politely friendly.   Of course, there's a few standouts at the start - a few stylish ladies, a couple of old dears in felt hats sprouting a feather or two and, rather expectedly, a few ex-head mistress types (you can just spot them:  formidable,  flat shoes & tweedy skirts). 

The ship is too charming!  Remember that in the 1980s, the  37,000-grt Saga Sapphire was rated  as the "most luxurious ship in the world".  That was in her first life as West Germany's very classy Europa.   These days, she's been updated & refreshed (Saga bought her & re-commissioned her in March of last year), but the 655-footer still has lots of her earlier, old style touches - and, in many ways, a grand, gentile, old hotel  atmosphere.

The overall decor is contemporary, not flashy, but warm & inviting & maybe just a bit clubby - that pillows-on-sofas look. The corridors are vast, almost highway-wide, the stairwells equally broad and the maintenance throughout immaculate.  The big, main lounge - called Britannia - has lots of comfortable chairs, is used for afternoon teas (very, very popular on this ship & this chilly itinerary) and lectures.  There are several smallish bars including one named Aviators and decorated with vintage, 1960s BOAC posters.  There's also  several libraries and which include lots of interesting, coffee-table books and DVD collections including lots of titles on bygone British trains.  The Drawing Room is high atop the bridge, has lots of easy chairs & sofas and a good dose of Asian art & objects.  The Pole to Pole Restaurant, the ship's main dining room,  has very good service, very good food, but rather bland decor whereas the Verandah Restaurant, the more casual dining spot, enjoys great service, great food & far nicer decor - and a more friendly, easy & chatty atmosphere. The front desk staff, as I soon find, are nothing short of superb - as are the 2-member shore excursion team. 

The cabins - and let's go back to bygone days on those fabled ocean  liners - are really "staterooms".  They're huge, roomy, maybe even for your private Tango classes.  I could almost jog around the beds in my room (well, figuratively).   They are much like those big Main Deck rooms on the QE2.  Myself, I have a fairly grand room - very spacious, with muted, cozy colors, 2 desks, big window & a bathroom the size of Illinois. 

Silk ties & shiny shoes!  Cruise director John Barton hosts a welcome aboard party & all the entertainers, lecturers, etc get friendly quickly.   Very much the actor & stylist, John is high, high charm (and he's almost a double in looks to British actor Peter Bowles & throw in Robert Vaughan) - and is impeccably dressed (tonight, in expertly tailored blue pin-stripe).  He creates a great, caressing mood - we were made to feel very welcome, very much valued & appreciated.   

Crystal Symphony

New York to Miami (14-Nights)

Visiting Baltimore,MD; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Jacksonville, FL; Turks & Caicos, Grand Turk; Curacao/Willemstad;Oranjestad, Aruba, Miami, FL

Sailing: November 2, 2013

Exclusive WOCLS Events with Bill Miller

• Special WOCLS Q&A with Bill Miller
• Welcome cocktail reception with Bill Miller for our guests
• Bill Miller will host a dinner in a specialty restaurant with our group

Special Book Now Fares (book by 4/30/13):

You will receive a shipboard credit of $250.00 per person

Outside Stateroom from - $4450*

Balcony Stateroom from - $6060*

Suitex from - $9700*

*Rates are cruise only, per person, based on double occupancy. Government Fees of $685 are not included

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Oceania Riviera

Exclusive WOCLS Events with Host Art Sbarksy

Special WOCLS Q&A with Art Sbarsky as he takes you through his career in the cruise industry.

This is a Fundraising Cruise for Art's favorite charity.

The American Cancer Society.

• Welcome cocktail reception with Art Sbarsky for our guests
• Art Sbarsky will host a dinner in a specialty restaurant with our group
• Includes airfare from most Oceania gateways or an air credit
• Includes a special $150 per cabin shipboard credit

Inside cabin from - $2899*

Window cabin from - $3199*

Balcony cabin from - $3499

Suite cabin from - $4999*

*Rates are cruise only, per person, based on double occupancy. Includes government fees

cruises@wocls.org