Cruise ship dining is about to get a whole lot finer (and cruise chefs more epically handsome). As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, Princess Cruises is preparing to disembark on a new culinary voyage in an exclusive partnership with superstar Chef Curtis Stone. The Michelin-star chef and author of six bestselling cookbooks will serve up elevated new menus aboard Princess voyages starting this fall, and then will expand his menus to the entire Princess fleet by the end of the year.
This new taste of luxury augments the cruise line’s "come back new" commitment to enhance passenger experiences. Stone’s new Crafted by Curtis specialty menu will be dedicated to fresh and flavorful cuisine, and will exclusively be available onboard Princess vessels in the main dining rooms. In early 2016, lucky passengers will also be able to score reservations at a special Chef’s Table for the full gourmet treatment.
“The word cruise puts me in my favorite mood: relaxed. I’m set on bringing a new culinary experience to the sea to enhance and complete a cruise vacation,” says Chef Stone, star of the Food Network shows Star Academy and Beach Eats, which premiered August 12. “Since I travel often, I know that discovering delicious food and sharing a great meal can create some of the most memorable moments and I’ve designed my restaurants with this in mind. It’s important to me that guests have the experience that I would want and food that I’d be thrilled to eat myself, at sea or anywhere else in the world.”
While Chef Stone’s first restaurant was the award-winning Maude in land-locked Beverly Hills, his restaurant-at-sea eatery will debut this December aboard Emerald Princess for a Caribbean voyage sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The next openings will be aboard Ruby Princess, sailing the Pacific from Los Angeles to Hawaii and Mexico; Coral Princess from the Panama Canal; and Sun Princess, for a sentimental journey bringing Chef Stone’s oceanic restaurant to his home country of Australia.
“This partnership will appeal to Princess guests around the world and most certainly to those enjoying Australia-based cruises since Chef Stone hails from Oz and is incredibly popular in his homeland,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises President. “This is an exciting step for Princess and sure to delight our guests since Chef Stone also believes that great meals bring people together to create lifelong memories, much like travel.”
