Over-the-Top Cruise Ship Dining Experiences

While cruises from previous generations got a bad rap for offering bland buffets and disappointing dining experiences overall, today's cruise lines have truly stepped it up a notch. Cuisine offered on today's cruise ships is much more fresh and dynamic than it used to be, and the newest and best ships have pulled out all the stops to offer new and interesting specialty dining options including sushi bars, invite-only dinners, luxurious steakhouses and more.

If you're a foodie or someone who wants to enjoy the best of the best whenever you travel, giving cruising another try can make a lot of sense. Before you book a new cruise, however, you should get up-to-date on some of the best and most alluring cuisine offered by small and large cruise lines in 2023 and beyond.

Hungry for a cruise experience that's new, different and delicious? Read on to learn about 18 over-the-top cruise dining experiences you can try see for yourself this year.

Virgin Voyages offers an array of unique culinary experiences to choose from, and the brand even relied on Michelin-star chefs to curate the menus for its six signature restaurants. However, one of the most over-the-top dining experiences offered on Virgin Voyages is The Test Kitchen - a laboratory-styled eatery that gives sailors the chance to see a select list of ingredients turned into a culinary masterpiece in front of their eyes.

MSC Cruises' Yacht Club is a "ship within a ship" that's available for guests who want more space and upgraded everything when they sail on certain vessels. Not only do MSC Cruises Yacht Clubs have their own pool decks and their own private lounges, but they each have a fine dining restaurant that's only for Yacht Club members. Yacht Club meals feature elegant and elevated cuisine and wine options that can be selected with the help of an on-site sommelier.

Princess Cruises also offers 360: An Extraordinary Experience for guests booked in suite accommodations who receive an exclusive invite. This multisensory experience is available on the Discovery Princess, and it lets travelers enjoy storytelling, music, scents and more while devouring a seven-course gourmet meal with wine pairings that was expertly created to tantalize the senses.

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises is renowned for offering a luxury travel experience through sought-after regions of the world, including French wine country. The line's La Cave des Vins experience on the France-based S.S. Bon Voyage lets foodies and wine lovers gather for expertly designed meals upon request. A communal dining table in a private dining room lets your party sit together while enjoying an exceptional cooking demonstration and culinary experience you'll never forget.

Explora Journeys is a newer small vessel cruise line that's geared to luxury travelers, so it's not surprising that the brand is already expected to offer over-the-top culinary experiences. As an example, the EXPLORA I from Explora Journeys (with a planned launch date of May 2023) will offer 18 unique food and beverage venues featuring signature dishes made with only the freshest and finest ingredients such as Wagyu beef, Madagascan pepper and more. Explora Journeys also goes the extra mile to source unique and unusual wines of unexpected provenance, so you can expect new wine finds with every sailing.

The Wake is a Virgin Voyages specialty restaurant that offers sophisticated steak and seafood entrees in a downright glamorous setting. Surprising offerings include a raw bar, table-side drink cart service, Champagne by the glass poured from a magnum bottle and to-die-for bites include the eatery's pan roasted Ora King salmon and New Zealand lamb chops.

European Waterways offers 17 small barge vessels that cruise throughout nine different countries in Europe and hold up to 20 passengers at a time. A range of over-the-top dining experiences are offered on board and on land through the brand's many excursion offerings for foodies. For example, the 12-passenger L'Impressionniste hotel barge travels through the stunning Ouche Valley in Southern Burgundy and offers stops at the Domaine Chanson in historic Beaune. Here, guests can enjoy a gastronomic adventure in a domaine's chateau, complete with wine pairings.

The new MSC Seascape, which is currently offering sailings from Miami, Florida, comes complete with a revolving sushi bar like those originally founded in Japan. Guests can enjoy a fun and exciting experience as they watch small sushi plates pass by on a conveyor belt, and they only pay for the plates and dishes they want to enjoy. This famous sushi offering is also available on the MSC Seashore.

While luxury cruise line Seabourn is well known for the many exceptional dining experiences offered on board, their Caviar in the Surf onshore meal is the most renowned. During this experiential dining event, uniformed crew members dive into the sea while inviting guests to also take a swim. Once in the water, travelers enjoy champagne and caviar served up on a surfboard bar before heading onshore to nosh on a barbecue lunch and relax on the beach.

Izumi from Royal Caribbean offers authentic sushi and sashimi, as well as a hibachi experience that lets guests watch as their meal is expertly prepared. An array of Asian-inspired meals and dishes are available, including miso ramen soup and seafood and steak stir-fry. Other notable menu items include Izumi's pork gyoza dumplings and its fresh poke bowl. This amazing eatery also has a menu just for kids.

Many Princess Cruises itineraries offer an Ultimate Balcony Breakfast experience that lets you enjoy quiche, croissants and mimosas with unbelievable natural views in every direction. This upgraded breakfast option is popular on the brand's Alaska cruises since travelers get the chance to nosh on their favorite breakfast foods on their own private balcony while peering at glaciers or watching whales or sea lions pass nearby.

After its official launch and naming ceremony in Doha, Qatar in November of 2022, the new MSC World Europa became an automatic hit with foodies. In addition to offering a La Pescaderia fish restaurant that lets travelers pick a whole fish to be prepared for them, the vessel offers a stunning Chef's Garden Kitchen that features Niklas Ekstedt's cuisine. This exclusive venue combines traditional Nordic cooking with the freshest ingredients around the world to create amazingly flavorful dishes that will exceed your expectations by leaps and bounds.

Royal Caribbean's "Wonderland" restaurant is found on some of the line's largest and newest ships, including Anthem of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas. This two-story eatery offers an imaginative dining experience with a menu that is built around the themes of Earth including fire, ice, sea and sun. In addition to unique dishes like crispy shrimp kataifi made with scotch bonnet pepper, the restaurant also features whimsical craft cocktails like its sweet and smoky Rolling Stone.

Oceania Cruises is known for offering luxury experiences of all kinds, but their La Reserve Dom Perignon Experience may be the best of all. This six-course spirited Champagne pairing dinner features bubbly galore along with unique and surprising dishes like Sakura Tea "Geisha Flower" Ice Cream and Lemon Caviar. The menu may also feature Filet de Boeuf Rôti Richelieu, which is known as one of the many dishes enjoyed by Oceania Cruises' Master Chef and Executive Culinary Director Jacques Pépin during his childhood.

Holland America offers several specialty restaurants onboard their family-friendly ships, including a top dining destination called Pinnacle Grill. This steakhouse at sea offers incredible delicacies like 28-day wet-aged USDA Prime steaks and clothesline candied bacon with maple, black pepper and half sour pickles. Cruisers also flock here to try the beef tenderloin with lobster dumplings and celery root puree, horseradish bordelaise sauce and lobster béarnaise, a fan favorite.

Luxury line Windstar Cruises offers a top fine dining restaurant called Cuadro 44 on all three of its all-suite, 312-passenger yachts Star Legend, Star Pride and Star Breeze. This restaurant features a menu from one of the youngest chefs to be recognized by the Michelin Guide, Anthony Sasso. The restaurant can only seat 36 guests at a time, so every seating is intimate and exclusive. Notable dishes include a surf-and-turf toasted angel hair pasta dish from Valencia with confit chicken leg, chorizo, black mussels and sea beans and their famous churros with chocolate.

Holland America Line also boasts an incredible brasserie that features French-inspired seafood dishes with contemporary flair. Dishes to try here include the whole Dover sole meunière with shaved pink Himalayan sea salt, oysters on the half shell and salt-crust baked branzino, as well as the Fruits de mer - a tower of king crab legs, langoustine, crab claws, jumbo shrimp, mussels, clams and oysters.

Oceania Cruises also offers a private dining experience at sea, which can be reserved for any single party with up to 10 guests. The Privée experience takes place at an oversized custom-built table with leather thrones, and travelers can choose from five unique culinary experiences and menus. Options include a new Degustation Menu, an exclusive Wine Pairing Menu, the Best of Oceania Cruises Menu, a Best of Polo & Toscana Menu and an Executive Chef's Menu with curated gourmet dishes chosen by the onboard culinary team.