Credit: Courtesy of Oceania Cruises
Maybe you’re a cruiser who wants a glass of Champagne in your hand the second you step aboard the ship. Or maybe you’re the person who sails for the menus that reflect each new port of call and offer a taste of place. Perhaps you’re in it for the multicourse meals paired with wines chosen by sommeliers who step out to share every nerdy detail about the wines’ terroir. Whatever the case, there’s good news for cruising in 2026: You don’t have to choose just one of these culinary perks — our top cruise lines check all the boxes, offering memorable epicurean experiences worth booking a berth for.
Food & Wine’s annual Global Tastemakers Awards have highlighted the best in culinary travel for four consecutive years and during that time the cruise sector has become increasingly competitive as lines vie to impress food lovers. This is good news for any traveler for whom culinary experiences are an essential part of an itinerary. Whether it’s intense culinary immersion, chef partnerships, high-end tasting menus at sea, or a thoughtfully curated wine cellar, cruise lines are upping the ante like never before. Here are the top 10 brands for culinary in 2026.
01 of 10
Winner: Explora Journeys
Credit: Photo by Toby Mitchell
Just five years old, Explora Journeys sailed to the top of our 2026 list thanks to a steady focus on culinary excellence across its nine dining experiences. At Anthology, a seven-course tasting menu draws on Italy’s most prized ingredients, including Piedmont truffles, Amalfi lemons, and Sicilian Bronte pistachios. A5 Japanese Wagyu (the highest grade) is on offer at Sakura; premium Danish and French beef at Marble & Co. Grill. There’s plentiful all-day dining, too: Guest-favorite Emporium Marketplace offers scratch-cooked dishes, and travelers who like to get closer to the action can sign up at Chef’s Kitchen for cooking classes that end with a shared meal alongside the instructors, served in a private oceanfront room.
02 of 10
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
Credit: Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
Across its three ships, The Ritz-Carlton embraces food-forward luxury with private reserve wine lists and bespoke dining options. On Evrima, venues include S.E.A., where chef Sven Elverfeld — who recently closed his Michelin three-star Aqua in Wolfsburg, Germany — oversees a five-course culinary journey. On Ilma and Luminara, award-winning chef Fabio Trabocchi shapes the exuberant Italian menus at Seta Su, where dinner might begin with a hamachi tartare croustade with chickpea crema and imperial osetra caviar. And legendary chef Michael Mina guides Beach House’s Pan-Latin (on Ilma) and Middle Eastern (on Luminara) cuisines. Shore excursions also tilt food-centric, with private dining and visits to legendary wineries.
03 of 10
Aqua Expeditions
Credit: Courtesy of Aqua Expeditions
This small luxury expedition line considers great food as integral to its six stylish vessels as its one-to-one crew-to-guest ratio. Creative, sustainable dining — curated by celebrated regional chefs — stays in the spotlight whether you’re navigating the Arctic Circle or the Seychelles on an oceangoing vessel or sailing a riverboat on the Mekong. On Aqua Blu, which cruises the seas of East Indonesia, menus trace the spice trade route through dishes like 48-hour beef short rib rendang and grilled line-caught fish with Balinese sambal. On the riverboat Aria Amazon, plates are created with 70% local Amazonian ingredients. And across the line, passenger activities include market excursions and cooking classes with chefs.
04 of 10
Silversea
Credit: Courtesy of Silversea
Silversea is rightly famous for its S.A.L.T. (Sea And Land Taste) program, built around itinerary-driven food and wine experiences that connect what happens onboard with what happens ashore through a restaurant, a bar, culinary classes, and food- and wine-forward excursions that shift with each regional route. Guests also enjoy complimentary osetra caviar from Calvisius, presented with all the accoutrements by a white-gloved butler, whenever they desire — a rarity, even on luxury ships. And don’t skip a meal at La Dame. It carries an extra fee, but its fanciful offerings, from butter-drenched fougasse to liqueur-laced soufflés, are well worth it.
05 of 10
Crystal
Credit: Courtesy of Crystal
Since its relaunch in 2023, Crystal has leaned into high-profile culinary partnerships, with delicious results. At Nobu Matsuhisa’s Umi Uma (the only Nobu restaurant at sea), the kitchen executes the celebrated chef’s exacting style of Japanese Peruvian cuisine. At Osteria d’Ovidio, brothers Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo (whose restaurants include the Michelin three-star Le Calandre near Padua in Veneto, Italy) make their mark in dishes like saffron risotto with licorice powder and egg pasta with smoked butter. Cruisers also love Beefbar, from restaurateur Riccardo Giraudi, which turns out smoked Wagyu–stuffed bao and grilled steak, and Scoops Gelato Bar, a beloved hangout serving Florentine gelato from legendary brand Badiani.
06 of 10
Oceania Cruises
Credit: Courtesy of Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises has always positioned itself for food devotees, and the line recently raised the bar with its new Allura Class. Every dining venue on the ships Vista and Allura received a glow-up as part of their induction into the new tier. Highlights on both include the wellness-driven Aquamar Kitchen; classic-meets-modern French fare at Jacques (named for Jacques Pépin, the line’s founding executive culinary director); and Asian-fusion concept Red Ginger, which offers a Nikkei menu that blends Japanese and Peruvian flavors. New wine-pairing lunches highlight biodynamic and sustainable labels, and a deep menu of shore excursions provides opportunities for immersion in local culinary traditions.
07 of 10
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Credit: Courtesy of Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Seven showstopper restaurants rule Regent’s six opulent ships, running the gamut from classic French Chartreuse, where your meal might start with hand-cut beef tartare with sturgeon caviar and end with an île flottante, to Pacific Rim, where the pan-Asian plates like Peking duck and watermelon salad are fan favorites. Epicurean Explorer Tours take cruisers to local markets, wine tastings, and extravagant dinners ashore prepared by noted chefs. The line’s seventh ship, Seven Seas Prestige, debuts in December 2026. Even bigger and more glam than its predecessors, it will introduce best-in-class amenities like private in-suite elevators, as well as a new Mediterranean restaurant, Azure.
08 of 10
HX Expeditions
Credit: Photo by Agurtxane Concellon
HX Expeditions emphasizes itinerary-driven flavors and plates onboard and onshore, with culinary excursions that can be wonderfully uncommon, ranging from sampling housemade moonshine in the Galápagos to tasting Arctic char caviar in Norway. In 2025, HX started highlighting the heritage of the people who crew the ships, too. On the new vessels MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Roald Amundsen, Restaurant Fredheim’s themed nights include a Filipino menu inspired by family recipes from team members across the fleet (70% of whom are Filipino), sharing dishes like tuna ceviche with coconut cream and fish roe and kare-kare risotto, a vegetarian reimagining of the country’s beloved peanut stew.
09 of 10
Ponant
Credit: Photo by Gilles Trillard
Ponant pairs adventurous itineraries with cuisine that feels unmistakably French. Guided by iconic chef Alain Ducasse and his culinary council, the line’s Gallic plates come with plenty of panache. Think of an abundance of France’s finest ingredients in play, such as Valrhona chocolate, Pierre Hermé macarons, and divine Bordier butter. On luxury icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, passengers can dine at Le Nuna, Ducasse’s only fine dining restaurant at sea. (Try marveling at the icebergs floating at the North Pole while tucking into toothfish confit.) On Ponant’s other ships, restaurants like Le Céleste and Le Nautilus deliver brasserie dishes like duck confit at lunchtime, with fancier fare like foie gras and octopus carpaccio at dinner. Many Ponant sailings also lean into gastronomic themes, featuring visiting chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants, gala dinners, cooking demonstrations, and wine tastings.
10 of 10
Celebrity Cruises
Credit: Courtesy of Celebrity Cruises
Shoreside-inspired dining experiences abound on board the new Celebrity Xcel, an unusual focus for an upper premium ship of this size. The vessel debuts venues designed to bring destination flavors into the mix: At The Bazaar, rotating visiting vendors and artisans offer tastes of local products and dishes, like ouzo in Greece and coffee, fried plantains, and rum in the Caribbean. At the fancier Mosaic and more casual Spice, chefs play up the route with plates like mole-sauced fillet and black bean soup, respectively. At Chef’s Studio, hands-on culinary classes invite cruisers to learn recipes inspired by the ship’s destinations. Head to Bora, an alfresco Mediterranean spot, for a lively brunch of French toast with orange zest, figs, and pistachios, and for dinner experiences that include tableside-finished sea bream and sommelier-selected regional wines.
To uncover the best food and drink experiences for travelers, Food & Wine polled over 400 chefs, travel experts, food and travel writers, and wine pros from across the globe for their top culinary travel experiences. We then turned the results over to our Global Advisory Board, who ranked the top nominees in each category. For the full list of winners, visit foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers2026.
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