A cruise holiday is the perfect choice for those with an interest in gastronomy and world cuisines. Since the inception of the cruise liner, dining has been at the heart of the onboard experience, with meal times offering a unique social occasion and chefs competing to impress their guests.

While onboard eating is no longer limited to fine dining alone, the traditions of good food at sea is one that is stalwartly upheld on board ships belonging to the major cruise holiday companies such as P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Costa Cruises.

Luxury liners offer an amazing choice of eateries, with celebrity chefs creating menus for onboard restaurants – for example Gary Rhodes’ Rhodes Arcadia aboard the P&O Arcadia and Marco Pierre White’s The White Room aboard the P&O Ventura.

Formal dining remains a mainstay of many cruise passengers’ onboard experience and all liners will offer at least one fine dining option on board. Other options will include gems of international dining, with themed restaurants offering eastern, Italian and Oriental cuisines to name but a few.

And with cruise holiday itineraries travelling to some of the world’s most exciting culinary destinations, travellers will also get the chance to taste the authentic offerings of their destinations.  Far East cruise passengers can sample delightful dim sum, and Baltic Cruise customers can try genuine gravadlax.

For those interested in the creation rather than the consumption of culinary delights there are cruises which offer onboard cookery courses and themed cruises for connoisseurs of cuisine are certainly worth investigating.