Oceania Cruises Unveils 12 New Culinary Discovery Tours for 2025

Oceania Cruises has expanded its signature range of immersive “Culinary Discovery Tours” with the addition of 12 new gourmet excursions for 2025. The new chef-led tours are in diverse locations spanning the globe from Europe and the U.K. with new excursions in Amsterdam, Belfast, Invergordon, Valencia and Valletta; to Asia with three new options for Japan sailings in Kobe, Kochi and Shimizu, plus Busan in South Korea; and North America, where new tours are available in Halifax, Quebec City and Victoria.

The additions mean Oceania Cruises now offers a total of 46 “Culinary Discovery Tours,” available on its four larger ships, Marina, Riviera, Vista and Allura, which debuts in July 2025.

The “Culinary Discovery Tours” are an integral part of the line’s food-focused enrichment program, which includes The Culinary Center, the first-ever hands-on cooking school at sea, offering experiences for gourmands wanting to learn and explore cultures through food. Limited to 18 guests and led by Oceania Cruises’ team of expert Chef Instructors, each of the “Culinary Discovery Tours” goes beyond traditional sightseeing, providing access to local markets, acclaimed restaurants, and hands-on cooking classes, both on board and ashore.

From foraging for wild sea herbs on Belfast’s rugged coast to indulging in a plant-to-plate luncheon inside an Amsterdam greenhouse where ingredients are harvested moments before they reach a guest’s fork, these tours give travelers an intimate look at local life through the lens of food and its impact on the culture and community.

New Culinary Discovery Tour Highlights

Kobe: New Chef-Led Culinary Journey Through Kobe

Travelers will discover how traditional Japanese kitchen knives are crafted and watch chefs use these precision tools to prepare dinner. Artisans forge the knives in different shapes and sizes depending on their specialized uses. For instance, a santoku blade is considered an ideal general-purpose knife while the sujihiki may be the best for slicing meats such as beef. Following this immersion into knife-making, guests will dine at Teppan Grill Keyaki, an 18th-floor restaurant that overlooks medieval Osaka Castle.

Busan: Chef-Led Busan Markets Tour

To prepare traditional Korean dishes during the onboard cooking class, the chef instructor will lead guests through two local markets to forage for ingredients. First stop is the legendary Jagalchi Fish Market. Widely heralded as “the ultimate place to see seafood,” this sprawling waterfront market is the largest of its kind in Korea. As travelers browse the stalls, they can expect to find every imaginable marine creature, including live eels, sea squirts and skates, which are similar to stingrays. Using a “seafood treasure map,” guests will identify and check off these unique local specimens. After touring the seafood market, travelers will stop in at the Gukje Market, known for its international selection of gourmet ingredients before returning to the ship to create authentic Korean dishes.

Belfast: Chef-Led Tour Of Coastal Flavors Of County Down

Travelers will join local chef Paul Cunningham—a competitor on the BBC cooking series “Great British Menu”—along the shore to learn about locally sourced ingredients while sampling mussels and oysters and dining on a bowl of his seafood chowder at a nearby restaurant. A pint of Guinness or another stout will be perfectly paired to complement the meal. Afterwards, travelers will pause for photos at the atmospheric ruins of Dundrum Castle, a landmark since the 13th century.

Halifax: Chef-Led Tour Cider & Chowder: Authentic Nova Scotia

This tour will helps guests learn about the “chowder trail” and artesian cider trends that define the modern culinary scene in Nova Scotia. Guests will leave the ship and meet a local foodie guide for the first stop at the taproom of an artisanal cider maker where they will be served a flight of four vastly different hard ciders. These may be seasonal pours, year-round favorites or mixed into cocktails such as the Apple Spice, a concoction of spiced cider, ginger kombucha and cinnamon liqueur. Other possibilities include a non-alcoholic cranberry cider and a watermelon cider mimosa. A short walk will bring guests to a famed local restaurant, a “fixture” in the trendy Dartmouth neighborhood, where they can watch the chefs preparing various dishes from their reserved seating area.

Invergordon: Chef-Led Foraging & Onboard Scottish Cooking Class

In Invergordon, travelers will shop for ingredients traditionally found in a classic Scottish chowder and learn to prepare it in a hands-on cooking class onboard. The soup Cullen Skink is named for the nearby village of Cullen and the term for the beef from the front legs of a cow, skink. While shopping for haddock and other items at George Cockburn & Son, guests will sample the butcher’s award-winning haggis, another classic Scottish dish. Guests will select the vegetables for the soup at Black Isle, an organic brewery that also grows organic produce, before meeting back onboard and learning to prepare the soup.

Valletta: Chef-Led Tour Artisanal Malta Treasures

This carefully curated, small-group experience introduces guests to Maltese cuisine while sampling artisanal foods in a grotto that was transformed into a restaurant decades ago. A short but scenic drive inland brings travelers to Rabat, where they will first visit a bakery that has been in the same family for generations. While showing how traditional Maltese breads are made, the baker will invite guests to help prepare a loaf and sample another bread straight from the oven. Guests can indulge in more local specialties in the Grotto Tavern, which occupies a cave once used as a bomb shelter in World War II. In this unusual setting, guests will watch the chef prepare pastizzi—a flaky pastry stuffed with ricotta cheese or curried peas—and then enjoy samples. As an accompaniment, local cheeses such as gbejna and a special tomato paste to slather on bread will be offered. Maltese wines that may include a ruby-red melqart will also be served.

For additional information, visit www.oceaniacruises.com.