Top Dishes that You Should Try on a Cruise

Over the years, the popularity of cruise trips has increased by leaps and bounds. Today, more couples and families plan cruise trips to enjoy the experience of a lifetime, albeit doing it over and over again. You need to ensure that you make the right plans and get the best deals on facilities, amenities, and food options even when you are taking a last-minute cruise plan.

Cruise trips and good food are almost synonymous. While on shore excursions and deciding what sights to see, one must not forget the delicious traditional cuisine that awaits the guest at the ports you are visiting and on the ship too! If you’re wondering what to eat on a cruise, below are some of the recommendations on some of the top must-try dishes on your upcoming cruise vacation.

1. Antipasto

Antipasto or antipasti in Italian means – before the meal, and simply refers to the dish that precedes every other dish, much like the French hors d’oeuvre. A typical antipasto dish should be colorful, so as to awaken the senses and stir up an appetite for the meal that follows.

The dish basically consists of cured meats or seafood, served on a large platter for groups or smaller servings for individuals ,but it always consists of bite-sized portions or samplings. Hard cheese like pecorino romano, or soft ones like mozzarella, olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, crostini, dill pickles, and pickled veggies, and more also make the cut.

2. Sushi and Sushi Lollipops

Sushi is all the craze on cruise trips nowadays. Every cruise liner today offers a variety of sushi or sashimi made by celebrity chefs.

Generally made from seafood such as prawns, salmon, crab, or yellow-fin tuna, there are also vegetarian sushi options for the veggies and vegans.

Sushi lollipops are quite popular on the Celebrity Cruises at Qsine restaurant. You’ll also find delicious sushi at Izumi on Royal Caribbean, Bonsai Sushi on Carnival, Sushi Bar on Crystal, Wasabi Bar on Norwegian, and others.

3. Pasta

Over the years, pasta has become the world’s most loved food. If you love eating pasta you should try the ones available on a cruise. Most cruises will provide you with a huge variety of pasta that will leave you speechless.

You can choose from a wide range of pasta sauces and other toppings and ingredients that would allow you to make-your-own pasta. On the other hand, you will also find chef’s special pasta delicacies that allow you to try something new and get unique food experiences while you are on a cruise.

Eggplant is one ingredient that’s most used on any cruise line, and the best way to enjoy it is with pasta. When fresh pasta is fried with eggplant, tomato sauce, grated ricotta salata cheese, and basil, the creation is known as Pasta alla Norma, named after the maker Vincenzo Bellini, composer of the famous opera Norma. Pasta is a staple dish of Sicily, and you will have no trouble finding it on the Italian menu when on a cruise, especially when cruising in Europe.

4. Pizzas

Who said pizzas cannot be eaten on a cruise? If you love pizzas, you can find them on almost all cruises in the world.

This humble dish may be one of the most beloved in Naples, its birthplace, but you are sure to enjoy it on a cruise as well. The simple mozzarella, basil, and tomato recipe was dreamt up by a local maker in the 1880s and is now found in eateries around the world.

Keep it classy by trying the classic Margherita version, topped with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula, and parmesan cheese.

Of course, cruise chefs come up with some fantastic flavor combinations that offer you mouthwatering wood-oven baked pizzas that melt instantaneously in your mouth.

5. Chicken flatbread

Lunch onboard is always a treat, and one reason for this is the eternal favorite, chicken flatbread. This simple cruise dish is made from creamy guacamole as a base and chicken roasted in garlic, with garlic chips, cherry tomatoes, avocado and shaved parmesan cheese used as a topping.

6. Ceviche

The sublime shrimp ceviche tostada recipe has dazzled diners with its amazing ingredients and simplicity on many cruise trips. Plump fresh shrimps are first sauteed in olive oil and garlic and then stirred up with Serrano chillies.The secret ingredient of this favorite appetizer is Clamato juice which produces the flavor that has made ceviche so popular. Bulk it up with fresh diced cucumber and diced avocado.

7. Salads

If you are planning to eat healthy on the cruise, you would want to opt for salads at least some of the time. The offerings are always delicious.

8. Burrata

Made from cow’s milk and cream, the burrata cheese is also one of the popular dinner dishes that most cruises have to offer. This Italian cow’s milk cheese is hard on the outside while super soft on the inside.

Various cruises offer different versions of burrata, from beet and burrata salad, to burrata alla panna con carpaccio di pomodori, to burrata manti, to burrata caprese, to simple creamy burrata sauces. There’s a lot of burrata to feed your senses.

9. Steaks

If you want to try a juicy mouthwatering steak on a cruise the onboard steakhouse will offer an intimate dining experience. Found on many reputable cruise ships, these specialty restaurants serve a range from traditional steaks to vibrant churrascarias. Menus typically include chicken, veal, lamb and a variety of seafood, with side dishes like beef and lobster, albeit for a surcharge.

10. Cocktails

Beyond the cutting-edge entertainment, lux spaces and top-class food, another way to enjoy a cruise is by sipping on creative cocktails, whipped up by expert bartenders for you to imbibe.

Cruise ship drinks are made from the finest liquors and spirits available in order to stir-up thirst quenching Daiquiris, Pina coladas, and other classics like the Bobby Burns, Painkiller, Negroni, Caipirinha, as well as more exclusive cruise-specific cocktails like the Banana Mana aboard Celebrity Cruises.

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