Good news for foodies planning to sail on Princess Cruises. The Santa Clarita, California-based operator of megaships has announced an upgrade to its culinary output with the addition of celebrity chef Curtis Stone, who is also an author, TV personality and restaurateur. Stone will definitely bring an upgrade to the fleet’s food. Not that Princess’s kitchens don’t already dish out some tasty cuisine, but it can always improve.
Passengers will be treated to chef Stone’s culinary wizardly with a trio of offerings on all Princess vessels. One will be a special menu called Crafted by Curtis Stone served in all the main dining rooms. Another will be in his new Curtis Stone specialty restaurant and a third at a newly added Curtis Stone's Chef's Table.
World famous for his cuisine, Stone began early, plying his craft at the age of 18 in his homeland of Australia and later honing his skills at Michelin-starred restaurants in London.
The partnership with Chef Stone goes hand and fork with Princess Cruises' “come back new” promotion, which the company hopes will drive the idea home to future passengers.
“Crafted by Curtis” menu items will also be offered in the main dining rooms starting with Golden Princess in the fall 2015 and be rolled out fleetwide through the end of the year. Stone’s first onboard restaurant will debut in December aboard Emerald Princess, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean, and Ruby Princess, sailing from Los Angeles on cruises to Hawaii and Mexico. The rollout will continue on Coral Princess cruising the Panama Canal and then Sun Princess, which will bring the Chef Stone restaurant to his home country, Australia. Curtis Stone’s Chef’s Table experience will debut across the fleet beginning in early 2016.
“We take tremendous pride in preparing and serving our guests freshly made dishes served with passion and care,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. “This is an exciting step for Princess and sure to delight our guests since chef Stone also believes that great meals bring people together to create lifelong memories, much like travel.” She added, “This partnership will appeal to Princess guests around the world and most certainly to those enjoying Australia-based cruises, since chef Stone hails from Oz and is incredibly popular in his homeland.”
“Just the word ‘cruise’ puts me in my favorite mood — relaxed. Princess Cruises is known for visiting great worldwide destinations — I’m set on bringing a new culinary experience to the sea to enhance and complete a cruise vacation,” Stone said in a statement. “Since I travel often, I know that discovering delicious food and sharing a great meal can create some of the most memorable moments and I’ve designed my restaurants with this in mind. It’s important to me that guests have the experience that I would want and food that I’d be thrilled to eat myself, at sea or anywhere else in the world.”
Stay tuned for more details as Princess begins to roll out the gastronomical carpet for the new chef.
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