Choose the right cruise and you can eat at a restaurant overseen by a famous chef – for just a fraction of what you would pay on land.

P&O Cruises: Marco Pierre White
Popular TV chef and the youngest Brit to be awarded three Michelin stars, Marco Pierre White has restaurants on three P&O Cruises’ ships. The White Room on Ventura is partly al fresco and offers elegant Italian food. Café Jardin on Oceana has a casual feel with black-and-white checked tablecloths set in a stunning spot high in the atrium, while Café Bordeaux on Aurora is inspired by French bistros, with a menu to match. White’s food is strongly influenced by his Genoan roots – in The White Room you might find grilled sardines with black olives and capers, Italian dumplings with porcini mushrooms and artichoke, or buffalo mozzarella with peppers, anchovies and capers. A cover price of around £20 a head apply in all these restaurants in the evening, and White occasionally comes onboard to give group cookery lessons. Ventura is a large resort ship; Aurora and Oceana are mid-sized ships – all three are geared towards families with some really excellent kids’ clubs and leisure facilities.
Ventura will be sailing Caribbean fly-cruises from Barbados this winter.

P&O Cruises: Gary Rhodes
Multiple-award-winning chef Gary Rhodes takes British fine dining to the high seas with his two P&O Cruises restaurants – Oriana Rhodes and Arcadia Rhodes. Reinventing British classics is the motto of this chef, and on adult-only ship Arcadia you might find smoked duck with mango, orange and avocado, followed by fillet of salmon with a lobster, scallop, cucumber and ginger sauce. On family-friendly ship Oriana expect gastronomic gorgeousness such as split-pea soup with warm bacon bread or beef medallions with seared black tiger prawn brochette. Both restaurants are stylish and understated with impeccable service, for which there is a cover charge of around £15 – a fraction of what you would pay to dine at one of Rhodes’ restaurants on land. The ships are mid-sized and tailored to British tastes with pubs and sports bars, lounges with leather armchairs and card rooms as well as jolly evening entertainment and spas.
Arcadia will be sailing Mediterranean, Caribbean and Canary Islands cruises from Southampton this winter before departing on a world cruise in January 2011.

Crystal Cruises: Nobu Matsuhisha
Choose Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Symphony if you’re a lover of Asian food – Japanese Masterchef Nobu Matsuhisha has a sushi bar and a restaurant onboard. Both are intimate and stylish with limited seating so get very booked up, meaning reservations are essential. But with no cover charge, you could eat here every evening if you wanted to. Nobu is admired by foodies worldwide for blending classical Japanese food with modern European and Peruvian influences. This is his only project at sea, and all chefs at the Sushi Bar and Silk Road Restaurant are trained by the man himself. Popular dishes include miso black cod, lobster with truffle-yuzu sauce and grilled wagyu beef with wasabi pepper. Crystal Symphony is a mid-sized luxury ship that an ideal choice if you want to be surrounded by discerning, seasoned travellers. Other speciality restaurants include Prego for Italian regional fare, and The Vintage Room for delectable dining pared with some of the rarest wines in the world.
Crystal Symphony will be sailing Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles this winter.

Cunard: Todd English
Very British cruiseline Cunard surprised onlookers when it turned west in its hunt for a celebrity chef, collaborating with US TV star and man behind Olives and Figs restaurants, Todd English. The resulting outlets on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are sophisticated havens with intimate alcoves and a distinctly urban feel. English’s menus tends to be rooted in homely classics yet are elevated to high art; largely Mediterranean, inspired by Italian and Spanish ingredients, they feature signature dishes such as ‘truffled potato love letter packages’. Both are large ships offering traditional British luxuries and old-school glamour, with cosy pubs and afternoon tea as a daily institution. Other speciality options on Queen Mary 2 include Asian cuisine at Louts, a carvery, an Italian restaurant and daily specials at Chef’s Gallery. The ships operate some fantastic routes, including Cunard’s original transatlantic crossings.
Queen Mary 2 will be sailing weekly transatlantic cruises from Southampton or New York this winter.

Yachts of Seabourn: Charlie Palmer
Another American chef making big waves at sea is Charlie Palmer, who oversees all the dining on the Yachts of Seabourn’s six small luxury ships. Palmer has numerous restaurants in the US, including four of New York’s top eating spots – Aureole, Métrazur, kitchen22 and Lenox House. He’s won equally numerous awards for his ‘Progressive American Cuisine’, which combines big flavours with playful presentation. Look out for specials such as green Thai eggplant curry with vegetable fried rice and papaya-mango slaw, foie gras torchon with plum terrine, roasted hazelnuts and hazelnut brioche, crème brulée en parade with jasmine, cappuccino and classic vanilla. He’s obviously getting it right – Yachts of Seabourn regularly appears top in dining surveys and in the food and service category of Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List. The ships have a main open-seating fine-dining restaurant, a ‘tastings’ restaurant as well as more casual options.
Seabourn Sojourn will be sailing Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale this winter before departing on a world cruise in January 2011.