TravelPulse Canada on Location: Oceania Allura – Here’s What Canadian Travel Advisors Should Know

by Debbie Olsen
Last updated: 10:20 AM ET, Wed July 23, 2025

Oceania Allura is the newest luxury vessel for Oceania Cruises and the most innovative and
luxurious ship to date – debuting new features, new menus and new chef-led shore excursions
for food-loving guests.

Oceania Cruises eighth luxury vessel was delivered on July 10, 2025, and on July 14, 2025, it
departed from Genova Cruise Terminal in Genoa, Italy with a group of Oceania executives,
travel trade partners and media onboard a shakedown cruise – essentially a trial run.

The fully
equipped and staffed vessel was put through the paces to identify and fix any issues before the
inaugural sailing – which in Oceania Allura’s case happened four days later, on July 18. From
my perspective as one of the travel journalists onboard, the ship was gorgeous, and the cruise
was almost flawless. Other than a small issue with the wiring for a light in my cabin, everything
ran light clockwork.

Oceania Cruises bills itself as the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused luxury cruise
line and the cruise experience backs this up. It’s the ideal cruise product for clients who love
food and wine and plenty of destination options. Oceania Allura average one chef for every
eight guests and two staff members for every three guests. Their ships feature onboard culinary
classes in a custom hands-on culinary teaching space as well as chef-led culinary tours in
destinations around the world. Oceania cruises to more than 600 destinations worldwide.

Canada is the number two market for Oceania next to the United States. “All our agency partner
business is significant to Oceania, Canadian’s included,” explained Brennan Quesnele, a
Canadian who was recently appointed as the new Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade
Marketing for North America. “We look to capitalize and leverage opportunities when we see
them and rolling out our Canadian Dollars at Par rate program back in March (recently extended
through August 31st) did just that and was a way for us capitalize on the strength of our
Canadian partnerships and build on that success.”

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Related: Connecting with Canadians: Brennan Quesnele, Oceania SVP Sales

Besides the Canadian dollars at par promotion, here’s what Canadian travel advisors should
know about the newest Oceania ship.

Oceania Allura – What’s Different and New for Canadians

The Grand Dining Room of the Oceania Allura

New Canadian chef-led culinary tours: Oceania Allura will launch several new chef-led
culinary tours when it cruises in Canada in October 2025. “We are really excited because we
are launching three new chef-led culinary tours on Allura’s upcoming voyage in Canada,”
explained Chef Noelle Barille, one of the founding chef faculty members of Oceania Cruises’
hands-on culinary program. These culinary tours take a small group of guests to visit farms and
have culinary experiences that are unique to a specific region.” Examples of the new tours
include a special visit to Île d’Orléans in Quebec and an Indigenous culinary tour in the
Maritimes.

A dozen new Nikkei dishes in the Red Grill Restaurant: Nikkei cuisine is a fusion of
Japanese and Peruvian flavours ad it will launch in Oceania Allura thanks to a collaboration with
Chef Gustavo Sugay. The menu includes items like tuna ceviche and soft-shell crab tempura
and will be rolled out to the rest of the Oceania fleet by early 2026.

270 New Recipes onboard: Oceania Allura is introducing 270 new recipes across all three
meal services in its restaurants. During a behind-the-scenes galley tour, I watched the culinary
staff at work preparing the new recipes and I tasted them during the meal services and in a
word – the food was outstanding. “We are renowned for The Finest Cuisine at Sea® and this is
not just a tagline; it is a philosophy which guides everything we do,” explained Frank A. Del Rio,
President of Oceania Cruises.

New Dining Venue: Oceania Allura has a new dining venue called The Crêperie, which serves
French crêpes, Belgian waffles, bubble waffles, Italian ice cream sundaes, and a variety of
beverages ideal for a morning or afternoon snack break.

Favourites Dining Venues Back: Oceania has a total of 12 dining venues including some
favourites launched on other vessels like the signature French restaurant, Jacques, and its
wellness-inspired venue, Aquamar® Kitchen which serves energy bowls breakfast foods, fresh
juices and smoothies. I discovered the Pure Immunity beverage on my first day onboard and
had one every day of our short voyage. It’s made with orange, lime, ginger, turmeric and
cayenne pepper and it is delicious. Food and wine pairing experiences are also offered at every
meal and during exclusive Sommelier’s Choice and Cellar Master’s Classic Wine Pairing
Luncheons.

Oceania Allura: The Basics

Maximum occupancy: 1200 passengers and 800 crew.
Most spacious standard staterooms at sea.
Educational offerings: culinary classes, art classes, digital media centre classes including
photography and a beautiful library. Guest speakers and small group immersive shore
excursions also provide educational experiences.

Oceania cruises offers a variety of free onboard classes. Each ship has an artist in residence who teaches art classes, a chef-led culinary school and a digital centre with courses on cellphone photography, social media and other topics. (Photo Credit: Greg Olsen)
Your cruise Your Way standard inclusions at no extra charge: Wi-Fi, specialty restaurants, in-room dining, sodas, specialty coffees and teas, juices, smoothies and gourmet ice cream,
fitness classes, laundry, Vero water and shipboard gratuities. Note: Oceania is one of the few
ships that allows for the purchase of an enhanced beverage package for one guest and no
beverage package for the second guest staying in the same stateroom.
Oceania Allura will be christened in Miami, Florida on November 13, 2025, with a group of
Food & Wine Best New Chefs alumni serving as the ships godparents.
Official website: oceaniacruises.com