Luxury Line Oceania Cruises Takes Delivery of 8th ‘Boutique Ship’

Oceania Cruises has taken delivery of Oceania Allura, the eighth “boutique ship” for a luxury cruise line focused on cuisine and destinations.

The 1,200-guest Oceania Allura, built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Genoa, is the second ship in the line’s Allura Class and marks the evolution of the line’s culinary- and destination-immersive travel experiences. Oceania Allura follows her sister ship, Oceania Vista, launched in May 2023.

“Oceania Allura is our most innovative and luxurious ship to date. She represents our bold vision for an entirely new generation of luxury travel experiences,” said Jason Montague, Oceania’s Chief Luxury Officer. 

“As always, at the heart of this beautiful ship is an extraordinary crew dedicated to providing exceptional cuisine, personalized, intuitive service and immersive enrichment opportunities for our guests.” 

At 804 feet (246 meters) long and more than 68,000 gross tons with capacity for 1,200 guests at double occupancy, Oceania Allura offers what it calls “a best-in-class” staff to guest ratio, with two staff members for every three guests.

Fully half of the ship’s crew are dedicated to culinary operations and the Allura features an amazing one chef for every eight guests.

At more than 290 square feet, Oceania Allura also stakes a claim for the most spacious standard staterooms at sea.

The inaugural season of Oceania Allura includes 26 voyages that span 92 destinations, including the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Canada and New England. The ship’s maiden voyage departs from Trieste, Italy, bound for Athens, Greece, on July 18, 2025.

Oceania Allura Culinary Highlights

“At Oceania Cruises, we put food at the heart of everything we do, and our Finest Cuisine at Sea philosophy is the north star that guides our entire company,” said Chef Alexis Quaretti, Oceania Cruises Executive Culinary Director.

“The launch of our beautiful Oceania Allura is the springboard to our future and is the culmination of years of hard work of thousands of talented people, from the designers to the shipyard to our onboard team members.” 

Among the tantalizing new offerings on board Oceania Allura is the Crêperie, a first for Oceania Cruises, serving delicate authentic French crêpes, delicious Belgian and bubble waffles and decadent Italian ice cream sundaes.

Oceania Allura also sees the return of the line’s beloved signature French restaurant, Jacques, named for legendary chef Jacques Pépin, the line’s first-ever executive culinary director. This new iteration features refreshed menus that reflect a refined take on French classics like duck à l’orange with Grand Marnier, plus innovative new experiential dishes such as tableside preparation of hand-cut beef tartare.

A dozen Japanese-Peruvian dishes have joined the expansive menu at Oceania Cruises’ popular pan-Asian specialty restaurant, Red Ginger. Known as Nikkei cuisine, these exciting menu items celebrate the best of Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine and feature plates like tuna ceviche with leche de tigre; a braised short rib with lomo saltado and a miso sweet potato mousseline; and crispy soft-shell crab tempura in bao buns.

The Grand Dining Room on board Oceania Allura features more than 270 new recipes from the world-class culinary team at Oceania Cruises, led by its two resident Master Chefs of France and Executive Culinary Directors, Chefs Alexis Quaretti and Eric Barale. 

This staggering number of dishes includes more than 30 additions to the breakfast menu, with an all-new signature eggs Benedict section offering guests variations on the brunch favourite like eggs Benedict Florentine or eggs Benedict with smoked salmon.

Over The Horizon

Oceania continues to grow. Oceania Allura will be followed in summer 2027 by the line’s first Sonata Class vessel, Oceania Sonata, and then by her sister ship, Oceania Arietta in 2029, representing the dawn of a new generation of luxury cruising. Each Sonata Class vessel will carry approximately 1,390 guests and measure approximately 86,000 gross tons.

At the delivery ceremony in Genoa, Montague announced that two further Sonata Class ships will join the fleet. The vessels, previously ordered as options for Oceania Cruises, have now been confirmed for delivery in 2032 and 2035, respectively.