Cruise Line Debuts Extensive Dining Room Enhancements Following Multi-Million Dollar Investment

Renowned for its innovation, Royal Caribbean International is once again elevating the cruise holiday experience, this time wowing guests’ taste buds. The cruise line is investing in an extensive multi-million dollar upgrade to its main dining room as well as introducing a range of culinary enhancements across the fleet.

The investment to Royal Caribbean’s complimentary dining program focuses on an increased variety of menu options in the main dining room, and in particular, the inclusion of dishes with regional influences reflective of the destinations Royal Caribbean ships sail to; improved choices for guests with dietary restrictions; and even more enticing presentation.

“In today's food-aware culture, the palettes of our guests have evolved and they have come to expect, not only a variety of choices, but cuisine of the highest quality, made with the freshest of ingredients,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Executive Vice President, Operations, Royal Caribbean International. “In recent years, we have introduced many new specialty dining concepts and in this next evolution we are expanding the options in our main dining room with even more variety, allowing us to cater to our international guests while offering them the highest quality dining on land or at sea.”

The culinary enhancements are as follows:

• The main dining room menu has been revamped to offer a greater variety of choice.
• Royal Caribbean’s much-loved favourites such as aged hand-cut Manhattan steak, escargot bourguignonne, shrimp cocktail and crème brulee, are now available every night. 
• To cater to its growing global clientele, Royal Caribbean will add more international food options in the dining room with a renewed focus on authenticity.
• Good news for dessert lovers – Royal Caribbean will offer a new “hot from the oven” blueberry peach crumble, sticky bread and butter pudding and sumptuous carrot cake.
• To better cater to those with special dietary needs, Royal Caribbean will introduce more heart-healthy, gluten-free and lactose-free food options. It has enlisted a registered and licensed dietician and nutrition consultant to evaluate existing menus, create new offerings for guests with dietary restrictions, and shape the cruise line’s current gluten-free and lactose-free program into a more guest-friendly experience. 
• All low calorie, gluten-free and lactose-free options will be clearly identified with respective menu icons as well as menu selections that can be modified to fit these requirements for guests.  In addition to the new menu designations, Royal Caribbean is rolling out new daily gluten-free bread offerings, available on request in all venues, including specialty restaurants.
• All of the new main dining menu offerings will include upgraded entrees such rack of lamb, surf & turf, beef sliders and daily entrée dinner salads.
• As part of the investment, the cruise line will continue to focus on training which includes a sous chef certification program with the American Culinary Federation and a new wait staff training curriculum targeting the new menus, standards training, and allergen and dietary programs.
• Guests also will notice a change in the physical menu with a new fresh design featuring the cruise line’s international culinary team.

These new enhancements are yet another example of how Royal Caribbean has continuously evolved the onboard dining experience over the last decade, leading the industry with the most complete and innovative dining options on the high seas including introducing more than 20 new dining concepts on the revolutionary Oasis-class ships such as Izumi Asian cuisine, Giovanni’s Table, Park Café and The Cupcake Cupboard. These popular venues are being introduced to all the other ships in the fleet during an extensive revitalization program that will be conducted through 2014 and beyond.  Royal Caribbean has the most extensive selection of dining venues at sea with a total of 100 options across the fleet.

Royal Caribbean has also released a short video outlining their culinary enhancements. Please see the following link to view this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urq5-ziBqXQ&feature=plcp