Princess Cruises Follows Holland America and More as Food, Television and Luxury Cruises Create a New Global Travel Experience!

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Princess Cruises follows Holland America and more as food, television and luxury cruises create a new global travel experience for travellers worldwide. Today, food and television are becoming important parts of the luxury cruise experience, while global travel increasingly connects destinations with memorable dining. Princess Cruises is bringing these elements together through its new culinary television project, following the approach seen across Holland America and other cruise lines. As food, television and luxury cruises continue shaping travel experiences, travellers are discovering new reasons to explore the world by sea. Travel And Tour World urges readers to continue reading as this global travel story reveals how cruise holidays are changing.

Princess Culinary TV Show: How Food, Television and Cruise Destinations Are Becoming One Travel Experience

Why Chefs Ahoy Matters to Cruise Travellers

Princess Cruises is taking culinary travel beyond the restaurant and into prime-time television with Chefs Ahoy, a four-part food and travel competition.

The programme premieres on September 30, 2026, on Channel 9 and 9Now in Australia. It is hosted by Australian comedian Peter Helliar and combines destination exploration with onboard cooking challenges.

The format is straightforward but closely connected to cruise travel. Two chefs visit a destination, explore its food culture and collect ideas from local producers, markets, restaurants or traditional cooking practices.

They then return to the Princess ship and create a dish inspired by what they discovered.

The final test takes place during the Captain’s Dinner. Thousands of passengers become part of the judging process because the dish receiving the most orders determines the episode winner.

The four episodes feature Crete in Greece, Japan, Barcelona in Spain and Busan in South Korea.

The Greece episode features Courtney Roulston and Minoli De Silva aboard Sun Princess.

Miguel Maestre and Dan Hong take on Japan aboard Diamond Princess.

Mark LaBrooy and Khanh Ong explore Barcelona before their Spanish-inspired onboard challenge.

Vincent Yeow Lim and Alice Zaslavsky travel through South Korea and compete aboard Diamond Princess.

Chefs Ahoy: Programme Facts at a Glance

The programme is therefore different from a conventional cooking show filmed inside a studio.

Its central idea is that the destination supplies the culinary inspiration, while the cruise ship becomes the competition kitchen.

For travellers, that distinction matters. It presents the cruise not simply as transportation between ports, but as a combined food, entertainment and destination experience.

The Four Destinations Behind the Series

Greece and Crete: Seafood, Olive Oil and Traditional Village Cooking

The first episode takes place in Crete, where Courtney Roulston and Minoli De Silva explore different aspects of the island’s food culture.

Princess describes the episode as a journey through seafood, olive oil, village cooking, local produce and slow-cooked lamb.

Crete is particularly relevant for food-focused travellers because its cuisine is closely connected with local agriculture, olive cultivation, seafood and traditional cooking.

The Bank of Greece recorded 43.31 million inbound travellers in 2025, compared with 40.69 million in 2024. Its data also recorded 5.81 million cruise-ship arrivals in 2025 and an estimated 5.61 million cruise passengers.

The country recorded approximately 36.08 million inbound travellers in 2023, after 29.88 million in 2022 and 15.25 million in 2021.

Greece Visitor Data, 2021–2025

The Bank of Greece also reported that cruise passenger visits at Greek ports reached 8.18 million in 2025, compared with 7.83 million in 2024. About 80.8% of cruise passengers were transit visitors, demonstrating how strongly cruising connects short destination visits with the wider tourism system.

For travellers following the television series, Crete can therefore be approached as more than a scenic cruise stop.

A useful food-focused visit could combine a historic town, a local market, traditional tavernas and regional products.

Japan: Wagyu, Onsen Culture and Culinary Discovery

Japan provides the second culinary setting in Chefs Ahoy.

Miguel Maestre and Dan Hong explore Japanese food traditions and experiences before developing dishes for passengers aboard Diamond Princess.

The programme highlights Bungo Wagyu, onsen eggs, traditional cooking techniques and the ship’s own dining experiences.

Japan has also recorded one of the strongest international visitor recoveries among the four featured destinations.

JNTO recorded just 245,862 international visitors in 2021.

The figure reached 3.83 million in 2022, then 25.07 million in 2023.

In 2024, Japan received 36.87 million international visitors, a record at that time.

The 2025 total reached 42.68 million, another annual record.

Japan Visitor Data, 2021–2025

JNTO defines its visitor-arrival measure separately from general foreign-entry statistics. It excludes permanent residents returning to Japan and includes certain temporary entrants, while crew are excluded.

That distinction is important when comparing Japan with Greece or South Korea.

For travellers, the Japan episode can encourage a wider itinerary approach.

Instead of focusing only on Tokyo, visitors can look at regional food traditions, local markets, hot-spring towns and destination-specific ingredients.

The cruise experience can become the framework connecting several Japanese coastal destinations.

Spain: Barcelona Turns Food Into a Port Experience

Barcelona supplies the setting for the third episode.

Mark LaBrooy and Khanh Ong approach the city through different culinary perspectives.

LaBrooy explores Spanish meat traditions, including Jamón Ibérico, while Ong investigates Barcelona’s tapas culture and modern food scene.

Spain’s official statistics show how substantial the country’s international tourism market has become.

The country received 31.2 million international tourists in 2021, followed by 71.7 million in 2022.

Arrivals reached 85.2 million in 2023, 93.8 million in 2024 and 96.8 million in 2025.

Spain International Tourist Arrivals, 2021–2025

Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported that international visitors generated €126.28 billion in tourist expenditure during 2024.

Catalonia accounted for €23.75 billion, while the Canary Islands recorded €22.89 billion and the Balearic Islands €20.05 billion.

Barcelona is therefore more than a scenic backdrop for the programme.

It represents a destination where travellers can combine architecture, neighbourhood exploration, markets and local food during one cruise call.

Travellers with limited port time should check the ship’s arrival and departure schedule before booking independent activities.

Market visits, tapas stops and cultural attractions can require advance planning during busy periods.

South Korea: Busan Brings Seafood and Korean Food Culture

South Korea completes the four-destination culinary route.

Vincent Yeow Lim and Alice Zaslavsky visit Busan, where seafood markets and Korean food traditions become central to their search for inspiration.

Princess highlights Busan’s fish markets, Bulgogi Town and traditional kimchi-making as part of the episode.

South Korea’s official tourism statistics show a sharp change across the five-year period.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recorded 967,000 inbound tourists in 2021.

The total reached 3.20 million in 2022, 11.03 million in 2023 and 16.37 million in 2024.

For 2025, Korea recorded approximately 18.94 million foreign visitors, according to tourism data cited by the OECD and Bank of Korea reporting.

South Korea Visitor Data, 2021–2025

The Korean government also reported that the country passed 18.5 million foreign visitors during December 2025 and expected the annual total to exceed 18.7 million.

For food travellers, Busan provides a different experience from Seoul.

The city combines coastal seafood traditions with Korean dishes and markets.

A cruise visitor can use the television programme as inspiration while independently researching port attractions, opening hours and transportation before arriving.

Five-Year Comparison Across All Four Featured Destinations

The following table places the available official visitor statistics together.

The numbers should not be interpreted as a direct ranking because each national statistical authority uses its own definitions.

Important statistical note: Greece’s figures are inbound traveller flows, Japan’s are JNTO visitor arrivals, Spain’s are international tourists and South Korea’s are inbound foreign-tourism figures. They are useful for showing individual tourism trajectories but should not be treated as identical measurements.

The Global Cruise Market Behind the Culinary Trend

The television concept arrives as cruising itself has reached a much larger global scale.

CLIA recorded 4.8 million ocean-going cruise passengers in 2021.

That figure increased to 20.4 million in 2022 and 31.7 million in 2023.

Global ocean-going passenger volume reached 34.6 million in 2024 and 37.2 million in 2025.

Global Ocean Cruise Passenger Data

CLIA’s 2025 report also found that the average cruise length was approximately seven days.

About 35% of global ocean-going cruise travellers were under 40, while 34% were over 60.

The Caribbean accounted for 44% of 2025 cruise passengers, while European destinations attracted more than nine million cruise travellers.

This scale helps explain why culinary programming has become strategically important for cruise brands.

Food can appeal to different age groups and can also connect onboard experiences with destinations visited during the itinerary.

Other Cruise Lines Building Culinary Entertainment and Food Experiences

Holland America Line: America’s Test Kitchen Creates a Television-Style Experience at Sea

Holland America Line has one of the clearest precedents for combining television cooking with cruising.

The cruise line partnered with America’s Test Kitchen, the well-known public television cooking brand, to create shipboard culinary demonstrations and workshops.

The concept was introduced in 2016 and transformed Holland America’s Culinary Arts Centers into venues inspired by the television programme’s studio environment.

Cruise-line chefs received training connected with America’s Test Kitchen, while passengers could watch demonstrations, participate in workshops and receive recipe material. Holland America also offered access to America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country programmes in guest staterooms.

The programme later expanded considerably.

Holland America introduced multiple themed demonstrations covering subjects such as Mediterranean food, seafood, Asian dumplings, desserts, tacos and home-style meals.

Its current onboard programme continues to feature cooking shows focused on regional cuisine and locally sourced seafood.

The cruise line says these demonstrations occur at least twice during seven-day sailings and more frequently on longer itineraries.

Guests can learn techniques from the ship’s executive chef and cruise-and-travel director before tasting related dishes later in the Dining Room.

For travellers, Holland America demonstrates how a television-style culinary format can become an onboard activity rather than merely a marketing video.

The difference from Chefs Ahoy is important.

Holland America’s format focuses heavily on teaching cooking techniques and recipes.

Princess’s new series adds destination travel, competition, passenger voting through food orders and television storytelling.

Both approaches nevertheless connect food with the cruise experience.

MSC Cruises: MasterChef At Sea Turns Passengers Into Competitors

MSC Cruises has developed another television-linked culinary concept through MasterChef At Sea.

Passengers can participate in a MasterChef-themed quiz before qualifying for a Mystery Box cooking challenge.

Participants prepare dishes that are assessed on presentation, appearance, taste and originality by MSC’s judging panel.

The concept goes further than a conventional demonstration because the passenger becomes part of the competition.

MSC also connects the onboard competition with the wider MasterChef television ecosystem.

Its stated annual prize structure has included a dinner prepared by a MasterChef personality at the winner’s home, a MasterChef recipe book and the possibility of entering a MasterChef television casting process.

Another prize pathway can provide an opportunity to experience a MasterChef episode outside the studio, subject to programme rules and filming schedules.

For travellers, this creates a different kind of culinary holiday.

Rather than watching professional chefs compete from a distance, passengers can become participants.

That approach is especially relevant to families, food enthusiasts and travellers who enjoy interactive entertainment.

The key distinction from Chefs Ahoy is that Princess places professional chefs at the centre of a destination-led television programme.

MSC instead places the passenger competition much closer to the MasterChef participation model.

Both use competition as a way of making food part of the wider cruise entertainment programme.

Celebrity Cruises: Food Television Meets Special Culinary Voyages

Celebrity Cruises has also used television-linked culinary programming.

Its Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking partnership brought a television food personality and professional chef experience onto a seven-day Caribbean sailing aboard Celebrity Edge.

The programme featured chef Marcus Samuelsson and food expert Gail Simmons.

Passengers could attend cooking demonstrations, private cooking classes and meals featuring dishes associated with the participating culinary personalities.

The concept demonstrates another route for cruise companies.

Instead of producing a dedicated television competition around a single ship itinerary, a cruise line can use an existing food-media brand to build a special-interest sailing.

Celebrity’s format also connected culinary education with destination travel.

The itinerary provided a Caribbean backdrop, while the chefs brought their own culinary styles and professional expertise onboard.

For travellers, these voyages can appeal to passengers who want more than restaurant dining.

Cooking demonstrations can explain techniques.

Private classes can provide hands-on learning.

Special meals can connect the educational programme with the dining experience.

This model differs from Chefs Ahoy because the latter uses a four-episode broadcast structure spanning several international destinations.

Celebrity’s earlier partnership illustrates how food media can also be converted into a dedicated cruise experience.

Oceania Cruises: The Culinary Center Connects Cooking With Destinations

Oceania Cruises has developed perhaps one of the most education-focused culinary models at sea.

The line’s Culinary Center began in 2010 aboard Marina and was described by the company as the first hands-on cooking school at sea.

By 2024, the programme had reached its 15th anniversary and was available aboard Marina, Riviera, Vista and Allura.

The experience differs from a television competition.

Passengers receive their own workstations and prepare dishes themselves under the guidance of chef instructors.

Classes can focus on fresh pasta, seafood, French cuisine and regional cooking traditions.

Oceania also operates Culinary Discovery Tours, allowing guests to explore local markets, restaurants and food producers during shore excursions.

The newer Chef’s Studio concept adds seminars, demonstrations and culinary workshops built around regional cuisines and food history.

Oceania states that Chef’s Studio sessions can examine destinations through gastronomy, ingredients, culinary techniques and historical influences.

For travellers, this creates a direct bridge between what happens ashore and what happens onboard.

A passenger can visit a market during the day and then learn about a related cuisine on the ship.

That makes the experience particularly relevant to travellers planning holidays around food.

Unlike Chefs Ahoy, Oceania is not centred on a broadcast competition.

Its approach is built around education, participation and destination immersion.

Virgin Voyages: Culinary Festivals and Destination-Based Food Experiences

Virgin Voyages has developed another model through its food-focused events and culinary programming.

Its annual Eat & Drink Festival has included specialty cruises, culinary demonstrations, themed menus, beverage experiences and chef-led events.

The 2025 festival was described as the fourth edition and included 11 specialty cruises across Caribbean and Mediterranean itineraries.

The programme included culinary demonstrations where chefs shared professional techniques, alongside food-and-beverage experiences and special menus.

Virgin Voyages has also offered shore experiences where travellers can learn traditional cooking methods and work with local ingredients.

One Caribbean food experience, for example, takes guests through ingredient selection and traditional cooking with a professional chef before a shared meal.

This model connects food with destination culture rather than relying only on onboard restaurants.

For travellers, that distinction can be important.

The food programme can continue after the ship reaches port.

The cruise becomes a platform for discovering local ingredients, cooking traditions and regional dining.

Virgin Voyages therefore provides another example of how modern cruise brands are treating food as an entertainment and destination product.

Comparative Table: Culinary Programming Across Cruise Lines

Five-Year Cruise Industry Comparison

CLIA reported that 2023 generated $168.6 billion in global cruise economic output, supported 1.6 million jobs and contributed $85.6 billion to global GDP.

Its 2024 economic-impact study later reported $198.8 billion in global economic output and 1.8 million jobs supported by cruise activity.

These figures provide context for why cruise lines increasingly invest in experiences that extend beyond cabins and restaurants.

Food programming can create another reason for travellers to engage with a ship before departure.

Television can introduce the destination.

The ship can provide the culinary experience.

The port can then provide the authentic local setting.

What Travellers Can Take From the Culinary Cruise Trend

The most useful lesson for travellers is that culinary cruising can now involve several different layers.

A television programme can introduce a destination before departure.

A shipboard cooking event can provide entertainment during sea days.

A shore excursion can provide direct contact with local food traditions.

A restaurant visit can complete the experience.

The four destinations featured in Chefs Ahoy provide especially varied examples.

Crete brings Mediterranean ingredients and traditional Greek cooking.

Japan combines regional cuisine, Wagyu and onsen culture.

Barcelona offers tapas, Catalan food and Spanish culinary traditions.

Busan provides seafood markets and Korean cooking culture.

The tourism data also shows that these destinations sit within substantial international visitor markets.

Together, the four featured destinations recorded tens of millions of international or inbound visitors annually in 2025, although the statistical definitions differ.

For cruise passengers, the practical priority should be itinerary planning.

Travellers should check the ship’s port schedule, available shore time, excursion duration and local transportation before attempting multiple food experiences.

They should also check whether restaurants and markets require reservations.

Food allergies, dietary requirements and religious dietary preferences should be communicated to the cruise line and individual restaurants before travel.

The Bigger Picture for Food-Focused Cruise Holidays

Chefs Ahoy places Princess Cruises within a broader movement toward experiential culinary travel.

Holland America uses television-style cooking education.

MSC uses competition and the MasterChef brand.

Celebrity has connected television food personalities with dedicated cruise experiences.

Oceania has developed a hands-on culinary school.

Virgin Voyages uses festivals, demonstrations and destination food experiences.

The approaches differ, but the underlying travel connection is similar.

Food provides a bridge between the ship and the places passengers visit.

For global travellers, that can make a cruise itinerary easier to understand before booking.

Instead of seeing a port simply as a name on a route map, passengers can consider what they might taste, learn and experience there.

That is ultimately where the Chefs Ahoy concept becomes particularly relevant to modern cruise travel.

The programme turns the destination into part of the recipe, while the ship becomes the place where those discoveries are transformed into a shared passenger experience.

Conclusion

The evolving cruise experience is bringing food, television, luxury and global travel closer together. Princess Cruises, Holland America and other cruise lines are showing how culinary entertainment can become part of the journey itself. For travellers, these experiences offer more than onboard dining. They create new ways to discover destinations, cultures and regional flavours before, during and after a cruise. From Greece and Japan to Spain and South Korea, food can turn a port visit into a memorable travel experience. As cruise lines continue developing destination-inspired culinary programmes, global travellers can expect even more immersive journeys where entertainment, cuisine and exploration come together at sea.