World Traveller Delivers the Perfect Expedition for Foodies
When most of us hear the word “expedition,” images of brightly colored parkas, walking sticks, icy landscapes and penguins or polar bears come to mind.
Atlas Ocean Voyages has changed all that with Epicurean Expeditions, a program that applies the highly immersive and educational concept of a traditional expedition to the glorious, colorful and oh-so-delicious world of gastronomy in some of the most food-focused regions on earth.
I certainly didn’t require a parka during my 12-day mid-summer Epicurean Expedition from Rome to Athens aboard Atlas Ocean Voyages’ all-inclusive (unlimited beverages, gratuities, room service and more) World Traveller. The blinding sun glittered on impossibly blue seas as we made our way to Portoferraio, Porto Venere, Nice, Sete, Barcelona, Menorca, Sardinia, Trapani, Messina and Crete, the majority uncrowded boutique ports where the 10,000 grt, 198-passenger World Traveller could tie up in dazzling harbors dotted only with a few privately-owned yachts and small craft.
From the very beginning, our Epicurean Expedition aboard Atlas Ocean Voyages’ World Traveller promised a journey that would “Entice, Explore, Experience, Engage and Enrich”…and, boy, did it deliver.
EPICUREAN EXPEDITION: ABOARD 10/10
I once sailed a so-called theme cruise only to find one solitary lecture related to the topic I had booked the cruise for. Not so aboard an Epicurean Expedition.
On our sailing, food fanatics are in culinary heaven as they’re treated to cooking demos, wine tastings with representatives of visiting wineries, fascinating lectures, honey and chocolate tastings, Q&As, and hilarious “Yachtsman Cookoffs” where guests compete for bragging rights and prizes as they whip up a loosely-defined dish using a selection of mystery ingredients. And the epicurean theme continues in World Traveller’s Lisboa dining room with special dishes whipped up a la minute by some of the sailing’s gastronomic guests.
EPICUREAN EXPEDITION: THE EXPERTS 10/10
It’s like traveling with a group of foodie friends—highly knowledgeable and talented foodie friends, that is. World Traveller’s chefs, experts and lecturers interact with guests even when “off duty,” whether it’s Barilla Executive Chef Marcello Zaccaria chatting while waiting for the tender in Portoferraio, showing you the basil and olive oil he just purchased (and assuring you that, yes, your Neapolitan mom is right—it’s crushed tomatoes not a blended pizza sauce that makes an authentic pie) or Master Foodie Mara Papatheodorou sharing her endless store of knowledge during an intimate lunch in the Lisboa dining room.
Here’s just a taste of the culinary pros who joined us aboard our sailing:
The Gastronomic Expert’s Expert!: If our Epicurean Expedition had featured no more than Taste & Tradition Expert Mara Papatheodorou’s welcome lecture that explored the various flavors of Italy, France, Spain and Greece, I would have come away with more culinary knowledge than I could have acquired on my own in a lifetime. Mara, who for 12-years served as editor at Bon Appetit Magazine, dazzles World Traveller’s guests with her knowledge of the places, the dishes and the ingredients that star in our voyage, from herbs and grains to produce and fruits (olives, incidentally, are fruits!), wines and spirits, seafood and olive oils. In the days ahead, Mara joins the special gastronomic guests aboard in talks and demonstrations and accompanies culinary-themed shore excursions to impart her knowledge and, often, clarify unfamiliar concepts for the primarily American audience.
Pasta Perfection: The tantalizing aroma of garlic wafts through World Traveller’s elegant Atlas lounge as Barilla Executive Chef Marcello Zaccaria, a member of the Italian Chef Federation and a participant in a number of televised cooking shows including Master Chef and Top Chef, chops and peels the ingredients that transform the sizzling pot of oil on the portable cooktop into his spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and red chili hot pepper. He tosses in the parsley stalks for extra flavor and, to our surprise, simply places the dried spaghetti strands atop the steaming mixture, adding water a little at a time until the strands are cooked al dente.
Chef Zaccaria is on board for a few days participating in cooking demos like this one, overseeing and judging a Yachtsman Cookoff, and he really rolls up his sleeves a couple of nights as he mans a live cooking station in the Lisboa Dining Room and whips up the heavenly pesto alla Genovese and Pasta alla Norma that appear on the dinner menu.
Champion of Chocolate: We’ve all enjoyed chocolates like Italy’s Perugina and France’s Valrhona, yet the cacao bean does not thrive in the Mediterranean climate. Enter Julieta Davey, also known as Mama Cacao, who spends most of her time in the jungles of Costa Rica crafting cacao beans into exquisite chocolates. In a fascinating Q&A session, Mara and Julieta, chocolate martinis close at hand, together explore the history, myths and romanticism surrounding cacao one day while we’re treated to a tasting of Mama Cacao’s dark, sometimes almost bitter, chocolate bars another, texture, aroma, aftertaste and the memories each evokes at the forefront of the discussion. In another day’s session, we get our hands dirty during an introduction to chocolate making that includes peeling hot, roasted cacao beans to create two luscious chocolate recipes and really get our hands dirty during Mama Cacao’s “Yachtsman’s Cookoff” where I find myself wrist-deep in melted chocolate, trying desperately to add the ingredients that might bind my chocolate concoction into little edible balls!
Like Marcello, Mama Cacao holds court at the Lisboa dining room on some evenings, tempering chocolate before our eyes at the live cooking station and creating scrumptious chocolate desserts for guests to enjoy.
Wine, Sicilian Style: While in the port of Messina, Italy, World Traveller welcomes visitors, namely Marco and Agatha of the prize-winning, fully-organic, 40-year-old Colosi Vineyards, a family-owned company that produces unique wines on 25 acres of Salina, the greenest and most fertile island of Sicily’s volcanic Aeolian archipelago—which is actually in view from our ship!
While all the wines are delightful, it is the Salina Rosato IGP that surprises me. At first glance, this deep ruby-colored rose suggests a sweet dessert wine, yet from my first sip, I find it dry and delicious. It is, in fact, my favorite of the tasting.
The Resident Expert: Sure, World Traveller’s gastronomic guests create the magic that transforms our sailing into an Epicurean Expedition, but let’s not forget World Traveller’s resident expert: Executive Chef Valeriu Surugiu. This talented 28-year-old chef has served aboard Viking Ocean and a number of riverboats and now oversees World Traveller’s outstanding dining program which, considering the intimate size of the ship, is impressively vast, varied and certainly delicious. Imagine, a 10,000 grt ship offering a choice of five delectable main courses each night and, at every meal, delicious (even for carnivores) plant-based options including a 6 oz. chargrilled plant-based steak which, in appearance, texture and taste, rivals the real thing. And, Chef Surugiu works his magic responsibly, in accordance with Atlas Ocean Voyages’ “zero-waste” philosophy, a concept that eliminates food waste through the creation of new menus and new dishes that make use of every part of each ingredient to insure nothing (except meat bones) ends up in the landfill.
EPICUREAN EXPEDITION: ASHORE 10/10
The Epicurean Expedition certainly doesn’t stop when World Traveller ties up in the stunning ports that dot the Mediterranean. Ashore we can get up close and personal with the foods, flavors, wines, and even spirits that are produced in this magical part of the world.
While more traditional shoreside excursions—like a visit to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Iconic Scenes from the Godfather in Messina—are available, most World Traveller guests choose to continue the epicurean theme by booking one of the reasonably-priced gastronomic experiences offered. And the choices are vast! Wine and Marsala in Trapani, Culture & Gastronomy in Portoferraio, Flavors of Menorca, Gastronomic Sete are just a few of the options.
And there are a couple of complimentary epicurean experiences as well, like our cultural immersion in Nice, a delightful evening of local delicacies, cocktails and music held at the AC Marriott Hotel’s luxe rooftop venue that overlooks the celebrated Promenade des Anglais and the sparkling sea beyond and, in Messina, a visit to the local markets with World Traveller Executive Chef Valeriu Surugiu.
WORLD TRAVELLER: THE SHIP 10/10
“I love the size of this ship!”
That was a declaration I heard from so many guests during our Epicurean Expedition and it’s no wonder. With six passenger decks, all public areas are conveniently located–in fact, I didn’t meet anyone who actually used the ship’s elevator!
World Traveller may have been built for the polar regions as a Polar Class C vessel with an Ice Class 1B-certified hull and state-of-the-art engineering but during our Epicurean Expedition in the Mediterranean, those qualifications were irrelevant. Instead, guests were delighted by the 198-passenger vessel that falls between the small ship and yacht categories.
Surprising for such a small ship, World Traveller features a theater, swimming pool, hot tub, pool bar, ample deck chairs, the L’Occitane Sea Spa, a fitness studio and an outdoor running/walking track with exercise stations. The Dome Observation Lounge, featuring music each night, and The Atlas Lounge are perfect for pre-dinner cocktails, both comfortable light-filled spaces done in contemporary décor.
The Lisboa Restaurant offers varied and sumptuous breakfast, lunch and dinner menus (including many vegan options) and al fresco lunch and dinner are available at 7Aft Grill (reservations required for dinner; no surcharge). For a bite on the run, drop by Paula’s Pantry, a casual nook typically open from 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. with a delectable assortment of breakfast, lunch and snack items.
The majority of staterooms aboard World Traveller fall into the 300-square-foot Veranda Deluxe and Horizon Deluxe categories. Both the Veranda and Horizon categories include a gorgeous marble bathroom and spa-like shower with rain head, hand-held shower fixture and body jets, as well as Nespresso coffees and Kusmi teas, L’Occitane toiletries, wall-mounted TV, binoculars, stocked mini-fridge and sitting area. The distinction between the two categories is that the Horizon Deluxe Stateroom offers a top-drop Juliette balcony which allows more living space, while the Veranda option includes a traditional balcony with two chairs and end table. No matter which stateroom category is selected, all guests receive a handy Atlas water bottle and high-end backpack that are theirs to keep!
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