Inside The Dining Program At Holland America Line

Dining aboard a Holland America Line cruise is a top-notch experience. You can enjoy room service breakfast on your private veranda while taking in scenic views as your ship arrives at the port. You can warm up with a bowl of split pea soup while cruising past Hubbard Glacier. You can dig into an Alaskan seafood boil with your bare hands. And you can have a fancy meal complete with beef tenderloin and lobster dumplings (a David Burke recipe) and sustainably sourced, deliciously decadent Alaskan king salmon.

The standout food and drink program at the cruise line is, of course, no accident. The company has invested in high-caliber chef talent to ensure that their guests are getting the best of the best. Holland America Line’s Culinary Council is made up of six celebrity chefs from a variety of culinary backgrounds: Rudi Sodamin (a master chef with more than 15 years of experience cooking on cruise ships), Ethan Stowell (a James Beard Award-nominated Seattle restaurateur), David Burke (a pioneer in modern American cuisine), Jacques Torres (an acclaimed French pastry chef and chocolatier), Jonnie Boer (the head chef of De Librije, a restaurant in the Netherlands with three Michelin stars) and Andy Matsuda (the founder of the Sushi Chef Institute). “Holland America Line’s culinary program is guided by some of the world’s foremost talents, and no other cruise line has this level of experience from such a team of experts,” said Michael Stendebach, vice president of food, beverage and guest services at Holland America Line.

Together, the Culinary Council uses their collective experience, passion and creativity to help curate the dining menus on board. You’ll find Burke’s Clothesline Candied Bacon served at Pinnacle Grill (described as “the ultimate steakhouse at sea”), Stowell’s fried Alaska cod sandwich with malt vinegar aioli and Savoy cabbage slaw served at Dive-In (a casual poolside grill) and classic French dishes by Sodamin at the eponymous Rudi’s Sel De Mer (a lively brasserie). Beyond the Culinary Council, every executive chef on board a Holland America Line ship is a member of a prestigious international food and wine society, Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. So whether you’re enjoying a casual meal at Lido Market after a group fitness class or all dressed up and wanting a fine dining atmosphere, you’ll find it on board.

In 2022, Holland America Line launched a series of Culinary Cruises that brought members of their Culinary Council on board for cooking demonstrations and intimate, reservations-only dinners complete with wine pairings selected by an in-house sommelier. The series kicked off with a 7-Day Alaskan Explorer cruise with Stowell, which departed from Seattle. He led a cooking demonstration, created canapés for a martini happy hour, ran a culinary trivia event and hosted a 5-course chef’s dinner highlighting the flavors and fresh ingredients of the Pacific Northwest. Guests aboard the culinary cruises had a unique opportunity to interact with, ask cooking questions and enjoy the culinary offerings of a renowned chef.

Cooking on cruise ships requires an immense amount of planning and organization (since you can’t just run to the store when you’re in the middle of the ocean), and Holland America Line makes it seem effortless. From the wide range of menu offerings to the warm hospitality that goes above and beyond, you definitely feel well taken care of on a Holland America Line cruise. Waiters and hosts will remember your name and your dietary preferences (and even serve off-menu desserts that accommodate them), offer to make a dinner reservation if they see a night open on your dining schedule, and even send your dessert to your room to eat after enjoying live music performances at the B.B. King’s Blues Club or Lincoln Center Stage.

It’s impossible to capture all of the ways—big and small, front of house and behind the scenes—that the dining team works to create a high-quality experience for guests, but Pablo Cesar Samudio Baquero, fleet executive chef at Holland America Line, sums it up well: “For us, it may just be another cruise, but for the guest it’s the trip they’ve been looking forward to and planning for a long time. Anything we can do to make it more special for them is worth it.”