Oceania Cruises’ extensive choice of shore excursions offer in-depth exploration with a local focus during the luxury cruise line’s destination-intensive itineraries. With seven ships carrying no more than 1,250 guests, Oceania Cruises sails around the globe to some 450 ports including some of the world’s top locales, as well as boutique ports and seaside villages. Oceania’s curated touring options Culinary Discovery Tours, Food & Wine Trails tours, Wellness Discovery Tours by Aquamar, and Go Local Tours offer immersive experiences that provide a deeper look into the local culture, cuisine, and lives of the people that call these wondrous worlds home.
Oceania Cruises invites gastronomy lovers to taste, cook, and experience the cuisines of the lands they visit. For example, while visiting Hobart (Tasmania), Australia, a full-day Chef-led tour starts with a behind-the-scenes look at a local farm where guests handpick fruit from the orchards and then learn how to coat it from the farm’s Chocolate Master. After a Tasmanian lunch in Richmond, the small group tours a vineyard with its owner and samples wines and local cheeses. Another choice has the group on a full-day Culinary Discovery Tour in Copenhagen visiting the new 80-stall food hall followed by a New Nordic Cuisine interactive demonstration by resident chefs and a private lunch at the Copenhagen Culinary Academy. And while in Marseille, France, a full-day Food & Wine Trails tour takes guests for wine tasting and lunch at Provençal estate Le Domaine de Fontenille and pairs it with free time exploring the medieval village Lourmarin.
With Go Local Tours, Oceania Cruises’ guests are welcomed into the homes, businesses, and lives of the local people. A half-day walking tour with a local while in Auckland, New Zealand, introduces guests to the shop owners of Ponsonby Road’s trendy neighborhood as well as the chance to sample some local food. While in Cork, Ireland, a half-day Gealic Games tour invites guests to play Gaelic football and hurling while a coach offers tips, followed by a drink at the sporting club. Guests meet owners of a farm near the village of Alevropari during a full day tour with a local family in Corfu. They’ll join them in some light farm chores, watch a cooking demonstration, and snack on homemade fruit dessert.
Wellness Discovery Tours by Aquamar incorporate wellness practices with visiting exciting destination sights. While on a half-day shore excursion in Bangkok, guests can enjoy reflexology foot therapy while cruising on the city’s central river in a historical, wooden rice barge, or opt for a meditation experience with a monk while visiting a Buddhist temple. Guests travel from Rome on a half-day tour to Viterbo to calm body and soul at the Terme dei Papi, thermal waters where Popes have come to relax for centuries. A yoga class at Lokrum Island near Dubrovnik, Croatia, is followed by lunch on the island and time exploring the city’s medieval Old Town on a half-day tour. In Hong Kong, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and a nutritionist consult with guests who then receive a therapy of either acupuncture, moxibustion, or cupping based on their recommendations during this half-day wellness tour.