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Highlights of a CroisiEurope cruise: the cuisine!
Highlights of a CroisiEurope cruise: the cuisine!
Excellence on Board
As our regular customers know and never fail to mention, CroisiEurope offers a delicious food and beverage menu. It truly is one of the highlights of a CroisiEurope cruise, combining warmth and innovation with traditional French cuisine.
These sophisticated, balanced, and varied creations are the work of expert Head Chef Alain Bohn, who joined CroisiEurope in October 1990. Originally planning to stay for a single season, he has been with the company for 27 years. He shares with us how he keeps the high standards CroisiEurope is famed for. After two or three seasons that saw him earn the approval and support of the management team, Alain Bohn introduced a style that he has reined over time ensuring meals are planned and executed to the very last detail. "I work closely with suppliers. My butcher prepares the cuts of meat according to my instructions, and my baker does the same with the dessert bases I design. I regularly try out new recipes. After testing and approving them, they are put on the menu." This involves a lot of work in advance, which means that chefs on each boat can follow the recipes to a tee, while adding their own personal touches to garnishes and sauces.
Of his creations, CroisiEurope guests will be able to enjoy Alain’s famous a fillet of Beef Wellington, designed from start to finish relying on the good quality meat provided by our butcher "It took many hours in the kitchen designing the pastry, the stunning, and the cooking of the meat to reach the standard required," he explained. Once the menus have been created for each season and destination—adding a touch of local colour to increase authenticity —the ship's kitchen teams skilfully spring into action to prepare more than 8,000 meals a day in our leet of 50 boats.
Our new “Premium rated” Ships
The MS Miguel Torga, the ifth ship to take to the Douro. This year will mark 15 years that CroisiEurope began casting anchor in Portugal, since that time thousands of happy passengers have experienced the majestic Douro Valley.
To respond to this increased demand, the company launched its ifth ship on the river in March in Vila Nova de Gaia. The MS Miguel Torga is an elegant "Premium rated" ship equipped with three decks and 66 double occupancy cabins for a total capacity of 132 passengers. With large bay windows, its design is all about light, comfort, space, and leisure. This boat includes innovations such as a real swimming pool on the sun deck, and a hydraulic system enabling it to be dropped under the low bridges. All of its spacious cabins benefit from a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Like all the lounge and leisure areas, these cabins are decorated in a sleek, stylish design and are equipped with full bathrooms, ultra-flat screen TVs, safes, and hairdryers. The free onboard Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, and elevator are just some of the features that ensure guests travel in the best conditions.
CroisiEurope has become a true ambassador for Portugal and the Douro Valley, with 15,000 passengers travelling annually.
Reborn...Following a complete renovation
Last spring, the MS Symphonie II, a two-deck boat, joined our prestigious "Premium" leet. This CroisiEurope ship, built in 1997, has been renovated and transformed into a luxury experience. Its slender outline remains unchanged but inside it is a completely new boat, re-equipped and relaunched with 55 spacious cabins, for a total capacity of 110.
The decor and interior design have been completely modernized. It sails the Danube.
Along with the MS Symphonie II, the MS Douce France II from the same era, has also been completely renovated this year so that it can also enter the "Premium rated" category. It sails on the Rhine.
The RV Indochine II, 100% CroisiEurope
To add to our existing Asian fleet, a fifth boat arrived last summer complementing the other boats that have sailed in this region since 2014. The RV Indochine II (the more luxurious "sister ship" of the RV Indochine) is the first "Premium rated" boat designed and built on site under CroisiEurope’s instruction. The RV Indochine II sails from August to April, between Cambodia and Vietnam, from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City via Phnom Penh.
The ship is equipped with two decks, and elegantly combines colonial style and contemporary design.
The highest quality materials, exotic wood in particular, are found in all its finishings. Its thirty one 194-sq. ft. cabins, all outside facing with 43 sq. ft. of private balcony, can accommodate 62 passengers.
Each comes equipped with a private bathroom and shower, safe, and hairdryer. A laundry service is also available. Life on board the RV Indochine II is very comfortable indeed. A restaurant and a large, bright lounge bar, a sun deck with a swimming pool, and onboard events such as lectures, discussions, and shows guaranteed make this a captivating journey on the breathtaking Mekong.
