Argentine chef and Marine Stewardship Council ambassador Martin Gimenez Castro headlines the seafood program aboard Atlas Ocean Voyages' 2027 Epicurean Expeditions, joining an eight-chef roster spread across Mediterranean and Atlantic itineraries set to sail on World Traveller, World Navigator, and World Voyager beginning April 2027.
Castro, winner of Top Chef Poland and the creative force behind Warsaw's Ceviche Bar and Tuna concepts, is the program's most supply-chain-relevant voice. As an MSC ambassador, he brings a sustainability and traceability lens to destinations whose fisheries define the voyages' menus — Atlantic shellfish grounds off Galicia, the coastal fishing ports of Portugal, and the rich pelagic waters of the Aegean.
Castro's Seafood Itineraries
Castro boards World Navigator on May 7, 2027, for a seven-night Lisbon-to-Bordeaux run that tracks the Atlantic's most productive shellfish corridor. Galicia's celebrated bivalve harvests — the region supplies a significant share of Europe's mussel and barnacle production — and Portugal's cod and sardine traditions form the culinary backdrop. He returns June 27 aboard World Traveller for an 11-night Athens roundtrip through the Greek Islands and Turkish coast, where small-scale wild-caught fisheries supply octopus, sea bream, and red mullet to coastal kitchens. Both sailings are structured around ingredient sourcing, sustainable fishing practices, and the translation of regional catch into contemporary seafood preparations — territory Castro navigates through interactive tastings and onboard demonstrations for the line's sub-200-guest audiences.
Seafood Across the Full Roster
Castro is not the only culinary lead with a seafood angle. Food Network champion Crista Luedtke, making her Atlas debut April 15 on an eight-night Las Palmas-to-Málaga voyage, emphasizes seasonal and ingredient-driven cooking that the itinerary frames squarely around Andalusian fresh seafood, Moroccan coastal preparations, and Mediterranean produce. Celebrity chef Massimo Capra, returning for three voyages between April and October, similarly positions Mediterranean seafood — olive-oil-poached fish, regional shellfish preparations, and Iberian coastal traditions — as central to his programming on the Canary Islands, Lisbon, and Monte Carlo-to-Lisbon routes. Chef Philip "Ippy" Aiona, whose Hawaiian heritage overlaps with a deep familiarity with fresh-fish cookery, joins the April 23 Málaga-to-Nice and May 1 Nice-to-Naples legs, where the French and Italian Rivieras supply the line fish, sea urchin, and bottarga that anchor those regions' kitchens.
The broader Epicurean Expeditions format — cooking demonstrations, expert-led tastings, destination market visits, and the onboard Yachtsman Cook-Off — positions the cruise line's foodservice program as a traceability narrative as much as an entertainment one. Guests visiting Galician fishing villages, Sicilian fish markets, or the spice souks of Casablanca encounter the supply chain behind the plate, a framing that aligns with the growing operator interest in origin storytelling and sustainable seafood sourcing practices that has reshaped premium foodservice menus over the past several seasons.
For operators and hospitality buyers tracking how premium cruise foodservice is evolving, the Atlas model — small vessels, named sourcing regions, chef ambassadors with sustainability credentials — represents one end of the spectrum where wild-caught seafood provenance becomes a program differentiator rather than a compliance checkbox. The line's 2027 season runs April through at least October, with bookings open through travel advisors.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
