Eco Oceans: Scenic Eclipse Offers Fresh Greens on Blue Seas

According to Executive Chef Tom Goetter, Scenic Eclipse has 2,500 different recipes across its eight restaurants. But when you’re spending multiple days in remote, frozen tundras and rugged fjords, how do you keep ingredients fresh? Thanks to the ship’s Urban Cultivator, guests can enjoy fresh produce all the time, no matter where their itinerary takes them.

Fresh Microgreens Far from Shore 

The Urban Cultivator is a fully automated indoor garden. By imitating the sun’s rays and regulating an irrigation system, a variety of herbs and microgreens can be grown on board and supplied to the ship’s four main kitchens. “The taste of our microgreens is amazing when they are just cut and this alone is a reason to grow our own herbs,” says Executive Sous Chef Bert van Gennip, “We are using the freshly grown microgreens as garnish for salads and dishes, and to maximize our healthy approach to food.” Not only are the herbs newly harvested, but grow from non-GMO seeds. A soiless system (herbs are grown on sterile hemp fibers) eliminates exposure to pesticides or chemicals. 

Microgreens currently being grown on Scenic Eclipse include pepper cress, basil, spicy radish, and wheatgrass which is added to a Raw Boost healthy shot and served to the guests every morning with breakfast.

RELATED: First Look: Scenic Eclipse 

As a sustainability-committed company, Scenic Eclipse has been outfitted with safety and comfort features that minimize the environmental footprint, like using Marine Gas Oil (MGO) — the highest class of marine fuel with the lowest concentration of sulfur. The Urban Cultivator, besides its many health and culinary benefits, also contributes to Scenic’s cause for a cleaner world. “The Urban Cultivator allows us to reduce our plastic wastage enormously,” says Chef Van Gennip, “as we do not buy any packaged micro greens, which are packed in two or three layers of plastic.”

###

^{Photo: Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours}