Explora was fabulous, especially considering it’s a new brand. Oceania had the advantage of a fleet to pull experts from. Both had wonderful, enthusiastic staff that aimed to please.

Oceania’s Vista had a great coffee bar, Baristas opened at 6:30 and always had guests immediately. They offered a simple breakfast bar all morning and had an outstanding bakery with delicious options coming fresh from the oven. On Explora, Créma didn’t open until 7:30. Both ships had perfect croissants.

Still on breakfast both had comparable full service options, Explora in Fils Rouge and Vista in the Grand Dining Room. Explora’s Emporium Marketplace was a popular buffet style option.

Explora wins at lunch with more options. The Med Yacht Club and Fils Rouge both served lunch as well as Emporium Marketplace. We especially liked lunch at Med Yacht Club.

Dinner is of course most important and Explora is hosting Michelin starred chefs in Anthology for an added fee. It is quite an experience but with so many good options included I don’t think I’d do it again.

Explora I and Oceania Vista both take reservations in the specialty restaurants and I recommend making them asap.

On Vista, Tuscana was one of my top picks. I think focusing on Italian made it a superior choice compared to Med Yacht Club on Explora where Greek, Italian and Spanish made it harder to choose the right combination of dishes.

Vista’s has a restaurant that’s new to their fleet. Ember is American comfort food and was hugely popular with good reason. Explora’s Marble & Co is a similarly good.

Both ships have an Asian restaurant. I didn’t get to try Red Ginger on Vista and didn’t love Sakura on Explora but I asked many people’s opinion and heard nothing but rave reviews about both.

Explora is fully inclusive of alcohol and has a red and white wine option on each restaurant. If you didn’t care for what was offered you could get something else but it was a bit painful and you needed to remind them each time they topped up your glass. I’m willing to bet they will polish that up.

On Vista you pay for an inclusive option but there are several choices for red and white wines.

I like the atmosphere onboard an all inclusive ship. More people go for a cocktail before dinner and stay up later. It’s more social. I appreciate that non drinkers don’t want to subsidize drinkers though.

In conclusion I choose Oceania Vista the winner of the Culinary Cage Match at Sea by a tiny margin, because of the early morning coffee bar, Baristas and broader range of wine choices.

There are more factors to consider when making a choice of cruises, but as far as F&B goes I think both ships would make any foodie happy.

Special kudos to Franck’s mash potatoes on Explora. I’ll miss them, though it will be a relief for my waistline.