Regent Seven Seas Cruises announced today it is transforming its signature restaurant, Compass Rose, into the largest specialty restaurant at sea. According to the line, the new concept and menu will offer “an unprecedented, fully customized epicurean experience with an unequaled variety of gourmet options available nightly.”

Regent promised that the new Compass Rose experience will bring together what it said are two of the brand’s hallmarks – exquisite gourmet dining and unrivaled personalized service.

Guests will be able to select from more than a dozen different meat, fish and seafood items, have it prepared to taste, garnish with a sauce of choice and pick from a wide variety of side dishes and accompaniments to complete the meal. Additionally, each evening the ship’s executive chef will create nightly specials, which adds more than a dozen appetizers, pasta dishes and entrée choices to the menu. To complete the meal, there will be a separate dessert menu with international cheeses, handmade ice creams and  pastries, cakes, crumbles and soufflés.

“In much the same way we changed the luxury cruise market by offering the industry’s only true all-inclusive luxury experience, we’re now revolutionizing the dining experience by introducing the largest specialty restaurant at sea,” said Jason Montague, president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “Our culinary team has created a truly extraordinary dining experience for Compass Rose with a degree of customization and variety typically reserved for more intimate specialty restaurants. We tested this new menu concept on a couple test cruises over the summer and our guests absolutely love it.”

The menu is divided into two equal portions. The left-hand side provides guests with the ability to fully customize their dinner, while the right-hand side feature’s the executive chef’s nightly specials as well as a multi-course “menu degustation.” For the customizable section of the menu, guests can select from a list of entrees that include seafood items like lobster, shrimp, scallops, salmon and dover sole, or specialty cuts such as New York strip steak, filet mignon, lamb chops and veal medallions.

After making their selection, guests determine how they would like it prepared – grilled, baked, broiled, poached, or roasted – and select from a complementary list of sauces to garnish the dish, such as madeira-truffle, creamy herb, hollandaise, green peppercorn and hickory barbeque. From there, guests can choose from more than a dozen side items that range from lyonnaise potatoes, potatoes gratin and sweet potato fries, to sautéed spinach, brussel sprouts and green asparagus.

Adding to the variety, the ship’s executive chef will prepare a list of special appetizers and entrees for the dinner service. Since Compass Rose is the ship’s primary dining room, the dinner specials will change nightly with sample entrees that include veal medallions oscar, braised turbot fillet, cornish hen, roasted duck Beijing style and seared mahi mahi.

“The culinary teams on our ships have always been able to cater to our guests’ special culinary desires with advanced notice,” said Bernhard Klotz, senior director of culinary. “The new menu is so encompassing and customizable that guests with special dining requests no longer need to make them in advance, our chefs can prepare whatever their heart’s desire a la minute.”

Along with the dinner menu, Regent Seven Seas stated that it is also reinventing the lunch menu for Compass Rose on the Seven Seas Navigator, Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner. In celebration of the launch of the Seven Seas Explorer, Compass Rose on the line’s other ships will feature lunch selections from the three specialty restaurants on the Explorer – Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim. As with the dinner menu, the lunch menu will be updated daily and feature entrée items such as Croque-Monsieur or Croque-Madam from Chartreuse, Aromatic Duck from Pacific Rim and Yellowfin Tuna Salad from Prime 7.

Guests on the Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Navigator were treated to a preview of the Compass Rose menu during a multi-week test period, and it will remain as the standard menu for those two ships moving forward. The menu is scheduled to debut Nov. 9, 2016 on Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner on May 13, 2017, following each ship’s scheduled dry dock.

Photo: From Left: Jason M. Montague, president and CEO; Bernard Klotz, senior director of culinary; and Franco Semeraro, senior vice president of hotel operations.