Holland America Line is expanding its Morimoto By Sea dining experience, bringing a new specialty sushi bar to five ships in its fleet.
The intimate dining venue, created by celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, will serve an exclusive selection of sushi, sashimi, rolls, and small plates, offering a premium culinary experience for cruise guests.
The Morimoto By Sea sushi bar will roll out across Rotterdam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, and Eurodam between March and June 2025. Nieuw Amsterdam, which first introduced a stand-alone Morimoto By Sea restaurant in 2023, already features this high-end sushi experience. Passengers on these select ships will have access to pre-cruise reservations, ensuring they can secure a seat at the limited-capacity sushi counter.
Michael Stendebach, vice president of food, beverage, and rooms division for Holland America Line, highlighted the vision behind this expansion:
“With Chef Morimoto’s knowledge and expertise in the sushi world, it made sense for him to expand beyond his Morimoto By Sea restaurant and develop a specialized sushi bar featuring his signature style and flavors. We’re excited to extend our fresh fish options and give our guests access to another specialty venue with cuisine by such a renowned chef.”
A Curated Sushi Experience at Sea
The Morimoto By Sea sushi bar offers just 12 seats per sitting, creating an intimate dining atmosphere where guests can indulge in expertly crafted sushi. Surrounding tables will also be available for those looking to enjoy the chef-curated menu. On Eurodam, the sushi bar will feature a smaller counter, with seating extending into the surrounding dining space.
The menu, debuting in March 2025, showcases a variety of signature sushi rolls, fresh sashimi, and specialty dishes, including:
Appetizer Delights to Start
- Toto Tartare: Wasabi, nori paste, sour cream- and chives
Sushi and Sashimi Selections
- Chef’s combination: Sushi Sashimi
- Nigiri and Sashimi: seasonal white fish, maguro tuna, sake salmon, hamachi yellowtail, kampachi amberjack, unagi freshwater eel, hotate scallop, ebi shrimp, tako octopus, Ikura salmon roe, otoro fatty tuna and cutoro medium fatty tuna
Chef’s Signature Sushi Rolls
- Shrimp Tempura: California roll, tempura shrimp and gochujang aioli
- Lobster Tempura: tempura lobster, avocado, romaine lettuce, tobiko, cucumber and scallion
- Tako Yaki: tempura octopus, cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, mayo and bonito flakes
- Aburi Salmon: salmon avocado roll and spicy mayo, torched
- California: snow crab, cucumber and avocado
- Spicy Tuna: tuna, scallion and spicy sauce
- Spicy Salmon: salmon, scallion and spicy sauce
Additional Signature Plates
- Tuna Pizza: anchovy aioli, kalamata olives, red onion and jalapeno
- Sticky Ribs: hoisin sweet chili sauce and cilantro
- Pork Gyoza Dumplings: with scallion ginger sauce
- Poke Bowl: marinated fresh fish, cucumber, avocado, seaweed and rice
- Chicken Katsu curry: panko crusted chicken breast, Japanese curry sauce and rice
- Angry Lobster Pad Thai: Maine lobster, rice noodles and Thai red curry sauce
Dessert
- White Chocolate Lime Ganache: coconut foam, mango yuzu sorbet and rice pudding
Morimoto By Sea is part of Holland America Line’s Global Fresh Fish program that brings locally sourced fresh fish from port to plate in less than 48 hours — offering more than 80 varieties of fresh fish from across a worldwide network. In addition to the Morimoto By Sea sushi bar, Holland America Line ships feature Chef Morimoto’s first floating restaurant, Morimoto By Sea. The venue is a stand-alone restaurant on Nieuw Amsterdam and a pop-up experience at least once per cruise on the remainder of the ships in the fleet.
Morimoto By Sea sushi bar, which will be located in the former Nami Sushi venue, is an a la carte menu offered for a surcharge. Reservations for the venue can be made pre-cruise or once aboard the ship.
Visit Cruise Critic to research and plan your future cruises, connect with other cruisers and share your passion for cruising.
