Ten Restaurants, 33% Suites, and 90 Destinations: Inside Oceania Sonata's Maiden Season
Oceania Cruises reveals maiden season itineraries for its first Sonata Class ship debuting August 2027, featuring 22 voyages across Europe and the Americas with an unprecedented suite-to-cabin ratio and ten dining venues.
Oceania Cruises has pulled back the curtain on one of the most anticipated launches in luxury cruising: the maiden season itineraries for the Oceania Sonata, the first vessel in the line’s brand-new Sonata Class, debuting in August 2027.
The 1,390-guest ship will embark on 22 carefully curated sailings from August 2027 through April 2028, visiting more than 90 destinations across Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.
A Mediterranean Launch with Global Ambitions
The Oceania Sonata’s maiden voyage sets sail from Rome (Civitavecchia) on August 7, 2027, for a 14-day journey to Trieste. The inaugural season features voyages ranging from 7 to 16 days, tracing routes through European capitals, charming coastal towns, and vibrant ports throughout the Americas.
This isn’t just another cruise ship entering the market. The Sonata Class represents Oceania’s most significant fleet expansion, with four ships on order scheduled for delivery in 2027, 2029, 2032, and 2035. At approximately 86,000 gross tons, these vessels will be larger than anything currently in Oceania’s fleet while maintaining the line’s hallmark focus on culinary excellence and destination immersion.
Why This Matters for Cruisers
For travelers who value both luxury accommodations and exceptional dining, the Oceania Sonata delivers on both fronts in ways that set it apart from the competition.
The Suite Situation
A remarkable 33% of all accommodations aboard the Sonata will be suites—the highest proportion in Oceania’s fleet. The lineup includes four Owner’s Suites exceeding 2,500 square feet each, eight Vista Suites ranging from 1,500 to 1,900 square feet, and two entirely new suite categories: the Horizon Suite and Penthouse Deluxe Suite. Every stateroom and suite features a private, spacious veranda.
The Culinary Experience
Oceania has built its reputation on delivering some of the finest cuisine at sea, and the Sonata takes this to another level with ten dining venues. The crown jewel is La Table par Maîtres Cuisiniers de France, an ultra-exclusive 18-seat fine dining experience that’s the only restaurant at sea approved by the prestigious French culinary institution.
Add in the new Nikkei Kitchen (serving Peruvian-Japanese fusion) alongside signature venues like Jacques, Red Ginger, Polo Grill, and Toscana, and you’re looking at a ship designed for serious food lovers.
What This Signals for the Industry
The Oceania Sonata’s reveal speaks to a broader shift in the cruise industry toward purpose-built luxury vessels that prioritize quality over capacity. While mega-ships continue to dominate headlines with their sheer size and amusement park attractions, there’s clearly strong demand for a different kind of experience—one that emphasizes culinary sophistication, spacious accommodations, and curated itineraries over water slides and go-kart tracks.
The fact that Oceania committed to four Sonata Class ships stretching through 2035 demonstrates confidence that this segment of the market isn’t just surviving—it’s thriving. With 855 crew members serving 1,390 guests, the staff-to-guest ratio promises the kind of attentive service that sets luxury cruising apart.
Booking Details
Bookings for the Oceania Sonata’s maiden season opened on January 28, 2026. Given the limited capacity and high proportion of suite accommodations, popular sailings are expected to fill quickly.
The inaugural season offers something for different types of cruisers: shorter 7-day sailings for those testing the waters with Oceania, and extended 14-16 day voyages for travelers who want to truly immerse themselves in a region. The diverse itinerary spanning from Mediterranean capitals to Caribbean islands to Central American ports shows Oceania positioning this ship as a global asset rather than limiting it to a single deployment region.
The Bottom Line
As the cruise industry continues its unprecedented building boom, the Oceania Sonata stands out for what it prioritizes: exceptional dining, elevated accommodations, and destination-focused itineraries. This isn’t a ship trying to be everything to everyone—it’s a vessel designed for travelers who view cruising as a culinary journey as much as a geographical one.
For the growing segment of cruisers who measure a voyage’s success by the quality of the risotto and the size of the veranda rather than the number of pools and slides, the Oceania Sonata’s August 2027 debut is one worth marking on the calendar.