Oceania Cruises’ newbuild, the Marina, will have twice as many dining venues as its current ships, including a “French country restaurant and a Pan-Asian eatery” – two firsts for the line – a company spokesperson told Cruise Industry News.

In total, there will be eight restaurants, compared to four on the Insignia, Nautica and Regatta. Each one will also have its own separate galley, the spokesperson said.

“And we will have a ‘culinary-related something’ on the Marina that isn’t on any other cruise ship,” he hinted.

In addition to food and beverage offerings, the ship’s other public spaces will be “very traditional, and a step forward from the Regatta class, but with some surprising edges thrown in, as well as rich color schemes to give the interior some pop,” he said.

As for itinerary plans, the Marina will be taking over the Regatta’s current program, sailing in the Western Mediterranean in the spring and fall, Scandinavia and Russia during the summer, and in the Caribbean, Amazon and Panama Canal in the winter. The Regatta’s plans for 2010 are still undecided, however, the spokesman said that Alaska and the West Coast, as well as some offbeat destinations, are being considered.

Construction for the 65,000-ton, 1,260-passenger Marina, is running ahead of schedule, and could be delivered the second week of September (2010), as opposed to the previously announced date of Sept. 30.

Oceania also has a sister ship, expected to be delivered on July 30, 2011, and an option for a third vessel in 2012, “which still has not been exercised. We hope to have more information on this within the next two months,” the spokesperson said.