We've been on dinner cruises before and we've come to expect that the food will often play a secondary role to the scenery.

Not this time.

Touted as a "fine dining" experience, the Five Star dinner cruise aboard the Star of Honolulu lives up to this lofty gastronomic billing.

A non-alcoholic champagne reception with the ship's captain on the top deck was the perfect beginning. And so, too, were the petits canapes of forked poached prawns topped with avocado-and-cucumber salad, caviar-sprinkled smoked salmon tastefully presented in the hull of a Belgium endive, and strawberry brie on baguette.

This triumvirate of canapes was atypical of any food that we've ever had on similar dinner cruises. Each one was light, refreshing and ideal given our warm summer climes these days. And this is the point, we later found out from executive chef Eric Omick, who made the rounds — just as other chefs do at fine-dining establishments — to see how guests enjoyed their dinners.

Many gushed about the presentation while others, who didn't have command of the English language, showed their appreciation with enthusiastic nods toward Omick's French-style seven-course feast.

We languished in the chilled avocado and cucumber soup, which was artistically presented in a hollowed-out cucumber and served with an addictive homemade crispy sesame tuile.

Timing here is important and our waiter Paul, who was clad in a Bolero-cut tuxedo coat and wore white gloves, showed his attentiveness in making sure that guests' courses would arrive in an appropriately fashionable time. (In other words, guests could sneak off outside to the deck, snap a couple of photos and return to their table without worrying that their food would be cold.)

The next course was deceptively named "tomato bruschetta." I was expecting the traditional Italian-style appetizer. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that this was a salad of micro greens with grape tomatoes,

accompanied by a toasted point that was lined with a squiggly line of goat cheese. Again, this was light and the red onion balsamic vinaigrette was in no way overpowering.

Our next courses were our demi entrees, the portions of which could have easily served as a main entree. (Although this is a prix-fixe set menu, substitutions are possible, which is a major plus for those with special dietary needs. Call ahead to make arrangements.)

G.B. opted for the poached live Maine lobster and I asked for mahi mahi. The well-prepared lobster required little effort in separating the meat from the shell. Meanwhile, my cross-hatched-seared fish was flaky and tender. Both were presented on a potato-Boursin-cheese-and-pastrami sandwich, and enhanced with a champagne-and-caviar beurre blanc sauce.

A guava-margarita sorbet intermezzo freshened the palate before our second demi entrees. This time, G.B. substituted pesto chicken for the filet. I stayed with the regular menu item and had the tenderloin, which is slow roasted aboard the ship. The foie gras sauce was delicate and nicely balanced by the pyramid-shaped tabbouleh with pine nuts and mint.

Coming full circle, we found ourselves docked at Pier 8 and once again presented with a trio of items. This time, however, they were desserts and our favorite among them was the poached fresh peach Melba that was stuffed with buttermilk ice cream.