HAUTE CUISINE – OUR FAVORITE CULINARY CRUISES

Travel and food are inextricably linked, and cruises serve as the ultimate means to experience the best of both.  Many of our favorite cruises feature itineraries catering to the most discerning palates where exquisite dining is more than an amenity, it’s a focal point.  Culinary themed sailings and shore excursions (for both novice and knowledgeable gourmets)  emphasize food’s integral part of every culture, offering more opportunities to delve into the flavors of each region.

Cruising is a very cost effective way to travel.  A cruise gives you all your meals, with many lines giving you free liquor, wine, tours, paid gratuities and there are some great offers of free air in economy, two for one pricing, business and first class air at a big discount.  When someone tells me “I don’t like to cruise”, my answer is, “You haven’t been on the right ship”.

I was surprised at the number of men who attended the onboard lectures and cooking demonstrations by master chefs, exclusive vineyard tours with famous winemakers, or tasting masterful creations you have prepared in a cooking school classroom.  On one cruise, I took a bread making class, and to my surprise, it was attended by sixteen men, and only two women.

Many cruise lines appoint big name chefs as menu consultants or to create at sea dining venues. These chefs often make special appearances on a culinary themed cruise giving you the opportunity to glean expert tips from the masters. My husband loves Japanese food so he will attend the lectures by sushi chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa on a Crystal cruise.  On Oceania Cruises, the well known French chef Jacques Pepin is popular, and on the Silver Seas’ Tokyo to Hong Kong cruise guests can take part in the Relais & Chateaux L’Ecole des Chefs cooking school at sea and go thru a comprehensive program which sharpens knife skills and culinary know how.  You will have visits to a farmers market to shop for local ingredients and lunch and learn instruction from Chief David Bilsland providing insight into Asian cuisine.

The Bon Appetite Culinary Centers on Oceania Cruises’ newest ships Riviera and Marina feature 24 fully equipped work stations to facilitate ongoing cooking classes.

Royal Caribbean International features a Chef Makers Cooking Academy offering a variety of courses such as making tapas and cocktails, or cooking with your children.

Wine serves as a natural pairing for food lovers and wine tastings aboard take tastings to a new level.  I love the lectures by esteemed sommeliers and enjoy the personalized tours with the finest local winemakers. Celebrity Cruises has a wonderful wine cruise to France, Spain and Portugal.  This is a great opportunity to explore with an expert, the vineyards of Bordeaux and Rioja.

River cruising is No. 1 on the list of the best way to travel and Uniworld has a great program visiting Alsace and the Rheingau during its visit to castles where you can do a tasting at Castle Vollrads and have a piece of Black Forest cake, too. AMA Waterways has a Celebration of Wine cruise covering the vineyards of the Rhine and Mosel.

Whether you want to do an olive oil tasting in Italy, or visit a cheese factory in Australia,  the food and wine opportunities are limitless… you can always “think thin” when you get home!