All Rights Reserved (c) 2006
Men and women are drawn to cooking classes, from weekend workshops to full-service culinary academies. More and more cruise ships are adding cooking-related events to their schedules, so you can now combine your love of cooking with your desire for high seas adventure.
Cooking cruises started out on small ships that needed an extra perk to get people to book, but they have grown over the years and are now on large ships. One of the most recent announcements is from Holland America. Working with Food & Wine magazine, Holland America's Culinary Arts Center will have cooking shows and seminars with world-famous chefs, wine experts, cookbook authors, and more.
As a fleet-wide improvement, the Culinary Arts Center will be added to all 13 of the ships that are already in the fleet, as well as the 14th ship that will be launched in summer 2008. Each Culinary Arts Center will have seating like a theatre, a state-of-the-art show kitchen, plasma screens so everyone can see, a viewing counter, and space for guests to help make some of the dishes. All of Holland America's ships will be updated by the summer of 2006, so each one will be able to offer Culinary Arts Center activities on every cruise.
One small cruise company has tours with famous chefs from Le Cordon Bleu. As you sail through the Baltic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea, you can learn from teachers who are very good at what they do. Other small ships sail to Greece, Turkey, and other places around the world, and each place they go to has its own cooking classes.
Over 60 top chefs are scheduled to appear on Holland America's ships in the next 12 months. These chefs include Nick Stellino, chef and host of Nick Stellino's Family Kitchen V; Jacques Torres, chocolatier, pastry chef, and cookbook author; Aaron Sanchez, chef and owner of Paladar in New York City; Michelle Bernstein, owner and chef of MB restaurant in Cancun; Neal Gallagher, chef of Oceana (and Best New Chef of 2003); Charles Dale, founder of As
Food preparation, wine tasting, cooking classes, seminars, book signings, question-and-answer sessions, and tours of local markets are just some of the things that ship passengers can do.
When booking a cooking cruise, look for themes like grilling, desserts, healthy main dishes, Italian, Mexican, etc. Also, ask if there are any discounts for groups. Holland's Culinary Group Program gives groups of 25 or more people special rates, a cabin for a guest chef, two one-hour cooking demonstrations, a free wine tasting or cocktail party, and a colour group photo.
Most cooking cruises let you eat what you've made, so you can literally eat what you've made. But samples might not be enough to make a whole meal. If you book a cooking tour on a smaller ship instead of a big ship with restaurants, you might want to ask if a meal will be served before making your reservation.
Whether you choose a small ship with only a few hundred passengers and a set route or a large ship that can sail around the world, cooking cruises are fun, entertaining, and exciting for the whole family. Ask your travel agent about cooking cruises that go to the places you want to visit.
