Culinary Journeys

The Culinary Arts Center program, presented by Food & Wine magazine for Holland America Cruises, is a groundbreaking program that integrates guests' love for fine food and wine with a unique and entertaining experience. Immerse yourself in the unique traditions and tastes of the ports of call you will visit. Sample fine wines from around the world or learn to make a new gourmet dish in a hands-on cooking class taught by Holland America's own Master Chefs or Culinary Guests.

The Culinary Arts Center also features:

• An innovative theatre-style venue with a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen

• Multiple large plasma video screens so you don't miss the fine details (or you can watch the broadcast from the comfort of your own stateroom)

• Cooking demonstrations and hands-on cooking classes by award-winning master chefs and their culinary staff

• Wine tasting representatives of the visited ports of call

• Special guest chefs, wine experts and leading cookbook authors who appear in the pages of Food & Wine magazine

• Book signings, Q&A sessions, market tours in selected ports of call

Click here to see the 2008 Culinary Art Special Guest Chefs!

The Sommelier Package - A Signature Service
The Sommelier Package is designed to enhance the five-star dining experience you will enjoy during your Holland America cruise, and will expose you to a wide variety of labels that are new, interesting, different and fun.  During the standard wine tasting, discover delicious, affordable wines that complement a variety of cuisine styles. For the premium wine tasting, savor fine wines under the tutelage of your ship’s expert sommelier. Bold and robust, or subtle and buttery, these wines represent the best and the brightest.

Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill
Celebrate fine dining at the Pinnacle Grill, where a table has already been reserved for you. Browse through the “cellar” in the Wine Navigator brochure. Choose old favorites or try something new, as you pick out five bottles of wine to enjoy during your cruise.

Holland America Line Commemorative Wine
Enjoy a bottle of Holland America Line Commemorative Cabernet Sauvignon delivered to your stateroom — an elegant memento of your cruise. 

Betty Maclean Travel, Inc. (239) 513-0333 or (800) 865-8111 Info@BettyMacleanTravel.com
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Wine & Food Festival
The world's greatest chefs and wine experts join Crystal Cruises on their popular Wine & Food Festival sailings. Watch as celebrated chefs prepare signature dishes for your dinner menus, demonstrate cooking techniques and share the secrets of their culinary artistry.

In addition, distinguished wine experts provide insight and education to the endlessly fascinating world of wine, offering unique opportunities to experience side-by-side tastings of select vintages from Crystal Cruises' extensive wine list, including their exclusive "C" vintages. Held in a lively and convivial atmosphere, these events offer a heady blend of entertainment and learning.

California Wine Country
5 days round trip from San Francisco aboard the Spirit of Yorktown

Indulge yourself in the wonderful world of California wine, on a leisurely cruise experience that takes you deep into the famed Napa and Sonoma wine valleys. You will also enjoy a day exploring Sausalito and beautiful San Francisco Bay. Both wine novices and connoisseurs will enjoy tastings and interactive discussions about the history, mystery and delicacies of wine.

Each afternoon, you'll return from your day's adventures in the Wine Country to experience delightful hours on board ship, cruising on the rivers and the bay. A Guest Wine Speaker joins you on board to offer special tastings and personal insights into the world of fine wine.
Departs September, October 2008 & 2009

Le Cordon Bleu®  Workshop Sailings
Since so many guests not only appreciate fine food, but love to cook as well, Regent has created Le Cordon Bleu Classe Culinaire des Croisieres.  These workshops, taught by the visiting Le Cordon Bleu chefs, are a dynamic, hands-on introduction to the art of French cooking.  So that every participant can have an opportunity to interact with chefs and practice his or her skills, individual classes are limited to just 16 guests.  In three intensive two-hour workshops, guests will watch fascinating cooking demonstrations detailing the preparation and presentation of French cuisine - updated for contemporary tastes - and discover the secrets and techniques of world-renowned chefs as each participant prepares selections taken from the ship's own Le Cordon Bleu menus.

2008 Le Cordon Bleu, Food and Wine Circle of Interest, and Spotlight Cruises
 

Spotlight is on Food & Wine A food lover's great adventure on Seven Seas Voyager. Monte Carlo to Dover on Seven Seas Voyager • 10 Nights • Departs June 09, 2008 • Starting at $5,995	Spotlight is on Food & Wine Culinary treats from the Mediterranean and Black Sea! Civitavecchia to Istanbul on Seven Seas Navigator • 11 Nights • Departs June 21, 2008 • Starting at $6,595	Spotlight is on Food & Wine Explore the culinary influences of the Black Sea. Piraeus (for Athens) to Istanbul on Seven Seas Navigator • 10 Nights • Departs August 30, 2008 • Starting at $6,095
Spotlight is on Food & Wine Discover the new tastes of the Old World. Southampton to Monte Carlo on Seven Seas Voyager • 11 Nights • Departs September 09, 2008 • Starting at $6,850	Spotlight is on Food & Wine Explore culinary delights aboard Seven Seas Navigator. Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro on Seven Seas Navigator • 13 Nights • Departs November 21, 2008 • Starting at $3,995	Spotlight is on Chocolate A Chocaholic's delight! Rio de Janeiro to Ft Lauderdale, FL on Seven Seas Navigator • 14 Nights • Departs December 04, 2008 • Starting at $4,295

The concept of Culinary Expeditions is a little something that Horizon & Co. cooked up with their “foodie” friends around the world. These trips combine an entertaining mix of hands-on cooking with visits to the kitchens of local chefs and tastings with artisanal producers and winemakers. They seek to discover the traditions and specialties of each region and examine how the local produce and ingredients change with different seasons. The itineraries are designed to appeal both to enthusiastic cooks and those who simply enjoy good food and good wine and have a passion for the art de vivre. Daily activities leave time for individual exploration of local villages, lively markets and historic sites.  Guest chefs and instructors are chosen not for their names, but for their ability to communicate a genuine passion for the regional cuisine.

Culinary Indochina
Independent Travel - Flexible Departure Dates from September 2008 thru April 2009
12 days from Luang Prabang, Laos to Siem Reap, Cambodia
The flavors of the Asian palate are as brilliant and enticing as the landscapes in which they are savored. Join Horizon in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia as you explore the markets of UNESCO-protected Luang Prabang, shop with a famous Vietnamese chef and learn her secrets in Saigon, float down the Mekong River past emerald-green rice paddies and take in the panoramic sunset over the sprawling ruins of Angkor Wat.

Culinary Tuscany
Independent Travel - Flexible Departure Dates from April - October 2008
8 days from lle Val d'Elsa, Italy to Florence, Italy
Join Horizon as you explore the open air markets, back-alley trattoria, private villas, exclusive vineyards and ancient olive groves with some of Tuscany’s finest cooks. Live amidst the vines in the refurbished stone farmhouses on the historic Antinori estate, Fonte de Medici. Enter into a world where culinary tradition is the meaning of life and where gathering for a chat in a local piazza is the most important meeting of the day.

Burgundy Biking - In Vino Veritas
2008 Departure Dates: July 7, 28; August 11; September 8, 14, 22, 29
6 days from Dijon to Paris

Yes, Burgundy is about the wine, but it’s more than that. Chablis’ Chardonnay and the Côte d’Or’s Pinot Noir are the stars of the show, but it’s the supporting cast – the places and faces and the bike-friendly roads that bind them – that define the region.

At La Table d’Olivier Leflaive, you’ll learn that Grand Crus are a luxury to be enjoyed not by the glass, but by the bottle; that they’re to be saved for a special occasion – and here, dinner fits the bill. To Burgundian locals, time is measured by the season. For us, it is calculated by the kilometer, the meal and the vintage.

Trip Highlights:

• Bike impossibly tranquil roads, past the domains of the world’s most famous vintners

• Tour medieval Beaune with your charming local guide, Chantal

• Explore the subtle differences between average and outstanding vintages (with the guidance of a local expert of course)

• Cycle through the fiercely proud villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, La Rochepot, Chassagne-montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet and Chablis

• Dine on the superb Michelin 3-star creations of our friend, Marc Meneau

 

Loire Chateaux - Your Very Own Moat
2008 Departure Dates: September 7, 21
7 days from Paris to Angers

It’s long been the playground of kings and queens, the small country roads are perfect for biking, and the food and wine are superb. So what makes B&R’s trip in the Loire Valley so special? Well for one thing, you stay at some of the Loire's best châteaux, where you're made to feel right at home. Best of all, one of the properties, the Château du Rivau isn’t really even a hotel. The 13th Century castle hosted Joan of Arc and, a little more recently, underwent a 12-year restoration. It’s a private residence to rival the great châteaux of the region – and the doors open for B&R alone. Why? Because the gracious owners are friends, and wanted to share their love of Rivau with B&R travelers. Talk about making you feel like royalty.

Trip Highlights:

• Bike among the fabled châteaux and troglodyte villages that dot the Loire landscape

• Cycle along the banks of the River Vienne through the Chinon vineyards

• Tour the 12 gardens of Rivau before a private cooking demonstration in the castle

• Be initiated into the Entonneurs Rablaisiens, the revered local wine brotherhood

• Explore medieval Chinon - and taste its finest vintages

• Follow in the footsteps of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lion-Heart on our visit the Royal Abbey of Fontévraud

Betty Maclean Travel, Inc. (239) 513-0333 or (800) 865-8111 Info@BettyMacleanTravel.com
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Flavors of South India
October 16, October 30, 2008
14 days from Mumbai to Madras

Learn a new concept of beauty on this amazing journey to India. From the breathtaking sight of Taj Mahal – viewed in moonlight, starlight, sunrise, and sunset – to the pearly white beaches of Miramar Beach and Dona Paula Beach, explore ancient forts, mystical palaces, towering monuments, and dazzling shrines. Discover a potpourri of visual, culinary, spiritual, and cultural experiences throughout this fabled land.

Tunisia & Malta Revealed
Departing October 23, 2008
15 days from Tunis, Tunisia to Valletta, Malta

Choose the road less traveled to Tunisia—the one that leads to explorations of ancient Roman, Arab, Berber and Phoenician sites. Discover ancient Carthage, once one of the world’s wealthiest cities. Inland, you venture into the desert landscape, by camel and steam train, settling into the exquisite environs of the oasis of Tozeur. From colossal sand dunes to nomadic herders, from culinary specialties to vintage automobile drives, this is a journey rich with exotic mystery, historic wonder and romance.

Betty Maclean Travel, Inc. (239) 513-0333 or (800) 865-8111 Info@BettyMacleanTravel.com
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Cooking Experience in Hanoi
1 day in Hanoi, Vietnam
Your chef for the day, Mrs. Pham Thi Anh Tuyet grew up in the old section of Hanoi.  She learned her culinary skills from her mother who used to be the main chef for the French Embassy during the French time dating back to the 1930's.  Today, Mrs. Tuyet offers cooking classes with Northern cuisine in her home. Join her on her trip to the Hang Be market just a few blocks away from her home to learn about the Vietnamese market and to do some food shopping.  Go back to her home to learn Northern cuisine including Morning Glory salad (Vietnamese spinach), Hanoi PHO (beef noodle), fish in banana leaf and Hanoi spring roll. 
This day-long cooking experience would make a fantastic pre- or post- cruise or tour of Vietnam!

Betty Maclean Travel, Inc. (239) 513-0333 or (800) 865-8111 Info@BettyMacleanTravel.com
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Turkish Delights: A Culinary Tour of Turkey
Independent Travel - Flexible Departure Dates in 2008 & 2009 from March - November
14 days from Istanbul, Turkey to Bursa

The influence of the Ottoman Turks, who once controlled a vast empire that spanned three oceans and stretched over three continents, is clearly seen (and tasted) in today's Turkish Cuisine. This tour is designed to provide an experience of the rich Turkish kitchen, one of the greatest cuisines of the world. On this tour, you will feast like the Ottoman Sultans did, learn more about magnificent dishes going back hundreds of years, and try a few of the approximately 150 varieties, each, of rice and eggplant dishes found in the Turkish cuisine! Discover how the Turks influenced European and Western cooking. Enjoy all these, while visiting famous sites of this cradle of civilization.

Betty Maclean Travel, Inc. (239) 513-0333 or (800) 865-8111 Info@BettyMacleanTravel.com
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