Cruising is the holiday of choice for a growing audience and cookery classes at sea are becoming more and more popular. Learn or perfect a new skill in a relaxed, well-equipped atmosphere, taught by excellent chefs.
Oceania Cruises’ Marina which launched in 2011, was the first cruise ship to have a dedicated kitchen set up with individual workstations, perfect for cookery classes at sea. Many other cruise lines have since followed Oceania’s lead. Some also engage celebrity chefs to strengthen their offering.
P&O Cruises newest cruise ship Britannia is home to James Martin’s Cookery Club. 12 cooking stations allow participants, who work in twos, to learn a variety of cooking skills. Classes are taught in the main by resident chefs Rob Cottam and Lizzie Kennedy and cost from £45 per person for two hours (£100 when hosted by a celebrity chef). James Martin will make a guest appearance on three of Britannia’s 2016 cruises; Eric Lanlard, MarcoPierre White and Atul Kochhar will each be on one cruise in August. All four chefs will also host chef’s table dinners for up to 16 people in the Cookery Club, with prices starting at £150 pp.
On Viking Ocean Cruises new cruise ship, Viking Star, you will find the Kitchen Table. A different format to a classic cookery school, groups of up to 10 people work as a team to prepare a 3-course meal and then sit down to eat it along with complimentary wine. Classes are led by the executive chef and cost £130 pp for three hours. A five-hour session (£194 pp) is also available in most posts and includes a visit to a local market with the chef to purchase produce to use in the cookery class.
Oceania Cruises ships Marina and Riviera each have 12 well-equipped cooking stations.Here participants can work in pairs under the tutelage of graduates from the Culinary Institute of America. Prices for classes start at £44 for 90 minutes and can last up to 3 hours, covering a broad range of topics. At some European ports, Culinary Centre chefs host tours to markets or wineries where they can introduce passengers to local specialities.
All Holland America Line’s ships have a Culinary Arts Centre which are used in the main as a demonstration kitchen. HAL’s new cruise ship Koningsdam will also feature six cooking stations that can be used for practical classes for up to 12 participants. Classes will be delivered by visiting chefs and the ship’s own culinary experts.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises have recently launched its Gourmet Explorer Tours which will run from the new cruise ship, Explorer, which launches in July. These tours are a set of culinary-inspired shore excursions for Seven Seas Explorer’s first Mediterranean season. Explorer will feature 18 well-equipped individual cooking stations where participants can take part in chef-led cooking classes. Priced around £59 pp, classes will last from 90 minutes to two hours and will cover a wide range of culinary skills.
If this article has whetted your appetite, contact Ultimate Destinations for more details about cruises that include cookery classes at sea. We are luxury cruise experts with first-hand knowledge of many cruise ships and we are confident that we can find the right cruise for you. You can call us on 01923 284148 or send an email to info@ultimatedestinations.co.uk. All aboard!
