Cruises and food are like Fred and Ginger: a natural pairing. And cruises and spirits have been together since Odysseus sailed that wine-dark sea. Beyond the usual big dinners, midnight buffets, and build-your-own pasta platters, we've laid out a smörgåsbord of all the food news that's fit to print.
Celebrity Offers Caribbean Culinary Sailings
It's always been a bugaboo of mine that so many cruise lines in the Caribbean pay so little attention to the islands' rich cultures. After all, there's a lot more to it than steel drums and hair-braiding. Food, for instance, and that's exactly what Celebrity Cruises (800/722-5941, www.celebrity.com) will be spotlighting eight "Savor the Caribbean" cruises this winter, created in collaboration with Bon Appétit magazine.
Offered aboard Celebrity's newest ship, the 1,950-passenger Constellation, the cruises will feature complimentary cooking demonstrations by notable regional chefs, including Norma Shirley ("the Julia Child of the Caribbean") of Jamaica's Norma's restaurants; Jessica Harris, author of Sky Juice & Flying Fish: Traditional Caribbean Cooking; Mark Militello of South Florida's Mark's Las Olas, Mark's South Beach, and other restaurants bearing his name; and several others.
Each cruise will include a Bacardi-themed sail-away party, daily culinary activities, a demonstration by the featured chef during a day at sea, a Caribbean-themed deck party, private rum tastings, and seminars on wine pairing. At the ports of call, Celebrity and Bon Appétit have created a series of culinary shore excursions, including a private cooking class in the Dominican Republic, a tour of the Mount Gay Rum Factory in Barbados, and a class on the use of island spices at Rhodes Restaurant in Grenada's Calabash Hotel.
Savor the Caribbean cruises sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico, each Saturday between February 7 and March 27, visiting Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic; Bridgetown, Barbados; St. Georges, Grenada; St. John's, Antigua; and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Per-person prices are currently starting around $600.
Princess Decks the Halls with Asiago Cheese Gnocchi
Personally, my family always served ham on Christmas, but why not experiment a bit? In that spirit, Princess Cruises has posted some of its chefs' favorite recipes on its website. Doesn't Smoked Copper River Salmon just say "holiday cheer" to you? If not, maybe a Black Star Liner Martini will get you in the mood.
The recipes -- one dish for every ship in the Princess fleet, plus three signature cocktails to represent the three new ships Princess will debut in 2004 -- are online at www.princess.com/recipes. This week, Princess announced that one of those new ships, Caribbean Princess, is so far ahead of its construction schedule that it will debut on April 3, 2004, two weeks earlier than planned. The 116,000-ton vessel will be Princess's largest, created on a similar design as its popular Grand-class ships but with some new features, including a 300-square-foot LED poolside movie screen where films will be shown at night.
Princess isn't the first line to offer some of its popular recipes online. Luxury lines Seabourn (www.seabourn.com) and Crystal (www.crystalcruises.com) also post recipes in the dining sections of their sites. The latter also offers "Wine Picks of the Month" from its ships' someliers. Soft-adventure line Clipper Cruises (www.clippercruise.com) also gives a recipe, though in keeping with that line's casual mood, it's for its signature "Clipper Chipper" chocolate chip cookies.
Royal Caribbean Digs a Wine Cellar on Mariner of the Seas
Wine bars are nothing new in the cruise biz -- practically every megaship launched in the past five years has one. But aboard its new Mariner of the Seas and sister-ship Navigator of the Seas (part of the line's Voyager class, popularly known for their rock-climbing walls), Royal Caribbean (800/398-9819, www.royalcaribbean.com) has taken the concept to another level.
Created in collaboration with the Mondavi, Beringer Blass, and Niebaum-Coppola wineries, Mariner's Vintages Wine Bar showcases 61 vintages, available by the half-glass, glass, or bottle. Prices are reasonable and guests can taste any variety before ordering. All wood and leather, with terra cotta floors, attractive vineyard-themed lithographs, and a 600-bottle "cellar," the room will put you in a wine mood even if you walk in skeptical.
Classes in wine appreciation are held throughout the week, and passengers can also stage their own tastings by ordering any of thirteen special "wine flight" tasting menus. Each offers samples of several wines grouped by taste profile, varietal, or region (think Merlot or Australian, for example). Order any wine flight and you get a copy of Oz Clarke's Wine Tasting or Food & Wine Matcher pocket guide.
The wine menu quotes Don Juan -- "Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter / Sermons and soda-water the day after" -- but those who prefer spirits of a different sort can head down to Bolero's, a new Latin-themed bar that will soon be installed fleetwide on Royal Caribbean's ships. They make a mean mojito, and also stock a variety of specialty tequilas.
Mariner of the Seas sails alternating 7-night eastern and western Caribbean itineraries year-round from Port Canaveral, Florida. Prices currently start below $700 per person.
Crystal Debuts Fleetwide Gourmet & Learning Program
Ultra-luxe line Crystal Cruises (800/820-6663, www.crystalcruises.com) is investing heavily in the idea that people want more from their cruise than a soak in the hot tub and a nap on deck.
Introduced in July 2003 aboard Crystal Serenity and scheduled to go fleetwide in 2004, the line's Creative Learning Institute (CLI) offers classes targeted toward enhancing quality of life, and was developed in association with organizations and schools such as the Society of Wine Educators, Pepperdine University, and Barnes&Noble.com, all of which will provide lecturers.
Offered year-round on every cruise, the program is divided into five "centers," including Wine & Food, Arts & Entertainment, Business & Technology, Lifestyle (including floral design, book clubs, and language instruction by Berlitz), and Wellness. The Wine & Food seminars will instruct on subjects like beginning sushi, sake, cheeses, caviar, and chocolate; the art of serving; and the wines of Champagne, Italy, Chile, California, and Bordeaux.
In case you feel in need of exercise after all that food and wine, Crystal also announced last week that fitness expert Debbie Rocker would debut her exclusive Walk-On-Water (WOW) program aboard its ships for 2004. Designed to maximize the health benefits of walking, the program utilizes weighted vests and motivational music tapes, and takes advantage of Crystal's full-circuit promenade decks.
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