A Taste of the Good Life

Cruising grows in popularity every year, as more and more travelers discover the flexibility and value a cruise vacation provides. Once onboard, there is a wealth of intriguing activities from which to choose.

A culinary cruise is the perfect way to combine ones love for travel and fine food into one incredible cruise experience. For those with the love of cooking and dining, a big part of the cruise experience is to sample local dishes and taste local wines.  River cruising, especially in Europe, has gained in popularity in the past few years, and the culinary experience on these ships is everything one would expect in the finest restaurants across the continent.  The cuisine and wines served onboard are indigenous to the country visited, whether sailing in the south of France, on the Danube in Eastern Europe, or the Rhine in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. 

A Culinary Cruise offers both the love of cooking, fine dining and so much more. Often on a Culinary Cruise celebrity chefs demonstrate their techniques, share their menus and let you participate in the process. Imagine taking a tour of a local market with a culinary expert! Culinary cruises take immersion into a local destination to a new level.

Here are five of the best ocean-going cruise lines to cook up your culinary education:

Crystal Cruises – In addition to hands-on instruction, days at sea feature chefs’ demos, wine tastings, pairing sessions and lessons in the art of the perfect cocktail.

Holland America Line - The Culinary Arts Center, a first-class “show-kitchen at sea” presented by Food & Wine magazine, integrates your love for fine food and wine with a unique and entertaining experience.

Oceania Cruises - Aboard the fleet’s newest ships, the Marina and Riviera, you can become immersed in the joy of cooking gourmet cuisine at the Bon Appétit Culinary Center, a hands-on culinary studio featuring 24 individual cooking stations.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises - At Regent’s Le Cordon Bleu Workshops, celebrated chefs provide a hands-on introduction to the art of French cooking.

Silversea Cruises - This luxury cruise line offers a broad curriculum of tantalizing culinary events designed exclusively for the first Relais & Châteaux L’École des Chefs at sea.

Isn’t it time that you had a “taste” of the good life?