Experience with "Epicurean" themed cruises on SB?

April 2017 SB is offering a cruise Barcelona to Dover which is dubbed as being "epicurean" themed. I booked this with DH long ago when it was first offered as it offers an excursion to the Normandy beaches (something on my bucket list), and as a bonus we also like the idea of a food focus. However, the price of this cruise recently went down significantly with the ongoing Europe sale, and unlike in September 2015 on the Odyssey, I was not super-impressed with most of the food on the Quest in July 2016 (including the TK menu), so started having second thoughts about sticking with that cruise (we could see the Normandy beaches in other ways). I searched this forum under "epicurean" to find out if similar cruises have been offered before and what they did that was special, and only found mention of "epicurean" days or events at the pool deck.

Has anyone previously done an "epicurean" themed cruise with SB, and if so, what did that involve that made it "epicurean" above and beyond what SB already offers in their foods? I assume there would be more food brought in from local ports, more excursions to eat locally (France!), or just more lectures on board about how to cook fancy food? Or has there never been one before?

Thanks in advance for replies.

I'm on the wine-themed cruise on Odyssey next month and have been researching the same myself. It appears they took an existing sailing that was not selling well at all and reconfigured it with the hopes of attracting new guests. From what I can tell of past epicurean sailings, the same has been true - the food/wine focus has been added after the original offering.

They've hosted travel writers on previous epicurean sailings and it appears it's a mix of the usual events with more local food, additional cooking demos and themed nights, and supposedly some added shore excursions.

I've had trouble gaining information about my own Ovtober 29 sailing - my travel agent spoke with Seabourn who said there are 26 additional events that will be announced onboard. It's been a pain to try to figure out shore excursions not knowing where the promised extra tours might get added.

April 2017 SB is offering a cruise Barcelona to Dover which is dubbed as being "epicurean" themed. I booked this with DH long ago when it was first offered as it offers an excursion to the Normandy beaches (something on my bucket list), and as a bonus we also like the idea of a food focus. However, the price of this cruise recently went down significantly with the ongoing Europe sale, and unlike in September 2015 on the Odyssey, I was not super-impressed with most of the food on the Quest in July 2016 (including the TK menu), so started having second thoughts about sticking with that cruise (we could see the Normandy beaches in other ways). I searched this forum under "epicurean" to find out if similar cruises have been offered before and what they did that was special, and only found mention of "epicurean" days or events at the pool deck.

 

Has anyone previously done an "epicurean" themed cruise with SB, and if so, what did that involve that made it "epicurean" above and beyond what SB already offers in their foods? I assume there would be more food brought in from local ports, more excursions to eat locally (France!), or just more lectures on board about how to cook fancy food? Or has there never been one before?

 

Thanks in advance for replies.

We did a Monaco-Rome fall 2014 cruise and there was an epicurean theme added after we booked. There were a few chef demonstrations with guest chefs, sommelier lectures, special local foods at parties and more shopping with the chef opportunities than usual (there seemed to be some corporate dining folks aboard, too). Also a pesto making "contest" with guests participating. It was a fun add on and we ended up going to one of the guest chef's restaurant stateside afterwards. Though I have to say they did a good job of sourcing local foods on our western med cruise this summer--the fruits of just "regular" shopping with the chef in Corfu and Kusadasi.