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Culinary kitchen on Explorer


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My wife and I are taking our first Regent cruise this summer and are interested in some of the cooking classes offered especially the fish class. We would appreciate any suggestions or comments from other cruisers that have participated in these events.

 

Scott

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We took the fish class on the Explorer last month and were very disappointed. The "chef" who taught the class was very disorganized. As an example she made gravlax, (not exactly what we were hoping for) and forgot the vodka and then failed to mention that it had to be refrigerated. Most of the time was spent with her doing demos. The food network does it better. I was hoping to learn some recipes to take home and enjoy. Instead, we left the class feeling like we had wasted our time.

For total disclosure: my husband is allergic to shellfish and we were told the class was "fish only" no shellfish. two of the recipes contains shellfish. Based on our experience I do not recommend the cooking classes on the Explorer.

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Our experience with the Culinary Kitchen has been different - very positive. What Sharon went through should not have happened because she was not given correct information about having shellfish on the menu.

 

We love the Culinary classes as well as excursions where the Culinary Chef accompanies you to a restaurant where many times you can help prepare your food (these excursions are pricey but worth it).

 

My biggest suggestion is to book classes as soon as they are available as they sell out well before you board the ship.

 

Note: You may not read much information about the Explorer culinary classes on CC as the ship is still pretty new. They have a Culinary Kitchen and classes on both Oceania's Marina and Riviera. They use the same chefs on the Explorer and many of the same recipes (but the Explorer chefs tend to include wine during the class and the cooking stations are much better than on Oceania (also, on Oceania there are two people per cooking station where on the Explorer there is one).

 

Anyway, I strongly suggest that you give it a try. Our favorite class was the pasta making class. While most of us can make pasta sauce, making the actually pasta sounded harder than it was.:)

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We recently took a culinary class aboard Explorer. It was very enjoyable. It was a fish class and one dish was a poached fish with one shrimp and one scallop in each portion. One of the passengers

P told the instructor that he was allergic to seafood. He was given fish only and both her helpers were advised to keep his dish separate from others. This did not interfere with his enjoyment or participation.

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I have not taken a cooking class on the Explorer as of yet but on Oceania's Riviera i was really disappointed with the "fish" cooking class. Amongst other things the teacher was supposed to cover how to choose a fish and how to filet and prepare a fish. That simply was ignored. We did learn how to make some nice fried shrimps - but that wasn't what I was led to believe we would be learning. I hope the Explorer classes are more "targeted" to what is outlined in the course description...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Signed up in advance for the French class and loved it. Simple ingredients allowed focusing on technique. We have reproduced the chicken breast centered dinner three times since returning home last month. Loved the set up: chef demonstrates and you return to your own station and reproduce the steps. All the ingredients are set up in order so it's easier to remember the sequence. Plenty of help. We also signed up on board for the Caribbean class, and made a beautiful paella which I loved but don't see how it was Caribbean. Classes were added during the cruise due to their popularity so it would be worth being on a waiting list. Great way to spend shipboard credit.

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I attended a fish cooking class on Explorer a few days ago.

 

I was more than a little disappointed, largely because I was expecting more about cooking techniques, as opposed to making unexceptional recipes.

 

Whilst I accept that I am a keen amateur cook, I learned very little from the course. Much of the time was spent watching the instructor make some largely basic dishes, including, as a previous poster advised, Gravadlax !

 

An example of one of the recipes -

Take a ramekin dish, rub garlic and butter around the inside, put two shrimps in the dish,put it in the oven for 15 mins. Wow - glad they taught me this (not !).

 

If one wants to do a bit of cooking for fun then the course could be fine for you. If you are a moderately competent fish cook looking to learn something I would not recommend the course.

 

Maybe the other courses are a little better.

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It is sounding as if the fish course needs some revamping (another thing that I hope is written down on the final questionnaire - especially since now people see that it does work).

 

I do not believe that "moderate" or "advanced" cooks would learn much from these classes. Even the great Italian cooking class that I loved so much would not have been as interesting if I had made pasta and used the Kitchenaid pasta attachment previously.

 

When we go to the cooking classes, we want to learn something new but also have fun and I believe that Regent makes it fun. The only thing better than the cooking classes is the Culinary excursions (the pricey ones that I've mentioned previously) where you help prepare the lunch that you will be served. While I haven't learned a whole lot from them (other than the Greeks and Italians use one heck of a lot of olive oil), they were fun from many perspectives.

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The only thing better than the cooking classes is the Culinary excursions (the pricey ones that I've mentioned previously) where you help prepare the lunch that you will be served.

 

To each his/her own and only meant as a comment, two of the last things we want to do when on vacation are grocery shop and work in the kitchen (and pay for it).

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To each his/her own and only meant as a comment, two of the last things we want to do when on vacation are grocery shop and work in the kitchen (and pay for it).

 

I would likely agree with you ....... if I cooked at home. I probably cook 2-3 meals per year so doing it on vacation is a treat. We go to markets in every country that we can - it is like visiting a museum to us -- lots of things that we have never seen before -- we find it fascinating.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We spent a very enjoyable two hours this morning participating in the "Gone Fishing" culinary class on Explorer

 

We prepared four dishes and watched the preparation of a further two

 

The Culinary Arts Kitchen is well laid out and equipped. The class was taken by Brenda La Noue (one of the two teaching Chefs on board) who we found to be very pleasant & knowledgeable; she was supported by two sous chefs and a pot-washer

 

In our opinion the level of teaching/skill was just right for the mix of attendees and the time available. As with any activity like this the enjoyment depends on a good mix of people with interaction between teacher and pupils; this morning it worked well

 

Would we do another course? Yes, but probably only one per cruise, maybe two on a TransAtlantic with many sea days

 

 

PS: Having re-read this thread, I was amused to see the post about missing out the alcohol from the Gravlax. This morning we had to remind Brenda that she had forgotten the vodka................maybe her deliberate mistake to see if anyone is paying attention................or maybe she is a tea-totaller at heart :eek:

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I would likely agree with you ....... if I cooked at home. I probably cook 2-3 meals per year so doing it on vacation is a treat. We go to markets in every country that we can - it is like visiting a museum to us -- lots of things that we have never seen before -- we find it fascinating.

 

TC I have to ask, you must cook more than a few times a year?

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TC I have to ask, you must cook more than a few times a year?

 

Quickie answer since this is off topic...... if you count heating up beans for burritos or putting a piece of meat in the "George Foreman" for lunch, then I cook maybe 10-20 times a year (but my DH cooks incredible meals every Saturday night):D

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How do you sign up for the classes before you board? Can your TA get a list of classes offered on the assigned days or do you call Regent for this information? How long before the cruise are the class offering available?

 

Thanks

 

The classes are on the website (under "My Account"). If you don't book prior to your cruise the classes will likely be full. It seems that they are available around the time excursions are available.

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The classes are on the website (under "My Account"). If you don't book prior to your cruise the classes will likely be full. It seems that they are available around the time excursions are available.

 

Just looked and didn't see them, are they under excursions or a area my them self?

Rick

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If you don't book prior to your cruise the classes will likely be full.

 

This is not always the case

 

This cruise only has 3 days to run and we were told at our class today that two classes still had places available; one of which may be cancelled as they are not yet up to minimum sign-up

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Just looked and didn't see them, are they under excursions or a area my them self?

Rick

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in as I am no longer able to view them (I'm not booked on Explorer again until 2019). They are not in the excursions tab but are close by (I know - not helpful).

 

In terms of how full the classes are, the more sea days, the more full the classes are. The current sailing seems to be so busy that Bill doesn't have enough time to post (really looking forward to hearing more from his perspective which oddly enough is many times similar to mind).

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Thanks, TC, Unfortunately I don't see where to sign up for the classes in the My Account area. There doesn't seem to be a section for the culinary classes. I'll contact my TA to find out about it.

 

If you find out can you please post any information you have.

Thanks

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To see if there are culinary classes on your cruise, click on MY ACCOUNT/BOOKED CRUISES. Then click on VIEW THIS BOOKING for your cruise. If there are classes on the cruise, there will be a link to them under CUSTOMIZE YOUR VOYAGE.

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