Shopping with the Chef

Is there a fee for shopping with the chef and if so can you tell me what it is? Thanks!

Is there a fee for shopping with the chef and if so can you tell me what it is? Thanks!

It's included in the cruise fare.

If you want to do it, sign up as soon as you board. We went to the fish market in Busan, South Korea, with David Bilsland. Fascinating, but not for the squeamish.

Silly me, that was a Silversea cruise.

If you want to do it, sign up as soon as you board.

That advice persistently appears but Seabourn Square staff is always insistent that it cannot be signed up for in advance and that one must watch the Herald for it to be announced.

So either that is wrong and I have not pushed the issue hard enough (on four separate cruises where I have asked) OR that's outdated.

I spoke to one Seabourn manager (corporate) who told me that "Shopping With the Chef" has taken in a life of its own thanks to word of mouth/Cruise Critic and what was once something more impromptu and intimate has now taken on a signature event expectation that was unintended. Apparently some chefs enjoy doing it while others prefer not to.

I've only done it once - and it was a much more informal thing where chef gave us a spot/time to meet him in the local market to follow him around. We tagged along for a couple stalls and quickly grew bored from a lack of interaction so we wandered off to do something else.

Both Jes and John did I thought good jobs in their shopping tours. It's also something that doesn't always happen. On the Prides last trip around the Caribbean Pasquale either didn't want to do it or didn't like any of the options the end result being no shopping. :(

I know things differed between the little sisters and the bigger ones, but at least on the wee sisters the office staff was more than happy to take reservations upon boarding. But then that was back then with a smaller passenger load. Perhaps with the bigger passenger load and more word of mouth/blog/whatever it's like trying to shoehorn an elephant foot into a stiletto heel.

Hopefully it doesn't go the route of a Disney favorite that was killed due to word of mouth.

I have been on over a dozen SWTC tours on Seabourn and never one that I did not enjoy though I would say Barbados and Panama City were my least favorites. All in the Med. have been fun and varied with many different chefs -- even Pascal (not Pasquale -- he is Belgian). And in the past two years it seems they have tried to change the sign up procedure (on both the big and little ships) to a system of wait until it is in the Herald (usually two days in advance) and immediately make your reservation. Frankly I do not do Seabourn group tours this is one I would be willing to pay for. This might also deter people with no interest in food from signing up just because it is free. If you are lucky, as I was the last few cruises, after shopping the chef will take you to a nearby cafe and buy they group wine or some local aperitif and some interesting food item ( one of the best was past is and socca in Cannes).

Frankly I do not do Seabourn group tours this is one I would be willing to pay for. This might also deter people with no interest in food from signing up just because it is free. If you are lucky, as I was the last few cruises, after shopping the chef will take you to a nearby cafe and buy they group wine or some local aperitif and some interesting food item ( one of the best was past is and socca in Cannes).

I'd pay for it as well... I'm a sucker for food-related tours in general (did four of them on my last cruise).

It's only ended up being offered on the cruise where we joined and it was haphazard at best. On two of the others they offered up a probable port but it ended up not being offered due to the chef not being pleased with the available ports.

We love it and always go, at least once a cruise. Had amazing experience in Izmir market last month. Huge watermelons, almost Pilates ball size, 75 cents (chef bought 20 of them), a kilo of tomatoes 37 cents, etc. Chef still spent over 3000€. We had trouble fitting it all on the bus. Food piled up on all the empty seats on the bus and in the aisles, in addition to being stowed below in the luggage storage. People seated in the rear of the bus couldn't get off until food was unloaded. It was fun to see the food we bought incorporated into menus over the next few days.

We love it and always go, at least once a cruise. Had amazing experience in Izmir market last month. Huge watermelons, almost Pilates ball size, 75 cents (chef bought 20 of them), a kilo of tomatoes 37 cents, etc. Chef still spent over 3000€. We had trouble fitting it all on the bus. Food piled up on all the empty seats on the bus and in the aisles, in addition to being stowed below in the luggage storage. People seated in the rear of the bus couldn't get off until food was unloaded. It was fun to see the food we bought incorporated into menus over the next few days.

Food everywhere? That sounds like a Silversea cruise when the inspectors were about to board. Sorry, that was naughty. :)

I've done about four shopping with the chef tours and loved each one though the experience varied by the quality of the market and the ability of the chef to explain to us why he was buying some things etc Some of our best cruise memories come from the fun of the interaction of the merchants with the chef.

Over a few years the shopping with the chef tours have got very busy as others have noted. Let's hope Seabourn finds a way to manage this experience so that it continues to be as enjoyable as it has been.

How many people do you think would sign up for Shopping with Thomas Keller?

How many people do you think would sign up for Shopping with Thomas Keller?

Is the (apparently fantastic) Thomas Keller likely to be on board? I must admit I had never heard of him, like I think many UK Seabourn cruisers. However, good to read that the recipes he has produced so far seem to have been very good.

Is the (apparently fantastic) Thomas Keller likely to be on board? I must admit I had never heard of him, like I think many UK Seabourn cruisers. However, good to read that the recipes he has produced so far seem to have been very good.

Probably not. How often was Charlie Palmer on the ships? Then look at how often Jacques Pepin doesn't sail on Oceania.;)