Theme Cruises in 2011

[Cindy G]

I rec'd this from my TA today.

CELEBRITY CRUISES TO OFFER ENHANCED THEME CRUISE LINE-UP IN 2011

More than 60 sailings in the Caribbean and Europe to feature guest experts

and immersive onboard experiences

 

MIAMI – October 21, 2010 – Celebrity Cruises is expanding its line-up of theme cruises in 2011 to offer a total of 61 cruises that will feature immersive onboard art, food and wine based experiences.

 

“Celebrity Cruises strives to offer an array of enriching and fun experiences through our Celebrity Life onboard activities program,” said Celebrity’s Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. “Our theme cruises are led by guest experts and combined with interactive activities and unique experiences for our guests’ special interests: fine dining with exceptional cuisine and service to enjoy, exquisite art to view and extraordinary wines to taste.”

 

Partnering with The Corning Museum of Glass, Celebrity will offer “Guest Glass Artist” theme cruises, each featuring an artisan glassblower. Five “Guest Glass Artist” cruises will be offered, on Caribbean sailings on the brand-new Celebrity Eclipse, which sets sail for the first time from Miami in November, and on Celebrity Solstice.

 

GUEST GLASS ARTISTS

During the Guest Glass Artist cruises, guests will have the opportunity to partake in a meet-and-greet cocktail reception with the guest artist, lectures and presentations about various glassblowing topics, live Hot Glass Show glassblowing demonstrations, exclusive trunk shows and book signings featuring the guest artist’s works, and an interactive session where guests design something the guest artist then creates out of glass.

 

GUEST CHEFS

Celebrity also will broaden the popular “Savor Your Destination” guest chef program introduced earlier in 2010 to include more sailings hosted by up-and-coming chefs. The “Savor Your Destination” series will be expanded in 2011 to include five winemaker-hosted cruises.

 

A total of 13 “Savor Your Destination” chef-hosted cruises will be offered on Celebrity’s Solstice Class ships, allowing travelers the opportunity to enjoy memorable experiences through food-and-wine-focused activities, among others. The “Savor Your Destination” cruises will complement the ships’ overall emphasis on the enjoyment of fine food and wine.

 

Savor Your Destination guest chef cruises offer guests the opportunity to take their culinary interests to new levels through activities such as a meet-and-greet cocktail reception, guest chef-led cooking demonstrations highlighting techniques and ingredients, book signings, a “Star Chefs” cook-off featuring an interactive cooking competition, and a hands-on cooking class led by the guest chef in the ship’s galley. Guests will receive a special recipe booklet featuring the guest chef’s creations, and enjoy an exclusive food-and-wine-pairing dinner designed and presented by the guest chef in one of the five specialty restaurants onboard.

 

GUEST WINE EXPERTS FOR OENOPHILES

Following the success of the 2010 Savor Your Destination guest chef cruises, Celebrity will offer five winemaker-hosted cruises in 2011. Experts from the world of winemaking will join guests for a meet-and-greet cocktail hour; wine, champagne, sparkling wine and port tastings; wine education sessions; and a “Connoisseur Wine Dinner” hosted by the winemaker. These cruises also will feature the Riedel Wine Glass Comparative Workshop, explaining how a wine glass’ shape affects the palate and flavors.

 

In 2011, Celebrity will continue its fall “Wine Harvest Celebration” theme cruises. More than 38 sailings are timed to coincide with the fall wine harvest season. On cruises departing between November 1 and December 10, guests can enjoy a variety of exclusive wine-related events, including those offered year-round through the “Celebrity Life” onboard activities program.

 

A “CelebrityVineyards Wine Harvest Exposition” will be open to all guests on embarkation day. Hosted by Celebrity’s certified sommeliers, the event will feature a complimentary glass of house wine and canapés, and an overview of the various wine experiences and packages available for guests, paired with the opportunity to make reservations for limited-capacity events. Additional activities will include “Wine Appreciation 101,” “The Art of Food and Wine Pairing,” and the Riedel Comparative Wine Glass Workshop; Celebrity’s “World Wine Tasting and Silent Auction”; and a jazz, port and chocolate tasting.

Also, Celebrity will expand the availability of “Beaujolais Nouveau” across the fleet. Beaujolais Nouveau, a red wine that symbolizes the new grape harvest in France, has gained widespread popularity worldwide. By law, all the grapes used in the production of Beaujolais Nouveau must be “gamay” grapes, and must be hand-picked.

Hosted by a guest speaker and Celebrity’s own Cellar Master, a “Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration” event will offer guests the opportunity to sip the eagerly-anticipated wine from oak casks and commemorative bottles, while enjoying live music and dancing, canapés, a gourmet French cheese pairing and a roast carving station.

 

Celebrity Cruises plans to unveil the names of guest chefs, winemakers and glass artists in the weeks and months to come.

 

Sail dates for Celebrity’s 2011 Guest Glass Artist cruises are January 2, January 22, and April 2, 2011 on Celebrity Eclipse, and November 13 and December 11, 2011 on Celebrity Solstice.

 

Celebrity’s 2011 Savor Your Destination guest chef cruises will be offered on Celebrity Solstice on January 9, May 14, June 7, August 1 and October 11, 2011, on Celebrity Eclipse on January 29, March 12, March 26 and December 10, 2011, and on Celebrity Equinox on April 1, April 11, April 22 and December 12, 2011.

 

Celebrity’s 2011 Savor Your Destination winemaker cruises will take place on Celebrity Mercury on January 15 and February 5, on Celebrity Summit April 30 and October 23, and on Celebrity Century on September 18.

 

Although Celebrity hasn’t yet announced its full 2012 theme cruise lineup, it has opened an eight-night Pacific Northwest wine cruise for booking, taking place on Celebrity Century on May 5, 2012.

 

An additional charge applies for participants in certain events, including wine tastings, wine pairing dinners and hands-on cooking.

 

Celebrity Cruises is designed for discerning cruisers, with modern, sophisticated environments, impeccable service, enriching and inspiring onboard programs, and award-winning cuisine. The ultimate in premium cruising, Celebrity sails in Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, Bermuda, California, Canada/New England, Europe, Hawaii, the Pacific Coast, Panama Canal, South America, and year-round in the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands. Celebrity also offers immersive cruisetour experiences in Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Europe and South America. Celebrity’s mega-series of honors include being named the top mega-ship line in Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards (November 2009). Celebrity’s fleet currently consists of 10 ships. Its $3.7-billion investment in building five stylish Solstice Class ships between 2008-2012 represents the largest five-year investment in premium cruising. For more information, call your travel agent, dial 1-800-437-3111 or visit www.celebritycruises.com.

[wineluvr]

Here's a great Celebrity Cruises Wine Video I found on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/celebritycruises#p/c/3E03BE48733A885C/8/QjtQUIfrxqk

[Lois R]

Thanks for the post:)....the food and wine choices look really good:D

[alishac]

Thanks for the posting! We are booked on the April 11, 2011 Equinox, which now seems to be a Savour Your Destination cruise. I am so excited about this, as we are big foodies! Does anyone know how we go about booking the special dinner in Murano, or the cooking class? Is that something you have to do onboard, or can you book in advance? Has anyone been on one of these themed cruises before that could give some insight on what to expect? Thanks!

[BroncosFan2010]

I really wish the Solstice class ships had better itineraries with few sea days, I really want to cruise on those ships in the near future, but can't find an itinerary I like!

[curiouscat]

That's why in this case the ship is the destination for us... we're on the Solstice this year and really no need to get off the ship as the ports are boring:p

 

CC

[psyfi]

Thanks for sharing! Turns out we are on a Savour your destination cruise on the Eclipse. I would love to find out more about what that actually means if anyone has any information!

[curiouscat]

Thanks for sharing! Turns out we are on a Savour your destination cruise on the Eclipse. I would love to find out more about what that actually means if anyone has any information!

 

 

They do have a really good explanation on their website about these Savour your destination cruises... they add special events around the guest chef or who/what they have scheduled.

 

 

CC

[Lois R]

They do have a really good explanation on their website about these Savour your destination cruises... they add special events around the guest chef or who/what they have scheduled.

 

 

CC

 

I was going to say the same thing:):D and now I have to see if I can

do one in January or February. I love culinary stuff and these look like they

will be fun:D

[psyfi]

ok, I'm off to check the website. I hadn't heard of these before.

 

The =X= website says basically what the OP said. They have not announced the guest chef for my cruise yet so I will just have to keep checking back. But how does one go about signing up for the different activities? I imagine many will be small groups so will be hard to get into. Do you have to wait until you are on board to get the details?