Cooking Classes

[dexter483]

We will be on the Crown in 25 days Aruba and Bonaire).. I am hoping there will be some type of cooking classes or demonstrations.. Has anyone been on the Caribbean routes and know if there are these types of classes? We went on HAL last Feb... they had some great classes and demo's .. The Capt, who was from Holland, even did a demo on making Dutch Pancakes.. Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve

[vmom]

We will be on the Crown in 25 days Aruba and Bonaire).. I am hoping there will be some type of cooking classes or demonstrations.. Has anyone been on the Caribbean routes and know if there are these types of classes? We went on HAL last Feb... they had some great classes and demo's .. The Capt, who was from Holland, even did a demo on making Dutch Pancakes.. Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve

 

There is usually one main cooking demo by the chef and head waiter followed by a tour of the galley (where there is a push to buy a cookbook). It a fun experience but I wouldn't say I've walked away with a cooking lesson.

 

Then there is usually an ice sculpture demo and sometimes a demo on making cute figures from veggies and fruits. There are typically two wine tastings. I believe there is an extra charge for both, but not sure about the first wine tasting.

 

My understanding is the special presentations may vary from cruise to cruise depending on who they have on board. This being the case there is a possibility of a special cooking demo on a cruise beyond what I have already mentioned.

[2little time]

There is usually one main cooking demo by the chef and head waiter followed by a tour of the galley (where there is a push to buy a cookbook). It a fun experience but I wouldn't say I've walked away with a cooking lesson.

 

Then there is usually an ice sculpture demo and sometimes a demo on making cute figures from veggies and fruits. There are typically two wine tastings. I believe there is an extra charge for both, but not sure about the first wine tasting.

 

My understanding is the special presentations may vary from cruise to cruise depending on who they have on board. This being the case there is a possibility of a special cooking demo on a cruise beyond what I have already mentioned.

Maybe I am old school, but I would love to see cooking classes on board!

[Aus Traveller]

Maybe I am old school, but I would love to see cooking classes on board!

The problem I see is that proper hands-on cooking classes can only cater for a very small number of people at one time and that wouldn't be practical on a cruise ship with 2,000 - 3,000 people. Just imagine if 5% of people wanted to do the class! Also, it wouldn't pay the cruiseline to run an activity for a very small number of people when it would take up one of the entertainment areas and presumably need specialised teacher/lecturer - presumably one of the chefs. In addition, they might be a great chef, but maybe not a good and entertaining teacher.:)

 

The only way it would work is the way they do the cooking demonstration prior to the galley tour. This is OK, but not really a cooking class.

[gold1959]

In Feb., on an RCCL Carib cruise, we did a GREAT hands-on cooking class hosted by Chefmakers Cooking Academy, and it really was one of the highlights of the cruise! They had several classes we wanted to do, but only had time for one, and it was GREAT! As it was an Extremely small group (just the two of us!), and my hubs is a chef, we got truly hands-on instruction from a great instructor in one of the ship's kitchens, and our dinner that evening was the delicious multi-course dinner we created & complimentary wine! Don't know if they're still doing it, or if other cruise lines picked up on it, but you may want to Google/Facebook/call them and check it out. I blogged about our experience with photos: http://southernwestvirginia.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-chefs-do-on-vacation-chefmakers.html

[Liz54]

Our Aruba, Bonnaire cruise included Dominica. We did a fantastic hands on cooking class with Daria. It included a lovely drive through the rain forest to Daria and Michael's house.

There were 6 of us so it was hands on and we learned a lot.

 

 

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dominica/roseau/activities/ports-call-tours/dominica-shore-excursion-5

 

There is the link from The Lonely Planet

[vmom]

In Feb., on an RCCL Carib cruise, we did a GREAT hands-on cooking class hosted by Chefmakers Cooking Academy, and it really was one of the highlights of the cruise! They had several classes we wanted to do, but only had time for one, and it was GREAT! As it was an Extremely small group (just the two of us!), and my hubs is a chef, we got truly hands-on instruction from a great instructor in one of the ship's kitchens, and our dinner that evening was the delicious multi-course dinner we created & complimentary wine! Don't know if they're still doing it, or if other cruise lines picked up on it, but you may want to Google/Facebook/call them and check it out. I blogged about our experience with photos: http://southernwestvirginia.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-chefs-do-on-vacation-chefmakers.html

 

Your experience sounded so interesting. I went onto your link the Chefmakers Cooking academy which led me to the RCCL web page and indicated that this featured activity is only available on the Freedom of the Seas and there is an extra charge of $40-125 per person. That extra charge is one way of controlling how many participants there are.

 

Sounds like fun.

[Liz54]

I too would love to do a real hands on cooking class and would be willing to pay extra. Not so different from paying for Chefs Table or Ultimate Balcony Dinner.

[dexter483]

Last Feb on HAL we did a hands-on cooking class.. They had the Ex Chef from one of the specialty restaurants conduct the class.. There were 12 of us.. There was a small charge $20-30 .. It was great.. We made bread pudding, Steak Diane.. and an onion soup.. Everything turned out great.. We then sat together to enjoy it, along with some nice wine.. They held the class in a small theater.. It would be great if Princess had something similar... even better if they could get some celebrity chef...BAM....

[sirwired]

I attended the "Cooking Demonstration" on Princess. Once. Which was more than enough. In my case, (the Emerald, last winter), it consisted of the Chef, Matire'd, and maybe the Cruise Director (I don't really remember) making bad, forced, jokes, and badly pretending to cook a couple of dishes.

 

It was followed by a single-file beeline to the kitchen, around which you get to walk. There is no cooking going on, and it's really too crowded to ask questions. Ours was done in the middle of the "sell piles of outdated gift-shop junk on tables in a dining room" sale, so the dining room we had to file through was packed, and hard to get in and out of.

 

What a mess. I'm not sure why these are so well-attended...

[geoherb]

I enjoyed the culinary arts program on our last HAL cruise. I don't remember how much the small cooking class cost, but it was a lot of fun and well worth it. There were 12 in my class. We made shrimp with curried mango butter, beef tenderloin with a salsa, and flambéed grilled pineapple (served with pound cake and ice cream). We divided into three teams of four. I was on the shrimp team. That dish has become one in my standard repertoire at home. Just talking about it has made me change my plans for tonight's dinner to include it.

 

In addition to the small cooking class, there were several other events in the culinary arts center--usually a morning program and an afternoon one. Some of them were the same as on Princess--such as napkin folding classes. But there were other, more interesting ones as well.

[Liz54]

Princess.....are you there???

(I understand they moniter these boards!)

 

I think this is a great idea. Given the enthusisam for Chefs Table, I think many of us would sign up. Could be a good revenue generator!

[Toddy709]

I attended the "Cooking Demonstration" on Princess. Once. Which was more than enough. In my case, (the Emerald, last winter), it consisted of the Chef, Matire'd, and maybe the Cruise Director (I don't really remember) making bad, forced, jokes, and badly pretending to cook a couple of dishes.

 

It was followed by a single-file beeline to the kitchen, around which you get to walk. There is no cooking going on, and it's really too crowded to ask questions. Ours was done in the middle of the "sell piles of outdated gift-shop junk on tables in a dining room" sale, so the dining room we had to file through was packed, and hard to get in and out of.

 

What a mess. I'm not sure why these are so well-attended...

 

The first cooking demonstration I attended was on the Diamond back in 2008 and consisted of the Chef and the Maitre d and was very entertaining as well as a little competition. They both prepared their version of the same recipe and invited four people up on stage to sit down at a fully set table and sample both dishes and then informally judge which was best.

 

The second cooking demonstration I attended was on the Crown, I think, and it was more like what you described, just silly and messy and full of bad jokes. I was terribly disappointed. I then tried one more time on the Ruby and it was similar to my experience on the Crown. I have now given up on attending these "events":rolleyes:!