Chef's Market Discoveries

[doublemm16]

We tried to do this in Puerto Rico on our current cruise; however, we arrived in port 1 hour late and the excursion was cancelled. [emoji853]

 

 

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[Lois R]

It was $199 when we did it and felt it was worth it. Worth $260?, probably not; even though the food at the restaurant in Grand Case was delicious and they poured unlimited wine. Since it would cost $520 for both of us we would not book it.

 

The one we wanted to do in Jamaica was still $199 and they gave us a 10% discount because we were on a B2B.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did an awesome culinary excursion in St Lucia:)

but it was not near these prices.....of course it did not have the Chef from

the ship involved.

I think I will pass.....even though it is just me, 260.00 is a bit pricey.

[QShip]

We would like to do this or a chefs table on our Alaska cruise but cannot find it on the Celebrity site. How do we find it to sign up? The cruise is in August if that makes a difference.

[Lois R]

We would like to do this or a chefs table on our Alaska cruise but cannot find it on the Celebrity site. How do we find it to sign up? The cruise is in August if that makes a difference.

 

The Chef's Table is not advertised on the website. You will need to speak

with one of the Maitr'd's on board the ship. They usually have a minimum

that must be met for it so if they don't get enough people, it won't be

offered.

The excursions would be listed under your particular cruise.

[QShip]

If we could do an excursion for fresh salmon it would really be fantastic.

 

 

 

I presume that if the ship was going to do it they would list it in the cruise excursions. Maybe it is just too soon for it to be listed.

 

Wonder if enough people requested it if it would help? -

[SerraG]

 

But it sounds you will be fine, so enjoy the tour! Dinner on the Porch with the open kitchen and passion of the chefs was great!

 

Thank you for your very detailed information. You have put my mind at ease. We are really looking forward to this!

[Project_gal]

Hi Sue, I was looking at this one for St Martin in Feb when I will be on

Reflection. It is 260.00....do you feel like it was worth that amount of

money?

 

IMHO definitely. We had a great day with a great group of people.

 

Unfortunately, the tour we booked for St Lucia in a few days has just been cancelled because Celebrity are not happy with how the local tour operator has performed. Although disappointing for us, it does show that Celebrity are keen for standards to be maintained.

[Reba 954]

We are doing a 14 day to Southern Caribbean in March and I was definitely going to check this out when we board, but I will tell you that there are a couple excursions listed on our cruise like this. In the small print it tells you that the chefs are not able to purchase anything locally and they must purchase from approved vendors.....so you are not getting local food...like fresh Salmon:).

If you are interested in a very authentic trip to a local market and cooking class in Cozumel, try Josefinas. She holds the class in her home with about 8-10 people. The whole group walks to the local market to buy ingredients and to a local tortilla factory to buy fresh ones, then you go back to her house and make a wonderful meal. We've done it twice and its just plain awesome. Josefina is a very warm and knowledgeable woman. She is a 5 star on trip advisor too.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in;). We are definitely foodies and think this is the perfect way to learn the culture.

[QShip]

With the help and guidance from this thread I was able to find the Chef's Market for our Alaska cruise. $289 x 2 is a lot, but I am certainly going to see if I can pull it off. Thanks, everyone.

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/cruiseplanner/category/2002/product/100000003061389090

[FreestyleNovice]

We are doing a 14 day to Southern Caribbean in March and I was definitely going to check this out when we board, but I will tell you that there are a couple excursions listed on our cruise like this. In the small print it tells you that the chefs are not able to purchase anything locally and they must purchase from approved vendors.....so you are not getting local food...like fresh Salmon:)..

 

Not the case on our past Nov '16 Cozumel experience. Chefs walked over to and from different vendors to check out the quality of the produce. Negotiated with the help of the guide, carried a cooler bag and a bunch of USD bills. As per the excursion description; we saw them purchasing fruit/vegetables, fresh fish and tortilla and some spices/mole.

 

It was their first time to the Cozumel market, we got there after peak time but it was still very interesting! Got some pics of the chefs at the market buying the goods but don't want to post unasked/or will have to blur them due to their privacy.

 

What we got on our plates at dinner was for sure what they bought. Any alternatives/food allergies and/or supplement produce was from the ship, think chicken for the non fish ones.

[GottaKnowWhen]

The Chef's Table is not advertised on the website. You will need to speak

 

with one of the Maitr'd's on board the ship. They usually have a minimum

 

that must be met for it so if they don't get enough people, it won't be

 

offered.

 

The excursions would be listed under your particular cruise.

 

 

On Millennium last year we reserved this for Juneau. Booked it via usual online excursion process. We were given a cancellation notice when we boarded.

 

 

 

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[Lois R]

On Millennium last year we reserved this for Juneau. Booked it via usual online excursion process. We were given a cancellation notice when we boarded.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the correction.......things have changed. I know I have eaten

at different Chef's Tables over the years but have never been able

to book them online prior to the cruise.

[cdurocher99]

It was $199 when we did it and felt it was worth it. Worth $260?, probably not; even though the food at the restaurant in Grand Case was delicious and they poured unlimited wine. Since it would cost $520 for both of us we would not book it.

 

The one we wanted to do in Jamaica was still $199 and they gave us a 10% discount because we were on a B2B.

Good evening,

 

Could you tell me about your Barbado's experience--where did you go and what did they serve?

[QShip]

After starting this post I found some additional information and started an additional thread. The information is here:

 

Chef's Market Discoveries: Why Bother? We are probably what would be regarded as 'foodies'. We enjoy interesting meals, and we both enjoy cooking, both usual meals and one time experiments. Thus, we are drawn to the Chef's Market Discoveries offered by the ships.

 

While planning an upcoming Alaska cruise I have been researching the CMD which is offered in Juneau. Upon further reading of the excursion, however, I came across the following 'fine print' at the bottom of the page:

 

Per United States Public Health (USPH) and Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) regulations, the Celebrity Cruises chef may not purchase and bring on board any ingredients from markets in the destination. The private dinner is prepared with local products purchased by approved vendors, reminiscent of the region’s cuisine and inspired by the fresh market ingredients from the day.

• Wine, other beverages, and gratuities are not included in the excursion price.

• Price of purchasing salmon filet not included.

 

First, when the excursion costs $289 pp why can they not include the cost of the salmon filet????

 

Second, the first paragraph indicates that none of the food can be purchased in Juneau, but also refers to 'local products' from approved vendors. Does this mean no vendors in Juneau are approved? Does all of the food just come out of the freezer and refrigerators on board? If this is the case, why pay so much for a tour around town, a beer at the local brewery (which you have to pay for), and a private meal with a chef?

 

Am I missing something here?

 

( It is apparent the regulations differ depending upon the port.)

[SusieV]

This sounds interesting, and I went looking on the excursion list for my Equinox trip in May and I didn't see it listed. Is it no longer offered?

[Project_gal]

This sounds interesting, and I went looking on the excursion list for my Equinox trip in May and I didn't see it listed. Is it no longer offered?

 

The three Chef's Market Discoveries excursions offered on our latest cruise (Equinox Christmas and New Year) were all cancelled - once pre-cruise, once at the beginning of the cruise and the third at short notice.

 

I know from our Roll Call that sufficient numbers had signed up for the latter two. Lack of bookings was one of the many excuses given but local operational difficulties was another. (Each person was given at least two, different excuses for cancellation - in writing, face-to-face and by voicemail messages.)

 

I believe that I heard, before cancellation, one group was told that they were not allowed to purchase food ashore to serve on board. However, we were told during our Chef's Table that they were permitted to do this for small groups (such as the Chef's Table).

 

If Celebrity no longer feel that they are permitted to make ad hoc purchases of food due to US food regulations when not in US waters this seem ridiculous to me. As I am writing this, I am hearing that a major issue for any trade deal between the US and UK post-Brexit is the different food regulations in each country. The US are happy to feed us meat with growth hormones and chickens washed in chlorine but fresh fish caught that morning is too risky.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

The Chef's Table is not advertised on the website. You will need to speak

 

with one of the Maitr'd's on board the ship. They usually have a minimum

 

that must be met for it so if they don't get enough people, it won't be

 

offered.

 

The excursions would be listed under your particular cruise.

 

 

Is Chefs Table separate from the Chef Market experience excursion ? We've booked this excursion in St Maarten but would also be interested in Chefs Table if offered on our upcoming Reflection cruise. We done numerous Chef's Tables on Princess but this will be our 1st time on Celebrity and we're interested in exploring all Reflection has to offer. For us it's all about the ship as we've visited the ports m numerous time.

 

Pam

 

 

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[uktog]

We had a very similar experience in St Maarten. In our case we were accompanied by the specialty restaurants Sou chef, the maitre d' from Qsine and a member of the shore excursions staff. Our group was inly four couples. We visited a street market and fish market where the chef bought ingredients for our evening meal. There was a demonstration in a restaurant by the fish market. We then had some free time before lunch in Grand Case. In the evening, we meet up for a reserved table in Qsine where the chef had prepared a special meal from the ingredient we saw him purchase.

 

I highly enjoyable excursion which we fully recommend.

 

We just did the trip in St Maarten. Very enjoyable but quite a large group (18). We did not visit the fish market and nothing was bought for us on the trip which was a disappointment when we came to the meal as we'd hoped some of the lovely cheese was incorporated.

 

The story was the guide and chefs were going back to buy things for the dinner - it was 3pm when our tour ended no markets would be open then so our suspicion it was this was all a ruse and the chef waited til we were all onboard then came on himself was confirmed as our balcony overlooked the gangway.

 

The dinner was very nice but we did not have ingredients we saw in the day. I would still do the trip again in another port but would prefer to see items being bought as we did on Azamara or a more honest answer given.

[Project_gal]

Is Chefs Table separate from the Chef Market experience excursion ? We've booked this excursion in St Maarten but would also be interested in Chefs Table if offered on our upcoming Reflection cruise. We done numerous Chef's Tables on Princess but this will be our 1st time on Celebrity and we're interested in exploring all Reflection has to offer. For us it's all about the ship as we've visited the ports m numerous time.

 

Pam

 

The Chef's Table and the Chef's Market Discoveries are two very different entities. The Chef's Market Discoveries is an excursion where the Chef's Table is a special dinner on board.

 

A Chef's Table is offered on all cruises (except, perhaps, the shortest) where there is sufficient demand. In practice, there is usually "sufficient" demand on all/most cruises these days and they often run more than once per cruise.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

The Chef's Table and the Chef's Market Discoveries are two very different entities. The Chef's Market Discoveries is an excursion where the Chef's Table is a special dinner on board.

 

 

 

A Chef's Table is offered on all cruises (except, perhaps, the shortest) where there is sufficient demand. In practice, there is usually "sufficient" demand on all/most cruises these days and they often run more than once per cruise.

 

 

Thanks - I assumed this was the case. Was surprised to read that on some cruises there wasn't enough interest so it was cancelled. We'll be sure to check in with the mature 'd when we board and get our names in the list.

 

 

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[Lois R]

Just home from Reflection yesterday and I decided to book the Chef's Discovery tour in St Martin........it was

WONDERFUL:)....yes, it is pricey but in my opinion, it is well worth it:)...had some great food and met some

really fun folks too.......Hi Pam and Bruce!!!

 

*****and 1 thing......when the board format changed did the search feature change too?:rolleyes::confused:.....I

had a helluva time trying to find this thread:(

[FreestyleNovice]

Just home from Reflection yesterday and I decided to book the Chef's Discovery tour in St Martin........it was

WONDERFUL:)....yes, it is pricey but in my opinion, it is well worth it:)...had some great food and met some

really fun folks too.......Hi Pam and Bruce!!!

 

*****and 1 thing......when the board format changed did the search feature change too?:rolleyes::confused:.....I

had a helluva time trying to find this thread:(

 

Who were the chefs? We had a great time with Shane in Cozumel!

[Lois R]

Who were the chefs? We had a great time with Shane in Cozumel!

 

We had 1 Chef,,,,,he is the Sou Chef and his name is Ashley.

[aruzinski]

Thanks for the feedback. We are booked in Estonia. Can't wait!

[vtcruising]

A highlight of our Eclipse cruise a couple of weeks ago was the Chef’s Market Discovery Tour in St. Maarten. We (9 of us) spent a wonderful day with Executive Chef Eain Clarke, who oversees all the specialties, including Blu and Luminae on Eclipse. We had seen 3 different descriptions of the tour (the original on-line, what we received with the tickets onboard and what was described in the shore excursion brochure we received onboard), so were a bit confused about what the tour included - we were not disappointed. . We we ended up tasting some nice cheeses with wines on the Dutch side (at 9 AM :)), going to the open air market in Marigot to learn about the island’s spices, fruits and vegetables (and tasted fresh fruits), had a little time to shop at the market and watched our chef and another chef at a French side restaurant make ceviche from fish caught that morning (with more wine) - they also explained how to choose fresh fish. We toured the island with a great tour guide in a comfortable small bus and then went to a lovely seaside restaurant for lunch on the French side and had even more wine. The food there was amazing, we had a gorgeous view of the beach and we all enjoyed talking to the chef, who sat with us, about how he became a chef and Celebrity’s food, issues with the food/restaurants onboard, etc. He was interested to hear our feedback. We then went back to the ship with the tour guide continuing to point out things on the island. We arrived about 2:30.

 

For our dinner that night, the chef said he had had an assistant pick up fresh snapper, lobster, fruits and vegetables from St. Maarten and created the most amazing five course dinner for the 9 of us. First, we had a tour of the galley at 7:00 PM when it was in full action – we’ve seen it between meals during the day, but never at night in full dinner mode. Dinner was then served in Tuscan Grill. Again, the wine flowed and a lovely dinner was had by all. This tour was expensive (was $199 each when we booked a few months ago, but had increased to $259 onboard), but wonderful. The other Chef’s Market Discovery Tours on this cruise (St Lucia and Barbados) were less expensive when we booked, I think, but the chef said that the St. Maarten one was his favorite. It was one of the major highlights of our cruise.