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CULINARY &
WINE HIGHLIGHTS
On
special Wine Series voyages, enjoy enlightening guest
lectures, tastings of vintage blends and optional guided
excursions to renowned wineries and cellars. On every
cruise, experience the innovative Wine Restaurant by
Relais & Châteaux* — Saletta aboard Silver Cloud and
Silver Wind and Le Champagne aboard Silver Shadow and
Silver Whisper.
Enhancing the exceptional wine offerings that are part
of every
Silversea
itinerary, a Wine Series voyage
creates an unforgettable and even more enriching experience at
sea.
Silversea Cruises
has
a collection of 11 Wine Series voyages during 2009. Each
of these sailings features tastings and lectures by
vineyard owners, winemakers and wine professionals.
California's Justin and
Wente wineries, Italy's Castello Banfi and Chile's Santa
Alicia winery participate. Optional shore excursions
will take you to some of the world's foremost
wine-producing regions. One of the Wine Series voyages
is on board the Silver Wind on July 6 from Lisbon to
Monte Carlo. Onboard this 12-day sailing will be
designer Salvatore Ferragamo, the owner and managing
director of Il Borro estate, a winery in Tuscany, Italy.
Rates start at $5,797.
The Crystal Wine & Food
Festival. Enjoy cooking demonstrations by celebrity
guest chefs, specially prepared four-course dinners
featuring the chef's unique dishes, and complimentary
wine tastings led by our master sommeliers and guest
wine experts.
The world's greatest chefs
and wine experts join
Crystal Cruises
on popular Wine &
Food Festival sailings. Watch as celebrated chefs
prepare signature dishes for dinner menus,
demonstrate cooking techniques and share the secrets of
their culinary artistry.
In addition, distinguished wine experts provide insight
and education to the endlessly fascinating world of
wine, offering unique opportunities to experience
side-by-side tastings of select vintages from Crystal
Cruises' extensive wine list, including our exclusive
"C" vintages. Held in a lively and convivial atmosphere,
these events offer a heady blend of entertainment and
learning.
Nobuyuki "Nobu"
Matsuhisa, a classically trained sushi chef with an
empire of eateries around the world, is the mastermind
behind Crystal's Silk Road and Sushi Bar restaurants.
Crystal Cruises Wine & Food
Experiences of Discovery cruises, feature dozens of
experts in the fields of wine, food and cocktails.
Highlights include new mixology demonstrations, new
pastry classes, cooking demonstrations, wine tastings
and optional shore excursions focusing on wine and
culinary specialties.
The wine and food cruises
will be available on select Panama Canal, Asia, Northern
and Western Europe and Caribbean voyages aboard the
Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony during 2009. One
such voyage is Spices of the East, aboard the Crystal
Symphony from Singapore to Dubai on May 1-17 (fares from
$5,920). Here are more Food & Wine theme cruises to
consider....
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Cruising's
not just about dining anymore— it's about learning how
they cook those great meals. |
Holland America's
really carving out
a niche on this one; its Culinary Arts Center has a
television-ready demo kitchen and ships offer small
groups hands-on lessons that are fun and tasty. Here are
other Food & Wine theme cruises to consider....
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10-night Sea of
Cortez Roundtrip San Diego |
Ryndam |
10 Days |
04/04/09 |
$699 |
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15-night Circle
Hawaii Roundtrip San Diego |
Zaandam
|
15 Days |
04/06/09 |
$1,299 |
12-night
Mediterranean
Venice/Barcelona |
Oosterdam
|
12 Days |
06/24/09 |
$1,299 |
10-night
Mediterranean
Roundtrip Rome |
Noordam |
10 Days |
06/28/09 |
$1,199 |
7-night Alaskan
Roundtrip Seattle |
Amsterdam
|
7 Days |
07/25/09 |
$899 |
Regent
Seven Seas Cruises, too, takes cooking seriously and on
some cruises offers lectures and demos by its partner,
Le Cordon Bleu. Here is an example...
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11-night
Mediterranean
Southampton/
Monte Carlo
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Seven Seas Voyager |
11 Days |
09/07/09 |
$6,395 |
These days, the culinary education doesn't stop with
onboard demos. Cruise lines are recognizing the appeal
of food- and wine-based shore tours -- a tastier and
more in-depth option to the traditional bus tour.
Azamara introduced new
culinary excursions to its 2009 Europe cruises,
including a tour of Slovenian salt plants, olive farms
and wine cellars, and a "pasta party" in Civitavecchia,
Italy (the port for Rome), complete with a pasta-making
workshop.
Several celebrity chefs now have onboard restaurants or
serve as culinary advisors to the cruise lines.
Boston-based Todd English of Olives fame has outposts on
Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.
Oceania has teamed up with Food and Wine Trails to offer
tours that give a taste of local life, as well as a
taste of local food and wine. Public television cooking star Jacques
Pepin is
Oceania's Executive Culinary Director, making
his mark on all the ship's restaurants.
Wine
aficionados have plenty of choices these days for
viticulture at sea. Wine bars can be found on NCL's,
Royal Caribbean's and Princess' newest ships for a
little onboard imbibing.
Next
May,
Princess
will introduce its
first West Coast wine-country
cruises aboard the Sapphire
Princess.
Cruise West offers two
California wine country itineraries, with visits to Napa
and Sonoma wineries
Celebrity turns a Vancouver-to-San Diego repositioning
cruise into a wine lover's cruise with vineyard visits,
seminars and lectures by wine experts.
Sailings coincide with harvest
season.
Celebrity Cruises offers wine-themed voyages with
wine-related activities onboard and a variety of
optional wine or food-and-wine shore excursions at the
ports of call. One such wine-themed voyage is the
Millennium's 12-night Pacific Northwest cruise from
Vancouver to San Diego on Sept. 28 (rates start at
$899).
Cruise Line
Feature of the Month
OCEANIA CRUISES
Jacques Pépin sails aboard
Insignia from Barcelona to Istanbul on August
9. With a mix of intriguing ports including Egypt and
the Holy Land, this voyage will include special culinary
demonstrations, wine lectures and exclusive shore side
events.
Dining is a highlight, with the gourmet culinary program
in the four open-seating restaurants overseen by Jacques
Pepin, a celebrated chef and author of 19 cookbooks.
White-glove service and hand-painted frescoes prevail in
the main dining room. Dark woods complement
floor-to-ceiling windows in the ship's steakhouse, The
Polo Grill. Toscana serves regional Italian cuisine, and
the Terrace Cafe serves up Spanish-style appetizers al
fresco each evening. When the lights go down, guests are
invited to step into the ship's casino, show lounge with
live entertainment, martini bar, or any of the other
friendly places to gather onboard. More Information
 |
Looking for the
best Cruise Deal?Your Search Starts
Here |
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* All fares are based
on the lowest promotional category stateroom for each
category type. Rates shown are per person, cruise-only,
based on double occupancy and do not apply to singles or
third/fourth-berth passengers. Please contact us for
third/fourth-berth passenger fares. Fares are at the
time of publication and subject to change. Government
fees and taxes are additional based on itinerary,
are subject to change without prior notice and may be
higher for Canadian residents. Cruise lines reserves the
right to impose a Fuel Supplement, even if the fare has
already been paid in full. All offers are based on space
availability, is capacity controlled and applies to the
sailing dates and stateroom categories shown on each
itinerary. Fares quoted in U.S. dollars. See the
applicable cruise line brochure or their web site for
terms, conditions and definitions that apply to all
bookings.
Combine your passion for exciting travel and gourmet food
with the world's leading wine experts. And, wine enthusiasts who
book a cruise will receive extra personalized pricing.
Cruise in luxury on the most elegant ships with spacious rooms,
a wide variety of on-board wine activities, spa programs and
more.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Travel Direct
Corporation Fla.Seller of Travel Reg. No. ST-31254 |
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Silversea
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Crystal
•
Princess
•
Azamara
•
Oceania
•
Holland
America
•
Celebrity
•
Regent |
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10
Cruise Lines. 18 Cruise Ships. Unlimited possibilities.
Home Port
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For more information, call the Food & Wine Theme Cruise Experts:
800.365.1445 |
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FOOD & WINE THEME CRUISES
If you define luxury as unparalleled service,
outstanding cuisine, an intimately sized ship with a
variety of dining options, a gorgeous spa, a range of
entertainment venues, intriguing itineraries, and an
ambience of warmth, then add a Food & Wine theme, then these
cruises definitely appeal
to you. Enjoy award winning restaurants and an
unprecedented array of dining options including Italian
and Asian specialties. Be on hand as celebrated chefs
demonstrate their culinary talents and cooking
techniques. Join the cruise line's sommeliers for side
by side tasting of select vintages from
extensive wine lists. Visit some of the world’s most
famous estates where winemakers will provide insight to the
endlessly fascinating world of wine. VINTAGES cruise ships appeal to discerning,
sophisticated travelers in search of world-class
cuisine, unparalleled personal service, and an
enriching, in-depth, destination-oriented experience.
With staff members catering to your every whim, with highly
personalized service.
Discerning travelers
with a passion for fine wines will enjoy sampling some
of the world's finest vintages and visiting world-famous
wineries, cellars and vineyards aboard wine-themed
cruises.
Food & Wine Theme Cruising: choice for travelers seeking a
truly refined, elegant personally enriching travel experience.
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In
The News
Feature Story
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....Master chef Alfredo Marzi poured cognac over
a rack of roasted tenderloin, veal, and pork,
flambéing it with a flourish. Served with five
sauces, the dish was the main event for diners
who had paid $75 each to eat at the Chef's Table
aboard the Caribbean Princess, just one of the
many gourmet experiences to be had while at sea.
The Chef's Table program, available aboard most
Princess ships, started with the pop of
champagne corks at a private reception for up to
10 people in the Caribbean Princess's $12
million galley. After munching on king crab
cocktail and cleansing their palates with Bloody
Mary sorbet, diners moved to a private table in
the dining room for a multicourse meal with
paired wines. For dessert, the chef joined the
group for a chat. "We sell out every cruise,"
said Marzi, who is responsible for menu
selections on all 17 Princess ships. He said
that in his 30-plus years of cruising, diners
have become more and more particular about what
they eat. "We have to make it special, to exceed
our guests' expectations," Marzi said. "It's one
of the reasons our food costs [were] up 18-20
percent in 2008."
While a cruise line like Princess is in the
business of putting out boatloads of tasty food
- 16 tons a day - it's quality, not quantity
that counts. "Many of our passengers dine out
all over the world. They travel," said Marzi.
"They want to taste fresh local wahoo in Hawaii
and oysters from the bay in Sydney. When people
have experienced more, they are more demanding."
"Two of the biggest dining trends in cruising
are specialty restaurants, which provide more
dining diversity and enhanced service, but
usually at an extra cost; and more flexible
dining options," said Linda Garrison, cruise
specialist on About.com. "Although many cruise
ships still offer the traditional fixed seating
times, more and more are allowing passengers to
dine when and with whom they wish."
Meeting these culinary challenges, from
celebrity chefs to top-shelf sushi, is a
priority for every cruise line, from the more
value-priced Carnival up to the exclusive
big-ticket brands like Seabourn and Crystal.
Specialty restaurants
An ideal escape from large dining halls and
bustling buffets, a la carte restaurants require
reservations, and in most cases, an extra fee.
Carnival is offering reservations-only supper
clubs, modeled after New York's top steakhouses,
where guests dine on dry-aged prime beef washed
down with an extensive list of Super Tuscans,
with reservations priced at $30 per person.
Aboard Norwegian's Pride of America, diners
enjoy Lazy J Steakhouse, with its Texas theme
and menu of Angus beef with all the trimmings.
Holland America's Pinnacle Grill specializes in
Pacific Northwest cuisine and wine, alongside
Bvlgari china, Frette linens, and Riedel
stemware.
Celebrity offers 10 venues, from the Tuscan
Grille Italian-style steakhouse to Asian fusion
at Silk Harvest to eclectic American at Blu.
Disney Cruises gets in on the act, too, with its
for-grown-ups-only Palo, an elegant Northern
Italian dining retreat.
Brand name chefs
Foodies love to one-up each other when it comes
to collecting chefs. Now they can play the game
cruising, thanks to the growing number of star
chefs lending their names and recipes to
floating gourmet eateries. Chefs include Charlie
Palmer, a two-time James Beard Award winner and
founder of New York's Aureole.
Cruisers on the exclusive Seabourn yachts spend
from $4,000 per person for services that include
dining on Palmer's creations, dishes like foie
gras torchon with plum terrine, roasted
hazelnuts, and hazelnut brioche.
Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa expanded his
partnership with Crystal, designing two new
restaurants, The Sushi Bar and Silk Road, which
debuted on a cruise to Hong Kong with the chef
in attendance. Jacques Pépin is executive
culinary director for Regent Seven Seas,
overseeing the creation of menus and working
with executive chefs to appeal to a wide range
of palates. Cunard works with Todd English, who
designed the menu for the restaurant that bears
his name aboard the Queen Mary 2.
Deep cellars
Crystal, the consistently top-rated big ship
cruiser, features onboard wine sommeliers
certified by master sommelier Robert Bath, one
of only 124 in the world and the creative force
behind the acclaimed wine program at French
Laundry, the famous Napa Valley restaurant. A
typical sailing pours from a 25,000-bottle
cellar of more than 350 labels.
In 2008, Crystal added a certified cheese
sommelier on the line's 60-plus voyages around
the globe, certified at the International Cheese
Academy of the Hotel and Tourism School in Bad
Gleichenberg, Austria.
Regional cuisine themes
More cruise lines are incorporating larger
culinary themes into specially designed cruises.
In October Cruise West, a Seattle-based small
ship line, offered a Taste of the Pacific
Northwest cruise, centered on the bounty of the
Columbia River, from Chinook salmon to the
Washington wine trail. Guests visited orchards,
wineries, and markets and took cooking lessons,
options so popular the company added nine
sailings to its roster.
An even more intimate experience can be had with
American Safari Cruises, a four-yacht fleet that
offers a 12-passenger sailing along the Columbia
River gorge, highlighting local wines and
ingredients.
Crystal always offers guests a food-and-wine
related excursion, themed with the local port.
Shore adventures may include an afternoon filled
with gastronomic delights at the Relais &
Châteaux Le Saint-James in the tiny French
village of Bouliac or a 2 1/2-hour cooking
demonstration organized under the direction of
Alain Llorca, the virtuoso chef and owner of Le
Moulin de Mougins, on the French Riviera.
Matching menus, ports
High end Oceania Cruises serves up authentic
dining experiences paired with exotic
surroundings. "Our guests want tapas dishes from
the Costa del Sol; earthy, rustic dishes from
Tuscany; or seafood from the Ligurian coast.
When they think Asian, they don't want standard
Chinese food, they want authentic Thai,
Balinese, Vietnamese, or fresh hand-rolled
sushi," said Tim Rubacky, spokesman for the
line. Oceania's ships offer four open-seating
gourmet restaurants, with no extra fees.
Pâtisseries and more
Aboard three Princess ships, the Emerald, Crown,
and Ruby, a central three-deck piazza gives
guests the chance to sample European style
pastry, drink wine, and sip cappuccino, with a
backdrop of burbling fountains and "street"
performers. Unlike the usual buffet or lido
restaurants, these are premium spots with prices
on the menus, and options like raclette, panini,
and gelato.
Read The full Story |
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FOOD & WINE THEME CRUISE TIPS
-
Explore your options by
talking with your travel agent and searching online.
You can find a complete list of the theme cruises
focused on food and wine by going here.. A majority
of the major cruise lines offer food and wine themed
cruises.
-
Decide what kind of
food and wine cruise experience best suits your
needs. Some cruises focus on preparing different
cuisines--like Crystal Cruise's Wine & Food
program--while others, like Regent Seven Seas
Cruises--put the emphasis on enjoying fine food. An
experienced travel agent can help you choose the
food and wine cruise that will satisfy your desires.
-
Consider the cruise's
destination. Since food and wine cruises are so
popular, you can find a cruise with a gourmet theme
headed to just about anywhere in the world. Once
you've narrowed down the list of cruises according
to the food theme, you can research the destinations
at
cruise reviews online, and get reviews of the
cruise line and ship.
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ADVERTISEMENT
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PRINCESS CRUISES
Where do you
want to sail?
Click on a link to go
there.
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ITINERARIES THAT SPAN THE GLOBE
With an entire world of exotic destinations at your disposal,
your choices are virtually boundless. The Far East and China
beckons with overnight stays in such famed cities as Beijing,
Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai, Hanoi, Saigon, Kyoto, Bombay,
Luxor and Dubai. South America will capture your fancy with its
seductive nature, natural beauty and historical depth as you
travel to chic Rio de Janeiro, the rugged outpost of Port
Stanley, or sail amidst the majesty of Chile’s glacier-laden
fjords. Europe is yours to discover as these cruise lines leave virtually no port unexplored, cruising to more
than 80 ports in Scandinavia and Russia, Northern Europe, the
Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, the Black Sea and such esoteric
locales as Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. The Caribbean’s azure
blue seas and silken beaches present a tempting diversion from
the winter doldrums. From the yachtsmen’s haven of Antigua to
tony St. Barts or to the lush jungles of Central America, you
will experience a world of tropical bliss that you never knew
existed.
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Eurodam's
Master Chef Rudi Sodamin cooking up some treats with
guests in the Culinary Arts Center. |
Taking chefs from kitchens
and restaurants all around the country and placing them
aboard
ships, the line's Culinary
Arts Center program continues to flourish. Since its
inception four years ago, the program has nearly doubled
with more than 70 culinary experts. Holland America Line
has state-of-the-art Culinary Arts Centers aboard each
of its premium ships offering culinary demonstrations,
tastings and hands-on cooking classes. The Culinary Arts
Center, presented by Food & Wine Magazine, provides
guests on select Holland America cruises the opportunity
to experience demonstrations and hands-on classes
conducted by top chefs, wine experts, and leading
cookbook authors from the pages of Food & Wine Magazine.
Onboard all sailings, you will learn tricks-of-the-trade
from top professionals, try your hand at preparing
dishes and taste wines representative of the specific
ports-of-call you will visit. Guests on selected cruises
will also receive Food & Wine recipe cards and wine
tasting notes that you may take home along with copies
of the magazine. Other opportunities might include book
signings, question and answer sessions, specially
designed dinner menus and more. Hands-on classes cost
$29, and each can accommodate 12
people. Here's a tip: Sign up as
soon as you get onboard. Classes can
be as simple as spending 45 minutes
in an apron chopping, slicing and
sauteeing or more complex; some
guest chefs take participants to
markets on shore to pick out local
ingredients. Previous guest chefs
include:
Jacques Torres - Chocolatier Extraordinaire.
Max McCalman - Maître Fromager,
Artisanal Premium Cheese.
Marcus Samuellson - Chef of Aquavit and Ringo, NYC.
Susan Sokol Blosser - President and wine visionary,
Sokol Blosser Winery, Dundee, OR. |
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Food & Wine Theme Cruises: choice for
travelers seeking a truly refined and casually
elegant travel experience. |
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FOOD & WINE
CRUISE IDEAS
Our TOP 10
Best Food & Wine Theme Cruises
This cruise
feature dozens of experts in the fields
of wine, food and cocktails.
Highlights include mixology
demonstrations, pastry classes, cooking
demonstrations, wine tastings and shore
excursions focusing on wine and culinary
specialties. Spices of the East,
aboard the Crystal Symphony from
Singapore to Dubai. From $5,920: May
1, 2009.
Visit wineries in California, Oregon
and Washington on a cruise from
Los Angeles to Vancouver. . Wine experts
do
tastings onboard. From $860; May
9, 2009.
Tour vineyards
in California, Washington and Canada
on the nine-night wine cruise from
Vancouver to San Diego. Visit J Vineyards
tasting room and the
Kendall-Jackson Wine Center.
From $700; Oct. 12, 2009.
A 14-day Cape Horn cruise
to Argentina, Chile and
Uruguay. Visit Uruguay’s Juanicó winery
to taste signature wines like the
Don Pascual Reserve Tannat, sample cheese and sausage empanadas.
From $2,600; Feb. 17, 2009.
Silversea Cruises
Eleven enticing wine-themed cruises have
been planned for the ultra-luxury
Silversea fleet in 2009. Guests will
sample great vintages, learn about the
tradition of winemaking and experience
wine regions on guided shore excursions.
Cruises also include tastings and
lectures with vineyard owners and
winemakers. A wide array of cruise
regions are offered on these sailings
including Alaska, the Mediterranean,
Northern Europe, South America and more.
Several dates between February and
August 2009. One of the Wine
Series voyages is on board the Silver
Wind on July 6 from Lisbon to Monte
Carlo. Onboard this 12-day sailing will
be designer Salvatore Ferragamo, the
owner and managing director of Il Borro
estate, a winery in Tuscany, Italy.
From $5,797; July 6, 2009.
Continue
to the right hand column... |
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Windstar Cruises
Cruise the Mediterranean from Rome to Nice (
Ischia, Amalfi, Florence and Monte Carlo ) with chef and
author David Shalleck, who's appeared on both PBS and
the Food Network's "Iron Chef America." David
Shalleck has worked for over two decades in the culinary
industry as a chef, author and television producer
alongside some of America's most celebrated chefs and
hosts. In addition to chef duties in notable restaurants
and for special events in New York, London, Provence and
Italy. David is the author of the culinary travel
memoir, Mediterranean Summer. Shalleck will
host educational cooking demonstrations and give
culinary presentations while sharing his
techniques. Wind Surf From $2,599.00; May 10 - 17, 2009
Greg Lill is one of the
founding members of Washington state's acclaimed DeLille
Cellars. Known for its luscious Bordeaux-styled wines,
DeLille's traditional French winemaking methods have led to
wines celebrated for their opulence, elegance and balance.
Recently, DeLille Cellars was named one of Top 100 Wineries
in the World by the prestigious Robb Report. The cellar's
2004 D2 was selected as one of the Top 100 Wines of the
World by Wine Spectator, while Wine Enthusiast named the
2005 Chaleur Estate Blanc one of the Top Rated 100 Wines of
2007. Join Greg Lill on Wind Surf From $2,749.00 Sept.
27, 2009
Crystal Cruises
An 18-day cruise from Sydney to
Singapore (stopping in Melbourne,
Adelaide and Perth) devotes a day to
exploring the Barossa Valley,
including a tasting at Peter Lehmann
winery and a three-course,
wine-paired lunch at Jacob’s Creek.
From $10,700; Mar. 1, 2009.
Wine-world luminaries will pair
Gewürztraminers and Rieslings during
demosrations on the Eurodam’s Northern
European cruises next summer,
including a 10-day Baltic sailing.
From $2,000; Jul. 12, 2009.
Sommeliers, cookbook authors and local experts lead
food-and-wine trips on this 12-day cruise from Rome
to Athens. In Florence,
cooking-school owner Judy Witts will
take groups to visit wine
bars. Food & Wine Trails shore excursions for
cruises to Italy, Greece and France. From $3,300; Apr. 21, 2009.
During the seven-day Western
Mediterranean cruise, classes focus on
French producers like Pascal Jolivet
and Mâcon-Villages, as well as star
Italian grapes like Sangiovese. From $849; May 10,
2009.
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