Cruising is noted for its outstanding cuisine and along with fine food comes fine wine! There’s an astonishing variety of wine-related activities to enjoy during your cruise as well as a grand selection of wine to choose from at every meal. Let’s take a look at the world of wine aboard ship.
Tastings & Pairings
Whether you are an aficionado or simply enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, you’ll have many enjoyable moments during your cruise. With the growth in wine appreciation in recent years, cruise lines have added new, exciting programs aboard their ships.
- New Regions – Cruising takes you to new regions of the world giving you a chance to try wines you can’t get at home. Excursions from the ship can introduce you to far flung producers, from the Cava caves of Spain to the wineries of New Zealand. You’ll also find most ships stock some local vintages from the regions they are visiting in their cellars.
- Wine Lists– You’ll find some of the best wine lists in the world at sea. Crystal Cruises offers 230 wines from around the globe and carries as many as 20,000 bottles in its cellars. A new “Reserve Wine List” offers such rare vintages as 1959 Château Lafite Rothschild or 1971 Château Petrus. Crystal also has its own California wine labels – “C” and “C Reserve”- including a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Merlot, 2006 Chardonnay and 2010 Pinot Noir.
- Wine Tasting – Guest wine experts and/or the ship’s sommeliers will lead you through the intricacies of various vintages at these lively and educational events. There is usually a nominal charge to attend. Holland America Line has partnered with Food & Wine magazine to secure top experts for its programs.
- New Wine Lounge – How about a seven-course tasting menu paired with fine wines? You can get it at La Reserve, a lounge on the top deck of Oceania’s newest ship Marina, entering service in 2011. Oceania Cruises teamed up with Wine Spectator to create this new venue. It will offer educational seminars and tastings that correspond to the varietals in the regions where Marina’s sailing. There is no charge for the food on the tasting menu but wines will be additional.
- Winemakers’ Dinners – Enjoy these exceptional meals in Crystal’s Vintage Rooms; intimate dining rooms seating 12 guests on Crystal Symphony and 14 on Crystal Serenity. On each voyage, a special six course meal is chosen to match the specially selected wines, a twist on the usual pairing of wine to food. The unique meals are offered for $210- $250 per person. On certain sailings, Crystal steps it up a notch for the Ultimate Vintage Room Experience where celebrated chefs and wine experts lead 10 guests through a carefully prepared menu. The cost depends on the food and wine selected by the celebrity hosts.*
- Wine Progam – Aboard the ships of Azamara Club Cruises, the new wine program features wine sampling in front of the Prime C wine cellar where you are introduced to unique wines produced around the world; a connoisseur wine-cellar dinner party at Prime C with a fine selection of steaks; Mediterranean-inspired fare at Aqualina restaurant with more wine and culinary pairings; shore excursions to renowned wineries in Bordeaux and Provence; plus, complimentary boutique wines are served at lunch and dinner.
- Theme Cruises – Would you like the opportunity to mix and mingle with elite members of the food and wine community? Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America and Crystal all offer special food and wine themed cruises featuring cooking demonstrations, special meals, wine pairings and tastings led by renowned experts. Check out Silversea Cruises’ special Wine Series voyage, hosted by Maggie Harrison, co-owner of Antica Terra Winery in Oregon. It takes place aboard Silver Spirit‘s Caribbean Voyage, December 2, 2010, from Fort Lauderdale to Barbados.
Tips for Purchasing Wine
- While food is included in your cruise fare, on most cruise lines, wine and drinks from the bar are not. (Exceptions are Silversea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, The Yachts of Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, the newly revamped Azamara Club Cruises and most river cruise lines which include wine with lunch and dinner.) Wine is available by the glass or bottle in the dining room and at bars and lounges around the ship with prices varying as they do at restaurants ashore.
- If you purchase a bottle and don’t drink it all, the bottle will be held for you and delivered to the restaurant of your choice for the next meal.
- If you know you’ll be going through many bottles during the cruise, there are wine packages available which make it less expensive than purchasing individual bottles, like Holland America’s Wine Navigator Choice of Five Bottles and Celebrity Cruises’ Taste of the Vineyards wine package. Watch for packages on sale when you board or purchase before you go at the “Gift” or “Before You Go” sections of the cruise line’s web site.
- Select your wine ahead of the evening meal. You’ll often see a sommelier standing by a striking presentation of wine bottles near the restaurant, ready to assist with your selection.
- You may also run into things like a wine sale, special offers when you attend a wine tasting and a featured wine of the day. Wine offerings vary from cruise line to cruise line so be sure to read your daily program to see what is happening.
Yes, a cruise ship is an excellent place for wine lovers. There are many new vintages to try and some exceptional venues for enjoying them.
Cheers!
S Milne, Ensemble Travel
