Culinary Guest Chef Program

[cutelittle]

I mostly lurk on the boards, but have a couple of questions so I'll post them seperately.

Can some CC'ers tell us about their experiences with the Guest Chef programs? We've never been with HAL (many other cruises though), and my DH is interested in a HAL cruise because of one of their Guest Chefs, Nick Stellino.

How often do the chefs cook? Are classes available with them? If so, how do you book the classes? Do you dine with them (yeah, but only if you've booked the penthouse :) )Do the chefs sell their autograph cookbooks?

Any other info would be very welcome. Thanks!!

[HalFan]

We were on the Ryndam cruise of March 5th. The guest chef was Michel Stroot (the executive chef at the Golden Door Spa for 30 years) and he gave two cooking demonstrations during the two week cruise. Anyone could attend these demonstrations for free and we tasted samples at the end, plus they gave out the recipes. There were also two classes with him limited to 12 people for $39 each which we didn't attend. You had to sign up for them at the Front Desk. The signup sheet indicated what would be prepared in each class. You couldn't sign up before the cruise.
The ship's executive chef and the Pinnacle chef also gave free demonstations plus cooking classes for $29.
I don't know if you can dine with the chef, but we saw Michel Stroot around the ship a lot. He did have autographed cookbooks available. His demonstrations and commentary about eating healthy were great.

[anley]

:(We were on the Noordam sail date March 15th.
There were no cooking classes available on this 10 day cruise .
We were told that there was a vent on one of the older class ships that
did not comply with regs. so that until all ships in the fleet were checked and where necessary retrofitted no classes were given . We were looking forward to participating. However there were 3 cooking demonstrations by the chef on the Noordam where 2 items were prepared each time and taste samples distributed .
Anley , not happy:(:(

[kaleighsgram]

I originally chose my sail date because of the guest chef on board.... a pastry chef from a famous restaurant in NYC. I have checked a number of times and he was still listed on the schedule. However, when I checked yesterday, he was no longer listed. We sail in two days. Needless to say, a major disappointment. I told the rep from HAL when I booked this cruise that I was doing so because of the guest chef and I was warned that I needed to get to the front desk asap to sign up. Classes were $39 pp and they fill up quickly. Good Luck!

[Joanandjoe]

I originally chose my sail date because of the guest chef on board.... a pastry chef from a famous restaurant in NYC. I have checked a number of times and he was still listed on the schedule. However, when I checked yesterday, he was no longer listed. We sail in two days. Needless to say, a major disappointment. I told the rep from HAL when I booked this cruise that I was doing so because of the guest chef and I was warned that I needed to get to the front desk asap to sign up. Classes were $39 pp and they fill up quickly. Good Luck!

Don't give up, he'll probably be there. Our last cruise, on Radisson (now Regent) from Montreal to NY, was supposed to be a jazz cruise; but the cruise line told us that the jazz had been cancelled. Fortunately, we went to a concert about two weeks before the cruise, given by one of the musicians scheduled for the cruise, Bucky Pizzarelli. He assured us that he would be on the cruise, and he was! The jazz was magnificent.

If you haven't yet figured it out, information given out by cruise line reps is notoriously inaccurate. Most likely, your celebrity pastry chef (or a good substitute) will be on your cruise, just as Bucky was on our cruise. If not, you'll still have a great cruise! As you said, good luck!

[cutelittle]

Thanks for the tips. I just got off the phone with the TA who booked our first ever HAL cruise. The main reason we went with HAL was because of the guest chef. I had mentioned his appearance on HAL to my DH several months ago, and his response was a sighed "someday".

When a short window of opportunity came up, I'd forgotten about the guest program until last Thursday. We were thinking about lots of other trips until I remembered this chef was going to be on. My DH's response was an enthusiastic, "That REALLY sounds like fun!"

I sure sympathize with your major dissapontment, kaleighsgram. When you return please tell us if they had a substitute guest chef, and how it turned out.

A $39 cooking class for my DH would be a wonderful treat. I'm going to sign him up immediately.

[kaleighsgram]

cutelittle, I just returned from the Noordam this afternoon. As soon as I got on board ten days ago, I went to the front desk to register for the class with the pastry chef from NYC. The girl looked at me as if I was speaking gibberish. I then went to the culinary department and was told that the guest chef had cancelled three days earlier due to personal reasons. There would be no substitue, hence no classes. There were three demonstrations, however. After a few days I went back to the CA department and had a chat with another gentleman and expressed my disappointment at finding out on board that the man I planned a vacation around (sounds silly, doesn't it?) wasn't going to be there. He apologized and I continued to stress the importance of making the guest chef realize what some people's expectations were and the disappointment that arises when those expectations aren't met. I did say that I understand, from experience, how personal experiences can mess up anybody's plan but I hope that these appearances weren't being taken lightly. I did tell them about you, cutelittle, and that you were interested in signing up early for the class you were interested in. They gave me the same information to tell you .... as soon as you get on board go to the front desk. I was also told that they didn't sign people up before they get on board because situations arise whereby the guest chefs don't show up and the cruise line then has to handle more paperwork. Also suggested, contact HAL in Seattle with any questions. I wish you the best.
Pat

[FoxyTerrier]

Here is the link to the schedule of Guest Chefs.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/signatureofexcellence/culinaryartsschedule.do

No chefs for our sailing but I am so envious that some people will get to see Jacques Torres on the Ryndam soon.

No chefs on the Noordam until mid-July. :(