tastings-food and beverage, dance workshop costs?

[sweetp09]

DH and I have a cruise booked for April 2014 (complimentary hold, so far, but plan to book it) on the Reflection. We are interested in any wine, beer or martini tastings, food and wine tastings, "Iron Chef"-like competitions and dance classes. What can we expect to pay (ball park is fine) for attending the workshops? I thought the dance classes and Iron Chef-like competitions were included in the cost of the cruise, but thought I would double check. We are just trying to figure out what tastings are available and how much to budget for them. Thanks!:)

[kitty9]

The Iron Chef thing must be new because in my 35+ cruises on Celebrity I've never seen an Iron Chef competition. What you might be thinking of is the Food Network cruise that was on one cruise. That's not an every cruise happening.

 

I've also not seen food tastings either. They have cooking demonstrations and tours of the galley that are free. Wine tastings vary based on the program. They have a wine tasting that involves wines from different countries. There are tables set up inside and around Cellar Masters and you travel from table to table (country to country) tasting various reds and whites. My memory isn't the best on prices, but I think it costs under $25 per person. They also have the Riedel wine tasting workshop where you get a set of wine glasses as part of the workshop. The cost for that starts at $82 per person.

[mummsie]

DH and I have a cruise booked for April 2014 (complimentary hold, so far, but plan to book it) on the Reflection. We are interested in any wine, beer or martini tastings, food and wine tastings, "Iron Chef"-like competitions and dance classes. What can we expect to pay (ball park is fine) for attending the workshops? I thought the dance classes and Iron Chef-like competitions were included in the cost of the cruise, but thought I would double check. We are just trying to figure out what tastings are available and how much to budget for them. Thanks!:)

 

The dance classes are free but you won't learn too much :) You can take private lessons for a fee I believe. mummsie

[HappyTvlr]

I did the Iron Chef thing on Century and it was free. It was only done once on the cruise and I was "lucky" enough to be picked out of the small audience attending. There was a cooking class for $139 that included an awesome, but heavy, cookbook. I loved the experience and picked up a few tips, but the real value was the experience of being in the ship's kitchen with the chef and preparing a wonderful lunch.

[sweetp09]

I did the Iron Chef thing on Century and it was free. It was only done once on the cruise and I was "lucky" enough to be picked out of the small audience attending. There was a cooking class for $139 that included an awesome, but heavy, cookbook. I loved the experience and picked up a few tips, but the real value was the experience of being in the ship's kitchen with the chef and preparing a wonderful lunch.

 

Glad to hear that is free. Sounds fun. Wow, that sounds a bit pricey for a cooking class, but it sounds very interesting. That is where you would in the ship's kitchen?

[HappyTvlr]

I won't disagree with the price issue, but the book is expensive on its own and beautiful. They were kind enough to let my husband participate for $99 w/o the book. We were in Murano and it was so small and hot when we got to cooking the fish, but we had a good group and everyone made room. This is the reason there were only 10 of us so sign up early if you are interested. We made the starter and the main, and the head chef of Murano made their signature crepes for us so this made it more than worth it. They even served wine throughout the lunch. We would do it again, but we are on the Century again for our second of 2 cruises so we will wait until we sail another ship. As for wine events, we signed up with the sommelier on the first night for all events. They were no more than $15 with the exception of the typical Riedel tasting which includes glasses on some cruises. We got the Riedel tasting w/out the glasses for $15 because they were out of glasses or something. We do use Riedels at home now because they do make a huge difference in our opinion.

[CaptData]

Martini tasting is done with a flight of martinis in the Martin Bar. It is $15.00. It is available to do anytime the Martini Bar is open.

 

There is a wine and caviar thing too but The cost varies depending on which wine and caviar you have.

[alishac]

On our last 4 cruises (all solstice-class) they have had the Iron Chef competition, and its always free and lots of fun!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Sounds like fun ...

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Yes they had the Iron Chef thing on Infinity too. It is not people from the tv show. It is two chefs from the cruise paired with two audience members. They have a 30 minutes to compose a dish from the ingredients available. It is fun.

 

Also on Infinity (and I'm sure other cruises as well) they have cooking demonstrations on other days that are free.

 

They have dance lessons that are free and fun- but obviously for novice dancers. I've done them and they are fun.

 

There are some things like food and wine pairings that have a nominal fee.