Culinary classes on Riviera

[ToxM]

We are on Riviera over Christmas this year and I just this morning booked Marital Unit on the Fish class (he knows!). 

 

Still unable to book online, but I rang and sorted it very quickly. 

[bbtondo]

16 hours ago, Poly Grad Sweethearts said:

I was told there are no classes currently on the Rivera. We have an early Oct. cruise booked.

On my mid August Med cruise this year on the Rivera there were cooking classes.

[Traveller94]

We did two cooking classes on Riviera at the end of August. It was still one person per station, but in both our classes couples were still next to each other.

I don’t cook at all, but my husband does and we thought it would be a fun couples activity. The staff helped me a couple times, so it didn’t matter that I had my own station. I could have asked DH as well, since you are still close to each other. We both had fun.

 

One of the classes had a chicken dish. We went by the open house on embarkation day and I let the instructor know I didn’t eat chicken. She had a vegetarian modification ready for me the day of class.

 

 

[Robjame]

If you are curious about the culinary classes aboard Riviera, here is a YouTube discussion of a recent experience aboard Marina.

 

 

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

thank you for posting the video, @Robjame.  We are considering an O cruise for next year and this got me excited!  We did a cooking class on Regent's and really enjoyed it, but this looks like it goes a step further!

[NeedToChill]

Does look very good. Keep in mind, that thing in Riga was a culinary *excursion* not just a class. But I suspect their cooking classes alone are superior to other lines, since they have such dedicated staff and space for the classes.

[LHT28]

35 minutes ago, NeedToChill said:

Does look very good. Keep in mind, that thing in Riga was a culinary *excursion* not just a class. But I suspect their cooking classes alone are superior to other lines, since they have such dedicated staff and space for the classes.

Cooking Excursions  & Cooking classes  are 2 different  things

 The Culinary classes are about 2 hours  & on the larger ships only

You get to prepare/eat  some of the dishes

Most items are prepped  for you like the dough for Pasta

[judebarsto]

We are just off the Riviera from Lisbon to Rome in October. I took the red ginger cooking class (without my husband) and found it excellent. Chef Stephanie was personable, humorous, knowledgeable and an excellent instructor. We all had a great time! The stations were individual but couples were able to be right next to each other. A very efficient crew cleaned up after you and made sure all your prep was in order. But you actually did the cooking and of course the eating! We had previously eaten at red ginger and the dishes we made were as good as, if not better, then the same dishes at the restaurant.The class was very well run, and I found it to be one of the most enjoyable activities that I’ve ever done on a cruise. Definitely worth the $89 fee. I would highly recommend it, but YMMV depending on who is the chef.

[Tyskie]

25 minutes ago, judebarsto said:

We are just off the Riviera from Lisbon to Rome in October.

The class was very well run, and I found it to be one of the most enjoyable activities that I’ve ever done on a cruise. Definitely worth the $89 fee. I would highly recommend it, but YMMV depending on who is the chef.

 

Thank you for posting your experience!

When/where did you book your class?  

 

@Robjame  Thanks for the video - the experience looks awesome.

 

@LHT28  Where/when do you book the Cooking Excursion?

 

Thank you for all the wonderful information.

 

[LHT28]

14 minutes ago, Tyskie said:

 

 

  Where/when do you book the Cooking Excursion?

 

Thank you for all the wonderful information.

 

Book the class online  or call O

 If they are sold out   then when you board go to Destination services & fill in the form to be on the waitlist  for the class you want

sometimes people cancel 

We have done it both ways

[Robjame]

15 minutes ago, Tyskie said:

Where/when do you book the Cooking Excursion?

When you access Booked Cruises on the Oceania website and go to Manage This Booking, you have a choice of tabs. Select Other Options and then Culinary Classes (not the easiest website to navigate!) You will see a blue button on the right Shop for Culinary Classes. The dates will populate and you can go through them. Not a class for every day.

‘Now if it is a culinary excursion - try Shore excursions. There is a selector button that allows you to filter by Wine and Food Tours.

 

 

[judebarsto]

33 minutes ago, Tyskie said:

 

Thank you for posting your experience!

When/where did you book your class?  

 

@Robjame  Thanks for the video - the experience looks awesome.

 

@LHT28  Where/when do you book the Cooking Excursion?

 

Thank you for all the wonderful information.

 

I booked it online quite a few months before the cruise, to get the time and date that I wanted. Our cruise was very port intensive, so I chose a date where we had already been to that port on a previous cruise. That being said, since there was a port every day, all of the cooking classes were from around 4 to 6 PM. The day I took my class we were schedule to eat at Toscana, and needless to say, I didn’t eat very much for dinner!

We had 2 no shows for our class, but it was too late to fill the spots with wait listers, if there were any. 

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, judebarsto said:

 The day I took my class we were schedule to eat at Toscana, and needless to say, I didn’t eat very much for dinner!

We had 2 no shows for our class, but it was too late to fill the spots with wait listers, if there were any. 

Yes  we try not to book a specialty  if we have a cooking class  LOL

 

[Tyskie]

Thank you!  Found all the necessary info. ❤️

[KnitReadDineTravel]

On 8/25/2022 at 5:35 PM, espmass said:

This will be our second Oceania cruise but on the first we did not try the culinary classes.  Can someone give me more information about them?  Are they worthwhile?  Do the participants actually prepare and cook or just watch the chef?  We are most interested in the Favorites of Red Ginger class so can anyone tell me about that one in particular?  Thanks so much for any info.

The curriculum is developed ny the Culinary Institute of America (excellent).  You are at your cooking station, sipping wine, music is playing, you look out at the bank of windows as you are “at sea”.  Highly recommend!

 

I’ve signed up for four (including the Red Ginger) on the Marina for our Dec. 18 holiday sail down the Amazon. 

[Goofyisme]

Do they give out written recipes for the dishes prepared.  Took a several day course on Regent several years ago where we got very detailed recipes.  Of course that was a trans Atlantic with plenty of days at sea for wonderful classes.

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, Goofyisme said:

Do they give out written recipes for the dishes prepared.  Took a several day course on Regent several years ago where we got very detailed recipes.  Of course that was a trans Atlantic with plenty of days at sea for wonderful classes.

yes 

I have a couple of the booklets  usually  4-6 pages of recipes (I think)

They probably will not be as intensive as the Regent ones I have heard about 

It is  a fun class  where you might learn new things  if you are not  a Chef to begin with

We enjoyed them

YMMV

[Goofyisme]

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

yes 

I have a couple of the booklets  usually  4-6 pages of recipes (I think)

They probably will not be as intensive as the Regent ones I have heard about 

It is  a fun class  where you might learn new things  if you are not  a Chef to begin with

We enjoyed them

YMMV

Thank you.  I am no chef but do most of the meal prep at home.  Hope they allow shared stations by the time we cruise next Sept so wife and I can enjoy together

[Lane412000]

We have taken culinary class on the last five Oceania cruises and have booked again for January. The experience has been great. In September each person had their own station. Chef Noelle in the video is outstanding and a super instructor. On our second class in September, we had a male instructor, I want to say his name was David.  Again, just a super instructor and individual. We have taken classes with Kelly and did not enjoy those classes. So much so that if I schedule or book a class and she is the instructor, it would be best for me just to walk out and lose the $89

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Lane412000 said:

We have taken culinary class on the last five Oceania cruises and have booked again for January. The experience has been great. In September each person had their own station. Chef Noelle in the video is outstanding and a super instructor. On our second class in September, we had a male instructor, I want to say his name was David.  Again, just a super instructor and individual. We have taken classes with Kelly and did not enjoy those classes. So much so that if I schedule or book a class and she is the instructor, it would be best for me just to walk out and lose the $89

I found it was the same instructor  for the cruise  but maybe we just got lucky with the same Chef

If you can check when you board who the Chef is  then you can cancel ASAP  if it is one you do not like  😉