At the risk of sounding re-dunn-dant, one of the things I like best about cruising is the food. So go ahead and ask me what I think of spending 11 nights on a ship that’s all about The Food Network, when six of them are consecutive how-much-water-is-in-the-Atlantic nights.
What’s to think?
This cruise, aboard Celebrity’s yet-to-be launched Silhouette, is a world-class no-brainer for anybody who likes eating (me), cooking (me) and sailing (me). It happens that I’m married to somebody who will indulge me on two of the three…well, he can poach eggs. It also happens that I love The Food Network — doesn’t everybody? — and I love getting good value for my hard-earned money.
Here’s what you get for approximately $200 a night, depending on whether you take an inside cabin or a balcony. No, none of the cabins come with kitchens, even on the Silhouette, likely to be the newest cruise ship on the seas at that time.
That time is October, when it will make its maiden Transatlantic voyage. I should mention that the price — available only through The Food Network — also includes your gratuities and participation in a bunch of Food Network events, like a Mediterranean BBQ with Anne Burrell, and if you don’t know who Anne is you’ve been spending too much time watching Mash re-runs.
The celebrity chef who hosts Worsts Cooks in America and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef specializes in all dishes from countries that start with Italy. That’s where she learned her craft, not to mention cooking with intense flavors, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this cruise begins in Rome. Her apprenticeship in Tuscany, among other places, led to executive chef positions at exclusive restaurants in big cities, most of which are a long way from Cazenovia, the upstate town where she was born.
There’s more about this cruise to lick…I mean, like.
Five cooking classes and two wine seminars. Can there be a better way to spend six days on the Atlantic Ocean? Two more cooking demonstrations by Anne and, if you’re into signature collecting, she’ll sign autographs. Access to an exclusive hospitality lounge, with food from TFN chefs. Turndown treats at night guaranteed to put foil-wrapped chocolates to shame. You may notice the common thread…or common pasta noodle.
Never will I be caught saying food is a 4-letter word!