Your Cruise Your Way Cruise Blog

Crystal Cruises has secured star guest chefs and wine experts for the stages and galleys of its October Wine & Food Festival cruises in the Mediterranean and New England. Their trend of getting the most famous chefs in the world on their wine and food cruises continues, with the 2008 selections both renown in their respective specialties. This year’s cruise continue with the international diversity that Crystal is known for on its culinary cruises. This year Miami and London will be represented.

· Michelle Bernstein, former James Beard nominee and famed chef/owner of Michy’s in Miami, and wine expert/author Lettie Teague of Food & Wine Magazine will dazzle Crystal Serenity guests with Mediterranean inspired cuisine and wine appreciation on a 12-day voyage from Rome to Barcelona departing October 18, 2008.

· Henri Brosi, executive chef of London’s Dorchester Hotel, will showcase the techniques that have earned him worldwide critical acclaim during a 10-day Canada and New England Crystal Symphony cruise beginning on October 19 from Montreal to New York. Joining him is wine “wizard” Keith Goldston, one of the world’s youngest Master Sommeliers.

Onboard lectures, cooking demonstrations, tastings, and dinners of signature dishes promise food and wine enthusiasts access to the insights and talents of these culinary stars through their award-winning cuisine and their passion for fine food and wine.

“The luxury of benefiting from the creative expertise of the innovative names in the culinary world is an example of the one-of-a-kind encounters guests have come to expect aboard Crystal ships,” says Toni Neumeister, Crystal vice president of food and beverage operations.

Throughout each voyage, carefully crafted optional shore excursions offer guests authentic regional culinary experiences, such as cooking lessons at a Michelin star restaurant in Sorrento, wine tasting in the Sicilian countryside, a lobster lunch on the coast of Nova Scotia and a three-course gourmet meal and blind wine tasting in Saint John’s.

Bernstein and Brosi are among a roster of internationally recognized world-class chefs headlining Crystal Cruises’ six Wine and Food Festival voyages in 2008.

Crystal Serenity’s 12-day cruise from Rome to Barcelona October 18, 2008, features calls in Naples and Sicily/Catania, Italy; Gibraltar, United Kingdom; and Malaga, Cartagena, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca, Spain; concluding with a shipboard overnight call in Barcelona. Fares begin at $4,445, per person, double occupancy.

Crystal Symphony’s 10-day cruise from Montreal to New York, October 19, 2008, features calls in Quebec City, Quebec; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John’s, New Brunswick; Bar Harbor, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island. Fares begin at $3,435, per person, double occupancy.

For more information and Crystal reservations, please contact me at 888-579-8706. Visit the luxury line’s website at crystalcruises.com.