The sold out Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise 2016 starts in Hong Kong on January 3, ending in Singapore 14 nights later.  While it’s too late to join the 2016 the Taste Of Asia sailing, fans of cruise vacations, fine cuisine and amazing wine can come along with us and a team of culinary experts on a connoisseur’s cruise around Asia.   There is a lot to look forward to on this third version of the Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise which seems to get better each time.   Let’s take a look at the planned highlights then roll right into getting ready to go and getting there as we begin a more focused coverage of what looks to be a fabulous journey.

 

Sold Out Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise Itinerary

As was the case on the first and second Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise, the itinerary alone is good enough reason to hop on Seabourn Sojourn for two weeks. Different on this sailing, there is not one place on this itinerary that we have been to before.

The first Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise in 2014 racked up 44 individual events on a 10 day sailing. 2015’s sailing got more intense with 47 individual events in just 7 days. Bigger and better than ever, the lineup of events for the 2016 Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise numbers 90 right now. If this one goes as the last ones, that number will no doubt swell to over 100 by the time it is all said and done. Let’s take a brief look at what Seabourn has in store for those who come along for what is sure to be the at-sea culinary event of the year, yet again:

1. Asian Epicurean Welcome Party with local lion dance show
2. Colonnade: Chinese Market Dinner featuring local Peking duck
3. Sail away with Live Entertainment and Chinese Desserts
4. Wine Themed Movie: Red Obsession
5. Cooking Demonstration with our Celebrity Chef
6. Dim Sum Bar
7. Mixology Demonstration
8. Local Chef Lunch
9. Culinary Team Trivia
10. Galley Tour
11. Wine Tasting Seminar with our Guest Sommelier
12. Chinese Tea Ritual
13. Captain’s Welcome Reception
14. A Taste of Seabourn Chef’s Dinner
15. Shopping with the Chefs In Hanoi
16. Wine Lecture with our Guest Sommelier
17. Vietnamese Deck Event with Local Entertainment
18. Vietnamese Hot Pot Market Dinner
19. Street Food Dinner at the Patio Grill
20. Mixology Demonstration: Creating Fresh, Local Cocktails
21. Live Noodle Making Demonstration
22. Noodle Themed Lunch
23. Spring Roll Bar at the Patio Grill
24. Mixology Class: The Use of Herbs in Cocktails
25. Galley Tour
26. Cooking with Chilies Demonstration
27. Wine Tasting Seminar with our Guest Sommelier
28. Vietnamese Tea Time
29. Seabourn’s Signature Block Party
30. Celebrity Chef Dinner
31. Shopping with the Chefs in Da Nang
32. Wine Lecture with our Guest Sommelier
33. Local Market Lunch
34. Officers on Deck Event featuring Asian Flavors
35. Dessert Under the Stars
36. Rock the Boat Dance Party
37. Nightcap Cocktails with our Mixologist
38. Vietnamese Cooking Demonstration
39. Sushi Making Demonstration
40. Pho Bar at the Patio Grill
41. Galley Tour
42. Wine Tasting Seminar
43. Food Bazaar Dinner
44. Liquor Tasting with our Mixologist
45. Shopping with the Chefs In Ho Chi Minh City
46. Local Market Lunch
47. Shopping with the Chefs In Ho Chi Minh City (because we overnight there)
48. Vietnamese Market Lunch
49. Epicurean Sail-Away Event
50. Wine Lecture with our Guest Sommelier
51. Mixology Demonstration: Balancing Acidity in Cocktails
52. Cooking Demonstration with our Celebrity Chef
53. Local Ingredient Food Exposition on Deck
54. Wok and Stir Fry Lunch
55. Sate Lunch at the Patio Grill
56. Asia vs. Europe Cooking Challenge
57. Wine Lecture with our Guest Sommelier
58. Galley Tour
59. The Durian Fruit Challenge
60. Cocktail Tasting with our Mixologist
61. Wellness Day with Healthy Themed Events
62. Cambodian Themed Market Lunch
63. The Fine Art School of Phnom Penh Local show
64. Mixology Class: Creating Cocktails with Local Ingredients
65. Seabourn’s Signature Beach Barbecue
66. Caviar in the Surf
67. Coconut Drink Bar
68. Local Beer Tasting
69. Shopping with the Chefs In Bangkok
70. Local lunch featuring Tom Yum
71. Patio Grill: Curry Bar
72. Local Show followed by Thai Themed Sail-Away
73. Thai Dinner
74. Creating Thai Cocktails with our Mixologist
75. Thai Curry Demonstartion
76. Fruit and Vegetable Carving Demonstartion
77. Thai Lunch
78. Phad Thai Bar at the Patio Grill
79. Galley Tour
80. Mixology Demonstration
81. Wine Lecture by our Guest Sommelier
82. Captain’s Farewell Party and Crew Farewell
83. Celebrity Chef Dinner
84. Cooking Demonstration
85. Seabourn’s Signature Galley Market Lunch
86. Culinary Team Trivia — Final Round
87. A Conversation with the Culinary Team
88. Mixology Demonstration
89. The Best of Seabourn Dinner
90. Culinary Movie: Eat, Pray, Love

Guest Chefs Join Seabourn’s Culinary Team

CHEF BERND SIENER
A native of Mainz, Germany, Chef Siener received his education at the Steigenberger Hotel School and the University of Heidelberg, ultimately earning certificates as both a Master of German Wines and a Master Chef. His career has been spent among a veritable constellation of Michelin stars including Franz Keller’s Schwarzer Adler (2 stars); Heinz Winkler’s Tantris (3 stars) and Tristan (2 stars); and Harald Wohlfahrt’s kitchen at the Kurhotel Traube (3 stars). Chef Siener applied his skills to other star-rated establishments in the United Kingdom, Spain, Colombia and Turkey before creating his own culinary domain at the Restaurant Bel Etage in the 5-star Vila Vita Rosenpark in Marburg, Germany. After ten Michelin-starred years as an award-winning chef and then culinary director at Bel Etage, he is now culinary director at the Vila Vita Gastro in Marburg. Chef Siener has also co-authored a number of cookbooks for the celebrated culinary publisher Teubner. He is married, with two young children.

 

GYPSY GIFFORD
Gypsy Gifford, born in England and raised in Southern California, is a CIA alumna and valued culinary instructor. She worked for several years in New York City in the restaurants of Daniel Boulud, Terrence Brennan and Rocco DiSpirito. In New York she worked as Executive Chef at Rain Restaurant, transitioning a long time Thai Restaurant into a successful modern Asian restaurant and earning the Emerging Tastemaker Award from Food Arts Magazine. She left New York and headed to California to run Café Pinot, the acclaimed jewel of the Patina Restaurant Group. From there she moved onwards to work as Corporate Chef for Disney Studios where projects focused on sustainability and overhaul of foodservice at employee based cafes. Highlights of the time at Disney include the development and implementation of a 4-acre farm which delivered 10K pounds of produce per year to Disney foodservice locations as well as an equal amount in donations to local food banks. Chef Gifford’s cooking is much in tune with her personality, free spirited, driven by curiosity, and likely to pull from all corners of the globe.

In her time at The Culinary Institute of America, Chef Gifford has developed and launched a challenging semester abroad for US-based Bachelor’s students. This Asian Concentration takes students on a culinary journey that spans the Silk Road and maritime Spice Routes of the greater Asian continent. Chef Gifford has been traveling to Asia for over 12 years and has resided in Singapore since 2012. Her personal and professional research projects are focused on Southeast Asian foodways and culinary traditions.

 

Follow Along With Us

We fly on New Year’s Day from Orlando to Hong Kong via Dubai on Emirates Airlines, our new favorite international carrier.  Follow along every step of the way, right here and socially a number of ways:

At ChrisCruises.com– a new post every day.  Click here for all of them or pick topics of interest, as they are published

Pre-Cruise:

• New Ingredients In 2016 Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise
• Culinary Dream Team Set For Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise
• Food And Wine Cruise To Feature 90 Culinary Events

 

Live From Seabourn Sojourn

• Coming soon

 

Flickr Photo Albums- posted as we travel

• REVIEW: 2015 Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise- In Photos

 

Pinterest Boards- One for each port of call, every event and more

• Hong Kong– coming soon
• Halong Bay– coming soon
• Da Nang- coming soon
• Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)– coming soon
• Sihanoukville– coming soon
• Ko Kood– coming soon
• Laem Chabang (Bangkok)– coming soon
• Singapore- coming soon

 

Twitter- follow @OrlandoChris for moment by moment coverage of the Seabourn Food And Wine Cruise + an assortment of cruise and travel topics

Google +– Follow along every step of the way

Facebook Photo Albums– one for each event and port of call

• coming soon