On February 6, 2022, award-winning small ship cruise line Windstar Cruises has its first themed culinary cruise in 2022 with chefs from the James Beard Foundation ready to set sail. Don’t worry, there are two more culinary cruises this year, plus you can sample dishes created by James Beard Foundation chefs every night on every Windstar cruise.

Cruise ship Windstar in December 1986. (Photo by Raphael GAILLARDE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Gamma Rapho via Getty Images

Windstar Cruises and the James Beard Foundation has partnered to bring chefs and sommeliers aboard Windstar ships to further enhance Windstar’s 180 degree cruises.

Headquartered in Seattle, the company has six vessels – the flagship five-masted Windsurf, two four-masted, and three newly expanded and refurbished 312-passenger all-suite yachts. Windstar ships sail around the world, concentrating on small ports of call that other cruise lines cannot reach.

The food and beverage program has always been important on Windstar Cruises, but now there are new restaurants and experiences, culinary shore excursions, as well as selected cruises of the James Beard Foundation. These cruises feature chef-hosted dinners with wine pairings, onboard cooking demonstrations (with recipes to try at home) and, where local conditions permit, chef-led market tours. Here are the three offers for 2022.

February 2022 Cruise from Aruba to Panama with Chef Jennifer Hill Booker

Author and TV personality, Chef Jennifer Hill Booker, says she specializes in “modern wholesome southern cuisine with a French accent,” combining her southern heritage with her cordon bleu training in Paris. Chef Hill Booker is also the Culinary Explorer for the Georgia Department of Tourism and Travel. Your cruise with the James Beard Foundation is called In the wake of the Spanish Armadas.

Chef Jennifer Hill Booker

Windstar Cruises

This eight-day cruise departs on February 6, 2022 from Oranjestad, Aruba aboard Windstar’s flagship, 342-passenger, five-masted motorsailer. windsurfing. Besides Aruba visits the cruise Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica. Windsurf leaves the Caribbean for South and Central America, first sailing to the oldest city in Colombia, Santa Marta, and then on to Cartagena and its old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Panama, the ship stops in the Bocas del Toro archipelago before sailing to Puerto Limón/Moin in Costa Rica and then back to Panama to Colón.

Sunset over Cartagena, Colombia

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Dining tips: Look for cashews — both fruit and nut — from Puerto Limón, tropical fruit, plus Colombia’s national dish, bandeja paisa with rice and red beans, plus proteins like ground beef, chorizo, and fried egg.

May 2022 Cruise from San Diego to Vancouver with Chef Tanya Holland

Chef Tanja Holland

Windstar Cruises

Chef Tanya Holland, author, Food Network host and chef/owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurants in Oakland, California, is a champion of inclusion and equity in the hospitality industry. your 10 days James Beard Foundation: West Coast Epicurean Extravagance Cruising is on board all suite for 312 passengers Star Breeze which has been stretched to add over 84 feet to its center in 2020 Windstar’s $250M Star Plus Initiative.

Star Breeze begins this culinary cruise in San Diego, visiting Santa Barbara and San Francisco before entering the Columbia River with a stop in Portland. Before entering Canadian waters, the Star Breeze calls at Seattle.

Ship Surgery – Part of Windstar Cruises’ massive renovation project

Windstar Cruises

The cruise then visits the capital of British ColumbiaVictoria, on Vancouver Island with passengers departing in the mainland city Vancouverwhere it should be perfect weather dining terrace.

Restaurant terraces in the Yaletown neighborhood, Vancouver, BC. Canada.

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Dining tips: Local and sustainably harvested shrimp could be available by May, and vegetables like asparagus will be plentiful. It will be too early to eat local cherries, but cherry trees are likely to still be in bloom in Victoria and Vancouver.

October 2022 Cruise from Montreal to Boston with Chef Irene Li

Chef Irene Li

Windstar Cruises

Chef Irene Li is the James Beard Foundation’s Executive Chef onboard this 11-day Canada-USA cruise. Chef Li opened Mei Mei in 2013 – it’s a family-run Chinese restaurant in Boston that, like Chef Li, is committed to fair and ethical sourcing and employment practices.

The cruise takes place on board the suite with 312 guests Star Pride, Windstar’s third yacht to be stretched and refurbished. Star Pride will resume passenger services in Greece and Turkey from spring 2022 before heading to Portugal, Scotland, Ireland and Iceland. There will be several long cruises between Reykjavik and Montreal before Star Pride cruises between Boston and Montreal before Chef Li’s host James Beard Foundation: Southeast Canadian Explorations Cruise departing October 12, 2022.

Montreal, from across the St. Lawrence River

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Star Pride starts in Montreal and first stays overnight in Quebec City before heading east along the St. Lawrence River—wherever You might see whales – and then out to others Quebec Destinations of the Gaspé and Cap-aux-Meules, gateway to the Magdalen Islands. In Nova Scotia, Star Pride visits Louisbourg in Cape Breton, the provincial capital Halifax and the picturesque town of Lunenburg. In Maine, there are stops in Bar Harbor and Portland before the cruise ends in Boston.

Dining tips: Try the fresh lobster, mussels, oysters and local cheeses. Look for Quebec’s at Canadian stores and farmers markets Black Goat – a spicy goat’s milk cheddar – and Nova Scotia’s dragon breath — a unique blue cheese sold in a black wax container.