Celebrity's Millennium to host line's fourth annual "Savor the Caribbean"
Series
MIAMI, Nov. 20 -- Celebrity Cruises is serving
up another sizzling "Savor the Caribbean" series featuring some of the
nation's hottest chefs. Celebrity's fourth annual series will take place on
Millennium's seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailings from January 7 through
March 4, 2007, with a host of celebrated chefs and restaurateurs.
Allen Susser, renowned creator of "Palm Tree Cuisine," will be the
featured chef on Millennium's January 7 itinerary. Susser's namesake
restaurant, "Chef Allen's," was named "Best Restaurant South of New York
City" by Travel + Leisure magazine.
Heating up the January 14 cruise will be Cindy Hutson, owner of
"Ortanique," which has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence,
Five Star Diamond Award, Mobil Four Stars and "Best New Restaurant" honors
from Esquire magazine. Hutson is best known for her "Cuisine of the Sun,"
combining South American, Asian, Caribbean and American fusion influences.
Starring on Millennium's January 21 itinerary will be the "Caribbean
Cowboy," Chef Johnny Vinczencz. Known in Florida for his
Caribbean-influenced cuisine, Vinczencz is adding a second "Johnny V"
restaurant on South Beach, in addition to his Ft. Lauderdale location which
has garnered praise by the Miami Herald and Wine Spectator.
Robert Trevino will be sizzling on Millennium's cruise setting sail on
February 18. Mixing his Mexican heritage, classic training and passion for
Puerto Rican cooking, Trevino has helped shape "Nuevo Latino" cuisine. He
has appeared on shows including Rachel Ray's $40 A Day, and even challenged
Mario Batali on Food Network's Iron Chef America.
Edgar Leal, who will be steaming up Millennium's February 25 cruise,
developed his culinary style in his native Venezuela, where he learned to
combine the classic and modern culinary influences of Latin America to
create his signature Pan-American culinary style. His restaurant, "Cacao,"
was recently named one of the best new restaurants in Miami by the Miami
Herald.
Those sailing on March 4th will enjoy the company of two star chefs,
Carmen Gonzalez and Norman Van Aken.
Gonzalez, chef and owner of "Carmen the Restaurant," is inspired by
seafood and the traditional fare of her native Puerto Rico. Gonzalez
infuses traditional Pan-Latino ingredients with modern elegance and
imagination, using bold flavors with a deft hand. Her restaurant has been
named "One of the Best New Restaurants in America" by Esquire magazine.
World-renowned chef and culinary innovator, Norman Van Aken, is the
owner of three award-winning restaurants. Van Aken is one of the only chefs
in America to have won the coveted James Beard Award and Food Arts' Silver
Spoon award for lifetime achievement.
Onboard Extras
Guests onboard Millennium will have the rare opportunity to participate
in a hands-on cooking class with the featured chef on each "Savor the
Caribbean" cruise. Two classes will be offered per cruise with a class size
limited to eight. The cooking class, two hours long, will have an extra
charge of $59 per person. Guests also may participate in a
Bacardi-sponsored class that teaches them to make perfect mojitos, complete
with souvenir muddler and glass.
Extending guests culinary education on land, Celebrity will feature a
host of culinary-inspired shore excursions. For example, in San Juan,
guests can enjoy a private cooking demonstration with Chef Robert Trevino
at his "Parrot Club," hailed by Bon Appetit for serving "the best meal in
the Caribbean." The luncheon menu includes a taste of traditional Puerto
Rican fare including The Parrot Club's famous "parrot passions" rum drink.
In St. Thomas, guests can be a part of an intimate cooking
demonstration hosted by three-time "Best Chef on St. Thomas" winner Brian
Katz at his new restaurant, "Wikked." Chef Katz will demonstrate and serve
recipes such as his three-rum-flamed shrimp with fried cassava,
malt-marinated chicken with plantain mofongo and Grand Marnier-macerated
mangoes with white chocolate cake and caramelized cashews.
Shore excursions and cooking classes can be purchased online up to 10
days prior to sailing, as well as onboard, if space remains available.
Departing Fort Lauderdale on Saturdays, Millennium will call on Casa de
Campo, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Charlotte Amalie, St.
Thomas.
Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale cruise
experiences with highly personalized service, authentic five-star dining,
and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity sails in Alaska, Bermuda,
California, Caribbean, Europe, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera,
Panama Canal and South America, and will begin sailing in Australia and New
Zealand in 2007. Noted for "The World's Best Large Ships," as voted by the
readers of Conde' Nast Traveler (February 2006 Cruise Poll), Celebrity's
current nine-ship fleet will be joined by Celebrity Solstice in 2008,
Celebrity Equinox in 2009, and a third Solstice-class ship in 2010. For
more information, call your travel agent, dial 1-800-437-3111 or visit the
Celebrity web site at http://www.celebritycruises.com.