Island Shore Excursions For Your Tastebuds

If you’ve cruised with Holland America Line, you may be familiar with their FOOD & WINE shore excursions. Teaming up with the famed magazine of the same name, the cruise line’s food excursions offer hands-on cooking classes with top restaurant chefs, culinary walking tours, winery visits, tours of authentic street food, exploring local hideaways and more. Holland has recently announced plans to add more excursion options to the program in Hawaii and Tahiti.

FOOD & WINE Shore Excursions

Hawaiian Cuisine | Photo: Holland America Line

Who doesn’t love a taste of authentic island living? These new shore excursion programs take guests to places their palates have never gone before.

Orlando Ashford, President of Holland America Line, explained how food as a universal language led to the expanded shore excursions.

“Holland America Line’s tours in partnership with FOOD & WINE resonate with our guests because they want to connect with our destinations through the universal language of food, and Hawaii and Tahiti offer cuisine with such vibrant flavors,” he said. “Culinary excellence in the South Pacific has really taken off on a global level and these new tours are a great addition to this program.”

RELATED: Dish It Up: Holland America’s Food Frontiers

Hawaii

There are six new shore excursions offered on cruises to Hawaii including tours of Honolulu and Kona and on Kauai and Maui. In addition to exploring the gastronomic side of Hawaii, the tours also feature some of the most scenic and notable sites on the islands.

On the “Famous Oahu Sites and Bites” tour for example, passengers get a memorable taste of Hawaii’s buzzing food scene at one of star chef Ed Kenney’s hot local restaurants while also taking in Diamond Head, Waimanalo Beach and Pali Lookout in the rugged Ko’olau Mountains.

Tahiti

Few places on Earth are as scenic as French Polynesia, but those who come for the views often end up staying for the cuisine! Two tours in Papeete, Tahiti, showcase the island’s exotic fare and allows passengers to discover the very unique flavors of this incredible collection of islands.

A market visit and walking tour offers displays of colorful and aromatic pineapples, mangoes, bananas, papayas, guava, ginger, vanilla and coconuts. Passengers then indulge in a three-course gourmet lunch at L’O à la Bouche, one of Papeete’s top French restaurants. In this refined and modern space, guests enjoy a gastronomic menu by Chef Jean Charles that blends his masterful French culinary technique with local Tahitian ingredients and flavors.

Is your mouth watering yet? Let us know in the comments below!