Cruise lines offer up an education with your vacation

The days when people went on a cruise vacation and returned home satisfied with just a tan have long been gone.

Now passengers want more: to learn and accomplish something during their cruise – perhaps learning about local wines or how to prepare typical dishes of countries visited during their voyage, or maybe pick up some new dance steps and learn how to sketch or watercolor.

So in response, many cruise lines offer various learning facilities and programs. Many of these programs are free; others have fees. Here are some highlights of learning opportunities on a variety of cruise lines. For additional information, visit each cruise line’s website.

-- Azamara Club Cruises – Wine tastings and culinary demonstrations are among the enrichment programs offered by Azamara Club Cruises. Computer classes are also available (fee applies). This line also began featuring one complimentary "AzAmazing Evening" on every voyage in 2013. The shore-side events highlight local culture and traditions –dance, music, cuisine and theater in private settings or landmarks. One example is the AzAmazing Evening in Livorno, Italy that offers transportation to a local concert hall and a performance by three tenors. Info: www.azamaraclubcruises.com.

-- Celebrity Cruises – Wine appreciation programs and CelebrityLife enrichment are among the opportunities for learning at sea with this line. One of the programs is the Reidel Comparative Wine Glass Workshop that includes a tasting of four wines to illustrate how the aromas and flavors of the wines change from glass to glass (fee applies). CelebrityLife activities include art lessons and programming in partnership with Rosetta Stone and the Corning Museum of Glass (available on Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Eclipse). From a youth program perspective, Celebrity also offers the iTake activity - a video project for teens, complete with a GoPro Hero 3 to record and create (in the Celebrity iLounge) short videos of their Celebrity Cruises vacation. Young guests can also be awarded for their artistic takes in the XClub Film Festival and Award Ceremony. Info: www.celebritycruises.com.

-- Crystal Cruises – Learning opportunities abound here and include complimentary Berlitz language lessons, art classes, cultural lectures, culinary demonstrations, wine tastings, and computer classes. On the Crystal Serenity, complimentary Yamaha music keyboard lessons are also available. Info: www.crystalcruises.com.

-- Cunard Line – The Cunard Insights program presents distinguished lecturers – academicians, ambassadors, novelists and other personalities who talk on cultural, historical, contemporary and other topics onboard Cunard ships. And the Cunard Conexions program features a variety of classes from watercolor lessons to computer classes and from wine tastings to dance classes. Wine lectures are complimentary and fee applies for tastings. Info: www.Cunard.com.

-- Disney Cruise Line – Everyone supposes rightly that children find plenty of learning opportunities on board Disney Cruise Line ships, and they do, with everything from learning to draw Mickey, Goofy and other characters to Super Sloppy Science with hands-on experiments, but adults find enrichment too. During Art of Entertaining, for example, guests learn the secrets behind enchanting entertaining and dining experiences, and meet with experts for tips in creating everything from dazzling desserts to floral masterpieces to the perfect wine pairing. Another program, the From Stem to Stern wine tasting, provides an opportunity to meet with one of the ship’s sommeliers and sample wines from around the world. Info: www.disneycruise.com.

-- Holland America Line – A Culinary Arts Center with demonstration kitchen and overhead cameras sets the scene for cooking demonstrations by guest chefs and the line’s own culinary staff plus party planning, mixology and wine tasting classes (fee applies on tastings and signature cooking classes). Free Digital Workshops Powered By Windows offer a variety of computer classes by a Microsoft-trained techspert and art tours and destination lectures are featured. Info: www.hollandamerica.com.

-- Oceania Cruises – A Culinary Center with 24 workstations is outfitted with induction cooking tops, sinks and utensils for hands-on workshops. Among the workshop offerings are a la carte classes on breakfast dishes, Greek specialties, chocolate desserts, flavors from the sea and more (fee applies for each workshop). Bon Appetit magazine, in partnership with the cruise line, selects a roster of chefs to lead the workshops. Some programs package two or more classes (fee applies). Other enrichment, in addition to the cooking classes, includes art classes and port lectures. Info: www.oceaniacruises.com.

-- Princess Cruises – ScholarShip@Sea classes on photography, ceramics, culinary arts, computers and more are available –up to 40 classes per voyage on Princess ships (fee applies for such courses as ceramics where participants decorate a piece of pottery and have it fired in an onboard kiln and take it home as a keepsake). Info: www.princess.com.

-- Seabourn – Culinary demonstrations, wine tastings, and "Seabourn Conversations," whereby luminaries such as explorers, scholars, chefs and performers, participate in the daily life of the ship: sharing meals, chatting, joining excursions and other activities with guests. Info: www.seabourn.com.

-- Silversea – Language lessons, destination seminars and lectures by such celebrated speakers as explorers, historians, professors, best-selling authors, and performers are among the choices here. Culinary demonstrations and various tastings are featured. On Culinary Arts & Wine Voyages, guests can participate in the Relais & Chateaux L’Ecole Des Chefs, cooking school at sea (the program is complimentary). Info: www.silversea.com.

By Georgina Cruz, Special Correspondent - Sun Sentinel

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