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Celebrity Cruises has expanded its wine program to illuminate an even more full-bodied slate of offerings offering vacationers the opportunity to taste and learn about more wine than ever before. The updated program presents a comprehensive selection of wines from diverse regions and grape varietals, and a variety of price points.
“Our guests have told us how much they enjoy the wine experience on our ships, from participating in tastings led by our highly trained sommeliers to the convenience of our wine packages, to simply sipping a glass of wine while gazing out at sea,” said Scott Steenrod, Associate Vice President, Food and Beverage Operations.
Celebrity’s evolved wine program introduces more than 100 new selections of wines by the bottle, including 20 additional new half-bottle selections. As a result, the award-winning Solstice Class fleet offers over 500 different wines, and its Millennium Class ships – currently undergoing a revitalization program known as “Solsticizing” – offer over 300, as does Celebrity Century.
Celebrity’s in-house sommelier and beverage programming expert, Chanelle Duarte, developed the enhancements to Celebrity’s main restaurant wine list, carefully changing out over 100 wines in order to add depth and relevance to the program. Duarte has worked with Celebrity since 2007, and has contributed to the development and launch of numerous unique beverage offerings, including the Enomatic wine preservation and dispensing system, among others.
“Chanelle’s creativity and knowledge have been integral to the evolution of our beverage program, and the updated wine program is another example of her ability to elevate our already exceptional offerings to even greater heights,” Steenrod said.
Celebrity engaged wine educator Brian Connors to develop a comprehensive wine education program for its sommeliers, bar staff and restaurant staff. Dubbed “Celebrity Cruises Wine University at Sea,” the program provides up to 24 hours of training with multiple levels of knowledge advancement based on the participants’ position. Celebrity’s Cellarmasters and future Cellarmasters complete the full training.
“We are constantly tweaking and revising our training program to make it better and more relevant to the changes in the wine market,” Steenrod said.
Guests on Celebrity’s ships also have the opportunity to experience wine tastings and food-and-wine pairing events, including the first Riedel comparative wine crystal workshops at sea, as part of the line’s Celebrity Life activities program.
Flickr photo by derekGavey

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