Dining & Drinks

World Class Dining Experience

We've upped the onboard dining game with our culinary program, featuring an array of fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from each port along the journey. Each nightly menu is crafted to highlight the spectacular flavors of the regional cuisine.

Culinary Shore Excursions
Tantalize your taste buds with a variety of flavorful shore excursions. Choose from wine, brewery, and distillery tours as well as hands-on cooking classes with seasoned chefs practiced in the art of perfecting traditional and modern recipes. Ship to shore, we’ll intoxicate your senses.

Onboard Dining Venues
Every meal is just what you'd expect on your private yacht - perfect. You're free to dine when, where, and with whomever you please.

Introducing Our Plant-Based Culinary Innovation
Announcing our flavorful, healthy, and delectable, yet delicious dishes. Try veggie enchiladas, crispy kefta of lentil and beet, or chocolate delight cake to name a few of our wide variety of plant-based innovations.

Introducing Windstar’s Market Tours

Accompany your chef to a local market (where available) to select the local ingredients, seasonal produce, herbs and spices that will be included in your special evening meal. The essence of the culture you explored on shore miraculously appears as a delicious masterpiece on your plate.

Set Sail with the Official Cruise Line of the James Beard Foundation

It’s the perfect pairing. Windstar Cruises and the James Beard Foundation are partnered to bring you culinary experiences that are 180 degrees from ordinary. Through this program, Windstar works with the James Beard Foundation to bring together some of the most talented chefs on themed cruises and in our dining program.

Imagine dining on dishes created by not just one celebrity chef, but a list of all-stars with the likes of Maxime Bilet (The Cooking Lab), Evan Hanzcor (Egg), and Jose Mendin (Pubbelly Noodle Bar, Habitat, Baja Bao) every single night in our main Amphora dining room. For a truly beyond ordinary experience, join us on our themed cruises featuring James Beard Foundation chefs and beverage experts, a foodie’s dream, with chef demos, dishes created by chef themselves, and market tours. And learn their secrets as you watch demos of their recipes on every sailing.

The James Beard Foundation was created to recognize and celebrate the chefs, writers and restaurateurs who advance America’s culinary arts. This emphasis on innovation and excellence pairs perfectly with Windstar’s superior service, intimate ambiance and drive to constantly innovate its cuisine. The James Beard Foundation nominates and chooses winners of the James Beard Awards, referred to as the Oscars of the restaurant industry.

As the Official Cruise Line of the James Beard Foundation, we’re able to work with over 20 of the best chefs to create the extraordinary dishes on our nightly menu and in our culinary demos. Windstar is celebrating the 10th anniversary of our partnership in 2025. To mark this special occasion, we're thrilled to announce the return of several beloved chefs who have sailed with us in the past.

Sail with a Chef
Imagine going on a grocery trip with your favorite chef to pick out ingredients for dinner at a local market and then learning techniques that they use to create a perfectly seasoned dish, where the flavors sing in harmony and notes of spices spark off your tongue. Listen to their stories and ask for their recommendations on their favorite restaurants and recipes. It’s not just about the food and wine, but also getting to know these epicurean experts on a personal level. This is Windstar’s James Beard Foundation Culinary Themed Cruise experience, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to taste dishes from some of the most sought-after James Beard Foundation chefs.

Each Themed Culinary Cruise Features:

• Wine, spirits, or beer tastings
• Demos by the chef of some of their recipes
• Hosted dinner with a James Beard Foundation chef, including wine pairings
• Shopping at the local market with the chef