Brought to you by Silversea
Silversea has launched its first dedicated collection of culinary-themed sailings, S.A.L.T. Culinary Voyages, betting that deep access to a destination’s food culture will set the brand apart in today’s luxury cruise market.
The collection builds on Silversea’s existing S.A.L.T. (Sea And Land Taste) programme, expanding it into full itineraries built around four themes – Gather, Craft, Celebrate and Indulge – that connect guests with regional ingredients, traditions and people. Rather than treating food as an onboard amenity, Silversea is positioning it as the reason for the entire voyage, both at sea and ashore.
“With our new collection of dedicated S.A.L.T. Culinary Voyages, we’re building on our position as the small-ship leader in culinary variety to give guests direct access to the people and places that define a region’s food culture,” said Bert Hernandez, president at Silversea. He pointed to experiences such as a countess opening her kitchen in northern Portugal, or a chef teaching family recipes at home in Normandy, as the kind of access “guests couldn’t arrange on their own.”
The collection debuts with seven sailings across Portugal, Spain, France and the UK aboard Silver Dawn and Silver Spirit, timed to Europe’s autumn Grape Harvest season between late August and late October 2026. The sailings run variously between Southampton and Lisbon, and as a roundtrip from Lisbon, ranging from 10 to 12 days, with stops at notable wine regions including Bordeaux, Bilbao, Santander, Vigo and Porto.
Onboard, each Grape Harvest voyage carries an expanded slate of culinary programming, including a nine-course dinner celebrating Iberian autumn flavours, sommelier-led tastings of Atlantic Coast wines and premium Bordeaux and Champagne labels, a Cognac and Armagnac tasting, and a hands-on S.A.L.T. Bar mixology class. A live seafood-focused masterclass with the ship’s executive chef and a foraged-ingredient lunch featuring wild mushrooms and truffles round out the onboard offering, alongside signature moments such as a Harvest Cruise Welcome and an Autumn Harvest Grand Brunch.
Ashore, the voyages tie into Silversea’s S.A.L.T. Experiences, its culinary-focused shore excursion programme. Highlights include a private port-blending session with an oenologist followed by a live-fire lunch at a UNESCO-listed Douro Valley estate; a behind-the-scenes kitchen visit and lunch with Michelin-renowned chef Vivien Durand at Château du Prince Noir in Bordeaux; a txakoli winery tasting and wood-fired feast at Michelin-starred restaurant Garena in Basque Country; a truffle hunt and lunch at the historic Château Royal de Cazeneuve; and a foraging session with a chef, forager and fisherman in Sintra.
These experiences are designed to be difficult, if not impossible, for travellers to arrange independently – a differentiator Silversea is leaning on as it positions itself against other luxury and expedition operators also competing for experience-driven travellers.
Grape Harvest marks the first chapter of the S.A.L.T. Culinary Voyages collection, which Silversea says it will continue to build out around distinctive culinary moments in other parts of the world.
More details on the Grape Harvest sailings and the wider S.A.L.T. programme are available on Silversea’s website.
