Celebrity Cruise Tips for the Gourmet

If you want a memorable dining and wine tasting experience, your Celebrity Cruise ship will mix your passion with your cruise vacation for a memorable doze of holiday delight. It will bring you to one of the most famous locations in the movie industry to sample high quality wines and tour the beautiful local communities. Wellington, New Zealand is now best known for its unforgettable appearance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With its picturesque landscape, many fans have equally adored the beauty and peaceful charm of New Zealand.

What most fans of the movie

do not know is that this region of New Zealand also boasts of some of the most distinct-tasting wines in the world. If you are a lover of wine, you can take your wine fervor with you and go on a gourmet trip to New Zealand. Celebrity Cruises will bring you to this picture perfect community with scenic views of the countryside and breathtaking rural panorama of the laid-back lives of the locals.

The Celebrity Cruise Wellington

package lasts for approximately eight hours and thirty minutes. You will take a boat ride in order to reach the area. Upon arriving at the port, you will tour the Wellington Harbor and drive to the Hutt Valley. This is the location of the famous Harcourt Park, the serene landscape where three scenes from the movie were filmed and shot. The movie’s avid fans will definitely recognize this place as the spot where Gandalf appeared to Isengard and also where he approached Saruman subsequent to the ring’s second discovery at Hobbiton.

After this stopover, you will drive to the Kaitoke Regional Park which was shot as the setting for Rivendell. The tour guide will give some behind-the-scenes trivia and film backgrounders as you explore this area. You will view the park’s charming bush reserve as you walk in the different trails.

At the end of the walk

, you will be treated to some refreshments in the nearby Kaitoke Country Gardens. Following this, you will traverse the Rimutaka Ranges to reach Martinborough. Martinborough is heaven for lovers of wine and exquisite gourmet food. This is also where the Wairarapa wine industry has its main office. The industry has gained respect and fame from the world because of its highly popular Pinot Noir.

More wine tasting activities

await the gourmet travelers of Celebrity Cruise luxury vessels after the stopover at the winery. You will now drive to the Alana Estate Winery where you will be treated to a luxurious wine tasting banquet. After this, delicious lunch will be served at the Village Café which is found in the vicinity of the Martinborough Wine Centre. Although you will most likely be full by this time, the tour guide will bring you to Murdoch James for yet another sampling of their exquisite wines.

After New Zealand

, the ship can also bring you to the wine havens of Australia. Australia also has some of the world’s most exquisite wine regions. Clare Valley, Australia is best known for its array of famous white wines such as Semillon, Chardonnay and Riesling. You can go on a biking trail to some of the wineries in the area to combine your love for adventure and wine. The Hunter Valley area has over 80 wineries and is famous for Shiraz and Semillon.

There are also famous wines up North. The Yarra Valley in Victoria is most popular for its Pinot Noir. Here you can find the scenic landscape of small, charming wineries. Perth also has some distinct white wines that have gained a following around the world. Celebrity Cruise liners can arrange for your side trips to these wine regions so you will be able to experience the wine first hand.