America's Test Kitchen demos on HAL

[venice07]

Has anyone in the HAL community attended America's Test Kitchen demonstrations on Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, etc.?

Is there a special promo code offered at the conclusion to gain access to the America's Test Kitchen website and content?

Much appreciated!

[leerathje]

 

I understand they are moving away from ATK...

 

L.

 

[kazu]

Sorry to say, but I think you will find this is gone by the time you get on board. Or, if it’s there it will be a very thin resemblance.

 

It’s no the equivalent of what was offered before IMO.

 

How many times do you need to hear how to prepare eggs and we not cruise once a year most times 😉 

[GabbiRose]

I was on the Eurodam this past November. I attended one ATK demo and found it not very interesting. It was so boring that I left half way through the demo. At the beginning of this demo, the chef informed us that she could not give out any samples of what she cooked. That was the deal breaker for me – no taste samples of the cooking demo!!!

 

The chef told us that they had an inspection the day prior to this demo. If I remember correctly, she said that they did not pass inspections. The Health Inspector would not allow cooking samples to be given out because the space of the test kitchen was shared with other activities.

 

The chef did give out hard copies of all recipes that were demoed. She also told us that you can get these recipes online at their website. I didn’t bother to note it down at the time but I did look it up just now -- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/guides/america-s-test-kitchen-onboard-holland-america-line. As for a promo code, I did not hear of any for the short time I was at the cooking demo.

Edited December 30, 2019 by GabbiRose

[sp2]

Hi venice07,

 

We were on the NIeuw Amsterdam Dec 7-14 cruise, and I went to several of the America’s Test Kitchen cooking demos. I think they were held on each sea day and also on an unexpected sea day when we couldn’t dock at Grand Turk. I found them entertaining and informative. They were held in the BB King club, but it seemed to be a full kitchen set up on the stage.  The chef was quite good and they also played short video snippets from the show to supplement the talk. The chef did explain there would be no sampling of the dishes since it wasn’t a proper cooking facility. There was no mention that this would be discontinued on HAL; I hope they do continue.

 

The chef Cassandra mentioned that if you go to

www.americastestkitchen.com/onboard

you can get access to all the recipes made on-board HAL by ATK, plus free 2 months of access to ATK’s online cooking school if you signup.

 

Good luck!

 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the info sp2.

[Himself]

My observation is that the Test Kitchen presentations are usually so full that it is SRO.  The exception would be on the Culinary Class ships where they are held on the World Stage.   They do draw a crowd there.  Why fet rid of something so successful?  

[cruisinteach2]

Disappointed that the 5* benefit for ATK changed  from allowing people to take part in cooking and then sharing a meal in the Pinnacle grill. That was a fun experience. Now the benefit is just another demo with fewer people and it was the same demo that had been on cruise previously. Wish they would bring back the cooking opportunity with a ship chef!

[iflyrc5]

3 minutes ago, cruisinteach2 said:

Disappointed that the 5* benefit for ATK changed  from allowing people to take part in cooking and then sharing a meal in the Pinnacle grill. That was a fun experience. Now the benefit is just another demo with fewer people and it was the same demo that had been on cruise previously. Wish they would bring back the cooking opportunity with a ship chef!

With ATK going away that may happen.  We are on the Grand South America and I asked the Mariner Society what is planned for the 5 star cooking class perk - the answer was - we don't know - nothing scheduled yet.   I also wish they would bring back the original hands on class with the chef from the ship and lunch in the Pinnacle - that was a nice perk for the 5 Star.

[sp2]

Why is ATK going away, and when?

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, cruisinteach2 said:

Disappointed that the 5* benefit for ATK changed  from allowing people to take part in cooking and then sharing a meal in the Pinnacle grill. That was a fun experience. Now the benefit is just another demo with fewer people and it was the same demo that had been on cruise previously. Wish they would bring back the cooking opportunity with a ship chef!

 

4 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

With ATK going away that may happen.  We are on the Grand South America and I asked the Mariner Society what is planned for the 5 star cooking class perk - the answer was - we don't know - nothing scheduled yet.   I also wish they would bring back the original hands on class with the chef from the ship and lunch in the Pinnacle - that was a nice perk for the 5 Star.

 

I'm not 5 star, so I had to pay for the classes, but they were worth it pre-ATK. Both times, I had a class with a guest chef. Cooking was fun, and the participants shared tasks as if we'd been cooking together for years. The chance to have lunch with the chef was great. I learned a lot about the restaurant business.

 

If they bring back these classes, I hope they allow lesser Mariners to buy in as they did in the past.

 

[iflyrc5]

6 minutes ago, sp2 said:

Why is ATK going away, and when?

According the ATK chef (Spencer) on the Rotterdam in November and a coffee chat with the Hotel Director the ATK/HAL relationship ends 1 Jan 2020.  I guess I will see for sure when we board the Volendam in 6 days.

[sp2]

15 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

According the ATK chef (Spencer) on the Rotterdam in November and a coffee chat with the Hotel Director the ATK/HAL relationship ends 1 Jan 2020.  I guess I will see for sure when we board the Volendam in 6 days.

Well that is disappointing. Can you update us after your cruise?

have a wonderful time!

[cruisinteach2]

2 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

According the ATK chef (Spencer) on the Rotterdam in November and a coffee chat with the Hotel Director the ATK/HAL relationship ends 1 Jan 2020.  I guess I will see for sure when we board the Volendam in 6 days.

Hope you enjoy your Volendam cruise - just completed the Amazon cruise and would love to be joining you in the Antarctic. It is an amazing place!! Hope you can let us know what the new cooking class perk will be!