ArcaMax

This is the one time it’s acceptable to eat right from the pan. Just use a spoon, not a fork.

We’re about 30 miles south of Valencia, Spain, in the tiny town of Cullera sitting in a garden surrounded by an orange orchard learning how to cook and eat the traditional Spanish paella, the famous rice, chicken, and vegetable dish. (If there is seafood in it, that’s not traditional, our teacher, Rafa Codona, admonishes us through a translator.

We are in the agricultural region of L’Horta. Paella, we learn, was first made here in the 19th century by farmers in the fields who would scrounge whatever they had on hand, plus rice, to make lunch. That would include tomatoes, chicken, beans, rabbit, even rat or snails. Today, families gather on Sundays for a paella lunch (never dinner) as Americans might for barbecue.

There are 15 who have signed on for Paella 101 on this last day of our two-week transatlantic crossing on Regent Seven Sea’s new 744-passenger ship, Grandeur. This is one of the few shore excursions that require an extra charge ($99), as most everything on the luxury cruise line is included and the group agreed the experience was well worth the extra money. “So much fun,” said Terri DiRado, from Houston, sailing with her husband, Andy.

On this cruise, the only kids we meet are adult kids traveling with grandparents or parents. “I can’t remember the last time we did something like this,” one daughter traveling with her 80-something parents said. But on Regent’s popular Alaska cruises, holiday cruises and shorter cruises in the Mediterranean, you will find multi-generational families, often with the grandparents picking up the tab.

(Regent has just announced The Exotics Edition deal offering significant savings on select 2024 and 2025 voyages as long as bookings are made by June 30. The deal is available on 35 voyages ranging from 10 to 25 nights, in destinations including Asia, Africa & Arabia, the South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand and South America.)

Guests seem to especially enjoy the culinary adventures, as well as the culinary adventures on board. Regent’s onboard destination manager, Claudia Manzanares, explains that because so many Regent guests have cruised and visited the same ports before, they are seeking a different experience with plenty of cultural immersion.

In Malaga, Spain, for example, along the sea promenade we learned how sardines are cooked the traditional way, on skewers in old, sand-filled rowboats that serve as barbecue grills, and then eaten with our fingers. Delicious!

Another day during a stop in Madeira, Portugal, we opted for a tour that included “Poncha,” a popular local drink made with rum, honey, sugar, and lemon. Afterward, we stopped at a local winemaker’s home to taste his wine and local dishes, including a particular long-simmered pork stew, prosciutto, cheese, croquettes, a local bread called Bolo do Cao, and Milho fritos, a cornmeal- based fried dish mixed with cabbage and cut in squares.

There were wine-tasting tours and other trips focusing on tapas, small bites, as well as chef-led market tours that might end with an onboard cooking class.

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