P&O Cruises to Offer Exclusive Shore Experience

For an immersive city exploration, P&O Cruises and Time Out have joined forces to offer an exclusive Lisbon shore experience for guests with an interest in the culinary arts and regional tastes. This collaboration brings together experts and locals, allowing participants to dive into Lisbon’s vibrant food and architectural scene.

An Enhanced Lisbon Shore Experience

P&O Cruises, a British cruise line established in 1977, and Time Out are set to collaborate on an exclusive Lisbon shore experience, coordinating with local specialists to give P&O passengers a cool new tour of the city, along with some deeper insight into Lisbon’s bustling culinary landscape.

Time Out, a well-known global media and hospitality brand, runs Time Out Market Lisbon in Portugal’s capital city. This foodie-oriented market is a lively gastronomic and cultural food hall, bringing together some of Lisbon’s finest restaurants, bars, and shops under one roof. This provides visitors with a wide array of cuisines and flavors to sample or make an entire meal out of in one convenient location. 

Together, the two companies have crafted a special shore experience called “The Flavours of Lisbon by Time Out and P&O Cruises.” This experience will provide ship guests the opportunity to indulge in Lisbon’s local culinary offerings. 

Available on select cruises only, this food-based experience includes a fun cooking class at Time Out Market, with plenty of time for travelers to roam around the city’s iconic Baixa district and even pose for a photo at the nearby, oh-so-picturesque Pink Street.

“Time Out has been uncovering the best of cities for decades and as our exclusive exploration partner, we’re so excited that P&O Cruises guests visiting Lisbon will get the opportunity to have a truly unique, authentic, culinary experience—created and curated by Time Out experts,” Paul Ludlow, P&O Cruises president, remarked.

“The Flavours of Lisbon” culinary journey, exclusively for adults, is currently priced at £109 (roughly $139 USD) per head. 

This experience will be available aboard the P&O Cruises’ most recent addition, the 184,700-ton Arvia (capable of accommodating 5,200 passengers) for a single 13-night Mediterranean cruise, as well as on Iona, built in 2020 by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, for two 14-night Spain and Portugal cruises.

Iona’s Spain and Portugal cruises depart from Southampton on September 23, 2023, and October 28, 2023. Ports of call (besides Lisbon) include Malaga, Barcelona, Cadiz, Alicante, and Valencia. The Mediterranean cruise onboard Arvia departs October 14, 2023, visiting Lisbon, Malaga, Barcelona, and Cadiz.

The Flavours of Lisbon: What to Expect

Participants will kick off their culinary adventure in Lisbon with a walking tour through the central Baixa area, which boasts magnificent architecture, trams, and the highly Instagrammable Pink Street.

Then, with local chef Miguel Mesquita as a guide, everyone will head to Time Out Market for an educational dive into Lisbon’s gastronomic scene. After gathering all the necessary ingredients for their upcoming cooking class, it’s time for the participants to cook!

The cooking stage of this culinary odyssey will take place at the Time Out Academy, a cooking school located inside Time Out Market Lisbon. Under the guidance of the Michelin-starred Chef Miguel, guests will learn to prepare authentic local dishes, then have the chance to relax and enjoy the tasty fruits of their culinary labors.

More Immersive Tours

Other cruise lines have also been creating more immersive shore experiences of late. Holland America Line’s partnership with National Geographic is offering exclusive “National Geographic Day Tours,” shore excursions led by expert guides on select Mediterranean cruises aboard Oosterdam and Nieuw Statendam, accommodating 1,964 and 2,106 guests respectively. 

Another example is Regent Seven Seas’ “Epicurean Perfection” culinary-themed holidays. These food-centered voyages, available in 2023, 2024, and 2025, offer food tastings, wine appreciation, cooking classes, insightful talks (on food, of course), and more.