Classes in The Chef's Kitchen on Viking Star involve shopping with the chef at markets in select ports, prepping the ingredients back on the ship under chef's watchful eye and creating regionally inspired dishes that you eat for dinner. The classes are for a maximum of 10 passengers and at $395 a person are not cheap, but the price is certainly right for eager cooks who are booking them well in advance. See  vikingcruises.com/oceans.

At Britannia's Cookery Club, a maximum of 24 passengers gather at 12 workstations to take classes with resident chefs Lizzie Kennedy and Rob Cottam, or with a roster of visiting celebrity chefs. They include some of the line's 'Food Heroes' – Marco Pierre White, UK TV chef James Martin, Indian spice guru Atul Kochhar and master patissier Eric Lanlard – as well as some other top names in the British culinary scene.

The Cookery Club offers a great range of courses such as bread-making, cakes, Spanish tapas, Vietnamese cuisine, as well as classes for kids and families. Costs vary from £45 to £100 and special wine-tastings and hosted dinners are held in the lovely light and airy space; see pocruises.com.

Holland America Line's new flagship, the 2650-passenger Koningsdam which launches in April next year, will have an expanded version of the line's signature Culinary Arts Centre. These theatre-style venues are used to present demonstrations by the ships' chefs and visiting experts, as well as offering hands-on cooking classes. Market tours are another popular option and workshops on basic cooking and safety in the kitchen are held for kids in two age groups, three to seven and eight to 15. See hollandamerica.com.au.

If you prefer to watch the experts at work rather than doing it yourself, a Chef's Table experience on Princess Cruises might be the go. A maximum of 10 passengers join the chef in the galley to sip cocktails and sample canapés while dinner is prepared – and then you sit down and enjoy it in the private dining room ($125; princess.com. Too easy!  

MEET THE CREW

NAME Annamaria Szentes, from Romania

POSITION Steakhouse server, Carnival Legend

MY JOB I am a server in the steakhouse, a specialty restaurant offering a la carte dining and a great ambience.

MY TYPICAL DAY My schedule can vary but the aim is to prepare the restaurant for dinner service, which starts at 5.30pm.  When I am on shift in the morning I take reservations from our guests and answer any questions they may have. At times we have cooking demonstrations, food and wine pairing or Behind the Fun tours.  I usually work split shifts, so in the afternoons I can visit the ports. Once I leave work at night I like to relax with my friends on open deck, at the gym or in the crew lounge.

FAVOURITE CRUISE MOMENT Passing through the Panama Canal.

MY FAVOURITE CRUISE PORT Grand Cayman.

INSIDER TIP Take lots of shore excursions – there's just so much to see.

TIP 

Azamara Club Cruises has launched a local Australia and New Zealand Facebook page, run by the Australia-based team. It offers followers exciting updates, local news and special offers Azamara fans won't want to miss.

NEWS 

CARIBBEAN DREAMS 

SeaDream Yacht Club's 112-passenger SeaDream I is taking in the Caribbean's less-visited southern islands between January and April 2016, including three round-trip sailings from colourful Bridgetown in Barbados, and nine between Bridgetown and historic Marigot on French colonial St Martin. As well as beaches, shopping and shore-side dining, optional shore excursions will offer horse-riding along remote beaches, and visits to colonial-era settlements dating back to the 1700s and a museum whose artefacts date back to 1800BC. SeaDream's famed Champagne and Caviar Splash will also be a highlight on all southern Caribbean sailings. See more at seadream.com . 

NORWAY EXPLORER 

Adventure-cruise line Hurtigruten, which operates ships in Antarctica, Greenland and the Arctic's Spitsbergen –  as well as year-round voyages along Norway's coast and Europe in the spring – has bought its first new ship in almost 10 years. The 320-passenger MS Norway Explorer will start sailing Norwegian coastal cruises during the winter of 2016-17, after undergoing a complete refurbishment that includes reducing fuel emissions and upgrading its cabins and public areas. MS Norway Explorer, which was built in Portugal in 2009, brings Hurtigruten's fleet of expedition ships to 13. For more information email hurtigruten@discovertheworld.com.au. 

NEW SILVERSEA FLAGSHIP

Italian family-owned Silversea Cruises has announced it is building a new "ultra-luxury" flagship, Silver Muse, which is due to launch in April 2017. The all-suite ship will accommodate 596 passengers and joins the line's current fleet of eight ships, which includes three expedition vessels. Silver Muse will be slightly larger than the 540-passenger Silver Spirit, which launched in 2009, and according to Silversea's CEO Enzo Visone, it will "continue to build on the sophistication, innovative style and ground-breaking concepts for which Silversea ships are renowned". See silversea.com.

DEAL OF THE WEEK

Book APT's 13-day 'Best of China' luxury fly/stay/cruise holiday and flights will cost just $800. The package starts at $5995 and includes three nights at Raffles Hotel Beijing, three nights at the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, a four-night river cruise onboard the Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer and two nights in Xi'an. Book by October 31; phone 1300 196 420, see aptouring.com.au.

MORE DEALS 

UNIWORLD's 15-day "Timeless Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong" cruise/land package includes a seven-night cruise onboard River Orchid, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Book by July 31 and save up to $3450 on select 2015 departures. From $3404; phone (02) 9028 5199, see uniworldcruises.com.au.

CRUISE GURU Join Queen Victoria's world voyage on the eight-day Sydney-Melbourne segment, calling at Hobart and Kangaroo island. Departing February 29; from $2210. Phone 13 13 03, see cruiseguru.com.au.