At sea with Shackleton.(The Orlando Sentinel)

Would this arrangement strike you a trifle odd? You book a luxury cruise on a five-star ship, stay in a fabulous suite with a balcony, soak up all the pampering possible, maybe even a butler to boot ... then cook your own food?

It isn't odd if you're a gourmand who wants to learn to cook not only like the pros but from the pros. This fall a quartet of Radisson Seven Seas voyages features Le Cordon Bleu chefs who will conduct hands-on cooking workshops during sailings in Europe, the Mediterranean and trans-Atlantic aboard the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner, the world's first all-suite all-balcony ship.

These are no dilettante demos, during which celebrity chefs chatter about cuisine while passengers listen. They are bona-fide roll-up-your-sleeves workshops _ and seagoing's only culinary classes _ in which a maximum of 48 participants are tied to the master chefs' apron strings. Participants don the white toque and blue riband of Le Cordon Bleu, one of the world's most prestigious culinary academies, and learn how to properly whisk, poach, slice and dice during six hours of practical class time in three two-hour sessions.

The workshops _ Radisson calls them Classe Culinaire des Croisieres _ focus on the art of French cooking, tweaked for contemporary tastes. You'll learn chefs' secrets and techniques as you prepare selections culled from the menu of Signatures, Mariner's reservations-only dinner restaurant and the only seagoing eatery staffed by Le Cordon Bleu.

Depending on the voyage, you might accompany chefs to markets and learn how to select the freshest ingredients _ au bon marche. And upon graduation _ voila! _ you're conferred a chef's apron and short toque, signifying "apprentice cook" in the hierarchy of the French kitchen brigade.

The optional workshops, which cost $395 per person in addition to cruise fare, are scheduled on these Mariner departures: Sept. 4, 11 nights from Le Havre to Nice; Oct. 26, 11 nights from Monte Carlo to Venice; Nov. 6, 10 nights from Venice to Barcelona; and Nov. 23, nine-night trans-Atlantic from Tenerife in the Carnary Islands to Fort Lauderdale. Because enrollment in the workshops is limited advance reservations are advised. Cruise fares start at $3,995 for the Nov. 23 tran-Atlantic.

Next year, Radisson also will offer workshops during two legs of Mariner's world cruise and on select sailings of sister ship Seven Seas Voyager, which debuts in April. For more information, call 1-800-477-7500.