PHIL DAVIES' children learn to cook with celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, as the family island hop the Caribbean

The  prospect of a Great White heading towards the waters off the Leeward Islands was always going to make for an unusual nautical adventure. Happily, however, what we witnessed was superchef Marco Pierre White’s trademark bandana as he prepared for his first cookery class for children.

The Hell’s Kitchen star was going to be demonstrating his culinary skills to our two and a group of other youngsters holidaying on P&O’s family-friendly vessel as it visited Grenada, Antigua, St Kitts and St Lucia in the Caribbean.

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Five-year-old Hal and Tilly, who was lucky enough to celebrate her eighth birthday on the ship with a special chocolate cake and the chance to press the button on the bridge to blow the ship’s horn, were agog as Marco got to work.

He prepared his scrumptious cruise cuisine in the open kitchen which in the evening forms part of Ventura’s Asian-fusion speciality restaurant called East.

Who would have thought that children’s breakfast cereal favourites such as cornflakes and nut crunch could be transformed into tasty turkey dippers with the help of a few breadcrumbs, somehoney and mustard?

Unlike the somewhat menacing persona that the self-proclaimed godfather of modern British cooking normally portrays, Marco visibly mellows in front of his school-age audience. “It’s your menu, you tell me what to do. I’m only the cook,” he explained midway through preparing tasty meatballs.

The children watched mesmerised as the captain of the kitchen expertly guided his young audience through the basics that make up Marco’s Mother’s Tomato Pasta.

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All-in-all we felt the chance to get up close and personal with the mighty Marco for two hours was well worth the £20 fee for children (rising to £75 for adult cookery sessions).

Pretty much everything you could imagine needing on a family holiday was available on this cruise, including an additional family member we managed to acquire by the time we set sail from Barbados, a 7ft inflatable shark the children named Sharky. As well as cooking with Marco there were plenty of attractions to keep the half-term cruisers on board amused.

Jumping Jacks kids’ club offered a multitude of activities ranging from football coaching and bowling contests through to circus bungee trampoline training and magic shows. 

With the little ones kept fully entertained my wife and I could have some time to ourselves and explore the ship. The multiple dining choices certainly didn’t disappoint and dinner each night more often than not started with cocktails in Metropolis, a classy bar with live music set high up on the 18th deck with wraparound views of the ocean.

We ate melt-in-the-mouth steaks on a terrace overlooking the swimming pool as the sun set in Marco’s beautifully located White Room restaurant, tried out tapas in the Ramblas bar, took in Thai-style red snapper with crab noodles in East and enjoyed the themed menus in the Beach House.

The attractions at each island stop off also put smiles on our faces. The children were spellbound as we toured the lush island of Grenada where the sights and smells of cocoa and nutmeg grown on an historic plantation gave food for thought about the origins of the chocolate bar.

Snorkelling in St Kitts, shopping in Antigua, eating crab cakes and chargrilled lobster cooked on a barbecue in St Maarten and dolphin-spotting in St Lucia were just some of the many attractions during our two-week cruise.

If you’re wondering what happened to poor old Sharky, well I realised that the only option for the children’s new blow-up buddy would be a let down for him as we packed for our return flight home.

A deflating experience for him perhaps but there was only ever going to be room on board for one Great White.

THE KNOWLEDGE:

P&O Cruises (0845 355 5333/www.pocruises.co.uk) offers a 15-night Caribbean fly-cruise on board Ventura calling at Barbados, Bonaire, Aruba, Ocho Rios, Grand Turk, St Maarten, Antigua, Dominica and St Lucia from £1,673 per adult,  £837 per child, aged two-16 (four sharing an outside cabin).

Price includes all main meals, entertainment, childcare and return fl ights from various UK airports to Barbados. Departs February 11, 2011.

Marco Pierre White will be on P&O cruises departing Southampton on June 5, July 3 and October 22, 2010.