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Have you ever eaten with the Captain?

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

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Has anyone that has been invited to dine with the captain ever declined the invitation?

 

I know people who have. They have excellent manners, and since they had not brought formal clothes (only very casual clothes), and the invitation was (as usual) on formal night, they politely declined.

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cruising granddad

cruising granddad

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Posted (edited)
Has anyone that has been invited to dine with the captain ever declined the invitation?

 

Kay and I have politely turned down an invite on Celebrity. There were 3 of us including my Mother-in-law. We were not going to let the MIL go to our MDR table without us.

 

We always take formal clothes..... just in case they ask.

Edited by cruising granddad
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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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Never on RCI, but for some reason, we have been invited on every single one of our Celebrity cruises. This past June on the Millennium, we had no intention of eating in the MDR on formal nights and packed no formal wear. Upon our invite, and telling that to the Captain's Club host, he gave the men in our party ties and suit jackets.
We were never invited but we have stopped bring formal attire and go to the windjammer on formal nights. I was wondering what would happen if we were ever chosen. Thanks this answers my question.

Don't expect the above to happen on any RCI ship. Paul was a Celebrity ship where they do things differently.

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skyking

skyking

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We have been fortunate to sit at the Captains table 5 times. The best was on Mariner with Captain Pierre, we all sat there with him until midnight and the Akvavit was flowing. Most memorable was the Queen Mary 2 at that Captains table on Thanksgiving. The dress is formal since it is held on formal night. The QM2 cruise I had a tux, it was perfect.

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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I wonder if they give you enough notice to rent a tux on-board?

Our experience has been that the invite is delivered the morning of with an RSVP by a certain time that day. Very rarely have we been given more notice.

 

Our best dinner on board with the Captain was on our recent b2b on Vision. Captain Ban pulled us aside at the Top Tier event and asked if we wanted to have dinner with him in the MDR after the flag ceremony the following evening........and he emphasized that it would be casual!! There were 5 couples and we ate on Deck 5 at the back of the MDR.

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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Posted (edited)
Even though we are Diamond Plus level in C&A, we have never once been given an invitation to dine with a ship's officer. I did read somewhere that when you reach 350 nights of travel with RCI, you will receive a dinner with a ship's officer, though not necessarily the captain.

Unfortunately, it's not dinner, but a "Meal with an Officer" that is listed under C&A benefits at 340 cruise points, but it's hit or miss once on board. It really depends on the number of guests who have reached that milestone on any given ship and if they have enough officers available. Sometimes they will do a lunch on a sea day, or a breakfast.

Edited by cruisenfever
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GaryfmCol

GaryfmCol

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We've been asked about 5 - 6 times.

 

Once, we were asked at our MDR table,

by a hostess, if all of us would join the Captain

for the next formal dinner. We were early seating

but, the formal dinner with the Captain was naturally, the later seating.

This was on Celebrity.

 

One time, instead of the Captain, we had an American

lady officer from Kansas. She was by far our most favorite,

because, she seemed just like us regular types.

She was department head of personnel. (Human Resources)

She was so much fun...so many fun stories... :)

 

Interesting too, that of all our cruises, our very first cruise (on Celebrity)

we were asked and, had no idea what it was all about.

And, of the about 6 dinner invites we have had, only one

was with R.C.C.L. For some reason, Celebrity has asked us

quite a few times...

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cruzinlady1947

cruzinlady1947

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Has anyone that has been invited to dine with the captain ever declined the invitation?

Yes, unfortunately, we did, twice. Once a long time ago on the Emerald Seas of Admiral cruises. We were invited on the night after the formal night, and my husband would not dress up again, so we didn't go. That was in our infant stages of cruising and didn't know much. :o And the second time, again, we had no formal clothes with us and they didn't offer any for us to wear. We knew Captain Olav from previous cruises (Explorer) and he was very understanding when we saw him the next evening in the Windjammer. But, on the next cruise with him as the Captain, we were invited again and we were prepared this time and will be from now on too.:p A very special evening. I just wore a pants and a dressy top. My husband wore a suit and tie. Of course, it wasn't a formal night. We were also invited to dine with the Staff Captain one time. That was also very nice. I doubt we will be invited again, but at least I can say it happened at least once and will be prepared from now on, just in case.;)

 

Gwen :)

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franl24fan

franl24fan

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This was our experience as well. It was formal night so we dressed accordingly.

Special menu - great interesting conversation.

Met at the entrance to the dining room and was escorted to the table - no pre dinner cocktails.

In addition to the special photograph, we received a copy of the menu and an invite the next day to tour/visit the bridge.

It was an experience I would love to repeat.

 

I had the same experience on the Rhapsody with Captain Rick. At the time I was the lowest level of C&A, but my name was suggested by the LA because of my enthusiasm for the ship :-). I was nervous at first, but the Captain was so nice, and the table mates were all interesting. I got to sit next to the Captain, in his full dress uniform, and afterwards he escorted me to the C&A reception, that was a thrill for this single lady :-). I may never do it again, but it was an experience I will always treasure.

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holden0301

holden0301

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We dined with Captain Rob about 3 years ago. We were approached by the head waiter in the dining room one night while we were eating dinner. I don't know why we were chosen. At that time we had been on approx. 15 cruises and were traveling with another couple who had logged approx. 5 RCCL cruises (mostly Disney cruises for them). All 4 of us were invited.

 

Dress was formal and the menu was not the same as in the dining room. The wines offered were wonderful! (Capt. Rob did not indulge, of course). There were 2 other couples at the table also. They were staying in the largest suite on the ship (Grandeur), so we guessed that's why they were invited. We were in a standard outside cabin.

 

At dinner Capt. Rob invited us on a tour of the bridge for the following day at a set time. We ran into trouble getting back from Key West in a torrential downpour and had only 15 min. to get changed into dry clothes for the tour. We looked a bit ragged, but made the tour on time. We were on the bridge for about 45min. and Capt. Rob showed us everything. It was truly a wonderful experience!

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peteukmcr

peteukmcr

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Last year we were invited to dine on formal night. We were asked to meet outside Studio B and escorted into the MDR via a side entrance so we were seated before the main doors of the MDR were opened for late seating. There was a special menu with a dessert of the captains choosing. His parents were two of our dining companions.

 

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TerriDHair

TerriDHair

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This was our attire in April, as it was formal night.

936929_10201258070873313_2014892609_n.jpg

 

We have been invited to the captain's table six times, three times dining with Captains (all on formal nights), twice with Hotel Directors and once with a Staff Captain. With the HD's and the SC the suggested attire was smart casual but Jeff wore his suit and I wore a cocktail dress each time.

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Kteacher "Live from...." Rare

Kteacher

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We've been invited twice. One time we were approached by the loyalty officer, and then received a written invitation delivered to our cabin. The second time we were called the morning before. One was for second seating, one was for first, and both took place on formal nights. ImageUploadedByForums1375756155.861949.jpg.d8504a11d7e423c85d8fdaeeb8000076.jpg

 

Women received a rose, and we all received copies of the menu as well as a photo. The menu included items from the specialty restaurants.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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