invitation to captains table

[Julesben]

Has anybody had this happen? How did you get the invite --- did you do something special? Did you request it ---Diamond Plus??? :confused:

 

We were on the captains table on Allure last Monday, the young couple sat next to us were on their first cruise and got invited, best of luck to them, great couple too.

We've been fortunate enough to enjoy several nights on this table with either captain, chief engineer or officer and staff captain. Great questions and answers session.

The food was great too.

[Vagabond131]

My wife and I took our first cruise in the 90's on Grandeur. We were seated with a couple from GB and had a good time with them. Toward the end of dinner the head waiter asked all of us if we would like to join the Captain the next night. We accepted and had a good time. Near the end of the week we asked "why us" and were told that we were obvious strangers and yet started right in with friendly converation and enjoying each other. The Captain wanted people who would hold a good converstation and make the dinner fun.

[denamo]

We sat at the next table in the Windjammer and chatted with Captain Rob Hempstead on the Grandeur one night. Does that count?

 

Yep. I think that counts! :) And didn't even have to wear formal gear. :D

 

Captain Rob without a doubt is the most down to earth, personable captain of the fleet. Totally enjoyed one day being in the Windjammer and seeing his dad on board for lunch. Proud moment for all.

[ckrobyn]

I have been invited to dine with the Captain several times, most recently last month on the Explorer. As always, it was a great experience. I'm not sure what the criteria is.......I'm Diamond Plus and always sail in suites, so that may have something to do with it :rolleyes:

[WeExplore]

As members of Girl Guides of Canada DD and I had made arrangements to visit the Girl Guides in Dominica during a port day on a Caribbean cruise a number of years ago. Arrangements had been made for Girl Guides to meet us at the pier and tour us around for the day. We had packed our Girl Guide uniforms and little souvenirs from Canada. Well the day before arriving in Dominica the Captain announces that due to a storm out in the Atlantic ocean which has caused swells we would be unable to dock in Dominica. DD and I were very disappointed. The next morning while attending a fitness class I met a very wonderful woman who I shared my sad story with but acknowledge that things like this happen.

That night a very formally dressed officer stopped by our dinner table with invitations to dine with the Staff Captain the next night. DD received her own invitation. We had no idea what this was all about but our table mates encouraged us to accept.

The next day our DD tripped on the stairs and sprained her ankle. This was not going to deter her from dining with the Captain though. She was 12 years old at the time!

While enjoying a pre-dinner drink at a designated lounge the lovely woman from the fitness class arrived and introduced herself as the Staff Captain's wife. She was so touched by my sad story that she shared it with her husband which lead to the invitation to join them for dinner to compensate us for having missed meeting our Girl Guide friends. She also shared with us that children are not typically invited to dine at the Captain's table but knowing our DD was a Girl Guide they knew she would be well mannered. Great PR for the organization!

So DD hobbled down the dining room staircase in front of the Staff Captain and his wife and was allowed to order anything she would like as her own personal chef was in the kitchen waiting to prepare her meal.

It truly was an amazing evening for all of us.

[TravelerThom]

Took friends of ours on Adventure of the Seas out of PR. First time they had ever cruised. My wife and I were in an Grand Suite and the other two couples took Jr Suites.

First night sitting at the table in the MDR ( was next to to the Captains table) a person walked up and just asked if we would like to dine with the Captain on Captains night! My friends looked at me and thought I had set this up.

Next day there is an invite in each of our cabins, they still think I set it up, but had nothing to do with it.

 

We met "Our handler" in one of the bars, they bought us drinks, and then took us to dinner. The Ships Ambassador joined us. There were D+ people at the table and when they found out that it was my friends first cruise and was invited they couldn't stop asking how they got to the table. They wanted to know who we were!! They had never been invited!! :D

 

Since my friend's company builds parts for boats, the Captain invited us to the Bridge the day we left St Martin to help set sail. These people were going crazy! ;) What a great time!!

 

It happened to my wife and I again when we sailed on Oasis (2011), we actually missed our show Hairspray! We just got a phone call. We are selling Oasis on January 25th 2014 again to see the show. Not looking to sit with the Captain.:p

Since you owned the ship, it is not surprising that you got invited to dine with the Captain on your previous cruise:D

[countess5]

Since you owned the ship, it is not surprising that you got invited to dine with the Captain on your previous cruise:D

 

Nice catch!:p

 

Was at the office when I posted, "sailing" would be more appropriate!:D:D

 

Not winning the Mega Millions will leave me just catching a ride. ;)

[Paulette3028]

I would love an invite, just for the experience of it. On our cruise this past summer on Jewel, we sat at dinner in the MDR with a couple who was on the back end of a B2B. They had dinner with the Captain during their first week and then got an invitation to join him during the second week as well.

 

They do not have super high C&A status, because they cruise multiple cruise lines; they could not figure out why they were invited for one dinner, nevermind for the second, two weeks in a row.

 

Let the guessing continue!

 

The Captain dines at the late seating, so they had to alter their schedule to accommodate it....and they did, since they were scheduled for the early dinner seating.

[wahlct]

We had this happen to us last year on Celebrity on a cruise to Alaska. It was only our second cruise, so we were very surprised. It was a great evening, with a cocktail hour prior to dinner. Dinner was great, talking with the captain and several senior officers. The next day we got the best surprise. We got an invitation to come up to the bridge as we sailed into and out of Hubbard Glacier. The ships naturalist was up there with us the whole time, pointing out all the sights.

[missvacation]

We were on our first RCCL cruise when we received an invitation to dine with the captain, as were two other couples who were our MDR tablemates. We all had booked ocean-view staterooms, had no C&A status, again no explanation :confused:. This was not the only one-time occurrence that we experienced on our first cruise. When we arrived at the port we found we had been upgraded to a balcony (nothing gets better than sitting on your balcony with a view of the Sydney Opera House for two days :)) - can only say Royal Caribbean spoiled us. Haven't had any upgrades or captain dinner invitations since, think we used up our quota - no complaints. ;) Jackie

 

 

 

Completed Cruises

Celebrity Constellation – May 2013 TA Miami-Amsterdam

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas – October 26, 2012 Cruise to Nowhere (Hurricane Sandy)

RCCL Mariner of the Seas – May 2012 TA Miami - Rome

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas – January 2012 Caribbean

RCCL Voyager of the Seas - May 2011 TA Galveston - Barcelona

RCCL Monarch of the Seas - December 2010 Bahamas

RCCL Adventure of the Seas - May 2010 TA San Juan-Barcelona

RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas - January 2009 Australia & New Zealand

Carnival Fascination - September 1998 Caribbean

 

Upcoming Cruises

RCCL Granduer of the Seas –January 11, 2014 Western Caribbean

[Fly with me]

We sat at the next table in the Windjammer and chatted with Captain Rob Hempstead on the Grandeur one night. Does that count?

 

We were dining in the Windjammer for breakfast one morning (on Rhapsody, in Alaska) when Captain Rob Hempstead came to the next table. We chatted briefly with him. So personable. We had sailed with him a year or so before that on Freedom when he was taken to the hospital in Grand Cayman. He assured us that he was really fine, just dehydrated. Fun guy. :)

[TEXASMUNK]

Pure luck of the draw....

 

But best story....we were a table of 8, all strangers to each other. Near end of meal, Maitre D' came over, invited the whole table to the Captain's table for first formal night. Best question came from the English couple..."So Captain, do you have a morgue onboard?"

Got the evening off to a fine start!

 

But, never forget...Lady Astor, when invited to the Captain's table replied...."Why would I want to dine with the Help???"

[tigger-ttfn]

On our cruise last year in Bermuda on the last day we were taking the galley tour and someone asked about sitting at the captains table and the chief said all you have to do is ask...... well it was to late now being our last day. After 26 cruises still not invited. I guess one day I'll ask.

[ahecht]

We got an invite last night on Navigator. The head waiter came over to our table on the first night, chatted with us a bit, asked "you're in a Junior Suite, right?" and then invited us to dine at the Captain's table the following night with the Staff Captain and the head of Guest Services. He said he'd have to double check, but that it shouldn't be an issue since we were in a Junior Suite. When we got back to our cabin after dinner there was an invitation waiting for us. At the dinner they stressed that the Staff Captain picked randomly from couples traveling alone, regardless of where they what cabin they were in or how many times they had cruised, so I'm not sure what the real story was. Of the 8 passengers at the table, 3 were first-time cruisers.

[bling19572010]

:) My parents, sister and I were on a repositioning B2B cruise in 2013 and all four of us were invited....only my sis and I attended. It was AWESOME!!

[cruisingsince94]

My wife and I were asked recently and had no idea why at first. We are just a happy couple and often our waiters and our area MDR manager notices and we interact a lot throughout. He extended the invite and we accepted.

When we arrived for dinner I noticed that the couples selected were not exactly the normal ones I tend to see at the Captain's table.

The first thing he said after sitting down with his wife was: I bet all of you are wondering why your here tonight. We all were as is it was everyone's first time being asked. The Captain (whom I will not name) said he instructed his dining room managers to select fun and interesting couples. He said he didn't want to have to listen to everyone talk about how many cruises they had been on or what their status was.

I have to admit it was a fun evening and the Captain was laughing and joking the whole time. We probably will never be asked again and that's fine with us. We have a lot of wonderful memories of that night and that cruise.