Have you ever been invited to dine at the Captain's Table?

[Trixsea]

I was at the Captains' table last year along with a woman who was very "friendly" despite the fact she was traveling with her husband. She felt the need to drink everything in sight, and had to be taken back to her cabin by her husband. After she left the table, one of the other guests asked the captain if he knew he had a trailer attached to the back of the ship.:eek:

[brigittetom]

We actually were invited on the cruise where we became Elite CC members but I'm told that's not how things work. MaBell, trust me, the Captain enjoyed my company because I was totally entertaining (in my mind only) and also empathised with the fact that he couldn't excuse himself to go have a cigarette. :D He started out slowly but we got into a really fun conversation about obnoxious passengers. I wouldn't have missed that expierience for anything.

TEF43, I love that joke. A little sense of humor goes along way.

Trixsea, I'm guessing that happens way more than we would assume. :)

[Longboysfan]

12 cruises 2 invites.

The first was on the Mercury - The wife and her sister must have some how convinced the Social hostess that they were interesting.

We sat with the Hotel manager that night. Well educated and world knowing.
A great time. Our waiter was the Mater'd for our area. Did not order anything just told him to bring me what he thought was right.
Did not miss on anything - I'm usually eating fish most nights on the ship anyway. Best slice of Salmon I have ever had and the greatest sauce.
Our picture was under the door before we got back to the cabin.

Last time was on our two week cruise on the Zenith out of Jacksonville. This was more from a standpoint of our T/A who was with us then anything else. They had been there the first formal night we were there the second. The ships Hotel manager came to our table and dined with us the last night out.

I can think of no better way to top off a cruise with this type of treat.
I would just wish the social hostess sat at dinner with us both times.

[DUCK33]

i have never been invited to dine at the captains table....then again i have never invited him to my table- so we are even

[Renorita]

TEF43 I appologize if your comment regarding the hired help was a joke. :o

Guess I have read too many really rude statements on some of these threads. Again my apologies! Thanks brigittetom for pointing this out! :)

[Longboysfan]

[quote name='DUCK33']i have never been invited to dine at the captains table....then again i have never invited him to my table- so we are even[/QUOTE]


Is there a seperat dining room for Newt?

[DUCK33]

yeah

its called a lifeboat

[brigittetom]

Renorita, It's such an old joke that I just took it as such. Don't apologize. I'm guessing we are all guilty of jumping the gun and firing off posts in defense. I know I am and am just grateful that when I actually go on a cruise I get to start with a clean slate. :D

[cujosmom]

We got our first invitation to the Captain's Table this past December while on the Galaxy. It definitely wasn't because of our cabin as we were in an Inside GUARANTEE:eek: We are Captain Club members although only Select, not Elite. Really enjoyed the experience, though, and will definitely do it again if we are invited in the future.

[jonmary]

[quote name='Joe_Antonelli']Just really curious how people get invited to the Captain's Table, would love to read about your own personal experiences. Thought it would be a fun and interesting topic for all of us!

Joe[/QUOTE]
My wife and I were invited to the Captains table on the Norway about four years ago. It came about when we "meet the captain" evening. I was wearing Submarine dolphins on my suit coat and the Captain (as you scoot by saying hello) asked what they were. I told him about being a submariner and said there "were only two kinds of ships". Curious, he asked what they were. I told him they were "submarines and targets". He chuckled and the next day my wife and I received an invitation. It was great. Looking forward to trying again!
:D :D

[jonmary]

[quote name='Longboysfan']Is there a seperat dining room for Newt?[/QUOTE]
Someone mentioned a goal of 1 year at sea! Sounds good if you were not in the navy. Out of 20 years in the navy I spent about 11 at sea! Not that much fun when there isn't any bikinis, booze or gourmet food. Last five years on submarines - not even sunshine!!! I hope to equal the 1 year at sea on cruise ships before i kick the bucket!!! :)

[cechase]

[quote name='jonmary']Someone mentioned a goal of 1 year at sea! Sounds good if you were not in the navy. Out of 20 years in the navy I spent about 11 at sea! Not that much fun when there isn't any bikinis, booze or gourmet food. Last five years on submarines - not even sunshine!!! I hope to equal the 1 year at sea on cruise ships before i kick the bucket!!! :)[/QUOTE]

Hey John, I can feel your desire to have at least one year of leisure on a cruise ship. I spent two years as the Supply Officer on the US Westchester County, LST 1167 out in WesPac in the late 50's. I certainly enjoy the luxury of cruising with something that has something other than a "flat bottom"!

[CruiseForever]

We've been invited 3 times, and always with the Captain. Each time was wonderful and each had something just a little different to make the evening enjoyable. On each occasion the other table mates were wonderful and a very diverse group that could make dining a pleasure. We partyed with those new friends on many occasions after dining with the captain. It was the social hostess, who interviewed people, usually high level suite holders to find those people to share the captains table. On one occasion, we were in the penthouse suite, but the other penthouse suite pax were not invited. they either declined or didn't measure up to the social hostess' standards.

We are sailed again in April on the Summit and will answer the question again when we return.

[cruznut1]

I see you have been on Zenith numerous times, we are scheduled to go on the 11nt. on April 10th and curious about the ship. Is it in reasonably nice condition in your opinion? Also, we sat at the captains table on our first cruise on Century. The cruise director was a friend of a friend and set it up. The view out the window behind the Captain's table was incredible! As it drew dark, they lowered a screen in place of the window. It was just magical!

[cechase]

[quote name='Trixsea']I was at the Captains' table last year along with a woman who was very "friendly" despite the fact she was traveling with her husband. She felt the need to drink everything in sight, and had to be taken back to her cabin by her husband. After she left the table, one of the other guests asked the captain if he knew he had a trailer attached to the back of the ship.:eek:[/QUOTE]

Terry, Terry, Terry, "meow!"

Your comment gave me the first real chuckle that I have had since last Saturday morning after visits to the vets, and mad dash to UC Davis with my little puppy. Thank you!

[Bruin Steve]

Well, I guess I can finally join this thread...

We just got back from the Constellation/Southern Caribbean this past Saturday...
...and for the first time in our cruising history, we were invited to the Captain's Table for the first Formal Night...

When we got the invite, I turned to my wife and said "Well, Beth, they must have mistaken us for someone important!"

The Table was hosted by the Chief Engineer. They had us meet in the Martini Bar on Deck 5, at reserved tables near the entrance. The Social Hostess or Captains Club Hostess (or whatever she's called now), Anouk, met us there and we were served with free drinks of our choice and met the other invitees...15 minutes later, our host arrived and we were introduced, then led down the central Dining Room Staircase to the large oval table in the center of the large rear window on deck four...

We had a lovely dinner and good conversation and a photo of the table was taken which was later delivered to our cabin in a commemorative folder with a seating chart. Wine was poured freely.

The other invitees pretty much knew why they had been invited. One gentleman (with his wife) had been on 27 Celebrity cruises, if I got it right...th guy must have gone on 4 or 5 a year because he wasn't all that old! A second couple figured they were invited since, after checking into their cabin, they voluntarilly moved to enable a family to have an adjoining cabin for their kids...The third couple were two women sailing together - one of whom had been a Royal Caribbean Head Purser for 12 years... Then there was us... Must have been a lack of dignitaries on our sailing!!!

It WAS quite an honor...

[BrendaJ]

BruinSteve

I can totally relate to your reaction:

~~~"When we got the invite, I turned to my wife and said "Well, Beth, they must have mistaken us for someone important!"~~~

Dudley and I said the same thing the first time we were invited, on our first Celebrity cruise. Of four Celebrity cruises together, we have been invited twice, and I am positive it is due to meeting the Social Hostess and perhaps appearing outgoing. It certainly had nothing to do with the cabins we booked - the first cruise, we booked an inside and were upgraded to a balcony, and the second time, we booked a standard balcony cabin.

I must admit I find the experience of dining at the Captain’s table delightful – we have met some really great people there who we ended up chatting with many times throughout the cruise.

We have not actually ever dined with the Captain however; since on those two cruises we had early seating, we ended up with the Hotel Manager once, and the Staff Captain the second time. I suspect the Captain dines at late seating.

In any case, it’s fun stuff and I wouldn’t turn it down. (far be it from me to turn down free drinks). J

Brenda

[Queenk2]

We have been at the Captains Table 2 or 3 times. We ALWAYS enjoyed ourselves. I highly doubt that Cabin class comes into play since when we were invited we were in inside cabins! When we weren't invited....we had better accomodations! Yes, we have sailed many times...but the first time we were invited it was on our first cruise with RCCL>Go figure!

[Montana]

In June 04, Constellation Baltics, we were invited to dine with the staff captain, Apostolos Boukakas (sp). Our invitation must have been based upon the fact that we were in a FV cabin with our beautiful 23 year old daughter who sat to the left of the Captain and we were on his right. OUr only hope of being invited again is to bring her along again.

[sdcruiser]

We just got back from the 03/20/05 sailing on the Mercury, and were invited to dine at the Captain's table. We still really aren't sure why we were chosen, but we definitely enjoyed the evening together, while our son was in the Kids Club for the evening.

I only spoke to the social hostess for about 5 minutes, but didn't really know it was her at the time. She came out of the Guest Relations office when I was there inquiring about some charges to our onboard account. The person I normally talked with at Guest Relations rushed back into the office area and then the Social Hostess appeared to offer me assistance. I think it's a collaboration of the ship's staff and social hostess.

We will never forget the evening we dined at the Captain's table. It was like dining in an upscale restaurant without paying...three different kinds of wine, the best service you could ask for, the sun setting in the distance behind the two story windows in the dining room, and nice people to dine with.

It was great.

SDCruiser

[cruising with marti]

[b]With out having to go back and read all the previous comments, am I the only one who thinks that the whole expierence was a bore? and as far as the free wine is concerned, I can afford to buy my own.:D [/b]



[b]Phil[/b]

[WeBeCruisin']

[quote name='cruising with marti'][b]With out having to go back and read all the previous comments, am I the only one who thinks that the whole expierence was a bore? and as far as the free wine is concerned, I can afford to buy my own.:D [/b]
[b]Phil[/b][/QUOTE]

I wasn't sure I'd like it before we actually went, but was very glad I did go. It's not just about the free cocktails and wine, but the whole experience was just a nice change of pace and made us feel a little special. We met in the martini lounge for cocktails, and then went with the hostess into the dining room and were paraded to the Captain's table a few minutes after everyone else was seated. The ladies all received a rose, we had special placards with our names on them, and there was a group picture taken and delivered to our cabin the next day. The lounge martinis and either two or three glasses of good wine were all complimentary. There seemed to be no pattern as to how people had been chosen. My wife and I were on our 3rd Celebrity cruise and were in an outside cabin. None of the others at the Captain's table were in a suite, and one of the couples was on their first Celebrity cruise.

Although I like to think that it was because of my amazing personality and my adorable geriatric cuteness, I think I was invited out of sympathy.:o It was last October on the Horizon to Bermuda. We had a very rough crossing due to some tropical storms, and on the fist formal night, I was the only person at our table for six. Everyone else was seasick, including my wife. Half the dining room was empty as well. Being by myself, I got amazing service, and never had to wait for anyone or anything. Our table was right next to the Captain's table. After dinner, the Social Hostess, the Maitre D', the Drinks Steward, and the waiters all by coincidence were gathered at the same time at "my" table, going out of their way to make me feel good and to console me for eating alone. It actually was sort of nice to eat alone and get all that attention and service.,:cool: Anyway, the next day an invitation arrived in our cabin to dine with the Captain on the second formal night.

Allen

[fireguy091]

[quote name='cruising with marti'][b]With out having to go back and read all the previous comments, am I the only one who thinks that the whole expierence was a bore? and as far as the free wine is concerned, I can afford to buy my own.:D [/b]



[b]Phil[/b][/QUOTE]
We just got back and dined with the Chief Eng. It's our third time... We always have fun and my wife is the life of every party..:) Getting the CE to drinks shots of tequilla with her along with everyone else at the table, jokes etc. Fun was had by all.. :D I guess it could be boring if you allow it to be but I have never been bored at any party and thats what dinner at the Captains should be.

[Longboysfan]

[quote name='sueclark']Earlier this year the Social Hostesses were given new guidelines for seating the table that pretty much limited it to those in the top suites and the VERY Elite CC members.

Sue
[email="SueClark"]sueclark@aol.com[/email]

[B]Constellation Transatlantic 9/7/04[/B]
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2004;9;7;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[B]Infinity Panama Canal 4/17/05[/B][/QUOTE]

That's me.

Or was the last time out.

Can you believe it. My wife and I were the highest cruised couple on the boat. Her 14 - me 13.
We were invited the first formal night but had reservations to the Olympic.
So we did not go .
We dined with our group of 11 in the Olymipc that night - February 14th - Valentines day.

[cruising with marti]

[b]FIREGUY[/b]
[b] I agree a party is a party, but only when it is a party. [/b]

[b]at our table was the Assit hotel mgr. who was polite but very subdued. also at our table was the guest lecturer on wine. he pretty much bored us to tears with his endless prattle about wine and his homes in London and the south of France.[/b]

[b]I guess my point is, we would rather have had dinner at our regular table with a group of people who knew how to have some fun and made a party a party.[/b]

[b]Phil[/b]