Silhouette captain

[Carol28]

Please tell me the name of the captain of the Silhouette now. we were on the Silhouette years ago and the captain had a great sense of humor. We’re wondering if it is the same person.

[cruisestitch]

Captains change approximately every three months. and they go from ship ship. When is your cruise?

[FeliciaB]

If it is the same captain as last month, it is Nigel Smyth from Ireland.  

[Saab4444]

14 hours ago, Carol28 said:

Please tell me the name of the captain of the Silhouette now. we were on the Silhouette years ago and the captain had a great sense of humor. We’re wondering if it is the same person.

Trust you are refering to Dimitrios Kafetsis, he is on Ascent now. Silhouette is currently indeed Nigel Smyth.

[Fawkes66]

I had the pleasure of 2 sailings on Silhouette with Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis. He certainly is a Captain who will make everybody hush during his morning talks. Nobody wants to miss his jokes. I remember guests at the pool laughing so hard that the rest of his words -which were more informative -  drowned in the laughing fits. On one of those sailings, his brother Captain Tasos Kafetzis joined him, and they threw a party on deck. Greek dances and all.  I think his brother was Captain of the Constellation. 

So I think Captain Dimitrios is the captain you're hoping for? He made the cruises on the Silhouette very memorable. It still puts a smile on my face.

Can you imagine my surprise when I heard a familiar voice through the intercom on the Apex last year? But I do believe he is co-captain right now on the Ascent, together with his brother. 

Anyway, I will be sailing Silhouette again next week, and don't doubt it will be a wonderful trip again. Have a great sailing, I hope you have a blast!

[Carol28]

On 5/30/2024 at 4:05 AM, Fawkes66 said:

Captain Tasos Kafetzis joined him,

We did a two day Ascent (in connection with United Way) when the Ascent arrived in Fort Lauderale.  We didn't realize the captain was Kafetzis. He and his brother raced lifeboats with my husband and others during our cruise to nowhere.  

[leaveitallbehind]

On 5/29/2024 at 2:21 PM, cruisestitch said:

Captains change approximately every three months. and they go from ship ship. When is your cruise?

It is true that Captain's contracts have them in those approximate timeframes on duty, then off duty on vacation, as you indicate.  When they are off on a vacation cycle, usually a Staff Captain fills in during their vacation off cycle, but they frequently remain in this rotation with the same ship over a period of years and don't often move from ship to ship with each rotation.

Edited May 31 by leaveitallbehind

[Fawkes66]

23 minutes ago, Carol28 said:

We did a two day Ascent (in connection with United Way) when the Ascent arrived in Fort Lauderale.  We didn't realize the captain was Kafetzis. He and his brother raced lifeboats with my husband and others during our cruise to nowhere.  

omg... that must have been a blast! 😁So funny!

[jwlane]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

  usually a Staff Captain fills in during their vacation off cycle, 

That would be unusual.  Ships have 2 captains that rotate.

[leaveitallbehind]

58 minutes ago, jwlane said:

That would be unusual.  Ships have 2 captains that rotate.

...and I thought the second one was call the Staff Captain as that is who I was referring to as the replacement.  Perhaps I am incorrect.

[Alakegirl]

3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

It is true that Captain's contracts have them in those approximate timeframes on duty, then off duty on vacation, as you indicate.  When they are off on a vacation cycle, usually a Staff Captain fills in during their vacation off cycle, but they frequently remain in this rotation with the same ship over a period of years and don't often move from ship to ship with each rotation.

That isn’t how it works on Celebrity.  

[leaveitallbehind]

24 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

That isn’t how it works on Celebrity.  

Funny as, for one example, I sailed with Captain Kate twice over a two year period when she was Captain of Summit from 2015 - 2018.  I believe to do so she continued after her vacations on that same ship in. I also believe she served multiple years on Equinox and Edge before taking command of Beyond in 2022, on which she currently still serves. 

Edited May 31 by leaveitallbehind

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

7 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

...and I thought the second one was call the Staff Captain as that is who I was referring to as the replacement.  Perhaps I am incorrect.

 

No, a Staff Captain will be on board with the Captain. They are usually (I think) the second in command and would take control if the Captain were to be incapacitated.

 

When the Captain goes on vacation, another Captain will replace them, On the Beyond Captain Kate has explained that she has some closets in the Captain's Suite assigned to her that she can leave filled and locked and the other Captain for Beyons (I'm blanking on his name at the moment) has some closets assigned to him that he can leave things in and locked up.

[leaveitallbehind]

13 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

No, a Staff Captain will be on board with the Captain. They are usually (I think) the second in command and would take control if the Captain were to be incapacitated.

 

When the Captain goes on vacation, another Captain will replace them....

You probably are correct and I may be incorrect in my terminology, but we are saying the same thing.  I thought the Staff Captain could become the relief Captain when the Captain was on vacation rotation.  But clearly another Captain fills that spot.  My point is that typically the original Captain returns to the same ship and is not rotated to another with each successive vacation.

Edited May 31 by leaveitallbehind

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, leaveitallbehind said:

I may be incorrect in my terminology but we are saying the same thing.  I thought the Staff Captain could become the relief Captain when the Captain was on vacation rotation.  But clearly another Captain fills that spot.  My point is that typically the original Captain returns to the same ship and is not rotated to another unless it would be by new contract.

 

Right - that is a completely different person. Most cruise ships (to my knowledge) have 2 Captains who rotate their time on board. And you are correct that they generally stay with a ship for several contracts (at least) unless they are rotated to another. I believe many if not all lines also have one or two unassigned Captains who do float between ships and could be put on one in case of emergency on the part of the assigned Captain that will be more than the time a Staff Captain could be in complete charge. But those are all full Captains.

 

Staff Captain is a different rank. I think it's the rung before full Captain. I know on Disney one of my sister's friends just went from Staff Captain to Captain of the Fantasy - this week is his first sailing as Captain.

[leaveitallbehind]

Just now, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Right - that is a completely different person. Most cruise ships (to my knowledge) have 2 Captains who rotate their time on board. And you are correct that they generally stay with a ship for several contracts (at least) unless they are rotated to another. 

Good clarification - thanks. Which was my point all along in response to a previous poster who indicated that they rotate from ship to ship after approximately 3 months.  I agree that they generally stay on the same ship for several contracts.

[cruisestitch]

You misread me. I never said that they go from ship to ship every contract or after every vacation.  But that you can’t count on them being on the same ship year after year.

[Orator]

The Staff Captain is the second in command. They are in charge of discipline. They are fully licensed, but rarely take over for the Captain.I've never heard that that happened since my first cruise in 1977. The Captain is usually replaced by another Captain in an emergency situation. Captain Tasos was asked to take over another ship when the Captain was delayed. At one time a Staff Captain was temporarily promoted to a Captain so he could take over for a ill Captain.

Edited May 31 by Orator

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

24 minutes ago, Orator said:

The Staff Captain is the second in command. They are in charge of discipline. They are fully licensed, but rarely take over for the Captain.I've never heard that that happened since my first cruise in 1977. The Captain is usually replaced by another Captain in an emergency situation. Captain Tasos was asked to take over another ship when the Captain was delayed. At one time a Staff Captain was temporarily promoted to a Captain so he could take over for a ill Captain.

 

Long term, yes they would bring in an emergency Captain. But in the meantime, the Staff Captain would be in charge. At least I'm pretty sure when I was on the Edge and Captain Kate was doing her spiel at Muster (this was pre-Covid when it was old-school) she said that in the event she was incapacitated, the Staff Captain would be in charge, and if he was then whoever is the third in command would be, and if all three of them were incapacitated we could assume we were having a better day than any of them.

 

And eventually a Staff Captain could be promoted full-time to a Captain.

[Orator]

5 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Long term, yes they would bring in an emergency Captain. But in the meantime, the Staff Captain would be in charge. At least I'm pretty sure when I was on the Edge and Captain Kate was doing her spiel at Muster (this was pre-Covid when it was old-school) she said that in the event she was incapacitated, the Staff Captain would be in charge, and if he was then whoever is the third in command would be, and if all three of them were incapacitated we could assume we were having a better day than any of them.

 

And eventually a Staff Captain could be promoted full-time to a Captain.

Many great Staff Captains have been promoted to Captain. 

[leaveitallbehind]

On 5/29/2024 at 2:21 PM, cruisestitch said:

Captains change approximately every three months. and they go from ship ship.

When I first read this I thought you meant by this that they changed ship approximately every three months.

 

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

You misread me. I never said that they go from ship to ship every contract or after every vacation.  But that you can’t count on them being on the same ship year after year.

See my response above - sorry if I misunderstood.  You are correct that you

certainly you can't count on them being on the same ship year after year, but two or three years on the same ship is not uncommon.

Edited May 31 by leaveitallbehind

[Cruiscs]

Anyone know who will be Captain i. Silhouette in September 2024?

[garyl62]

I'm wondering is anyone knows who is the Captain on Silhouette now and what their schedule is.

[canderson]

On 5/31/2024 at 12:22 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

... but two or three years on the same ship is not uncommon.

The original captain of Constellation (2002) stayed on until he retired in ?2011?

Going nuts trying to remember his name this morning!  Crew really appreciated having him at the helm. 

 

[Alakegirl]

2 hours ago, garyl62 said:

I'm wondering is anyone knows who is the Captain on Silhouette now and what their schedule is.

Matt, he is Greek🇬🇷