Has A Princess Captain Joined You or Invited You to Dinner at His Table?

Just curious but what has your experience been when being entertained for dinner with the ships Captain?

Are Suite passengers given the option?

We were on Azamara many years ago in a Suite and were invited to a special dinner with the Captain along with other suite guests.

Princess hasn't done this in years. There is a private Captain's function for the top 40 travelers.

Not on princess, but once on RCCL........yawn!

We have 25 Princess cruises... invited to the most traveled luncheon once on a 7 day a Ruby Princess cruise. We have been invited many times on Celebrity Cruises to the Captain Table.. we are elite on Celebrity too but prefer Princess. Have been invited to a Captain's luncheon on HAl, once when we were upgraded to a full suite on a 10 day Carribean cruise. Never saw a Captain's table in the MDR on Princess.. been cruising Princess since the late l980s.

I've been invited once on RCCL, but that was in 1994. We were also joined by the Senior Engineer from the Miami office. It was a pretty rowdy table, due to the shots of Aquavit. ;p We also got to meet Florence LaRue, from the Fifth dimension.

The second time was on Princess in 2000. We had the Staff Captain, Stefano Rivera, at our table. It was all the free wine one could drink. As previously stated, it's pretty rare for that to happen now.

I have dinner with the Captain of the Rowboats wife every night. :*

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

I have dinner with the Captain of the Rowboats wife every night. :*

 

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

Awesome Tony, thanks.

One one cruise 5-6 years ago we invited the Staff Captain (Paulo Rivera) if he would like to join us for dinner? He accepted and we notified our section waiter and staff a day ahead of time. Interesting service for that dinner. I believe he has now taken over a ship? Years ago, on a P&O ship, we were called in our room to inform us that the Captain would be joining us for dinner. What a boring night-I think he was asked to join our table since on couple seemed as though they had many more days (with P&O) than most of the staff. Also funny in that this particular Captain had been a very junior officer on one of our first cruises (1964)

In April 2015 my DH and I were on the Pacific Princess cruising the Panama Canal, Ft. Lauderdale to LA. Technically this was the last leg of the World Cruise that year. The second formal night (and yes we were dressed formal) was the Captain's Circle Cocktail Party. Upon entering the event and ordering a drink the Maitre d' Oscar stopped by and said "I have a nice surprise for you." The surprise was we were invited to join the Captain for dinner. We, along with two other couples were led into the Dining Room and were seated with the Captain. It was a wonderful meal start to finish. We were offered wines with each course and specialty coffee with dessert. While talking with the other table guests during dinner, it sounded as though the Captain had done this several times during the World Cruise. It truly was a nice surprise! The Captain was Tim Stringer. I don't know why we were chosen but we very much appreciated and enjoyed it. I can tell you we were not in a suite so that had nothing to do with it.

Many, many, many years ago (before anytime dining) we arrived at our second-seating dinner and noticed that the table was set for 7 people, but there were only 6 of us seated. We thought that the early seating had 7 people and they just hadn't removed the extra chair. The second night, a formal night, the maitre d asked us if it would be OK if the Captain joined us for dinner. Of course we said "it's OK with us". Several times during the cruise, he was able to join us and we had a wonderful time. The service was impeccable and the Captain treated us to wine and special desserts. It's a cruise that we will never forget and "no, we were not in a suite that time".

I can't imagine why the captain would ever want to dine with us. :confused:

Years ago, we had the Captain join our table for dinner one evening.

Also, in days gone by, the officers would join a table for the cruise, dining with us on evenings their schedule permitted. Among others we ate with the Staff Cabin, Engineer and Art Auctioner.

In 30+ Princess cruises I have never seen the Captain in the DR for dinner. It isn't something that is normally done on Princess ships. Doesn't mean it never happened, just that I have never seen it. I have seen ship's officers dining with passengers in the specialty restaurants, but believe these are invitations by the passenger to an officer that is their friend.

In 30+ Princess cruises I have never seen the Captain in the DR for dinner. It isn't something that is normally done on Princess ships. Doesn't mean it never happened, just that I have never seen it. I have seen ship's officers dining with passengers in the specialty restaurants, but believe these are invitations by the passenger to an officer that is their friend.

Captain Stubing on The Love Boat used to dine with passengers every night!

My wife and I, when we were in our 20's were invited to Captain's table. We actually sat at the Engineers table... Great evening and lot's of convo.. His assistant was arrested in Cabo for spear fishing, and me and two buddies were right there in the waters near him when the Federales got him! I asked what happened after that and he said that they paid the 'fine' and he was back on the ship!

That was the first time and the last time, back in the late 80's or early 90's.... Good times, good times! Oh, on Carnival in the MR.

We did have that experience a few years, DH and I were asked if we like to have the Captain join us for dinner one evening. It was delightful evening. We also were invited to dinner years ago on the Coral by the First Officer/Navigator who was a charming young man. It is certainly not the norm, and we have fond memories of both.

I've been invited to the Captain's Table several times on Celebrity Ships and on a AMA Waterways Riverboat Cruise. A very enjoyable evening each time...wonderful experience. :) Great Memories!

Princess does not do this and it is something they should look into doing. Also at the Elite Lounge on Celebrity some Senior Officers are always present and the Captain has shown up on a few occasions too! This too would be a great addition to the Princess version of the Elite Lounge.

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One one cruise 5-6 years ago we invited the Staff Captain (Paulo Rivera) if he would like to join us for dinner? He accepted and we notified our section waiter and staff a day ahead of time. Interesting service for that dinner. I believe he has now taken over a ship? Years ago, on a P&O ship, we were called in our room to inform us that the Captain would be joining us for dinner. What a boring night-I think he was asked to join our table since on couple seemed as though they had many more days (with P&O) than most of the staff. Also funny in that this particular Captain had been a very junior officer on one of our first cruises (1964)

Paulo is Stefano's brother. They are both Captains now.:)

Never, but we did enjoy dining with an officer on NCL --two, in fact. The Chief Engineer got called away before the entree, so they scrambled and quickly had the new Hotel Director join us. It was an extremely engaging evening with great conversation and amazing service (and yes, free flowing wine). The HD sent us a bottle of wine and some chocolates for the kids (our family of 6 was at the dinner) the next day. The rest of the cruise, every time he saw us, he would come chat for moment. If you ever have the chance to dine with a officer, definitely take it

We dined with the Captain on Regal Princess a year ago quite a few times , anyone could, he ate dinner in the buffet around 9pm. The buffet attendants put a row of chairs round a section of tables to cordon it off. He didn't hang about, it was dine and dash.

Other than that we have only ever been at The Captains Table at the MTP lunch, the top 6 passengers have that duty so we have done it a few times.

Captain Stubing on The Love Boat used to dine with passengers every night!

That's exactly what I was going to say!

I can't imagine why the captain would ever want to dine with us. :confused:

I can't imagine why we would ever want to dine with the captain. :confused:

Well, let's see. They are people, too, just as your fellow passengers, with whom you might share a table, are. They have an interesting career, have been to lots of interesting places, and have some great stories to share. And sometimes, some of us have had life experiences that might be of interest to them, they might even want our impressions of the cruise or the ship or the line in general. The experience is what you choose to make of it. Part of the experiences that we might have as we travel.

I can't imagine why we would ever want to dine with the captain. :confused:

You could get him up to date with the blackmold in your shower caulking, the lack of variety in the towel animals, the tough steak, the stain on your cabin carpet, the missed port, the price of drinks, so many interesting topics he would be thrilled to discuss at first hand with you.

or maybe not..................

We never EVER discuss "shop" at the Captains Table.

Just like in the Army we never discussed "shop" in the Mess.

Same rule applies IMHO.

One time for us too

In 2004 or 2005 on the Sun or Dawn (terrible memory) we we're invited to sit with Captain one night . We we're originally approached by CC girl at check-in and asked if we would be interested and if we had formal clothing for the Formal night dinner invitation .

Beautiful meal and free flowing wine, and if I look hard I think we still have the photo of table which was delivered to stateroom the next day.

I have never seen anything like that on a Princess ship since

Srpilo