Captains Table

[charlielinda]

I forgot to let my friends on this board know that we were invited to the captains table one night while we were recently on the Summit. The captain wasn't there but we were joined by the hotel manager and we had an absolutely delightful time. It was so much fun listening to his stories about the Summit and his life on ships.

 

Everyone has different theories on why someone is chosen for the captians table and I thought I'd let you know about us.

 

Many say you are invited to captains table if you have sailed on Celebrity a great many times -- nope, this was our second cruise on Celebrity.

 

Many say you are invited if you stay in a Penthouse Suite or Sky Suite -- nope, we were in a CC room.

 

Many say you are invited if you are having a special anniversay -- nope, nothing special for us on this cruise.

 

Why were were invited? I really don't know but -- we did met the social hostess at the cruise critic party. We had a wonderful time on the cruise and told the social hostess when we saw her what a wonderful time we were having.

 

Just a quick note. One evening we went to the Normandy with a large group of friends we had met through cruise critic -- 8 of us -- which is large group for the Normandy. We had a wondeful experience at the Normandy and probably were a bit louder than the regular guests and we were having LOTS of fun. When we told our friends we had been invited to the captains table the first response was: I guess they invited you so they could keep a close eye on you and repremand you for your behavior in the Normandy last night! "It's nice to have friends."

 

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- APRIL 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

 

[This message was edited by BasketLady on 04-28-04 at 10:53 AM.]

[Danno]

I really think we were "interviewed" by the social hostess when we boarded. There was a POST-IT note on our pack (I couldn't read it) and she seemed to go out of her way to spend a bit of time with us.

 

In our case it was a very positive experience and one I would encourage those invited to accept. I take any invitation to dine with someone as a compliment and a privilage. This is no different.

 

Dan

 

CenturyX1,GalaxyX2,HorizonX5,VolendamX1,

 

Zenith to Bermuda Oct/04

Century to E.Caribbean Feb/05

[tuggers]

I had quite an unusual experience dining at the captain's table on the 4/11 Zenith. When we all met for our pre-dinner drink in the special reserved section of the bar the social hostess Angelina Costa was getting more and more nervous. It became obvious that we were missing two people. As the minutes ticked away she finally excused herself and went to find the errant guests who, I believe, had gone to thier dinner table. They then had to be convinced that it was a worth while thing to come join us. (They were young sisters from Nova Scotia) When we left our drinks, as instructed, to make our 'grand entrance' 15 minutes late, one of the girls stopped at the bar for a Corona to bring to the table! Then three times during the meal one of them left the table to go smoke. It was very disconcerting and I'm sure there was some discussion afterwards about thier placement at the table. I felt kind of sorry for them because they really did not have a clue and obviously would have rather been anywhere else but where they were. When there are people who would enjoy the experience it seemed a shame to have inflicted it on them. Just my thought.

I ran into them later in the cruise and they were like, 'wasn't that boring!'.

 

Until the Zenith! Second X Cruise In Two Months!

 

 

 

[Giorgi-one]

We also dined with the Hotel Manager on the Summit in January 2003. My understanding is that the Captain does not participate in these dinners because he does not speak English. I assume that it was the same Hotel Manager (his wife works on the ship in future reservations). We were picked becasue we requested it from the assistant Maitre D when he asked us if he could do anything for us. I'm sure this is not what he meant and he didn't promise anything, but one day the invitation appeared in our cabin. Dining on a cruise ship (or anywhere else for that matter) will never be the same. It's the only time in my life I ever heard people say "Please, no more lobster tails".

[cathykins]

Basket Lady, I always enjoy your

posts because you are very well spoken (and written). I suspect you must also have very intelligent and wonderful friends.

 

Yours,

 

Cathykins

[charlielinda]

For those of you who care -- cathykins was one of the reasons we almost were thrown out of the Normandy restaurant! "Jingle Bells"

 

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- APRIL 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[DrMom257]

We were on the Summit early February and received an invitation to dine at the Captain's table.

This was our eighth Celebrity cruise and first invitation.

We were able to find out that the reasons we were invited were because we became friendly with the Social Hostess and Future Cruise Sales rep. (whose husband is the Hotel Manager but was on his five week vacation while we were on board)and we also became very close to a couple that these two had been inviting to the table many times in the past and they always declined. The two girls thought that if they invited both couples, they would finally get the "most frequent cruise couple" to attend. It backfired, due to the fact they did not inform either of us of their intent. We accepted, they declined. It was the early seating and our host was the Chief Engineer, we had a mixed group and it was quite comfortable. In the past our thoughts were to decline any invitation that may come our way, but in the end chose to attend. Glad we did, but will probably decline in the future so others may experience the same unique experience.

By the way do you remember the Hotel Managers name?

Thanks!

 

Celebrity Summit 2/7/2005

 

 

[charlielinda]

We had the pleasure to dine with Paul Ellias -- Summit, April 2004.

 

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- APRIL 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[AllieZeus]

Just got off Galaxy on Monday and on the first formal night the Staff Captain (second in command on the ship) dined with us at our table. I have no idea why, the only thing I could think of was that we had a table for 6 and there were only 5 of us at the table so there was an extra seat. Also, our table was right at the bottom of the staircase, so a nice, central location. So maybe those were the factors involved for us. It was our first Celebrity cruise, and the second for our tablemates, who were staying in a Royal Suite so I don't know if that also had something to do with it. Anyway, we had a good time that night, it was interesting to have a conversation with him.

[AllieZeus]

I just got off Galaxy on Monday and on the first formal night the Staff Captain (second in command on the ship) dined with us at our table. I have no idea why, the only thing I could think of was that we had a table for 6 and there were only 5 of us at the table so there was an extra seat. Also, our table was right at the bottom of the staircase, so a nice, central location. So maybe those were the factors involved for us. It was our first Celebrity cruise, and the second for our tablemates, who were staying in a Royal Suite so I don't know if that also had something to do with it. Anyway, we had a good time that night, it was interesting to have a conversation with him.

[momrox1]

BasketLady

While on the Zuiderdam in Sept. (with you and Charlie!) Bob and I were invited to dine with the Captain. I also wondered why. So, seeing as I was seated next to him during dinner I asked him He said, and I somewhat quote, " I always look for a woman with a twinkle in her eye. If she happens to have a husband with her, then so be it "

He was the loveliest of men and also had a twinkle in his eye. He even invited us up to the Crows Nest for cognac after dinner. (As if wine with every course wasn't enough) Anyhow, I had a feeling we'd be invited because he spent quite a bit of time with us during a meet and greet. Quite a memorable evening.

 

Judy -

Horizon

Zenith

Grandeur of Seas

Nordic Empress

Constellation

Zuiderdam

Millenium

Zaandam

Century- 5/22/04

[AllieZeus]

Sorry for the double posting above, there was something going on with the boards earlier today.

[rebeljohn]

My experience is similar to Danno's. We were upgraded when we boarded the ship, with the social hostess asking a lot of questions. We found her very frienndly, and she was from Belgium, the home office of the company I work for. The next morning, we find the invitation under the door. The Captain was very pleasant, and kept us laughing with stories about the ship and his kids.

 

REBELJOHN

Constitution '89 Meridian '90

Norway '91 Celebration '93

Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02

Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03

Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[dnunan28]

Well we were on the Zenith sailing March 28th from Jacksonville and were invited to the Captains Table on the second formal night, and very much enjoyed meeting and speaking to Captain Margaritis. He was a very gracious host while we were in attendance and he answered any and all questions we had of him about the ship and its operations and even some of his personal life.

 

As for the Social Hostess, Angelina Costas. I agree, she did a wonderful job and even with a lot of proding by us all, would not divulge her 'secret' for how we were picked to sit with the Master of the Ship. This was our first Celebrity cruise too.