Dinner w/the Captain; need advice

[George C]

We were invited to dine with the Staff Captain last August.

 

I had a dress shirt, blue blazer, and tie. Two other men had suits. One man only had shirt and tie, no jacket.

 

Personally, I will now pack a suit, just in case. I felt slightly under dressed.

 

I have worn a tux for over 30 years and 50 cruises, think I will ship it from now on but will at least have a jacket and tie just in case

[wolfcathorse]

if the captain doesn't eat in his quarters (he does have a kitchenette), he'll eat in the officers mess. If he isn't busy, he'll host a captains table on 1 of the formal nights. Everyone makes you feel so special! The person seated to the captains right is the highest place of honor, the spot to his left is the second highest place of honor. If there's another officer at the table, he'll be seated directly across from the captain, and to his right will be the third highest place of honor and to his left, the fourth highest place of honor.

[cruisegirl1]

We have been fortunate to have dinner at the Captain's table with the Captain or Hotel Director, or Staff Captain etc. Early on, (maybe 20 yeas ago) my husband wore a tux on formal night and of course wore it to the Captain's table. More recently he wears a dark sport coat with a shirt and tie for formal. We were invited to the Captain's table a few months ago and there was a mix of both men and women's level of formal wear. He did not feel underdressed.

 

Indeed several years ago we were invited to have dinner with the Staff Captain, on a non formal night and the invitation stated "smart casual" .

 

OP - I am guessing that by know the dinner has taken place. I hope you tell us how it went.

 

M

[Wanna Be Retired]

How do you get invited to eat with the Captain?

[cruisegirl1]

There are several ways one is invited. Highest level cruisers, highest accommodations, perhaps you come from the same town as the officer, you might know an officer, once at a table a family was next door neighbors with someone from the pilot boat and he got them the invitation, etc. On our first Celebrity cruise we received an invitation to dine with the chief Engineer. We were not in super high accommodations, not in the engineering field, certainly not a long time Celebrity cruiser, so don't know why we got the invitation.

 

One time a young couple was invited. It was their first cruise and they asked me lots of questions about protocol. They told me someone approached them with the verbal invitation ( followed up with a written invitation) the night before while they were sitting at a bar.

 

It is generally a good mix of passengers and always a nice evening.

 

M

[PompeySailor]

We have been fortunate to have dinner at the Captain's table with the Captain or Hotel Director, or Staff Captain etc. Early on, (maybe 20 yeas ago) my husband wore a tux on formal night and of course wore it to the Captain's table. More recently he wears a dark sport coat with a shirt and tie for formal. We were invited to the Captain's table a few months ago and there was a mix of both men and women's level of formal wear. He did not feel underdressed.

 

Indeed several years ago we were invited to have dinner with the Staff Captain, on a non formal night and the invitation stated "smart casual" .

 

OP - I am guessing that by know the dinner has taken place. I hope you tell us how it went.

 

M

 

Gosh!

The Smart Casual invitation;)

Guessing only a select few get the smart casual invite like yourselves and us.

Hope that you were a good fit being only dressed smartly:cool:

 

The eyebrows that were raised when we were only dressed up really smart eating with the Captain.

Shock horror!

 

And Daughter who was only 13 at the time sat to the Left of the Captain.

That shook a few cobwebs and the stares were penetrating.

 

But the other times when dressed up to the nines, we didn’t even realize there was anyone else in the dining room;p

[lovelife]

if the captain doesn't eat in his quarters (he does have a kitchenette), he'll eat in the officers mess. If he isn't busy, he'll host a captains table on 1 of the formal nights. Everyone makes you feel so special! The person seated to the captains right is the highest place of honor, the spot to his left is the second highest place of honor. If there's another officer at the table, he'll be seated directly across from the captain, and to his right will be the third highest place of honor and to his left, the fourth highest place of honor.

 

Wow, never knew that. The one time we were invited I was to Captain Rick Sullivan's right!! We happened to be top cruisers on that sailing but didn't know it until Captain Rick told us at dinner. I wondered why we got the invite!

[SRF]

I have worn a tux for over 30 years and 50 cruises, think I will ship it from now on but will at least have a jacket and tie just in case

 

Actually, I was in Hong Kong last week and visited my tailor to see about a tux. Why not?

 

Then I got the price. Not for a few cruises. :D

[toyman55]

When I was offered a position in IT with one of the cruise lines to be on one of the ships, I found the guidelines for crew members to be an interesting mix. Certain grades and above are allowed to eat and mingle with the guests while others must remain below decks at all time in the crew areas when not on duty. The one caveat I was advised was that whenever above decks among the guests, you had to wear your dress jacket and tie. So much for keeping a low profile.

[Rala]

Any of those outfits will be fine. You both will be dressed quite appropriately. Enjoy!

 

Totally agree with this. We have dined at the Captain's table a couple of times and DH and I have dressed almost exactly as the outfits described above. No tux necessary at all. It is a fun experience ...enjoy! :)