Minor SSS Dinner Rant

[mrlevin]

On a recent cruise, of 675 passengers there were only 11 Platinum and 5 Titanium (no Diamond or Commodore).  As two of only five Titanium, I felt so sure of Captain's table invitation on night of SSS Party that I changed our Chartreuse reservation to another night.

 

No invitation!  Not to the Captains table, nor Satellite Officer, nor Concierge, nor Doctor and Nurse.  NOTHING

 

I felt miffed.  As we knew the other Titanium couple found out they had no invitation, either.

 

I know many people don't care about dinners with officers and staff; but I do enjoy it.  We did have separate dinners with GM and CD but getting invited to a major table for SSS Dinner has always been an important event for me.  

 

Rant over; I had a wonderful cruise.

 

Marc

Edited October 24, 2019 by mrlevin

[JC in CA]

Marc,

As brand new Regent Cruisers- we were surprised to have invitations to dine with the GM and the Executive Concierge on our 9/30-10/15 Panama Canal cruise.  The other couple at dinner with the GM completed 200 nights on that cruise, the couple with the EC were over 500 nights.  As newbies, we were quite honored by the invitations, never expected them.  I can see why you felt slighted on that important night.

Jerie

[JMARINER]

Who is the Future Cruise consultant onboard?  He/She is the one who usually set up these SSS dinner invitations. Maybe your preference got left off  of their list. They know that some upper tier SSS member like invitations while others don't.   You should mention that you would enjoy a dinner with the Captain (or any other staff) one night and it will probably happen. 

 

J

(699/50)

[Stefken]

What are the SSS parties, are they only for gold/platinum etc. Cruisers?

[DeepFreeze63]

Marc, your "rant" has had me thinking.

 

On our recent cruise we were invited with another 2 couples to dinner with the CD , David Niven. It was VERY ENJOYABLE more so than the 2 dinners that we've had on other cruises at the too-large Captain's Table (one Captain sent his Staff captain in lieu of him).

 

On an earlier cruise, I noted that the Staff Captain was a Bulgarian and asked the ship's Concierge if we might have dinner with him somewhere. It was arranged for Chartreuse and the Staff Captain brought another Bulgarian officer with him. The Bulgarians knew (or knew of) many of Mary's Bulgarian friends - an unexpectedly enchanting dinner.

 

Your (probably tongue-in-cheek) "nor Doctor and Nurse" really peaked my curiosity! Does the Doctor (or Nurse) ever get to have dinner with the quests? The trusted medical care is the reason that we only now cruise on Regent; we would love to dine with a member of the medical staff. I'll try on our next voyage - Splendor in February 2020.

 

PS: My Trivia has greatly improved BUT so has the competion!

Jim C

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

16 hours ago, JMARINER said:

Who is the Future Cruise consultant onboard?  He/She is the one who usually set up these SSS dinner invitations. Maybe your preference got left off  of their list. They know that some upper tier SSS member like invitations while others don't.   You should mention that you would enjoy a dinner with the Captain (or any other staff) one night and it will probably happen. 

 

J

(699/50)

I was not aware that the cruise consultant set up special dinner arrangements with the ship staff. 
I don’t know who sets it up, but we have never been invited to dinner with a staff member. Would love to set it up for our next cruise in December. We have 6 new cruises reserved. Who should we speak with?
Sheila and Herb

Edited October 25, 2019 by Bellaggio Cruisers

[Wendy The Wanderer]

There was a memorable dinner on the PG with the captain with you and Arlene.  That was fun, especially with the ship jumping up and down, and the captain calmly sipping wine.

 

I got turned off those invitations when we had a five-some with, oh, the F&B manager.  The other couple were very stiff and unfriendly and obviously thought they were better than anybody else on the ship.  Felt sorry for the staff member, and we escaped at our earliest opportunity. 

 

On the other hand, we had a wonderful dinner with a pair of performers one time, and then another time a wonderful dinner with Ross, the great lounge pianist who was on our last Mariner cruise.  This type of serendipitous meeting is what I prefer.

 

[Fairfield Nana]

We once got to have lunch with some of the crew in a local pub on shore. Super nice time and very entertaining!

[JMARINER]

1 hour ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

I was not aware that the cruise consultant set up special dinner arrangements with the ship staff. 
I don’t know who sets it up, but we have never been invited to dinner with a staff member. Would love to set it up for our next cruise in December. We have 6 new cruises reserved. Who should we speak with?
Sheila and Herb

The Future Cruise consultant (FCC) is the person that in charge of all onboard SSS event. They coordinate the "tables" invitations with Restaurant manager who ids in charge of the invitations set-up. You can go to  the Restaurant Manager too, to make special table requests. The TS question was form the point of view of being a titanium member and on Society night; IMO in that regard that issue it should be brought to the attention of the  FCC.

 

J

[Wendy The Wanderer]

56 minutes ago, Fairfield Nana said:

We once got to have lunch with some of the crew in a local pub on shore. Super nice time and very entertaining!

 

Now that sounds like the kind of thing I'd like! 

[ronrick1943]

One would think that Regent Head Office would send names to the ship for those invites-then the ship would add names if space is available.  I'd think it's pretty planned out even before the cruise boards.

 

But the off ship does sound like fun.

[mrlevin]

We once invited the whole orchestra (five) to Compass Rose to dinner one night; we had a great time.  They enjoyed the great food and we all had a great time even with language issues.  Once onboard for a dual birthday celebration we invited the Captain to dine with us (a group of 10 or 12) and he accepted.

 

Jim, we have eaten with Doctor and Nurse and it was an enjoyable dinner.  We once dined with Satellite Officer that was also quite interesting.  Some Captains are better than others as dinner companions; Captains Broomhall, Hansen, and Santinelli have been my favorite; alas the first two are no longer with Regent.

 

Marc

[UUNetBill]

Huh.  I guess I never gave this much thought.  We’re just Gold, around 10 cruises, and over the years we’ve dined with a Staff Captain, 3 or 4 Cruise Directors, and a General Manager.  My wife might remember if there were any others, I can’t recall.

 

Most of these dinners have been enjoyable and informative...but I never really thought about how invitations were divvied up...I guess I need to pay more attention in the future, huh?

[Jim B]

Marc

I know you and Arlene like to do this. Hate to tell you that we have turned down a few invites with Captain.

Just not our thing. Prefer dining with you when we are together!!!

[mrlevin]

Jim, looking forward to sailing with you and Jan again and we will enjoy some wonderful meals.

 

My (minor) rant concerns how the SSS event (party and dinner) has changed over the years.  Yes, Bruce did read our names at the party (no one was invited on stage) but dinner invitations were always (or at least used to be) a part of the SSS event.  The dinner with the Captain on PG that Wendy mentioned was indeed memorable.  We had the second most nights on that sailing, Suzanne had the most.  On that same cruise we shared a wonderful dinner with Suzanne, Sheri, Anne, and Gary with CD and HD that was just as amazing.  

 

Ever since Regent has allocated "dinner with senior officer" as one of the named suite benefits they seem to forget the loyal but not as well heeled guests.  I didn't get a private transfer from FDR in Miami (as was provided by another poster who laughed at my minor rant) but I did get a fantastic titanium transfer from pier to airport that got me to airport by 0845; I guess I can't complain.

 

I still love Regent; and after trying out two other lines on this past vacation; have determined that Regent is the only line for us.  Still, I was a bit miffed at the lack of invitation on that very special night.

 

Marc

[Jim B]

Understand what you are saying. Just had to buzz you a little.

[sanne]

We spent 63 nights on Regent recently and only received one invite to dinner by an officer and we’re Titanium. Fortunately we’re not ‘miffed’ but was a little surprised. Not like it used to be.