Upper Suite Officers Dinner

[LUV2binMT]

Are they doing this ?

Thanks

[uktog]

If you mean Best of the Best for the Club World and Club Ocean suite guests, yes they are

[LUV2binMT]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

If you mean Best of the Best for the Club World and Club Ocean suite guests, yes they are

Thank You.

[ChucktownSteve]

16 hours ago, uktog said:

If you mean Best of the Best for the Club World and Club Ocean suite guests, yes they are

 

We have not sailed in the Club World suite previously but have one booked.  Would you mind explaining what the Best of the Best is or other things we might experience that isn't explained on the web site?

[uktog]

Just now, ChucktownSteve said:

 

We have not sailed in the Club World suite previously but have one booked.  Would you mind explaining what the Best of the Best is or other things we might experience that isn't explained on the web site?

It is an extremely pleasant dinner served in the library on ships that have them or on Onward I believe at the back of a speciality restaurant   It is a set degustation menu with a choice between two mains in which the chef shows off their talents, and the sommelier pairs appropriate wines with it. It is almost always hosted by Captain and other senior officers are present It’s a delightful evening.

[travelberlin]

I have seen another officer hosted dinner served for some people on the Discoveries restaurant on Onward. Any body has any idea who gets invited and for what reason? I have asked the waiters but they did not know the reason.

Ivi

[Grandma Cruising]

30 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

I have seen another officer hosted dinner served for some people on the Discoveries restaurant on Onward. Any body has any idea who gets invited and for what reason? I have asked the waiters but they did not know the reason.

Ivi

I’m not sure either. We have had a couple of invites to these, once on one of the large tables with the Chief Housekeeper and once with only us and another couple with an Engineering Officer who was newly promoted. Both invites were in our early days of cruising with Azamara.

[Anchor Light]

As with Grandma Cruising, we have also had several invites in our early days of cruising with Azamara once we had completed several cruises with them.  Based on our other table mates at that time, it seemed that we were all multiple repeat cruisers. 

 

On more recent cruises we did not receive invites and found that many of those who did were first-time Azamara cruisers.  Perhaps this was a marketing strategy.

 

Having said this, it seems like there is no standard formula for selection and may vary between ships.

[Laganlady02]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

It is an extremely pleasant dinner served in the library on ships that have them or on Onward I believe at the back of a speciality restaurant   It is a set degustation menu with a choice between two mains in which the chef shows off their talents, and the sommelier pairs appropriate wines with it. It is almost always hosted by Captain and other senior officers are present It’s a delightful evening.

Onward hosted its first Best of the Best dinner on the March 25th sailing. It was a set menu, including the main course, however the guests were asked beforehand if there were any dietary requirements. It was a wonderful evening, held privately at the back of Prime C.

 

[Hulagirl]

In 2019  we were on either the Quest or Journey in the Caribbean going to Cuba.  We were invited to a dinner with the Staff Captain along with 6 other couples.  Dinner was in the main dining room and was very nice. Was invited on the next cruise with another staff member, but we declined that night. 

 

Was a very nice experience and the Staff Captain (now full Captain) couldn't have been nicer and so fun to talk to.  Hopefully they still do these dinners.

 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

The only problem with being invited to dinner with an officer is it usually seems to be early - 6-6:30ish. We usually dine later - 7:45/8:00, so it puts our day out of joint!

[Roel94]

14 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

The only problem with being invited to dinner with an officer is it usually seems to be early - 6-6:30ish. We usually dine later - 7:45/8:00, so it puts our day out of joint!

I have decline dinners for that reason. Even on. A sea day much to early.. I did go when it was the Captain in 2022 but declined others.

 

[Anchor Light]

Timing was not an issue for me.  I enjoyed the conversation and insight gained by listening to both the officers and fellow table mates.  Also the special menu was usually quite nice. 

 

In the very early days i.e. 2009 or 2010, they used to take a photo of the group and provide a copy.  That stopped even before the invites did.

 

Ah, the good old days... as someone said in a different thread!

[tgg]

In the good old days of dinner with the captain, it was cocktails in Mosaic, followed by dinner in the main dining room. The wines being served with dinner were special. We still have photos of the group posed on the stairway between decks 4 and 5.

 

More recently, we were invited to the captain's quarters for cocktails before the dinner. It was a treat to see part of the ship we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Dinner conversation was interesting and lively and we met some great people. 

 

For us, it would never be too early or late for us to say yes to the captain's invitation to dinner. 

[Anchor Light]

2 minutes ago, tgg said:

In the good old days of dinner with the captain, it was cocktails in Mosaic, followed by dinner in the main dining room. The wines being served with dinner were special. We still have photos of the group posed on the stairway between decks 4 and 5.

 

More recently, we were invited to the captain's quarters for cocktails before the dinner. It was a treat to see part of the ship we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Dinner conversation was interesting and lively and we met some great people. 

 

For us, it would never be too early or late for us to say yes to the captain's invitation to dinner. 

Yes, that was the procedure.  But your more recent experience also sounds amazing. 

[Bloodaxe]

5 minutes ago, tgg said:

In the good old days of dinner with the captain, it was cocktails in Mosaic, followed by dinner in the main dining room. The wines being served with dinner were special. We still have photos of the group posed on the stairway between decks 4 and 5.

 

More recently, we were invited to the captain's quarters for cocktails before the dinner. It was a treat to see part of the ship we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Dinner conversation was interesting and lively and we met some great people. 

 

For us, it would never be too early or late for us to say yes to the captain's invitation to dinner. 

 

We have also experienced the above several times,

IMO the early years of Azamara were undoubtedly the best.