The Captain's
Dinner
by Linda Coffman
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Menu
Cover--NCL Captain's Dinner
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Rooted in
tradition, born of necessity
The Captain's Dinner wasn't always an exercise in gastronomic
gluttony. It's a dining experience modern cruisers anticipate...
shall it be the shrimp cocktail or escargot, the filet mignon or the
lobster? Often, the choices are dazzling, but this wasn't always the
case.
At the turn of
the century...
Immigrant passengers were required to provide their own food for
early nineteenth century passages. Adverse weather frequently
delayed crossings on the North Atlantic and these humble passengers
sometimes ran out of food. Not wishing their most profitable
"cargo" to arrive starving on foreign shores, steamship
owners gave the masters of their vessels the discretion of offering
company rations to steerage passengers toward the end of their
voyages.
From that gesture of compassion,
the ritual became known as "the captain's dinner" and
continues to the present. Although it's called the "Welcome
Aboard" or "Farewell Dinner" on some cruise lines,
it's usually scheduled on "formal" nights.
Dining with the
Master
Receiving an invitation to dine with the Captain during a
round-the-world cruise, legend has it that a nouveau riche
passenger's response was, "I didn't shell out all those bucks
to eat with the help!" While I know a few cruisers who've
declined an invitation to dine with the Captain, there are far more
who covet such a unique experience.
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Captain's
Dinner Invitation
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You'll know you've been included in
that exclusive coterie when an embossed invitation arrives in your
stateroom on the day of a formal dinner. RSVP as soon as
possible—if you are unable to attend, someone else will be invited
in your place.
The evening begins with cocktails,
either in a reserved area of a public lounge or the Captain's
quarters, where the Social Hostess greets you and makes
introductions to the Captain and other high-ranking officers. After
getting acquainted, you are escorted to the Captain's table and take
your place according to pre-arranged seating.
Then sit back and enjoy a sumptuous
dinner with exquisite service and fine wines. A photographer will
appear to preserve the memories and the picture will be delivered to
you the next day, perhaps with a copy of the menu or a note of
thanks.
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Captain's
Dinner Vision of the Seas
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How do I...
Receive an invitation? If I knew the precise answer, I'd be happy to
share it. Unfortunately, while there are hundreds of passengers on
every cruise who would no doubt enjoy dining with him, there is just
one Captain. However, some factors can work in your favor when
guest lists are drawn up. For instance, if you are a frequent
repeater of the cruise line, you may be invited—and I'm not
talking 2, 4, or even a dozen cruises. On the Zenith, one of the
ladies at the Captain's table was a repeater with 50-plus Celebrity
cruises under her belt! Occupants of an Owner's Suite, or other top
category digs, are considered, but (speaking from personal
experience) you can't count on an invitation. If you're from the
Captain's hometown or speak his native language, you may be a top
candidate.
Truthfully, the criteria for being
invited to dine with the captain is tricky. Lists of recommended
onboard VIPs whiz through FAX machines from cruise line headquarters
to ships. Honeymoon couples are sometimes selected at random, as are
couples celebrating a golden wedding anniversary. Attractive
unattached female passengers often round out an uneven number of
guests. I've heard that requests made by travel agents on behalf of
their clients sometimes do the trick.
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While some cruise lines dictate
guest lists from home port, on other lines the matter of selecting
lively dinner partners for the captain is left up to the discretion
of Hotel Managers and Social Hostesses. With economy of scale ruling
today's seas, the ratio of passengers to captain makes it an
increasingly difficult task. The practice of dining with passengers
at an "official" Captain's Dinner differs among cruise
lines as well. Some lines assign passengers for the duration of the
voyage to tables presided over by the vessel's master or other
officers. If your "cruise" happens to be a
"crossing" you may not see much of senior officers at
dinner, though—their necessary presence on the bridge supercedes
social obligations.
Quite
innocently...
My husband and I received
our first invitation when the captain of the ship embarrassed me.
Sort of.
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"I remember you... but was this
your wife then, too?"
-- Captain Charming
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Sometimes my memory gets me in
trouble. While I usually can't remember what I had for lunch, I
remember cruise details. I can tell you when we sailed on a
particular ship, what I wore, things that were said, and—most
particularly—special invitations we were accorded. While this is a
very vivid memory (even though it happened quite a few years ago),
I've changed the names to protect the "guilty."
As we waited to enter the
"Welcome Aboard" party on the newest ship of my favorite
cruise line, I told Mel that I recognized the captain. We once
booked an owner's suite on the cruise line's oldest vessel and were
invited to a cocktail party in his quarters. In fact, that was the
second time we sailed with him and this was the third. Captain
Charming posed for the obligatory photo op and shook our hands. I
mentioned that it was nice to be sailing with him again. He looked
at me, looked at Mel, and back at me. Staring inquisitively at
me, he addressed Mel in his most serious man-to-man manner, "I
remember you... but was this your wife then, too?"
Crushed?
Humiliated? Embarrassed? No, not really. Call me surprised... caught
off guard and not nearly as amused as the two of them apparently
were. Mel and I hadn't proceeded a dozen steps when a staff member
stopped us to ask our names. A lovely bottle of wine appeared at our
table later, compliments of the captain.
Wait!
There's more
The story doesn't end there, though. At the repeaters party, the
captain gave a welcoming talk and mentioned how gratifying it was to
see so many returning guests in attendance. To illustrate the
difficulty of remembering all the passengers it had been his
pleasure to greet, he recounted meeting Mel and me. Yes, he told an
entire room of past passengers that he remembered my husband and not
me. By this time, Mel had gleefully told the tale to our friends
and, as I laughed with everyone else, the master of our vessel
turned the humiliation on himself.
The
next day we were invited to dinner with Captain Charming and I had a
seat of honor at his side. I can honestly say, I had the time of my
life!
Bon
Voyage! Linda
Illustrations
courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International,
Celebrity Cruises, and the Author's Collection©
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