At sea, a cruise ship captain sometimes invites a group of passengers to join him for dinner at his private table, which typically is large and well set, placed in the middle of the main dining room.
Those occasions have diminished with the increased size of new ships. Most captains of big ships now eat dinner in their own cabin or in staff dining rooms.
Captains and their tables past have flashed through my mind since mid-January, following the gruesome tales of the last evening in the life of Costa Concordia, when, during dinner, that captain apparently was not acting captainly.
The half a hundred ship's captains I have met during 30 years of cruising all exuded a calm confidence and command.
Over the years, almost daily during cruises, captains have showed up for meet-and-greets at parties, meetings and dinners. Their manner often was light-hearted. Part of their training, I presumed, was to pretend to be friendly and fun while also fully in charge of the operation of a half-billion-dollar vessel and its thousands of passengers and crew.
Captain, who's driving the ship?
Banter with passengers often touched on who was piloting the ship while the captain was socializing.
The captain would explain that the ship has many officers, including those who would do most of the “driving,” that he was in constant contact with the bridge, and that he was ready, with his years of experience, should any difficulty arise.
I suspect that in the months to come, years perhaps, captains will not be as visible for social occasions, will take a more serious approach to discussing safety and lifeboat drills, and seldom will be seen at a captain’s table in the dining room.
The image of a captain, the man in charge, laughing and enjoying dinner, the wine flowing freely (while the captain drinks something non-alcoholic), may not be what cruise lines will want passengers to see in the wake of Costa Concordia.
Better he should be pictured as driving the ship.
Thinking of captain’s tables past
As a cruise ship reviewer, newspaper travel editor, columnist and blogger, I have sailed on dozens of ships. Some of my favorite meals at sea have been at captain’s tables, sharing tales with other world travelers, stories of humor, adventure, danger.
Never did I worry that someone other than the captain was at the helm.
You never know who you might meet at a captain’s table.
One dinner that stands out was in the mid-1980s, when I got into a little repartee with Tom Bosley, the man who had played dad on “Happy Days” (he died in 2010).
Bosley and his wife were a bit late to dinner with the captain on Pacific Princess, which was sailing off the western coast of Mexico. We had all been seated for about 15 minutes when the last couple showed up. During the captain’s re-introduction of guests at the table, Bosley took a left coaster’s shot at Cleveland, Ohio, where I was working for The Plain Dealer at that time. He said something that I took as negative about my home, and I mentioned that the only place I had seen him recently was doing garbage bag commercials. The captain intervened, and conversation grew mellow, though Bosley and I did not speak further.
Celebrating a trendier name
I sat at a captain’s table one evening last December on Celebrity Century, during a 12-night voyage between Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
The captain didn’t show for dinner, but the long table – we were a group of about a dozen – was hosted ably by Darren Tiller, the ship’s affable hotel director. Captain’s table guests usually are passengers residing in the ship’s largest suites. I was invited because Tiller knew that I was a journalist – I had interviewed him several days earlier.
My seatmate was a woman who introduced herself as Tootsie Sanchez from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. She said she had been aboard Celebrity Century about two months and wasn’t sure when she was going home.
I pointed out that her place-card at the table read Elizabeth (last name I withhold for privacy's sake), not Tootsie Sanchez. She didn’t seem happy about that. Tootsie didn’t deny that her name was Elizabeth (Marine authorities require people to cruise under the names on their passports), but she dismissed the issue quickly by picking up the place-card and tucking it away.
Couldn’t blame her. Tootsie Sanchez from Kauai, a pretty woman who’s been cruising alone for two months and doesn't know when her odyssey will end, carries some panache.
David Molyneaux is editor of TheTravelMavens.com
