The Hotel Director would like to request the pleasure of the company of
Bradley & Christina
at his table in the main dining room
Thursday, March 22, 8:30pm
A rather large knot formed in my stomach as I read the rest of the note which had been left on the door of our cabin. Holy moley – we had been invited to sit at the Captain’s Table! A thing of mystery & lore for those who have never had the honor of sitting there, a thing that brings memories of endless wine & laughter for those of us who have. As I understand it, guests at the Captain’s Table usually either 1. have cruised many times or 2. have spent a lot of money on the ship (usually by staying in a suite). We had done neither.
I had met the Hotel Director of the Celebrity Equinox, Raffaele, a few days prior when I interviewed him for my blog. We enjoyed a friendly rapore of hugs & cheek kisses when we saw each other around the ship, but I didn’t think anything more of our relationship. Until this. ‘What an impression I must have made!,’ I thought to myself. My husband just laughed at our good fortune & we mentally circled Thursday evening on our calendar.
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We arrived at the Wine Cellar at the appointed time to meet Raffaele & our fellow guests. Even though the invitation explicitly indicated that “smart casual” was the attire for the evening, we were apparently the only ones who didn’t get the memo that “smart casual” at the big kids table means lots of diamonds, a tie, & designer clothes. My stomach was in knots as I walked in wearing my simple Ann Taylor sundress & shook hands with everyone. Everyone was easily 30 to 40 years older than us, all of them repeat cruisers (many, many times), all of them significantly more wealthy than I will probably ever be.
Just as we were uncomfortably trying to explain that yes, I work in PR, & yes, it was actually our first time on Celebrity, a lovely younger woman walked in, trailed by her much younger daughter. I thanked God & eagerly got to know Laura & her daughter Tori.
Soon after we got to chatting, our lovely hostess for the evening, Donna, came in to show us the ropes. We would parade through the dining room in a big group, so no bringing the glasses of wine we had been given (thank goodness – I certainly would have been the one falling down the grand staircase with it). We would be seated at our assigned table places (‘Dear God, please let us be seated by Raffaele or Laura’) & taken care of. The knot in my stomach bigger than ever, we headed in for our grand entrance.
I really hoped our usual tablemates were watching as I smiled like a beauty queen while we walked through the dining room to a table slightly larger than the others & decorated with a centerpiece of fresh flowers. We were seated at the end of the table, thankfully next to Laura & Tori, & began what turned out to be an epic evening. Raffaele let us know that, in addition to everything else on the menu, he had requested fillet mignon to be made just for us & that we were starting with a pasta course, “of course” (I *knew* I liked this guy!). The food started coming & both the wine & conversation started flowing. We were having a grand, slightly awkward, slightly nervous time chatting with our tablemates. Laura is from Atlanta, but moving to Phoenix. She & her husband are repeat cruisers on Raffaele’s ships. John, seated on the other side of me, used to live not far from where we are in DC. He & his wife are retired & soon to be celebrating their 70th birthday’s. They love cruising, have cruised with Raffaele before, & even enlisted his help in planning their trip to Italy last year.
Raffaele’s funny stories about how he knew each passenger elicited roaring laughter until he came to me. With a point of a finger, he announced to the table that “Christina, here, is a journalist.” Crap. Conversation quickly ground to a halt & an awkward silence fell upon the table as all eyes were on me, Raffaele was beaming his charming Italian smile at the bomb he had just dropped. I hadn’t purposely not told anyone about my little blog, it just seemed easier to be “Christina, from DC, who works in PR” than “Christina, from DC, who works in PR & also writes a travel blog, yes, I promise I won’t quote you.” I smiled sheepishly & fumbled for words when Laura said, “Wait, I thought you worked in PR?” Explaining that I really did work in PR as my “real job,” but I also was a travel writer who wrote a blog, which is how I met Raffaele. And, not to worry, because things were always off the record when wine was involved. People seemed satisfied with that answer &, with a clink of mine & Raffaele’s wine glasses, we all went back to dinner.
The rest of the meal continued pretty normally. My husband & I enjoyed talking with Laura & Tori throughout the evening (& became friendly for the rest of the cruise). The executive chef came out & we thanked him for a wonderful meal. A complimentary group photo was taken of all of us (Raffaele is the only one who looks good in it). Just as they were clearing our dessert plates & John was leaning over to me to tell me the story about how the last time they ate at Raffaele’s table they were the last table to leave the dining room & there was Limoncello involved, Raffaele announced to the table “Limoncello for everyone!” Oy. I had lost count on the number of times my wine glass had been refilled & now we were having liquor on top of it. Good thing I wasn’t driving.
As we wrapped up the evening, we all said good-bye & wished each other a good cruise. Raffaele kissed me on both cheeks, said that he had hoped we had had a good time & that I would “write nice things.” I assured him I would.
After the door to our stateroom was firmly shut behind us, my husband & I just looked at each other & got hysterical laughing. “Was that dinner actually real?”, we asked each other. Indeed it was.
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