Meeting the Captain with stipulations.

One of our earliest invitations on this voyage was to meet the Captain for cocktails on the first formal evening of the cruise.  Was I ever excited!  

Out of over 600 passengers, why were we invited to this reception?  Was it because we were next-door-neighbors for the summer?  (We really are, you know.)

Whosoever knows the logistics of these decisions!  We presented ourselves in formal attire and said hello to the Captain and then the officers, chief engineer, hotel manager and other staff.

(Oh, and by the way; we were asked not to shake any of their hands.)  

So after we had mingled a bit, our Captain gave a short speech and a little bit of history of his ship.  He told us the history of the original large reception suite which happened to be where we were partying... right there in the Captain’s quarters.  There was speculation by the Captain as to why the private reception area remained just that but no one really and truly knows why it has not been transformed into another suite for passengers.  

No handshakes.  A lot of small talk.  Snap.  No cameras either?  (They really didn't say anything about cameras, but no one seems to have brought theirs.)

I recall about ten years ago during my very first cruise we had pictures taken WITH the captain and shaking his hand.   How times (and illnesses) have changed traditions!  

From my balcony I was able to sneak this candid photo of the Captain (since I live next door to him for the summer) as he was on the bridge, overseeing a Prinsedam docking at a port

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I don’t think he suspected a thing, do you?