Mrs. Cholula and I were invited to the Captain's Table on our recent cruise on RCCL's Freedom of the Seas.

I was impressed for several reasons.

The captain held a kickass private cocktail party prior to the dinner just for his tablemates.

We all entered the dinner fashionably late from our cocktail party. And to applause from our surrounding tables.

Service was exquisite as the dining room captains took over for the regular waiters.

It was the only dinner he publicly attended that week so that impressed me.

I was seated directly next to him and although English was not his native language, he correctly and politely answered all of my lame-o questions.

He was the Captain of the largest cruise ship ever built so that, in itself, is impressive. Size matters.

Finally, he invited his tablemates for a one hour, private tour of the bridge later in the cruise and that was totally cool, trust me.

So dinner with the Captain can be a good thing.