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nsignia had a Continental Breakfast at Oscars event that began at 6:00am in Insignia Lounge. From what we hear, attendance was as disappointing as was the television viewer numbers. Disappointing for Hollywood; not so much for America. It’s nice to be so far away from all of them.
Our day was pretty quiet. The only thing of note, and it was pretty special, is that we were invited to have dinner with Captain Maroje Brajcic. Every Around The World guest will have this opportunity, and it apparently was our turn. There was another couple at the table with us, an absolutely delightful couple named Lou and Patricia. They used to live in Cherry Hill NJ but now live in Key West, FL. Yes, Key West! So there was much lively conversation about that topic as well as with the captain.
We had first seen Captain Brajcic at the Q&A held a few weeks ago when the itinerary got changed. He was pretty formal in this setting, and I certainly can see why. Public speaking is not his thing. But tonight we got to meet the real Captain Brajcic, and he was much, much more relaxed and open.
I can’t recall the order of some of the comments he made, nor does it matter. I believe he asked Cathy and I if this was our first around the world cruise, and he was genuinely taken aback when we told him it was our first cruise. He smiled and kind of shook his head: “Wow, how adventurous.” He said or words to that effect.
When we asked him how his day was, he said: “Ordinary. Lots of paperwork.” He may be the captain, but he still has to file reports with Miami. Nothing changes in business.
He also made an unsolicited remark as to how complex the planning is for one of these ventures. This isn’t exactly your average trip to the Caribbean, as he pointed out, and it takes a full two years of planning to make the thousands and thousands of arrangements. From his perspective, I thought it was interesting.
The captain has been with Oceania since the company started, which is fifteen years this year. He has stayed with this company because of the people he works with. Everybody on Oceania is very professional, and they work together, he told us.
And his father was also a captain on Oceania as well. In fact, he is the seventh generation in his family to go to sea. He is from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and lives about a five minute walk from the piers there. His has been in the business since he was eighteen, and he is now forty-two. [There had been a rumor that his Dad had outrun pirates when he was captain on this same ship several years ago. So I asked him if it was true. “Oh yes,” he said. “It was easy. The pirates generally do not like cruise ships because there are too many people on them. They much prefer the cargo ships. But this was a long time ago. Now we have security forces when we sail in these waters. Sometimes former Navy Seals, sometimes Israeli security guys. They have M16’s, so we don’t worry about it.”]
He mentioned that he thinks this may be his last year at sea. Being a captain is being constantly under a lot of pressure. He is the ultimate authority on his vessel, and, because the ship is always moving and always arriving or departing ports, there is a ton of responsibility on his shoulders all of the time. As he said, the captain may not be on the bridge, but he is always in charge. All problems ultimately fall to him. Being on land, most of the time a manager can call on others. Not so much when you’re at sea.
Another reason is that he has a girlfriend, one that he has been with for seven years. We all joked with him about getting married. She has been dropping hints, but he has dodged answering The Question directly. It sounded to us as if he enjoyed his independence, but being on shore full time …. Who knows.
He is very gregarious, very voluble, and seems to enjoy these dinners. We did not badger him with questions, but kept it light and personal. The guy has that enough all day.
We really liked the other couple. They asked very similar questions to us, never made it about themselves or where they’d been. Sometimes you get those people on this ship. Lou and Patricia were just the opposite, which made it a very convivial evening for us and, especially, for our captain. I think that’s why he seemed to open up about his personal life so readily.
It is a privilege to have dinner with the captain on any ship. It is extra special when it’s just you and one other couple. A very memorable evening for Cathy and Steve.
