Apparently my kids met the captain - so did every other child aboard the Eden.
I was also, apparently in the same room as him, Captain Tony Herriott, however he wasn't AT all what I expected him to look like. Maybe it was the beard...
So, after a bit of investigative journalism (loitering about the reception desk, probing the photo gallery staff to show me visual proof and gossiping around the Lido deck) I discovered Captain Tony Herriott is in fact Santa Claus.
I am not suggesting that he is THE Santa from the North Pole, but he certainly was the one handing out presents to every child and posing for pics on the stage at the Marquee. However, I cannot confirm that he arrived via flying fox - it could have been a stunt double.
I really wanted 10 minutes of his time to ask him a few questions, a kinda Q&A (not to gather dirt but to honestly find out about the day-to-day running of a cruise ship and his distinguished career) but I never got the chance to. Maybe one day? If you're reading this Captain, please feel free to call me at your earliest convenience.
So, there you go, #CaptainGate ended up being really boring. He was aboard and the messages we heard over the PA were not pre-recorded (as suggested by a few new cruising friends). A few questions do remain though:
a) Why was the Captain's reception cancelled?
b) Why didn't we see more of him?
c) Why didn't he attend the planned Q&A at the Marquee? And why was it printed in the Pacific Daily (27/12) that the Captain's name was Dave Sanguinetti?
Pondering on the above, I was left a bit puzzled. I've been on five cruises now, and on every cruise I've seen the ship's Captain walking around, taking photos with cruisers and making more announcements - sometimes daily. Maybe he is just shy.
P.S The above picture of my first born Tara is the FIRST ever Santa photo she has ever taken. So, thank you Captain Herriott!
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