Some one mentioned Capt. Leif Otto Bang - and I had to add my 2 cents worth:
We had the great good fortune to be invited to dine with Captain Bang and his wife Darlene in December while on a shortie 7-day Western Caribbean.
I have to agree with the previous poster: he is a great Captain - and seems to be a tough task master - which is appreciated. He runs a tight ship.....Not much goes unnoticed on his watch, I'm sure.
We, too were invited to the bridge and had additional one-on-one contacts with Capt. and his wife during this cruise.
As for dining at the Captain's table:
I had always told DH that if and when we were ever invited to dine with a Captain - I'd politely refuse. I'm not one who enjoys even the thought of walking down the staircase (on the M class ships) and to the back of the ship to the Captain's table as other's look on.....just not my cup of tea at all.
However, we were invited to dine with the captain of the Millie while on our Med. cruise this past May. The only thing that made it half way tolerable was to find that another couple we had met thru another cruise web site were also invited and while we had a nice time - I was not at all comfortable but glad that DH insisted that we accept the invitation.
However, the experience in December '05 on NOS, dining with Capt. Bang was as different as night and day. I had the time of my life - and never felt "out of place". It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've ever spent dining on a ship. This wonderful man did everything in his power to make everyone feel comfortable and he was successful....I'd love to dine with him again. There just wasn't the "stiffness" / "formality" on NOS as I experienced on Millie. Capt. Bang was fun, amusing and interesting as well as appearing to be genuinely interested in what his guests had to say. Just didn't get that warm feeling from the Capt. on Millie and almost felt that it was just part of his job.
Having said that: I do appreciate both invitations to dine with the Captains. And if I'm ever invited to do so again - it will be too soon (unless it's with Capt. and Darlene - however, our next couple of cruises are on M class X ships!).