Meet the brothers serving as co-captains of Celebrity Cruises' newest ship

When Tasos Kafetzis was growing up, he wanted to be just like his older brother Dimitrios.

"He would say he liked to play basketball, (then) I was playing basketball. He liked to draw, I started drawing," Tasos, 44, told USA TODAY. When Dimitrios left their home in Piraeus, Greece, to begin working on cruise ships when Tasos was 9, he soon decided he wanted to do that, too.

Dimitrios, 55, joined Celebrity Cruises in 1990, and Tasos followed eight years later. Now, the brothers have been named co-captains of Celebrity Cruises' newest ship, Celebrity Ascent, in a first for the brand. The ship will make its debut in December.

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USA TODAY spoke with the seafaring siblings about how cruises became a family business, their approach to the job and their plans for sailing together. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you each get into working on cruise ships?

Dimitrios: (Multiple) things contributed to this decision. The first is that our father was a ship supplier and whenever he (was working with cruise ships), he used to pick me up and take me to the ship and have lunch at the buffet. So, being an almost 10-, 12-year-old kid from a very, let's say, not rich background ... seeing the world of a cruise ship for me was like a magical world. Like my own Narnia, if I may say. You open the door, and you see a different world.

And then, later on ... was "The Love Boat." So, watching "The Love Boat," now I have the insight of what is happening on a cruise ship business-wise, not only the fun part that the guest gets to see but how business is done in a funny way. So, that did it for me.

Tasos: I'm 11 years younger. ... When (Dimitrios) started working on cruise ships, I was like 9 years old. And I didn't like it at the time that he left the house because I wasn't able to see him. And back then there was no communication, only with letters and postcards. ... I remember (when he came home), apart from the first hugs and the excitement – what gifts he brought me from abroad, like remote control cars or Michael Jordan jerseys and stuff that was hard to find in Greece at the time – but I had access to his printed photographs. He had tons of albums, so I would start going through the photos and see the world through his eyes: the Caribbean, Hawaii, listening to stories and stuff. So, he put an invisible hook on me, like, "OK, that's what I want to do, as well."

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When did you both become captains for the first time?

Dimitrios: 2004 for myself.

Tasos: 2013.

Do you each have a favorite place that you like to sail or that you've been on cruise ships?

Dimitrios: For me, other than the Greek islands – I don't think there's any better place – my favorite ports are Vancouver, Canada, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Love it.

Tasos: And for me also the Greek islands, like, is the top of the list, but we're biased on that. But I will agree with Honolulu, and also I will put Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Do each of you take a different approach to the captain role?

Dimitrios: When I first started, things were very (much a) military structure on cruise ships ... and the captain was dead serious. ... So, when I took over in 2004 for the first time ... I said to myself, "I don't have to be this military guy." I can be fair – and that's how I want to be remembered, that I was fair on all matters – and humorous, which helps us break barriers and brings us closer together. So that was my thing, and it was well accepted, especially among the guests.

Tasos: From my side, I saw Dimitrios introducing this new style of being presented to the guests and the crew and I saw how positive the impact was. So, I said, "OK, I can be myself," because that's what he does. What you see is what you get. He doesn't pretend to be funny, he's just being himself.

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How did it feel when you found out that you were going to be named co-captains?

Dimitrios: Even now, I have goosebumps. The first time we heard about it, it brought tears. It was a very emotional thing, because in the back of your head, you always have a thought, like, (it) would it be nice. We could see the pros and cons of being together on a ship. But we were having this idea back and forth, coming and going, that yeah, it would be fun.

Tasos: I remember distinctly, I was having dinner. I saw the (FaceTime) call from my boss from Miami, our vice president of marine operations, and it was like 9:30 p.m., which is not very usual after business hours. It's either something really good or something really bad when they call you.

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So I answered the call, and I see Dimitrios already there. I was like, "OK, it might be a social call." It was the best news we've heard in the last few years.

You will be rotating on a three-month on, three-month off basis. How will that work?

Dimitrios: We'll have to find ways to spend some time together because it doesn't work exactly like this. But there is a plan that we can be together for a while ... and call it a captain's cruise and the guests get to sail for a week with both of us, which will be advertised and it will be a good thing. And we already have some plans in mind for what we can do to confuse the guests about who is who (since we look alike).

How do you think it will be to share the role?

Dimitrios: Knowing Tasos, I can trust his decisions in handling the vessel or handling his crew and guests with closed eyes, and that's not because he's my brother. He has proven from a very early stage how talented he is at handling a ship, and later on he has become a very, very fair captain.

Tasos: I was trained by Dimitrios. ... And as for the other decisions, the day-to-day operations, it's part of our nature to always consult with your colleagues and take the best possible decision, so we're going to just do the same. Out of conversation, you don't try to figure out who's right. You try to figure out what's right. So, it's going to work just fine. Worse comes to worst, rock paper scissors.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These brothers are co-captains of Celebrity Cruises' new ship