ballroom-cruisers

It is still the case that Brits are the largest fraction of Cunard's cruise passengers, but clearly Cunard wants their second largest customer base to grow. It is fairly easy to do a search for Cunard Matt Gleaves, who was appointed as executive VP for the American and Far East sectors about a year ago, and find video and news reports of an interview he did around May last year, where he talks about this increase in the American customer base, and how they plan to have more Alaska voyages once the new ship is operational, and that they will be looking to increase the American market particularly for the Alaska region voyages. He also talks about how they want to make the ship appear less formal and more 'attractive' to that market. I seem to remember him talking about white glove service for afternoon tea allowing passengers to enjoy 'luxury on their own terms' - which is an interesting turn of phrase and we can make of that as we wish! It would appear that he has been given quite a bit of freedom to make changes to allow the intended increase in the American market, which may well extend to more than just the design of Queen Anne's interior. Aside from how we word the particular changes, the more important point is that we have all seen some changes already, over the past year or so, and it is clear changes are afoot already - and how much more change there will be, as we go through the next year or two, will be noticed by those who are on booked voyages who will see for themselves how the new Cunard thinking is being implemented in the way the entertainment and other aspects of voyages, not just on Queen Anne, are managed and will be an experience for us all. There are also different news reports quoting the 40% figure in two different ways - one is that Cunard apparently aims to increase the American market to 40%, and others talk about increasing the American market by 40%, and it is not clear if one or the other, or both, are true.

One thing that has not been mentioned here, as far as I remember, is that during last year there were various articles in the cruise industry news media discussing the Cunard management aim to increase the American proportion of its market share to 40%, and in order to do so to gear the operation of the ships, and the design for the new ship to be less formal, and more attractive to a wider customer base. It may well be that the changes people have been seeing and discussing have arisen from the way that Cunard plans to achieve that by opening up their cruises to 'all' rather than being to a more discerning passenger. This may well be linked to the design of the new ship, from the overall choice of Pinnacle class hull, to the different look to the interior design, and may well also lead to changes in the way that the on board offerings for entertainment are managed and presented. Whether the traditional Cunarder will continue to like and accept this remains to be seen.

Some time ago there were some posts saying that policy on zeroing the ship in New York was being changed so that if you were continuing on beyond New York, then you did not need to go through US immigration off the ship. I have not seen any more about that change of policy. Does anybody know if this did actually happen, or what the policy on that in the future is in terms of official immigration policy for transit passengers on the ship in New York?

Yes let's hope so.

I am delighted with most of the voyages that we have done on Cunard over the years. We are continuing to book Cunard, at the moment, but we are certainly not blind to changes taking place - and some changes we accept will happen. But as changes continue, there may come a time when we are also no longer able to enjoy what we would like from a cruise - and it we reach that threshold, then it will be a time to make decisions about alternatives. We already now do more holidays on land than we used to - provided we can enjoy some Gala nights, some dressing for the occasion, and a reasonable amount of ballroom dancing, and in elegant classic surroundings, then it is not imperative that is has to be at sea on a Cunard ship. Hopefully the cruises we will be in this year, and even next on the new Queen, will lead to us having a lovely time. If we stop having a lovely time we will do other holidays instead.

When you say 'their loss in my opinion' that may well be, but they themselves seem to be saying it is 'their gain' having switched lines!

It certainly appears to me that there is a community of like-minded cruise passengers who have remained loyal to Cunard for some years, and taken their cruise holidays on one or more of the Queens, not because of a particular itinerary even though that does matter to some extent, but because they become part of a social connection with other passengers who have a similar mindset regarding dress code, and feel comfortable dressing for the occasion, particularly on Gala nights, knowing that they are in the company of others who enjoy doing the same. It is one of the things that makes Cunard special compared to many of the other, though not all, cruise lines. Of course there are also some other lines where people who enjoy dressing for the occasion book voyages, but there has always been a classic atmosphere across the Cunard ships, combining a level of service, an elegant look across the ship in terms of decor, and gentle and beautiful music not just in the Queen's Room, but in the Grand Lobby, in the Commodore Club, and the string quartet in the MDR on Gala evenings, that a significant number of people feel makes it a special extended occasion being on a Cunard voyage compared to booking a cruise on other lines. There is no booming loud music on the deck around the pools, even if on some occasions a band does play for a while on deck or in the Winter Garden room. It is clear that some of the things that were always the Cunard tradition in the way a cruise was conducted is what a lot of people wanted. There are now increasing numbers of posts on some of the other forums indicating that some passengers have now booked and experienced voyages on other lines because of the dilution of such things as the dress code, the ballroom dancing, and the experience of main evening meals on Cunard cruises being constantly changed, and some of those passengers have been posting that having been on a voyage with a different line, they intend not return to Cunard cruises and despite the loss of ballroom dancing for some who enjoy dancing, which is not available as much on other lines, or any enforced dress code on their newly experienced cruises - they have posted that they are part of a community of passengers on the alternative to the Cunard cruise, who enjoy dressing for the occasion, and that there is no constant argument or discussion about whether or not having to 'dress formally' is an issue - people just do dress up because they want to, and very few others wish not to. It seems that there are increasing numbers of people who feel strongly that the dress code should not be there for Cunard and people should have the freedom to wear whatever they wish on all evenings, and that makes those who do like to dress up feel that they are being taken to a new set of standards where they may feel less comfortable doing so, and where dressing up a bit is actually looked down up - which is actually pretty unfair really. It is a shame that so much effort now goes into deriding the dress code that so many passengers have enjoyed for so long.

Just like a motorway the slow lane is that nearest the exit ramp.

The floor etiquette is analogous to driving on a multiple lane motorway. The is a slow lane and a faster lanes. It the slower drivers stick to the the slower lanes and the fast drivers are given the freedom to use the fast outer lanes then there's freedom and enjoyment for all. It's much the same on the dance floor. Simple to learn about, easy to follow, and makes dancing fun for everyone. That way the experienced and beginner dancers can all have a good time. Just like on the road if the slow drivers take up the fast lanes because they feel it's their right, then it makes life difficult for everyone.

The middle of the floor is for the more experienced, not for the less experienced. The edge is for the beginner dancers - that has been the normal etiquette for quite a long time. If the beginner dancers stay on the edge then provided the centre is not blocked by other inexperienced dancers, then that leaves the middle for the experienced dancers to go around the beginners - then it all works. If beginners clog the middle then the experienced dancers are jammed from moving. If people stick to the conventional protocol, then ALL dancers at all levels can enjoy themselves, and that is the point of having that convention.

For the main ballroom dances it is not OK. The dances move around the floor anti-clockwise, with the slower and less experienced couples on the outside nearest the edge, and the faster more experienced couples 'overtaking' on the inside. On a floor the size of the Queen's Room that means anyone dancing their own thing static in the middle then blocks the fast dancers and it does not work. For Latin dances, such as rumba, cha cha or jive then yes it is fine because there is no flow around the room and everyone finds their own patch of floor to dance and moves not far from the middle of their patch. For other dances like salsa it is OK too. For Argentine Tango again couples generally move around the floor, so a static couple in the middle will block the space needed by faster overtaking couples.

Everyone has their own way of deciding what volume of luggage they are able and happy to take. Many take a couple of suitcases each, plus possible suit bags as 3rdGenCunarder described. But we have also known couples take over a dozen cases with them - how they manage to actually transport them is beyond me, and where they put them during a cruise I have no idea unless the ship has somewhere for storing them at extra cost? But we manage to squeeze in a lightweight dinner suit, and a carefully selected set of dresses for my wife - though shoes are something that takes more space than the other clothes particularly when you need shoes for the evening and different shoes for day excursions or being out on deck in the sun - and for dancers additional dance shoes adds space too. So it is never an easy set of decisions about what to take, but as each holiday is taken it becomes a little easier with experience - but is always a personal decision. Having the laundrettes means you don't have to take clothes for every day and you can wear some more than once. Lots of people will have their own hints and tips about space saving, and what decisions they make about what to take in the luggage.

Good basic thoughts, Dancer Bob. One thing about posture, which you correctly point out, is that it is about basic good health, is that the modern lifestyle often leads to bad posture - a great many of us walk around looking down at the ground not far in front of our feet, we spend long hours looking down at our phone, texting or similar, we ignore the advice given by the health and safety gurus at work when it comes to advice about the height of computer screens, and what kind of chair to sit in, and we don't spend enough time walking around with our spine straight, and our head looking horizontally. I was guilty of exactly all of those things and the net result is that we have curved spines, turtle necks, weak back and abdominal muscles, and poor gait. All of those things are not ideal when it comes to learning to dance - and takes quite a lot of time to correct - and yet getting those basics of life right are the groundwork for being able to dance. As beginners we also didn't listen to the dance teacher saying, "Your feet will take the steps even if you aren't looking at them"! So there are certainly some fundamentals that do not depend on the dance teacher that it is well worth looking at even before going to a first dance lesson. But at least learning to dance does encourage stronger core muscles, and a better posture, and that will make the owner of the relevant muscles feel healthier and fitter, which is one of the big benefits of taking dance learning further.

It also turns out that on the Cunard site exploring the different venues, they have links to the deck bar menu, and also for the Chart Room and others - which is nice to look at before you get on board. Choosing a drink takes time when there is a lot of choice, and it is nice to peruse the options and drool about them well before you are there with the waiter/waitress asking if you have decided what you would like!

After some digging around I didn't find the QV Commodore Club menu, but I did find the QM one, which is at https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/my-voyage/pdfs/qm/qm_commodore_club_menu_aug_2022a.pdf

Certainly that is good advice about how to approach learning to dance. I would concur very strongly that finding a dance teacher who dances at the highest level themselves, and is dedicated to teaching and passing on their skills, is the best way to learn to dance. It is very easy to watch teaching videos and end up trying to copy what you see, but in fact develop wrong ways to do the movements, posture and steps. If you are taught the correct way from the beginning and the dance teacher can nudge you into good habits from day one, then it is a lot easier than trying to correct bad habits that develop by learning the wrong way. If experience has anything I can take a message from, it is that for every correct way of doing anything in dancing there are dozens of wrong ways to do the same thing, and the chances of us hitting the right way on our own are extremely low. Most of us hit the wrong way first! So the cost of paying for quality teaching is in the end cheaper than the cost of correcting strongly embedded bad habits. Of course everyone can choose their own approach to learning, but from my own experience of doing exactly that, I have had to spend some years 'fixing' all the wrong things I had come to accept I did as 'normal'. Either way to become a good dancer takes many years, but we need to try to enjoy that journey through its ups and downs.

That is an excellent link which I had not seen before. Do you have a similar link to the QV Commodore Club menu by any chance?

Perhaps this has only been sent to American Cunarders? Anyone in the UK had one yet?

Yes, some significant fraction of people do try to go with the theme, even though the majority simply dress in tux or suit and tie or bow-tie for men, and elegant evening dress for the ladies. For Black and White night, quite a lot of ladies have a dress in line with those colours, and for Cunard Gala night the red and gold theme gives a lot of leeway to find something with at least some red and/or gold in it - and for the men, a gold or red tie or gold cufflinks works nicely. For the Masquerade evenings perhaps 25 to 30 may come in with masks on, many quite elegant and stylish, but still the majority are in elegant evenings dresses without a mask, and for men either tux or evening suit, with a normal tie or bow-tie. Nobody reacts whichever route you choose - and pretty much everyone looks nice and dressed for the occasion. There are usually very few who aren't dressed up for a Gala evening in the dining room and the entertainment areas including the Queen's Room.

At the end of the day musicians either can play to the rhythms needed for good dancing, or they can't. It seems to be a fact that there are more of the latter now than the former. However when we come across a brilliant orchestra, whether on a cruise or a land based dance holiday we really do appreciate it. There are some fabulous ballroom/swing/Latin bands in existence and it makes such a difference and makes dancing to their music wonderful. So we cherish those times when we can do that!

There are clearly going to be some who continue to love the Gala night dress code, and will dress to that set of traditions irrespective of whether Cunard has a dress code or not, and equally there are strong minded folk who will demonstrably make sure that they dress to avoid any traditional formal evening dress standards. Time will tell whether there will be more, or less, people in either category as time passes. I have been to quite a few ballroom dance land based weekend or midweek breaks in the UK, and although there is no dress code at all, there is always one of the evenings that 'becomes' a Gala night, where the majority of men wear dinner jacket with bow-tie, and the ladies an elegant evening dress. First timers sometimes are not aware of that 'tradition' but most then make sure they bring some elegant evening wear if they go on similar short dance holidays in the future. It is a bit like that with cruises on Cunard - there is a significant number of people who do love the elegance of a Gala evening and join like-minded passengers in making it a 'dress-up' evening. People who like dressing up for the evening really are not that bothered, for the most part, that there will be some who are determined to dress down rather than up. So it will be interesting to see if that continues through the next few years.

It seems that it is more difficult to get high quality dance orchestra musicians once cruises restarted after lockdown. We have had one or two excellent band leaders who know how to play good quality ballroom music, but more recently, as you say, less appropriate tempo, and wrong musical phrasing for dancing, has become more common, as well as poor choice of a good range of music. There has been a lack of understanding that playing a samba followed by a jive, followed by a 5 minute Viennese Waltz is utterly inconsiderate of what is appropriate for dancers. There is no understanding of the need to put slower dances in between the faster ones! Playing a piece of music announced as "in the style of a foxtrot" generally leads to amusement among those who can dance! The consequence once the music starts and the first into heard is that dancers stay in their seats!

Hopefully so - I have friends on board and had no news since they set off.

Is anyone on Britannia at the moment on the Caribbean voyage, and just left St Vincent? Nobody has commented on how this voyage is going - or whether the food and entertainment are making for a lovely cruise or if any issues have arisen?

Yes indeed - the people I know who have been dance hosts do enjoy it, but usually say that it is not quite the free holiday that they expected - as there is little time to do their own holidaying. But it is rewarding for them, and they enjoy being able to give something nice to quite a few passengers who would otherwise be unable to dance. Yes they get to go on shore excursions, but of course have responsibility for ensuring nobody goes missing and the same number get back to the ship at the end of the excursion as started out at the beginning of the trip!