ballroom-cruisers

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!

I believe that was the norm pre-pandemic - perhaps it will return to the norm as the dance hosts are brought back regularly too. They do quite a lot to help solos and of course they have to be available all evening every evening so it is quite intense for them.

The dance hosts are very different to the professional dance couple - the latter are paid as professional crew members. Dance hosts generally only do one or two voyages per year, and are not paid a salary - whereas the professional dance couple have a contract usually for some months, covering however many voyages that take place on the ship continuously during their contract.

They get the voyage with no cost - but they have to dance, not only in the Queens Room but also if there is any ballroom dancing in other alternate venues like the Yacht Club - and they can't choose who they dance with - they have to dance with anyone needing to dance so have to respond whatever their level at dancing.

It looks like dance hosts are being brought back on a more regular basis ( I have friends who are dance hosts, and now have contracts for upcoming cruises ) but it takes time to get people back to agree dates aboard, especially if people already have commitments in the next few months. Some dance hosts are dance teachers and have to take time out from teaching at their main dance studios to go on a cruise, and that means loss of normal income since the dance hosts do not get paid for dancing with singles in the Queens Room. It does look like hosts will become more regular on cruises as it goes through this year, but of course, if Covid rates rise on any particular voyage, then one of the changes that will happen quite quickly is that the dance host availability will likely be withdrawn during such a voyage, until rates go down again. Of course for solos who dance, or those whose partner does not dance, it is a key part of the enjoyment of a cruise to have dance hosts available, and I expect Cunard will do their best to keep that tradition going for as much of the time as possible.

Yes taking a few lessons before the voyage would help establish a little more of the basics to give you some confidence in getting around the floor once you are on board. The classes around midday in the Queen's Room are usually taught extremely well, but in an hour there is a limit to how much you can learn on any one dance - so if there are say four sea days (dance classes are only on sea days), then they can only do an hour on each of four dances, which will usually be waltz, cha cha, quickstep, and then possibly jive, or rumba - a longer cruise has more opportunities to learn more. But even with a basic few figures learned it is enough, if you have confidence, to dance around the room repeating the figures you have learned during a 3 minute song. We all feel self conscious at first, but if you are brave and give it a whirl, then enjoy being part of the wonderful world of ballroom dancing - and then you can continue the journey once you get back home if you join a local dance school if you have one within a reasonable travel distance from where you live.

I think overstating how steady QM2 is in bad weather may be less helpful to anyone who is affected by ship movements. Whilst it is certainly the case that QM2 is steadier than most other passenger ships in rough seas, she does move around. In moderate seas the movements don't usually stop people walking around the ship, and also don't stop most people dancing. However we have been on a TA some years ago on QM2 when there were force 11 gales with swell around 10 metres (around 33 feet) for several days (both ways). Under those conditions, it is quite exciting being at the level of the casino, where people sit in the window sill areas with cameras running to record the sea disappear well below the window line, and then a minute later completely cover the window, and repeat for hours on end. Up in the Commodore Club in those conditions, you feel the ship heave slowly up and then slide down the next wave and hit the bottom with a resounding thump. You then have to be quite careful walking around that you are able to stay on your feet, even if you don't get seasick. It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally if you are on a lot of voyages then at some point you will be at sea when there are those kinds of sea conditions. So most of the time it is true that the ship doesn't move very much, but if you are unlucky (or lucky) enough then you may experience that on some occasions. So you you do suffer from seasickness, it is worth taking supplies of suitable medication just in case - and if not needed then take them home, and keep them for the next voyage.

The current Booking Conditions are in the file at https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/marketing-assets/pdf/booking-condition-pdf/Cunard Booking Conditions October 20.pdf They detail the issue of changes to the itinerary after departure at section 43. I guess this is the contractual basis that we all accept upon making a booking for a Cunard voyage.

I thought it used to be the case that the standard Cunard terms and conditions included phrases about ports of call not being guaranteed, and that normally they would notify the passengers by email about any changes, if known before the voyage begins. Of course with the best will in the world there will occasionally be a missed port for reasons such as bad weather, including winds too strong to make for a safe entry to port, or the port authority making a late change due to special circumstances that results in denied access to the berth. So with the authorities in this case requiring the cruise line to pay for divers to inspect the hull, and imposing a need to pay for the (quite lengthy) process to have divers clean the hull of the build-up, as well as inspecting it to check if it passes the local rules for the level of marine build-up before being permitted to dock, it is probably one of those events that passengers have to accept as a risk that changes the itinerary, though Cunard may well try to offer some recompense in terms of benefits to the passengers who are on board when this has happened. Travel insurance policies may or may not cover this eventuality, and the small print in the contract for the insurance policy would need to be checked to see if there is any financial compensation when this happens.

My first venture on a cruise ship was also on a Union Castle line vessel when I was three years old many decades ago! We only book voyages where the more traditional cruise atmosphere is largely still present, where the ballroom is used for ballroom dancing (mainly) in the evenings, and a mix of recorded music and a live orchestra allows that unbeatable classic atmosphere to be enjoyed, along with dining room etiquette with politeness, waiters that care for the passenger they wish to have a happy meal as a fabulous event, even on non-Gala nights. Yes it is nice to go ashore and enjoy pleasant ports (usually the smaller ones but not too small), or take trips out whilst the ship is in port. We love the formal evenings and having like-minded people around you enjoying the same thing makes for a holiday with a difference. Most of the lines now cater for a different kind of passenger, who wants non-stop entertainment, instead of calm timelessness, but hopefully we will be able to enjoy the traditional relaxed but classic on-board life a while longer. With Cunard being really the last line to keep a ballroom for ballroom and Latin dancing, that is where we spend our time aboard. There are still some P&O ships that have a ballroom - though we haven't booked on P&O since about 5 years ago when the Britannia ballroom was used for quizzes and jazz Duo's playing non-dancing music in the Crystal Room that broke our evenings so we did not feel inclined to spend our money with them and no longer have nightly dancing to enjoy to the full. I do hope that Cunard does not wreck the ballroom dancing, though they too have started to put non-ballroom events into the Queens Rooms in the evenings..

If you buy a 24 hour package it becomes active at that point and expires 24 hours later - I don't think you can buy a 24 hour package in advance.

No, good ballroom dancers do not stamp their feet - and if you include Latin dancers, then even the Paso Doble 'appel' should not be a stamped foot but a scuff on the floor! Bad dancers of any flavour can and do stamp their feet but they shouldn't! Apart from anything else stamping your feet can cause damage to your feet and/or legs and/or hip joints! If you it often and hard it can end up with Plantar fasciitis, which is extremely painful on the soles of the feet - I know a few people who did get that condition.

Flinging your arms around is inconsiderate irrespective of whether you are a beginner or experienced dancer. Equally lifting your feet high and stamping them down is equally inconsiderate especially if the heel of a shoe attached to such a foot ends up taking the skin off the shin of someone nearby or crushing someone's toes. A few years ago on QM2 I was witness to a 'flamboyant' Latin dancer who threw his arm out during a cha cha New York figure, and promptly hit an elderly frail gentleman's neck who was to the side and behind him - the elderly gentleman was knocked unconscious on the dance floor and needed to be taken to the medical centre by paramedics. That is unacceptable whether the person responsible was experienced as a dancer or not. Flailing and flinging arms, and stamping feet is bad dancing as well as totally rude to anyone nearby. I expect I am not the only one to have witnessed this kind of incident.

D&N - I concur with your general view of dancing on board. Though the numbers in G32 do vary between different voyages. There are certainly some fractions of disco/pop music that are pretty suitable for one or other of the ballroom or Latin dances - and I am sure we could all name specific pieces of music from the pop world that are great for a Viennese Waltz, or Rumba or Cha Cha - there is a lovely remix of Adele's Skyfall that makes for a fantastic waltz. There are Elvis songs that work for a Viennese Waltz, and even one of the country music songs (Annie's Song) for that too. But as you say if people position themselves so that nobody can pass them then you can't do those dances that move around the room - if there is at least 'some' space then you can alter course to aim for the spaces! However we have certainly enjoyed a lot of dancing on board and even occasionally a Viennese in the Yacht Club!

I have in the past used the full voyage internet package, and my wife also - and we both had full connectivity the whole voyage. Both used the CWC benefit.

Is it not the case that the new Starlink Maritime service 'will' work anywhere across the Atlantic? The Starlink Maritime web page shows a connectivity map that has the whole north Atlantic covered across latitudes that include the Transatlantic crossings. The map shows the Transatlantic oceanic sector covered from Q4 2022, and the rest of the world from Q1 2023.

While we all end up sending our pictures and videos to friends and family - perhaps it wouldn't be a bad thing if we spend more time enjoying the voyage and less time telling our contacts how much we are enjoying the voyage! I can remember the days when we made our last phone calls, and said "See you in two weeks" to our family, and then never communicated at all till the ship docked on the return sector of the voyage.

Certainly it seems to vary - on some voyages there are lots of ballroom dancers and few who do disco dancing - and on other voyages there are less ballroom dancers and more disco dancers. On the longer voyages there are more ballroom dancers if my memory serves correctly - though it may be different on the far east voyages compared to European or American or Canaries cruises.

I would imagine and hope that the Coronation will be celebrated to the full on all the Cunard fleet - after all most of us won't see a Coronation more than once in our lives from now....

There was an announcement recently that Carnival has signed a contract to install the Starlink (low earth orbit satellite) internet system on a number of its lines, and the list that was published included Cunard. Hopefully if the Starlink system does get installed on all of the Cunard ships, before too long, then the speed and availability of internet connection will be transformed to a very capable and functional, and pretty much continuous, service that will allow fast video upload as well as live video connection most of the time across most of the locations during most voyages. It would be nice to see the plan of when this will happen on each of the Cunard ships though.

The yacht club or G32 are pretty well utilised and 'packed' on many nights outside Gala nights as well as on Gala evenings - so people who want to disco dance get the chance to do so most of the time. Yes, the same folk will also come into the Queens Room to do it when a band is playing there - and for many it makes little difference whether it is the Queens Room or any other venue - in the past on party nights when it is recorded music in the Queens Room quite often the half dozen entertainment crew members on the floor moving to the music to encourage others to join has regularly not brought others onto the floor in large numbers - so it is the tribute bands and similar that people will jiggle to in that room. I have also seen on a number of occasions on QM2 a band playing disco music in the ballroom, and a gaggle of people on the floor, but going across to use the bathroom at the entrance to G32 I have seen many more people in G32 to jiggle to the music in there than the number in the Queens Room itself! On those occasions those who wish to disco dance have two venues available, and the ballroom dancers have none!

The comments about dancing in the previous post is missing a crucial point - ballroom and Latin dancing is a skill that takes time to learn, as well as fun and enjoyment to participate in, as well as creating enjoyment for people watching. Disco dancing is not a skill that needs any training or learning - and of course people enjoy wiggling round with the music playing - but it is not something that non-participants particularly watch though some choose to watch the more attractive participants in much the same way as people watch others at a beach. Pretty much anyone can jiggle to disco music - but what makes the ballroom special is the very fact that people like to see the result of couples who have taken time to learn to dance well. You can shove any number of people in to a room and play pop songs, and it doesn't matter what the floor is or how big it is, except that the larger the floor the more people you can squeeze into the space. Ballroom dancing is special, and many people realise the skill and is what makes the difference to real dancing, whether to recorded ballroom and Latin dancing, or to a live orchestra. It takes a skilled orchestra to play music that couples can move to at their best - if the orchestra is not up to scratch then couples can only move below their best on the floor. The more skilled couples are, the larger the number of people who come in to watch - on most Cunard voyages the professional ballroom couple will do one or two show dances on Gala nights - and exhibit a very high skill level that usually means the room is packed solid with passengers who love to see dancing at that high level - and something that has always differentiated Cunard from other lines - yes of course there are a lot of people who like the other activities such as quizzes, other music, like jazz or classical piano, zumba classes, or even fencing that used to take place in the ballroom in the daytime. But activities should remain broad and available as much as possible, and that should include the opportunity to keep real ballroom dancing in the Queens Room to quality music so that those who have the skill can continue to enjoy it,, and at the same time give pleasure to those passengers who cannot dance but love watching others demonstrate their skills. P&O has sadly lost much of the ballroom dancing at high level on their voyages and ships. I do hope that Cunard doesn't also lose ballroom dancing as well.

If you like ballroom and Latin dancing every evening, then Cunard gives more opportunity than P&O do, although at one time the available dancing time was comparable between the ships on both, even if the dance floor area was more spacious to allow higher quality dancing on Cunard. When we were last on P&O more and more time was taken up by non-dancing events in the Crystal Room on Britannia, such as jazz sessions which didn't link to dancing, or quizzes. The atrium on Azura and Ventura is used for ballroom dancing (as well as lessons in the daytime), though only with a small 3 or 4 person band in between recorded music sets due to the small band platform at one end, and the staircase comes directly onto the dance floor area, which is less ideal, as well as chairs and tables close to the floor edge on the side opposite the staircase. I understand that the newest P&O ships have no dedicated ballroom dance floor. However increasingly the Queen's Room on Cunard ships has been used for non ballroom/Latin sessions, which reduces the available time you can dance ballroom. There have been recorded music sets on the Cunard ships at times such as 5pm to 6pm, but if you are getting ready for dinner at 6pm that is not convenient, and similarly if you are eating from 6pm you can't easily finish a meal until after 7.30pm - so timing of sessions governs realistic opportunities to dance - and in the main part of the evening if there are tribute bands, or musical duos playing non ballroom music, say at 8,.30pm or 9pm then it breaks up the continuity of the evening. Of course if you are not a ballroom dancer then this doesn't affect your enjoyment, but adds to the already available entertainment in the theatre, the music to listen to whilst having a drink in the Chart Room, or the Commodore Club, and so on - whereas if you are a ballroom dancer then the Queens Room is the only realistic place you can dance to the maximum on the ship. Of course as has been posted there are lots of other parts of the holiday on either line that can be compared. On excursions, in general we have had better quality excursions at better prices on P&O than on Cunard, and our most memorable and enjoyable booked excursions have certainly been on P&O in the past.