ballroom-cruisers

Well I will be all ears when the first reports come in after the maiden voyage, as to how passengers felt about the new ship once they have experienced the rooms, the service, and the facilities and entertainment. Of course more information and pictures will no doubt be released over the coming months, especially once the ship's structure is fully built and the internal decor and styling becomes a reality. I am sure a lot of people will be looking to see if the comments on this forum turn out to be about right, of if Cunard changes things between now and when the ship is launched.

It is possible that boarding can be delayed if the disembarking passengers leave a little later than they were asked to, which means the room stewards need more time to clean the rooms and prepare them for newly embarking passengers.

What our experience was at the various wine tasting events on board, both current and in the past, is that of those wines we have been offered to taste, maybe one was palatable enough that we might consider having it again. The rest we usually found pretty much nowhere near the taste we would enjoy, and even more so at the prices offered. You can have as much history of the vineyards as you like, and as much rolling round the tongue by the Sommelier, and as much description of 'hints of citrus, or notes of spice', but at the end of the day it either tastes nice, with a lovely after taste, or it doesn't. Actually we have had hugely nicer wines at the wine tasting excursions, when at ports of call, than we ever had at the wine tastings on board - and often on excursions, whether Italy, Croatia, Sardinia, France or most places we have regularly had almost all the wines offered as enjoyable enough to want to have them again - and then if buying at the vineyard the prices are regularly pretty good value, and it then just a question of how many bottles you can carry! Not that I am a huge wine drinker - but a nice wine occasionally is a pleasant thing to have with a meal.

Yes I know - my answer was a little tongue in cheek - supposedly!

People going to the Queen's Room kind of do have a gentle meet and greet - people gradually say hello and start chatting even without any formal suggestion of that happening.

Yes, exactly!

Have you chatted to some of the more experienced dancers on board? You might find more of a welcome than you think! Yes, some are standoffish, but many or most are happy to encourage early dancers, and maybe even give a few hints and tips. Yes ballroom and Latin dancing is something that needs both being well taught, as well as lots of practice (probably at least ten times the number of hours of practice compared to the number of hours being taught to get proficient). At the end of the day someone might like football, and they may learn a bit about it at school or a sports club, but at the end of the day you have to kick a ball around every day getting better at moving the ball around or getting it to shoot off in the intended direction. The big difference with dancing, is that you have to learn to do it when closely coupled to your partner, and that takes even more practice than learning to kick a ball, or swim on your own in a pool. So it is a special skill, but with special rewards for enjoyment once you can do it.

There are about 15 to 20 of the more popular sequence dances, that get played across many parts of the UK - White City Waltz, Katherine Waltz, Rumba One, Balmoral Blues, Cindy Swing, Sally Anne Cha Cha, and the ever popular Saunter Together or Mayfair Quickstep, and you will see those at the early sequence dance sessions that are sometimes organised at lunchtime or 5pm on voyages. The sequence dance aficionados bring out half a dozen new ones every month, and many are 'done' at a limited number of places for a month or two before they are then never done again. But there are those who enjoy doing the popular ones on a regular basis. Like you we are freestyle enthusiasts though.

Sadly the Queen's Room doesn't have a bar! On QM2 the nearest is that in G32, and the other two ships you have to go out, and down the corridor to order a drink, unless you can grab the attention of one of the limited number of waiters who do their best to serve everyone in the Queen's Room, which sometimes is very difficult for them especially when it is busy just after the theatre performance ends, for example.

The sequence dances are much easier for people to learn than the International Ballroom and Latin dances, and easier to execute, as they are generally only 16 bars of steps repeated until the music ends, and since all couples are doing exactly the same steps at the same time, floorcraft is not necessary for sequence dances. It also means that no variation happens in the steps, and it very much, rote learning, and then doing the same little routine time after time during the three minutes of so of usually the exact same piece of music for each sequence dance. I don't remember any sequence dance called the White Waltz, but there is a popular sequence dance called the White City Waltz which is done across the UK. Only a few countries do sequence dancing, the primary ones being the UK and Australia. Most other countries have the ten International Ballroom and Latin dances as the primary ballroom actions that most people learn. Occasionally more experienced ballroom dancers will do sequence dances to different pieces of music to the standard piece, and the also try to dance them with more correct technique, which makes them look more elaborate. Also one thing to note is that the Latin sequence dances are often danced starting on beat 1, even though they are written to start on beat 2 which is the way Latin dances best link to the music. The top sequence dance champions always dance Latin sequence dances on the 2 though.

With only four wines now, instead of six in the good old days, the wine tasting takes less time now, and the chat/desciption over each one is a lot less detailed than I can remember even through the haze of six generous glasses as used to be the case! There is less 'food' to accompany the wines now too! So plenty of time to leave the wine tasting, and even get changed before afternoon tea!

Very nice to hear - and also that you are one of the couples who is considerate and welcoming to the less experienced couples. Voyages do vary - some have a lovely atmosphere in the Queen's Room, where everyone gets on well and get to know each other as the voyage proceeds - but unfortunately there are also some voyages where a few who are not considerate spoil the atmosphere for the others.

Yes the same for us in July on QM2 - which we thought was thoroughly inappropriate timing! There were plenty of sea days earlier in the cruise for the wine tasting to be organised and offered!

Not odd at all - a lot of people would like to start learning to dance, and do indeed go to the dance classes - but don't yet have the confidence to get on the floor during the real 'live' dancing - it is one thing to learn a few basic steps, and quite another to make that happen in time to the music with other experienced dancers on the floor until you have had a chance to gain some experience. Some fraction of people who have been to the dance classes on board, will then go back home, join a local ballroom dance class near home, learn more steps, and go to their local 'practice dances' designed specifically for couples to gain that initial experience and confidence - then they can come back on board and join in on the floor in the evenings in the Queen's Room, as well as go to the dance classes in the daytime.

Something that is very often forgotten is that a significant number of people settle into their seats at a table in the Queen's Room, order their drinks, and enjoy the entire evening watching the dancers across the various difference dances. People have regularly come up to us and said that watching the dancing is the way they love to be entertained on a cruise.and don't even go to the theatre. Several people told me that they are not dancers but spend every evening enjoying a drink in the ballroom and watching the dancing...... so it is not 'just' the dancers in there. Also various people have told me that if they could not come to the Queen's Room and watch the ballroom dancing then they would go on other cruise lines instead, and it was the unique 'entertainment' that Cunard had on their voyages that kept them coming back to Cunard voyages. That is one thing that seems to regularly escape the notice of a lot of people.

It is a matter of confidence. I well remember being a beginner and being 'terrified' to get on the floor along with all the super experienced others - but we said to ourselves - we have to bite the bullet, and we should not worry that anyone might watch our meagre attempts at stepping around the floor - you have to start somewhere! So it means every beginner has to make that first step, and summon up the courage to do it. After all if you don't you never will join the throng. It is a bit like driving - you have to make the decision at some point to get onto a busy road even when you have little experience - you may be a learner but you need that first step of courage! Oh and the good experienced dancers will indeed offer encouragement and support for those starting on their dance journey - after all every experienced dancer was a beginner in the past!

There is certainly a way to make it work - it is not rocket science. For highly experienced couples on the dance floor, the 'bad' ones will blast their way round the floor oblivious to all other dancers, and will 'do their routines' no matter what - they are inconsiderate and selfish. On the other hand the 'good' experienced dancers will be adaptable and flexible, and although they will have many advanced routines, they will change on the fly as they move across the floor, and if their path would cause a problem for others they will change direction, change the figures they do, and not conflict with anyone. The world champions will of course be able to do elaborate and impressive choreography, but they are also able to dance on a social floor such as on the Queen's Room floor, and not cause anyone a problem - if they have space they will dance impressively, but if it is busy they will moderate their dancing accordingly. Then there are the less experienced but not beginner dancers, and they may be less flexible since they are not adept at floorcraft - so they simply don't have the knowledge or experience to be able to adapt like the best couples - so the top couples will make way to let those who really aren't able to adapt move anti-clockwise around the floor. But even those medium experience dancers who are less flexible, should still be able to change their path enough that they can overtake the really inexperienced couples, who, if they are doing the right thing, as beginners, will be staying close to the edge of the floor as they move anti-clockwise around the room. i.e. there is the slow' lane right next to the edge, and the overtaking lane on the inside of the anti-clockwise circuit. So it all is so dependent on dancers at every level knowing what they should be doing to accommodate the other level dancers in the room. So it should be possible for dancers at all levels to be on the floor together, but only if everyone is being understanding and knows the rules. Sadly there will be advanced selfish couples who don't follow these rules - which is why it so often doesn't work for beginners. On many occasions when I was on our last cruise in July a reasonable number of experienced couples were in the floor at the same time as a few very early beginners (one couple had only started dancing on that cruise!). Yes with the experienced couples being considerate and adaptable everyone was able to enjoy their time on the floor simultaneously. On the other hand some dances, such as Viennese Waltz need a high level of experience to dance that at all, and if inexperienced dancers get on the floor then it quickly becomes impossible for the flow around the room to continue. In some countries dancers are not even allowed to train to do the Viennese Waltz unless they already have demonstrated ability in all the other ballroom dances first!

I guess the specified departure from your room means that the number who leave at any one time is designed/managed so that the entire cohort of passengers leaving through the limited gangway scan-out capacity is spread over a sensible period of time, which should mean nobody ends up with any significant delay. Of course if a few people decide to wait until the last call off, it is fine, provided a sizeable number of people don't all decide to do that, in which case there would be a log jam just before last call off!

Disembarking direct from your room at a specified time is way more efficient and quick than gathering in a disembarking area for call off as used to be the case, even with the old priority system. I hope they keep the direct disembarking from your room permanently.

It's possible.

Good news and nice to hear that the pax numbers continue upwards - that is what Cunard needs to ensure its future.

As one of those who spent my entire life from my student days through my entire career involved with computers and networking from well before the web existed as part of my work as well as private computing, though the primary function of the job was not computing (!), I too am thoroughly experienced in the use of computers from the user level through to detailed admin and software engineering. It is useful hearing other's views, though with a strong mental information filter applied! On a cruise I don't spend much time online, but in the run up to one I will see if any snippets of information might inform decisions in various ways. Mostly we rely on our own long experience at sea though. Of course there are other avenues to connect to other cruise regulars such as the private groups on other social media platforms. It is also useful to gauge the kind of life aboard when considering a potential switch to a line and particular ship not previously experienced - and as ballroom dancers we regard being able to dance every evening as an essential requirement if we are going to book a cruise, which is why I follow this section of CC concerning the two new ships (SoA and SoD).

Yes you spend less on groceries and normal bills whilst away, and are not filling up the car's tank every week, but the cost of a cruise is way more than any saving you might make by being away - but that isn't the point. You are paying for the enjoyment (hopefully) of a fabulous holiday - and any small savings on normal expenditure are a nice 'little' bonus.

The continuing pleas for everyone to wear masks even when it is no longer mandatory is likely to fall largely on deaf ears. No doubt people will post their observations from current and future cruises in that regard.

With your comment about the 'usual respiratory problems which used to affect many passengers' that is certainly true. But it is also worth mentioning that there is a 'pneumococcal vaccine' that is routinely available as a single jab for life, that protects against between 13 and 23 different strains of pneumonia (chest infections), depending which particular version of the jab you get. After my wife and I had that jab several years ago (a few years before Covid arose), we have not had a single occasion where we have had a chest infection either on board ship, or after we got home afterwards, and that is a huge contrast to our experience prior to having that jab, when we would regularly end up with either the 'Cunard cough' on board, or end up with a respiratory infection after we got home, possibly from being on a coach for many hours with various people coughing all the way back a few seats away! So having had the pneumococcal jab, means we have not been infected with respiratory infections, but also since we have been free of that, we have also then not infected others! I don't know how many people are aware of this vaccine, or have had it?