Sdancer

The Pulse Night club would be very good for this dancing. As I remember correctly, there was a DJ who was good with music requests.

Hi Keith, Thank you for your posts. I have booked a short summer cruise on Serenity in 2024 as a test. It would be my 4th cruise on Crystal: first on NC and three on OC. Would you please give an inside on why NC decided on 4 dance hosts who are ballroom dancers but only a two-member band? I dance ballroom for many years and have yet to come across 2-member dance band :). How does it work? I search for a video but did not find any. Thank you!

There were no cabins available in the category I wanted. I went on a waitlist than was moved to a GTY a couple of days later. The GTY cabin number in my booking was listed as "SUITE NUMBER 514" which is not a real cabin number. Crystal agent who booked me did not know what 514 number for a cabin meant. I suspect that it is a code number for GTY cabin.

I have met a couple last Fall who just came back from their Cunard crossing. They were very experienced ballroom dancers. Based on their feedback I have cancelled my 2024 round trip crossing from NY. They also mentioned about two dozen unsupervised children running around QM2 ballroom floor during the dance.

Have your "giggles", please! I am comparing NC website to OC website, not Regents' :). FYI, Crystal competitor is Oceania now, after they became "all inclusive" in October. Everyone has different expectations. Mine are to have the same experience as on OC - great service and ballroom dancing. Oceania is great for ports, top-notch service and cuisine. Unfortunately for me, Oceania does not have ballroom dancing :(. My friend who used to be an ambassador host for 8 years, including on Crystal, is going to be a regular passenger on Crystal in a couple of months. I am looking forward to his feedback. So, I am out of this thread and will not reply until I have his feedback to share ;).

It is not petty complaint to me since I enjoy ballroom dancing and dance lessons on board. I checked FAQ and it looks like this program is not back yet. since it is not posted. Posting names would be the assurance that the program exists. So far it is not according to FAQ on Crystal website. "WHAT TYPE OF ENTERTAINMENT CAN I EXPECT ON MY CRUISE? Several of the entertainment activities that were previously offered will return including dance lessons (e.g., ballroom dancing), production shows and more. As Crystal continues to build out our new entertainment programming, we will share updates via crystalcruises.com." From my past experience on Crystal not every dance host is a good dancer and a few could not dance at all :). I met many dance hosts and know their names. I also have favorite dance instructors. Since my DH does not dance, I rely on ambassador hosts (dance hosts) to dance with. I liked the crew on OC and am glad that many are returning. Still, until the dance hosts program are back and the info is sorted out, we will continue to book on Oceania.

What a mess! I could not find any information about the shows and port excursions either. Gary Bembridge warned about companies not in business of cruising buying cruise lines/ships. Well ... I will have to wait until then to decide to book or not :). I was fortunate to enjoy three Old Crystal cruises in a year, before the pandemic cancelled my other bookings. It looks like the New Crystal is still not aware what made the Old Crystal a success.

The old Crystal had the names of all 4 ambassadors posted per each cruise (in the entertainment section if I remember correctly) and the names of two professional dance couples. I checked the cruise which started today, Nov.23rd, 2023, and there was no information on entertainment.

It looks like $2,678.57 is the total for two people, including taxes & fees. It claims 75% discount of $3,265 but $3,365 out of $6,084 is 53.41%, not 75%. Strange... it does not add up. What is the total for a solo?

When Celebrity runs a special with 75% off for a second person, it is cheaper for a solo to book for two with a planned no-show for a second person. Taxes and fees for a no-show person are refunded and the gratuities are not charged.

I did! I talked to Marie Batista, the Guest Relations Director, and Tudor, the Hotel Manager, and got nowhere - “it was a misunderstanding”. I told Rich himself too. Sorry, I will let it go, will not post about it again and will try to forget about this unfortunate cruise😊.

A bully is a bully, burn out or not :(.

Rich made a lot of scheduling mistakes like having two overlaying 45 minutes events just 15 minutes apart at the Grand Foyer and another event with a band not showing up. Rich boasted to me that he had zero complaints in his 27 or 28 years cruising, trying to intimidate me. He let me know that if I wanted a band (playing in front of the dance floor!) to play actual dance music, then I should be on Holland America, not Celebrity (?!). He was full of such an uncalled for hate to me that it took me by surprise and made me wonder how he was able to hold his job. I guess that he thought that he could get away bulling a woman.

I met him in person a few times and stand by my honest opinion: incompetent, dishonest, has no shame lying.

The list is too long for this thread :). In short, he is unpleasant and a bully. Eclipse is going to South America on Dec. 7th and will have a different cruise director and a band soon but I do not know the exact date when it happens. It might happen for your cruise - call Celebrity to find out. Unfortunately, the Hotel Manager, Tudor Soacat, to whom a cruise director reports to, is seriously incompetent though he is cruising for many years. I came back from Celebrity Eclipse cruise today. Many people on Eclipse were unhappy with Celebrity and will not return including me. It was my 20th cruise with 6 different cruise companies (4 with Celebrity) and the worst cruise I have ever had. I hope that you get a different cruise director and a different house band on your cruise - it would make a big difference.

I just got off the Eclipse. We had the worst cruise director, Rich Clesen and the worst house band which ame from Carnival, Sea Surfers. People called them the Creamers for their head-throbbing loud music. We had an excellent cruise director in March on Solstice but the Celebrity is going to move him soon.

The people at the port are contractors from ports, not employees of cruise companies.

When the Celebrity is running a promotion that a second guest is 75% off, the solo fair is more than the sum of fare for two people. If a second person is a no-show, will the Celebrity make the first person to pay for a solo cost which is higher? Thanks!

It is very good news about the dance hosts! I will consider booking Crystal when it is back on West Coast like old Crystal was every January to try it out first without having to fly, and when/if the two well known travel agencies that I use start booking Crystal again.

Based on my three cruises on old Crystal, out of 4 dance hosts only 3 could dance with two being good enough dancers and 1 not being able to dance at all. If the new Crystal has only 3 dance hosts, the odds are not great :(.

Thank you so much for your post! It was very helpful. I have a booking (which is refundable) for round trip TA on QM2 next year. I booked to experience ballroom dancing in all its glory. I am a ballroom dancer with DH who does not dance. The lack of dance hosts and generic dancing in QR are unfortunate. It looks like Cunard is changing its many years of tradition in QR :(.

I thought I have posted but it is not here. One more time: I am glad that there are dance hosts on regular sailings (3 dance hosts might not be always enough based on my cruises on old Crystal). I cannot understand why would new Crystal have dance hosts to dance ballroom with solo ladies guests but not hire a band to play ballroom music. Old Crystal was very good about having good bands. Maybe new Crystal just needs more time, maybe a year or two, to bring back what we loved about the old Crystal. Thank you so much for your posts!

Hi Keith, Sorry, you might have answered these questions already and I have missed it. Are there dance hosts and how many each, men and women? Is there ballroom dance music to dance to? Thank you!

I called Crystal and was told that now will be 2-3 dance hosts per cruise, not 4 as it was before.

This is very strange information, hard to believe. There are two agencies which provide dance hosts to the cruising industry, one in US and one in UK. Compass Speakers and Entertainment Inc is in US. Cunard requested US agency to provide dance hosts for QM2 and QE for 2024. Here is the link with the info what qualities are expected from a dance host from the US agency: http://www.compassspeakers.com/gentleman_host.html#about http://www.compassspeakers.com/gentleman_host.html#letter Dance hosts told me about their interview process by the Compass Speakers company in Florida. It is a lengthy process but the dancing ability is looked at very last and only after they successfully finish the interview process. I danced with first time dance hosts and long-time dance hosts. Two of my very good friends were dance hosts; one is going back to being a dance host after the pandemic. Dance hosts do not pay for cruises ; they only pay the Compass agency $30 per night while being a dance host on a ship. I saw the emails which the agency sent to dance hosts for Cunard - dance hosts require to be fully vaccinated and boosted. Maybe that is one of the reason that there is a shortage of dance hosts. Another reason might be that some of the long-time dance hosts are older now and do not what to be dance hosts since it requires long dance floor hours. Also, flying became more difficult and more expensive. In the past a dance host had to stay on a ship for 30 days to get a cruise company to pay for their flights (maybe my flights info is outdated).