Ballroom dancing on Eclipse

[relaxguy]

Has anyone been on the Eclipse lately? I'm sailing 3/17/2012, and I'm wondering what opportunities there will be for ballroom dancing. On a recent Solstice cruise, a few of the (limited) dancing opportunities were not an option if you had late seating in the MDR. What about Eclipse?

 

Also, I'm a male traveling solo. Any sense of whether I'm likely to find any other solo or otherwise available ballroom dancing partners?

 

I welcome any info!

[pakarinen]

I'm curious to see if you get any answers and any comments about the dance floors on X. My wife and I were with a ballroom dance group on the Crown Princess and danced every night in the Wheelhouse Lounge.

 

We're thinking of a Celebrity cruise next time, but not with any particular group. Of course, it's less of an issue for us since we're partnered up, but we did have 4 or 5 single ladies in our dance group. I think there were a few single women who would wander into the Wheelhouse in the evening, but no idea if they danced.

Edited March 3, 2012 by pakarinen

[C 2 C]

Eclipse has even less dance floor space in the main lobby than Solstice.

However there are more dance classes than before and that is the place where you might find some dance partner.

Late night dancing normally offers few ballroom dances but if you like gyrating there should be some chances to meet others.

[pakarinen]

Late night dancing normally offers few ballroom dances but if you like gyrating there should be some chances to meet others.

 

Ah. We also do dance club dances like swing and salsa, but I assume there's not much chance of hearing a waltz or foxtrot in any of the lounges?

[C 2 C]

Ah. We also do dance club dances like swing and salsa, but I assume there's not much chance of hearing a waltz or foxtrot in any of the lounges?

 

On the M-class ships where a dance group plays in the Rendezvous one waltz and several Foxtrots are played in every set. The problem that we had on Solstice is that every time we got up to dance, our seats were occupied repeatedly despite our wine glasses on the table. Rather than argue every time, we stopped dancing in the lobby. The dance floor on Skydeck is much nicer and seats more plentiful.

[relaxguy]

Nice to hear some responses on this topic! I really enjoy ballroom dancing and don't mind a little swing and salsa, too. It's disappointing to hear that the venues on Celebrity appear to be limited, as otherwise I love these ships. I was recently on Princess, and there was dancing to live music every night. Very nice! I'm not looking to "date and mate"....just have some partners to dance with. Almost all of the enthusiastic dancers on my prior cruises seem to have been couples. A very few of the couples seem to be open to separating briefly to mingle with other dancers on the dance floor, but I hesitate to cross a boundary that might be considered inappropriate.

[pakarinen]

Please post how things go dancing-wise on the Eclipse once you get back. Tnx!

[brucedodge]

Everett,

 

For many years we cruised more on Celebrity than on Princess. But unfortunately Celebrity doesn't have much interest in ballroom dancing, and has designed their Solstice class ships to the detriment of ballroom dancers. In addition, their opportunities for ballroom music have degraded over the years.

 

Consequently, though we still cruise Celebrity occasionally, we have switched mainly to Princess, which offers better live ballroom music and better dance venues.

 

Bruce

[pakarinen]

[...] unfortunately Celebrity doesn't have much interest in ballroom dancing, and has designed their Solstice class ships to the detriment of ballroom dancers. In addition, their opportunities for ballroom music have degraded over the years.

 

[...] we have switched mainly to Princess, which offers better live ballroom music and better dance venues.

 

Thanks, BD. Good to know. We were considering HAL but decided against them b/c of their smoking policies. Looks like we might have to stick with Princess if we want to dance onboard.

[JAT0303]

My husband and I love to ballroom dance and have only cruised on M class ships because we're hesitant to try something else. We've been happy with the dancing in the Rendevous Lounge and sometimes in the nightclub (although the floors are dangerous because of the separate panels that catch your shoes).

 

We did a B2B on the Millenium in Nov/Dec and dancing was good for the most part. Unfortunately, they'd moved the ballroom dance band to the nightclub so we had to dance to the party band, which could play ballroom well enough especially after they saw people would dance when they played ballroom music. We did go to the nightclub a couple of nights but had to be careful not to do steps that moved too quickly across the floor so we didn't trip.

 

We're on the Infinity in April and are hoping that the floor in the nightclub was replaced during the solsticizing! We're glad they've kept the Rendevous Lounge - while the floor isn't too big, I think it would be better than dancing at the foot of the stairs in the Grand Foyer in the S class ships.

 

We appreciate the no smoking policy on Celebrity but may try Princess in the future because we've heard the dancing opportunites are better.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[gmros]

My husband would love to have you on our cruise. He's not very fond of dancing. Even though I'm not that good at it, I still like to dance. And I kept dragging him to dance with me on vacations, land and cruise. And it becomes a comedy, he has 2 left feet. Bless his heart.

[Blue Lagoon]

On the M-class ships where a dance group plays in the Rendezvous one waltz and several Foxtrots are played in every set. The problem that we had on Solstice is that every time we got up to dance, our seats were occupied repeatedly despite our wine glasses on the table. Rather than argue every time, we stopped dancing in the lobby. The dance floor on Skydeck is much nicer and seats more plentiful.

 

Yikes!! I'm surprised that someone didn't figure out that the seats were taken. This has happened to us on another cruise line. You know the one with the sinking ship. But, honestly, I do expect better from guests on Celebrity.

 

For the life of me, I can't begin to like the lobby area for anything. We have been dancing and tried to avoid being run down by people cutting across to the other side. When there is a performance, there is no viewing area that works comfortably. Leaning against a railing on a higher-up floor isn't my idea of ideal.

 

Heaven knows, I've tried to convert to the S-class. It is an uphill battle. :(

[C&F]

My husband and I love to ballroom dance and have only cruised on M class ships because we're hesitant to try something else. We've been happy with the dancing in the Rendevous Lounge and sometimes in the nightclub (although the floors are dangerous because of the separate panels that catch your shoes).

 

We did a B2B on the Millenium in Nov/Dec and dancing was good for the most part. Unfortunately, they'd moved the ballroom dance band to the nightclub so we had to dance to the party band, which could play ballroom well enough especially after they saw people would dance when they played ballroom music. We did go to the nightclub a couple of nights but had to be careful not to do steps that moved too quickly across the floor so we didn't trip.

 

We're on the Infinity in April and are hoping that the floor in the nightclub was replaced during the solsticizing! We're glad they've kept the Rendevous Lounge - while the floor isn't too big, I think it would be better than dancing at the foot of the stairs in the Grand Foyer in the S class ships.

 

We appreciate the no smoking policy on Celebrity but may try Princess in the future because we've heard the dancing opportunites are better.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

From what I've heard, Princess is implementing a smoking policy that is similar to Celebrity. As far as indoor lounges, I think Princess allows it in none, while Celebrity did allow it in one on the Summit. Not sure about other ships.

[beppy]

We really have yet to find a cruise line in our price range that gets it right in every department. But Celebrity comes the closest. As ballroom dancers too, we loved HAL for that but just couldn't get past the smoking policy - thought it wouldn't bother us but it did. Princess was great too but the quality of the food didn't come close to Celebrity and we didn't find the layout of the ship easy to navigate for some odd reason - and it was Crown princess - almost brand new at the time. We've just come to accept that we don't go on cruises with the main reason to go ballroom dancing. You will find the latin on Celebrity is OK but little space for Quickstep, no tango music, maybe 1 or 2 Foxtrots, and 1 or 2 waltzes. The latin even depends on the crowd - one cruise there were many Puerto Ricans on board and salsa was very popular - band played mainly that. Once, it seemed West Coast Swing was the overriding dance. The band does tend to play more of what the crowd is up dancing to. Maybe the issue is that so few people know how to dance anymore, we've all sunken to the shuffle around stuff. Be careful, my wife did injure herself her ankle in the Rendez-Vous lounge on that floor and hope they will change the floor when they Solticize the Millenium. Do make sure you go to the ballroom classes X offers - while not really meant for any dancers with skill, they are fun.

[C 2 C]

From what I've heard, Princess is implementing a smoking policy that is similar to Celebrity. As far as indoor lounges, I think Princess allows it in none, while Celebrity did allow it in one on the Summit. Not sure about other ships.

 

Smoking is no longer allowed inside any Celebrity ship as of January 1st, 2012 :D

[pakarinen]

We appreciate the no smoking policy on Celebrity but may try Princess in the future because we've heard the dancing opportunites are better.

 

On the Crown, there was an outstanding band playing swing, rock, and some country in Explorers Lounge. Packed dance floor. There was another outstanding band in the Wheelhouse Bar playing jazz, but as soon as I asked them to play a rumba and DW and I actually dance to it, they switched to ballroom. Fewer people there.

 

We tried Latin / salsa in Skywalkers but the floor is a panel floor and since the seas were rough, I felt like I was offbalance most of the time. Very hard dancing up there IMO. Plus the DJ eventually devolved to booming trance / techno music, so we left.

 

Club Fusion (aft) has the biggest floor and it's quite nice but they only had a sad little quartet playing ballroom one night for about an hour. It was sort of funny - the band had the enthusiasm of molasses when we were there. But since we had the floor largely to ourselves, we hung around before heading to Wheelhouse.

 

(Sorry for the hijack!)

[C 2 C]

On the Crown,

 

(Sorry for the hijack!)

 

but does Princess allow smoking in the lounges?

[C&F]

but does Princess allow smoking in the lounges?

 

As of summer '10, smoking was allowed in a small section of Skywalker's and there is a sports bar/cigar lounge. I know they did away with it in Fusion and I think the Wheelhouse bar as well. Casino had 2 smoke free nights on a 9 day sailing.

[pakarinen]

but does Princess allow smoking in the lounges?

 

AFAIK, there is no smoking inside now except for the cigar bar and the casino. I never saw anybody smoking in any of the lounges nor did I see ashtrays. You can smell smoke by the customer service desk next to the casino, but aside from portside outside, that's all I saw / smelled.

 

I think there's a sticky on the P. subforum on the smoking policy.

Edited March 8, 2012 by pakarinen

[Ahhh]

Interesting thread on ballroom dancing. I was on the Sapphire a couple of weeks ago and there was ballroom dancing every night in at least one lounge. There was never any smoking allowed in any of them, I am happy to report. Princess is not my first choice of cruise lines (Celebrity is #1), but I have to say, as far as dancing, it was great. I am looking forward to sailing on the Constellation the end of the month. Does anyone know the dancing possibilities on her?

 

I too, travel without a dance partner most of the time, but have found some willing partners hanging out around the dance venues. Even the couples I have met, when they realize I am not a "gigilo" :eek: ;), have been very welcoming of a fellow dancer. I've met some very pleasant dancers on all the cruises I have been on. There is certainly a comaraderie and appreciation of skills among us. David

[relaxguy]

Please post how things go dancing-wise on the Eclipse once you get back. Tnx!

 

Just back from cruising on the Celebrity Eclipse, and overall, the ballroom dance opportunities were a disappointment.

 

Classes were well attended, but each class was only 30 minutes. Only a few who attended the classes showed up for dancing later.

 

Evening dancing opportunities, as has been my experience before on Celebrity, were marginalized to an hour or so per night. On this cruise, they scheduled an hour of dj'ed ballroom dancing 7:45-8:45 or 8:00-9:00. This time conflicted with dining times. Few attended. The dj's were friendly, but rather clueless about ballroom dancing. For example, one evening had an event called "Rat Pack Dance party" in the Quasar Lounge. There's lots and lots of danceable music performed by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr. However, this DJ sometimes played tunes better meant for listening...like Sinatra's rendition of "Send in the Clowns" which has a free-flowing tempo unsuited for dancing.

 

One night, there was an hour or so of big band dance music in the main foyer. Pretty good, but the MC fancied himself a comedian and talked altogether too much.

 

As a solo traveler, I found it difficult to find a dance partner. A couple of ladies were good sports, but most had practically no knowledge of dancing. (At their request, I coached them "Slow-slow-quick-quick").

 

The main party band would also occasionally play ballroom dance music. Not bad when they did.

 

Of course, one of the problems on the Solstice class ships is the absence of appropriate dance venues. The main foyer is tiny and also serves as a backdrop for photographers and as an area for foot traffic. The Quasar Lounge on 4 is more designed for club dancing. The dance floor is smallish but adequate for ballroom. Sky Lounge is quite large, but the dance floor is not. Finally, a small jazz group often plays in the Ensemble Lounge on 5. The Ensemble Lounge is essentially a wide corridor en route to the specialty restaurants. The Ensemble is fully carpeted, and there is no space for dancing. That is a shame, because the jazz group often played very danceable music. There is not a single wooden dance floor on the entire ship.

 

Based on my experience, I would say that the Solstice class Celebrity ships are not a very good choice for ballroom dance enthusiasts. I found my recent sailing on Princess was much, much better...with live music, to boot! There were more dancers on Princess, although as a solo traveler, I still did not always find unattached dance partners easily.

[dutrie]

I am disappointed to hear of the few ballroom dancing opportunities on Celebrity. We are returning to Celebrity after trying other lines for the last several years. We started out cruising on Celebrity and did five cruises before switching due to a cancelled cruise.

 

We have cruised with Princess several times, the most recent on the Coral and Island. On both ships there were plenty of opportunities to dance. There was ballroom dance music in the Wheelhouse every night with a combo, dance music in Explorers with the ship's party band, and a couple of events in Universal lounge with the Princess Orchestra. The Orchestra also played big band music in Wheelhouse twice.

 

We will be seriously disappointed if there isn't an opportunity to dance on Eclipse.

 

If they give ballroom lessons on Celebrity it is strange that they don't provide places to dance!

[relaxguy]

On the Celebrity Solstice ships the Cruise Director and Activities Director do not ever seem to be particular attuned to giving a priority to ballroom dancing. On one cruise, the CD said, "Because of the demographics of this particular sailing, you might not find quite as many opportunities for dancing." However, I haven't noticed much difference on any of the sailings. It may not make much difference, but it wouldn't hurt to meet the CD and express your concerns. These ships are beautiful, and I do think that many of their passengers would, in fact, be interested in more dancing opportunities. To Celebrity's credit, I did receive a phone call from customer service after completing my last sailing. They seemed to be interested in what I had to say.

 

BTW, I'm not much of a drinker, but when I'm on a ship, I do make a point of buying at least some soft drinks when they provide dancing. I always wonder whether some bean-counter is figuring out how much additional revenue is generated by ballroom dancers.

[pooch1]

My husband and I do ballroom dancing and when we go cruising, we love to dance a little before and after dinner. Although most cruise ships provide some music for ballroom dancing, we have yet find a cruise line that give us great satisfaction in this respect.

 

We have done a number of cruises during the past years and here is what we've found:

 

The best dance floor is on the Cunard ships in the Queen'Lounge. The room is elegant, the dance floor is big with beautiful hardwood floor. Unfortunately the music is not good. Instead of having a 4 or 5 men band, they use a big orchestra which plays music that is quite strict tempo. If Cunard has a nice band that can play nice ballroom music with strict tempo, it would be perfect. Also, when we were on the QM2 & Queen Elizabeth ship, we have noticed that there are quite a few single ladies who love to dance.

 

On the Princess ships, they do provide more dancing venue.......ballroom dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar, disco in the Skywalker night club, and also dancing in the Explorer lounge. This is also one of reason why we have cruising Princess more. However, the last time we were on the Sapphire Princess, the singing of the male vocalist in the Wheelhouse Bar was so terrible that nobody wants to get up and dance. It was so bad that we totally gave up going there at all. But one of the voyage, they had a Philippino band on the ship and the music was so good. So it is kind of hit and miss type of thing.

 

Holland America has ballroom dancing in the Ocean Bar, but unfortunately othe dance floor is very small. It's not too bad for Latin dancing (depending on how many couples are out there), for definitely not big enough for waltz, tango and slow foxtrot which requires more room.

 

We have only been on the Celebrity once, and it was some years ago. So we are not in the position to make any comment.

 

Our friends whom we normally go dancing with have asked us to join them on the Celebrity Millenium for a 14 night cruise in December. Would appreciate any input regarding ballroom dancing music in the Rendezvous Lounge lately.

[CraigM]

Just off the Infinity, I would rate the ballroom experience about 0.5 out of 10. Only a couple of postage stamp-sized dance floors, mostly packed with "freestyle"(?) dancers. So, even when the band played a ballroom dancing piece, the floor was already crowded with 'freestyle' dancers, so no real ballroom opportunities.:(