Dancing: Zaandam thru Canal in April

[vertical lander]

DW and I very much enjoy Ballroom and Latin dancing (and have since long before "Dancing with the Stars"). We will be taking our first ever cruise April 14th on the Zaandam from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle, via the Panama Canal. What can you tell us about how much dancing we will be able to enjoy on this cruise What lounge on board is the most probable spot What hours

 

Thanks for taking the time to advise us. CDS

[formercruisestaff]

We have a wonderful group onboard named Viva Music that plays classical music in the explorers lounge every night, usually from 9-11:30 pm. You may also enjoy the music of Studio Four in the Ocean bar (they tend to play longer sets, though I'm not sure of their exact hours).

[the2ofus]

Welcome to the boards. You will have a wonderful cruise. Perhaps, if you are used to large dance floors you will be a bit disappointed. The dance floors on HAL ships are rather small, and many of the dancers do not understand about line of dance.

 

Still, latin dances don't require a lot of space so you should be all right there. For waltzes, fox trot or tango, it can get a bit tricky. Sometimes, when the floor is especially crowded it is possible to just find an open space of carpet around the edge of the room and dance there instead.

 

We found that the dance combo players in the Ocean Bar usually enjoyed requests and once they knew what dances you enjoyed, they often would begin to play your favorites soon after you walked in. They also try to maintain a good dance tempo, not get carried away with their own take on the music.

 

Usually the people in the Ocean Bar are courteous dancers, and even will make room and show appreciation when they see someone who dances well.

 

The challenge I refered to is the motion of the ocean. It is fun trying to dance when the ship is moving. You put your foot down only to discover the floor under that foot is a couple of inches higher or lower than you expected.

 

Have a wonderful cruise! If you enjoy this one, watch for the big band cruises. There's a lot more dance music and lots more opportunities for ballroom dancing on those cruises.

[RuthC]

Viva Music plays classical music in the explorers lounge every night, usually from 9-11:30 pm.

My, my. The evenings are ending earlier and earlier, aren't they. Last cruise the Explorers and Ocean Bars were open at least until midnight. The Piano Bar closed at midnight, too, though:( . That used to be open until 2:00.

Some people say that HAL passengers go to bed early. If the lounges are going to close while the night is still young someday that's going to become a self-fullfilling prophesy.

[the2ofus]

My Daily Program from the Volendam last November shows the following

 

Ocean Bar had music for cocktail hour from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00, (piano followed by the Crow's nest combo) dance music from 7:15 - 8:15 and 9:15 - 12:30 a.m.

 

Explorer's Lounge 9:00 - midnight

 

Piano Bar 9:00 - close

 

Crow's Nest: various musicians straight through from 5:00 p.m. to close with the DJ starting at 11:00 p.m.

 

Basically, there is somewhere to dance until at least 12:30 and a really lively crowd could keep the DJ up all night.

 

I always found it annoying that all the musicians take their breaks at the same time throughout the ship, so you have 15 - 20 minutes of quiet every hour. I think a lot of folks choose those breaks as a time to give up and go to bed because "nothing is going on".

 

We used to check out all the venues in hope of finding music to dance to somewhere. We learned that those 15 minute breaks gave us time to go out on deck, check the horizon for lights from islands we were passing, enjoy the night air as we walked our mile, or go up on the sky deck to see the stars. Sometimes we even "accidentally" passed the ice cream bar and paused for light refreshment to keep up our energy until the next break.