Cunard story on their web site about ballroom dancing

[Sdancer]

2 hours ago, Jenny Bond said:

I was on a recent TA and we learned something interesting about dance hosts. Apparently, in order to get a paying gig as a dance host, the dancer is expected to book at least four different cruises/voyages paid for with their own money and no discount. They then have to volunteer to be dance hosts every night of that cruise and after four of them, if they get good reviews, they might get offered a paid position.

 

 

 

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dance host had to stay on a ship for 30 days to get a cruise company to pay for their flights (maybe my flights info is outdated).

Edited August 31, 2023 by Sdancer

[LittleFish1976]

I'm surprised there's so much indignation at the photograph of the dance party posted earlier. They are clearly not engaged in ballroom dancing, as anyone with a shred of training in dancing can see. People are allowed to have fun and dance in many styles, including just moving to the music on a Cunard ship. I'm a very serious ballroom dancer and I have in the past found these dance party nights quite fun, especially since it gives everyone a chance to get onto the floor and enjoy dancing for pleasure.

 

It's also difficult (and perhaps unwise?) to judge the attire of those snapped mid-dance in a semi-blurry photo.

 

 

[LittleFish1976]

27 minutes ago, Sdancer said:

 

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.

 

 

Cunard are really asking an awful lot of these unpaid 'goodwill ambassadors, dance partners and public relations representatives' as the advertisement advises.

 

I'm surprised the company doesn't realise how valuable these dance hosts are to the company and to the ships and passengers; if they did they would not ask so much of them and pay them something for their trouble. If they expect them to be ambassadors and PR reps as well as dancing the soles off their shoes each night they should look after them and offer some remuneration.

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

It sounds like the recruitment of dance hosts is different in the US and UK, and the organisations that manage the interviewing and detailed arrangement of the 'contract' for those who get through the recruitment process may give a quite different feel in the two countries.  Either way, once through the process the dance hosts do have to work pretty hard every evening of their time on board, as well as be required to attend daytime dance lessons, and some of the solos events.  It is also possible that the entertainment managers may require different levels of duty on any one voyage from the dance hosts. 

 

It would nice really useful to know what the plans are for the rest of this year, as well as how things are envisaged for the four ships next year and beyond, so that we get a feel for how things might change in the future regarding support for ballroom dancing on Cunard?

[Jenny Bond]

7 hours ago, Sdancer said:

 

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).

Absolutely no idea. I am only relaying what a member of my dance group told me about his own experience when attempting to get a position. And I don't know him very well so can't speak to how accurate his experience was. 

[Jenny Bond]

7 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

I'm surprised there's so much indignation at the photograph of the dance party posted earlier. They are clearly not engaged in ballroom dancing, as anyone with a shred of training in dancing can see. People are allowed to have fun and dance in many styles, including just moving to the music on a Cunard ship. I'm a very serious ballroom dancer and I have in the past found these dance party nights quite fun, especially since it gives everyone a chance to get onto the floor and enjoy dancing for pleasure.

 

It's also difficult (and perhaps unwise?) to judge the attire of those snapped mid-dance in a semi-blurry photo.

 

 

Agree. Dancers come in all shapes and sizes and one of the best dancers in our group wore hiking pants a few nights (yes, on the proper Queens Room dance floor). But she is a lovely lady, good conversationalist, and excellent dancer. She was on vacation, she was having fun, and was good company so I didn't really care what she was wearing. She was definitely having a better time than those sitting on their bums grumbling about her pants.

[Jenny Bond]

2 hours ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

It sounds like the recruitment of dance hosts is different in the US and UK, and the organisations that manage the interviewing and detailed arrangement of the 'contract' for those who get through the recruitment process may give a quite different feel in the two countries.  Either way, once through the process the dance hosts do have to work pretty hard every evening of their time on board, as well as be required to attend daytime dance lessons, and some of the solos events.  It is also possible that the entertainment managers may require different levels of duty on any one voyage from the dance hosts. 

 

It would nice really useful to know what the plans are for the rest of this year, as well as how things are envisaged for the four ships next year and beyond, so that we get a feel for how things might change in the future regarding support for ballroom dancing on Cunard?

Good point that the process may be different UK vs US. And I suspect it is possible if the agency he talked to maybe had a different process than the one quoted. I know there are all types of scam employment places for different industries so it stands to reason they have them for dance as well.

 

I was fortunate to be with a group to dance and had a partner any time I wanted. But my next sailing will be solo with my daughter so it would be nice to have a host to dance with. But I am not above just getting on the floor if a song I love comes on and doing the ballroom steps on my own since we practice like that in class anyway. 

[njpln]

We cruised last September on QE and noticed the lack of dance hosts which we attributed to Covid. And there was a lot of Covid on that cruise.

 

We also noticed the mix of generic dancing with ballroom dancing. And there was a lot more happening at the yacht club, than on our previous cruises on QE. I’m not a big fan of putting the generic dancing on the ballroom floor, but it’s great to have a disco-like environment in the yacht club.

 

This year my husband is awaiting hip surgery when we come home from the cruise, so I doubt we’ll be doing much dancing together. I think it would be great to dance with a Dance host for a couple of Rumbas here or there. And if they’re not there, I guess I’ll have to settle for dancing in the yacht club to the disco music.

 

 

[Sdancer]

3 hours ago, njpln said:

We cruised last September on QE and noticed the lack of dance hosts which we attributed to Covid. And there was a lot of Covid on that cruise.

 

We also noticed the mix of generic dancing with ballroom dancing. And there was a lot more happening at the yacht club, than on our previous cruises on QE. I’m not a big fan of putting the generic dancing on the ballroom floor, but it’s great to have a disco-like environment in the yacht club.

 

 

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 :(.

 

[ClaireRuss]

A kind person has posted a daily for today on his blog - https://blog.rakkor.uk/blog/daily-programme/queen-victoria-v327-greek-islands-oct-2023/  Just noticed a waltz lesson from "dance instructors" Yevgen and Daria. Does this mean the dance professionals are back?