Ballroom Dancing Report - QM2

....... And we just got off the Constellation (10/15) where they had a small dance floor but a nice combo (Saints) who would play a lot of ballroom. Hopefully we can take our business to ships where you can still dance. Lousy DJs playing at earsplitting volume don't count.

A small dance floor and ballroom dancing just don't go together. An elegant waltz or slow foxtrot need space to do either dance justice. And, as you rightly say, DJs who play ear-splitting volume should be made to walk the plank or be banished to the disco room.

Been trying to figure out how to respond to orvil, encouraging but realistic. Fantasy51 or CC815, any comments?

Costa doesn't have female hosts per se, but the cruise staff does dance with passengers. Seeing what the female staff have to put up with, I have sympathy.

Small oddly shaped lounge floors on most of the lines; you end up dancing out on the carpeting many times.

It will be a treat to dance in a real ballroom with a real orchestra!!

Of course we're all dancing Hip Hop over here, open this link to see how popular it's gotten!!:D

http://watch.worthytoshare.com/put-together-perfectly-watch

I love the idea of female dance hosts. While I try to translate what the gentlemen dance hosts have shown me to my DH, I am spectacularly unsuccessful. It would be so nice to have a lady that knows what she's doing help demonstrate and practice some of the lessons the instructors teach. We try, but all we seem to do is get in the way of the pros. What a great idea.

This is a difficult one. Some years ago a Dance Host explained to me that they were originally taken on in order to dance with the ladies who were travelling alone, i.e. those who were paying single supplement (double the per-person fare). However, as there is no way for them to tell who is in a cabin alone and who is sharing with another single lady, then the dance hosts dance with any female who is alone. In other words, the system developed. It has developed further so that they sometimes dance with women who are obviously there with a male partner or spouse (though this can cause a lot of muttering among certain single ladies because it means they get fewer dances) as long as that male partner is happy for them to do so.

I suspect, then, that if female dance hosts were onboard, their main priority would be dancing with gentlemen who were alone. It is only if there were no single gentlemen that they would be able to do what you hope for.

In the meantime, be very glad that you have been able to dance with the male dance hosts. I have been on some cruises where there were so many single ladies that I was lucky to have two dances in an hour. :D

I will be in London on 05 Oct 2016 at the Freed's shoe shop at 94 St Martin's Lane to purchase ballroom dance shoes, some for my lady friends in Hong Kong and one pair for me.

 

Not sure if "legendary" is proper description for my VW, but thanks for what I think is a compliment. Only Dancer Bob has seen my VW, though I have danced the VW, plus foxtrot, slow waltz, tango, cha cha, and rumba with CC815 who has posted on this thread. But it's not easy to dance to some of the music belted out by the Cunard ships' Queen's Room orchestras.

Slow Foxtrot and Tangoli - Dancer Bob posted a response to questions I posted elsewhere and suggested you could help me.

I have made a provisional booking for the Strictly Cruise on Azura (P&O) in July 2016.

As I am coming all the way from Oz for this Cruise I want to be sure that as a Solo Traveller (and a good dancer);

1 The dance classes on these cruises are professionally run

2. The demo's from the Pro's are a good standard and happen more than once.

3. As a Solo traveller I get to dance, ie in class they rotate partners and in the evening people actually mix so I don't get left as a wallflower

4. I read somewhere that people have had poor experiences on these cruises and they are a bit like Butlins on the water.

So if you've been on these Strictly Cruises please share your experiences as I have until mid-January to cancel without penalty if they are no good.

Thanks

Tina Sparkles (from Oz)

Slow Foxtrot and Tangoli - Dancer Bob posted a response to questions I posted elsewhere and suggested you could help me.

 

I have made a provisional booking for the Strictly Cruise on Azura (P&O) in July 2016.

As I am coming all the way from Oz for this Cruise I want to be sure that as a Solo Traveller (and a good dancer);

1 The dance classes on these cruises are professionally run

2. The demo's from the Pro's are a good standard and happen more than once.

3. As a Solo traveller I get to dance, ie in class they rotate partners and in the evening people actually mix so I don't get left as a wallflower

4. I read somewhere that people have had poor experiences on these cruises and they are a bit like Butlins on the water.

 

So if you've been on these Strictly Cruises please share your experiences as I have until mid-January to cancel without penalty if they are no good.

Thanks

Tina Sparkles (from Oz)

It seems to me, Tina Sparkles, that you would be much better off (from a single dancer point of view) if you switched to Cunard in preference to P & O's Azura. As you will know, Cunard provide dance hosts to dance with unaccompanied ladies. They also do group dance classes although these are mainly aimed at beginners. The professional dance teachers vary from cruise to cruise but they are generally more than adequate and some are of a very high dancing standard and give brilliant demonstrations.

Will you get to dance? Almost certainly on Cunard.

We have cruised very many times on both Cunard and P & O and have always found that P & O's Oriana has been best for international style dancing. We have not cruised on Azura but understand that the dance-floor leaves much to be desired for a large ship. Additionally, I am told that the 'Strictly Come Dancing' cruises attract many budding ballroom dancers so a crowded floor is not ideal for an accomplished dancer who needs a free-flowing floor. A good point for P & O is that the dance music is 'international style' strict tempo music and that is not always the case on Cunard.

Is it like Butlins? Well, Oriana isn't because it is an adults-only ship.

Incidentally, on both P & O and Cunard they do not generally rotate partners during the dance classes.

To be frank, all ship's dance-floors are not big enough for the amount of passengers that want to use them and one has to make the most of what is available. Some times, however, the floor thins out at certain times and then it can be quite pleasurable. Whatever, hope you enjoy your forthcoming cruise, whatever you decide on.

It seems to me, Tina Sparkles, that you would be much better off (from a single dancer point of view) if you switched to Cunard in preference to P & O's Azura. As you will know, Cunard provide dance hosts to dance with unaccompanied ladies. They also do group dance classes although these are mainly aimed at beginners. The professional dance teachers vary from cruise to cruise but they are generally more than adequate and some are of a very high dancing standard and give brilliant demonstrations.

Will you get to dance? Almost certainly on Cunard.

 

We have cruised very many times on both Cunard and P & O and have always found that P & O's Oriana has been best for international style dancing. We have not cruised on Azura but understand that the dance-floor leaves much to be desired for a large ship. Additionally, I am told that the 'Strictly Come Dancing' cruises attract many budding ballroom dancers so a crowded floor is not ideal for an accomplished dancer who needs a free-flowing floor. A good point for P & O is that the dance music is 'international style' strict tempo music and that is not always the case on Cunard.

 

Is it like Butlins? Well, Oriana isn't because it is an adults-only ship.

Incidentally, on both P & O and Cunard they do not generally rotate partners during the dance classes.

 

To be frank, all ship's dance-floors are not big enough for the amount of passengers that want to use them and one has to make the most of what is available. Some times, however, the floor thins out at certain times and then it can be quite pleasurable. Whatever, hope you enjoy your forthcoming cruise, whatever you decide on.

Thank you for the very fast and helpful response. Guess I should seriously look at other options that maybe go from the US - which will also reduce my flight times and costs. I was origionally attracted to the Strictly Cruise as I am a dance tragic and loved to watch the Pros having seen one of them here in Oz. My own dancing days are somewhat curtailed due to metal knees etc. However I can still do fleckerals and the Vienesse Waltz given the right partner and really want to be able to dance if the opportunities are there.

Back in the 50/60s, there was a novelty song called "I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas." The title kid did stuff wrong and complained that each time he was found out because "somebody snitched on me."

20+ years ago, back in our competition days, I wrote dance lyrics for this song that were published in USABDA's magazine. It was a list of "reasons" we weren't called back to the next round.

I bring it up here as there was a section on Viennese Waltz.

"My fleckerls move around a lot,

I can't seem to hold the spot,

faked the footwork but got caught,

Somebody snitched on me."

Thank you for the very fast and helpful response. Guess I should seriously look at other options that maybe go from the US - which will also reduce my flight times and costs. I was origionally attracted to the Strictly Cruise as I am a dance tragic and loved to watch the Pros having seen one of them here in Oz. My own dancing days are somewhat curtailed due to metal knees etc. However I can still do fleckerals and the Vienesse Waltz given the right partner and really want to be able to dance if the opportunities are there.

Tina, I cannot speak about P&O as I only cruise on Cunard ships (gave up on Crystal and Princess lines), so let me say something about the Dance Hosts, group dance classes, and the professional dance couples on board Cunard ships. Dance Hosts on Cunard ships are arranged by an agency and not individually hired by Cunard, though DH's are supervised by the Entertainment Director. If there are six DH's, four are probably American, one UK, and maybe one Australian/Canadian or other nationality. By and large American because the agency is US based.

Of the six, maybe one DH is a serious, competent international style dancer, 3-4 middling dancers, and 1 a rank beginner. The Americans will tend to dance American smooth style, which means like in tango, they will do a 5 step t-a-ng-o, and in waltz, do an open side to side like in rumba or cha cha.

As a single lady on the dance floor during the time when the orchestra is playing live, you should seat at the front peripheral line of seats/tables around the dance floor, and make yourself known to the DH's that you like to dance and would welcome invitations to dance. But, the younger, more svelte, attractive single ladies who may have been on board longer will get more than your share of invitations to dance. The DH's are supposed to dance with all ladies who wish a dance before they repeat with any single dancer, but who's controlling them on that? A complaint to the ED may bring some relief.

When the orchestra is in recess, then DH's don't have to dance and can disappear. And you are on your own. After the last session of dance, mostly the DH's go to the midnight buffet in the Lido or King's Court, and usually some single ladies congregate with them there.

At group dance lessons, the DH's are in attendance, but they will grab the more desireable partners at those group lessons, and the professional couple instructing usually do not force them to change partners to do the practice steps with. The married and other couples will stick with each other, and the single ladies have to fend for themselves, maybe dance with other ladies, and hope that one of the dance instructors will come around and provide some short, simple instruction. There are few single men who would be attending the group dance lessons. Group dance lessons are only on full sea days.

The professional dance couple are usually East European and/or Russian/Ukraine, etc and are very competent, and you can book them for private lessons, cost ranging from US$40-60 per half hour for one or both of them, and double that for one hour.

Sorry, I did expect to write so much.

When I was at the DVIDA dance camp in Las Vegas in June, there was a group from New Zealand, it must have been competitive with anything available Down Under.

I'd say Tangoll's description is pretty accurate, although "middling" may be generous if you're International style. And we had a brief brouhaha a couple of months ago, about being careful of artificial knees. I'm not sure if the professionals always take that into consideration.

Thank you for the very fast and helpful response. Guess I should seriously look at other options that maybe go from the US - which will also reduce my flight times and costs. I was origionally attracted to the Strictly Cruise as I am a dance tragic and loved to watch the Pros having seen one of them here in Oz. My own dancing days are somewhat curtailed due to metal knees etc. However I can still do fleckerals and the Vienesse Waltz given the right partner and really want to be able to dance if the opportunities are there.

Sadly, there is very little ballroom on American lines, nor single men who dance and the last dance hosts we've seen on an American line was years ago.. We've done a number of cruises on most of the main lines, Carnival Corp. RCCL & Norwegian and are usually the best dancers on board; and these days we're not even good amateurs. Yes, we dance American smooth and Latin which has a lot of open holds and Boleros to many of the slow tempo International Rumbas.

There are, however, dance cruises that you might enjoy, here is a link to one such.

http://www.dancersatsea.com/

We're strictly social dancers and we probably get it wrong half the time, but since the Latin dances are all "on the spot" i don't think it matters to others whether you merengue, salsa, cha-cha or whatever (I don't know cumbia). as long as your hips are swinging, you're having fun, and you're not in the way of other couples, pick your thing and do it. But merengue music is FAST so you must be very fit if you can pull of the salsa steps at that tempo! (I confess we are guilty of sometimes picking out "half the beats" of a samba and doing the salsa, since we've never mastered the samba adequately to try it in public)

We're strictly social dancers and we probably get it wrong half the time, but since the Latin dances are all "on the spot" i don't think it matters to others whether you merengue, salsa, cha-cha or whatever (I don't know cumbia). as long as your hips are swinging, you're having fun, and you're not in the way of other couples, pick your thing and do it. But merengue music is FAST so you must be very fit if you can pull of the salsa steps at that tempo! (I confess we are guilty of sometimes picking out "half the beats" of a samba and doing the salsa, since we've never mastered the samba adequately to try it in public)

In our neck of the woods, salsa is taught in Mambo, Merengue, and Bachata; we favor the Merengue as it's deceptive with just up and down feet and a lot of upper body moves, so you aren't killing yerself..

Both the Samba and Cumbia are parade dances meant to move down a street or hall as the case may be.

The Cumbia is seldom seen outside of Hispanic countries, as Texas isn't far from becoming one.

Carnival in Rio, Samba central, do you do botafogos??

For those who knows Mambo, Salsa, the Cumbia music is great :-)

Just returned from a holiday sailing on the QM2, the QRO Andrew Hiller, together with the vocalist Alberto Bernet, did a wonderful job. Its Alberto’s first contract, and he is just so wonderful, we all wrote to the cruise line and hope they will hire him back. Not only is his voice very good, he is so friendly, talk and smile to passengers, and even got on the dance floor once or twice (same as Andrew Hiller who went on the dance floor twisting with us for about 20 seconds and nearly broke his hips ....) Their music is very clear, and although not 100%, but close to 90% great dance music, and on a cruise shhip, that was phenomenal

We are part of Vivian’s group (about 35 of us), most are dancers, and many accomplished, both international and American styles. We met so many familiar faces, some remembered me on the QV or QE, its like a big family reunion. Some even told me I should be the social hostess :-)

A couple of nights they scheduled sequence dances but no one showed up. Ballroom dancers were usually there just to keep the seat warm so they got an early start :-)

All is good, one tea dance, better than none on the QV and QE.

For those who knows Mambo, Salsa, the Cumbia music is great :-)

Cumbia and Salsa fit hand in glove and here's a good example our of South Texas!!

Just returned from a holiday sailing on the QM2, the QRO Andrew Hiller, together with the vocalist Alberto Bernet, did a wonderful job. Its Alberto’s first contract, and he is just so wonderful, we all wrote to thecruise line and hope they will hire him back. Not only is his voice very good, he is so friendly, talk and smile to passengers, and even got on the dance floor once or twice (same as Andrew Hiller who went on the dance floor twisting with us for about 20 seconds and nearly broke his hips ....) Their music is very clear, and although not 100%, but close to 90% great dance music, and on a cruise shhip, that was phenomenal

Thank you for that report, we'll be doing our first Cunard and first crossing in May West bound, so news like this is a big help

We are part of Vivian’s group (about 35 of us), most are dancers, and many accomplished, both international and American styles. We met so many familiar faces, some remembered me on the QV or QE, its like a big family reunion. Some even told me I should be the social hostess :-)

A couple of nights they scheduled sequence dances but no one showed up. Ballroom dancers were usually there just to keep the seat warm so they got an early start :-)

All is good, one tea dance, better than none on the QV and QE.

Our very own "Slow Foxtrot" is currently on the Queen Vic and will perhaps favor us with a dancing report if the mood strikes.

Greetings,

We have just stumbled across this, and are thrilled.

We've taken dance lessons for several years, and after about 1 year, we switched to International, and especially enjoy Waltz and Quickstep.

We're also trying a bit more Tango, Swing, Jive (but can't do that fast... yet), rumba, and a bit of VW.

We've inquired of a few programs with dance lessons at sea, but they all seemed to be American/smooth.

Is this not correct?

We are so pleased to read the above about dancing on QM2.

We love dancing together, and don't *need* lessons, although we probably will never stop our lessons at home as long as we are able to stand ;)

(But it would be nicer if there were some suitable lessons. Just the chance to dance with pros helps us avoid getting too much muscle memory doing something wrong!)

So... kindly help with ANY information you can share.

DH wanted to try QM2, which is how I stumbled across this thread.

We were especially interested in a few comments about how early or late, there is space to do Quickstep and generally really move across the floor.

And who is Vivian (apologies if we "should" know; the fact is we don't)?

Our instructor is a former top champion.

We have planned a cruise [not dance oriented] with them in the future, and perhaps we should see if they are interested in joining us on the QM2 :)

Please reply to our email below, with ANY helpful information/hints.

Many thanks, and we hope to meet some of you in the not-to-distant future.

Hello GeezerCouple, without having to trawl through all the above posts, just to say ,if you enjoy Ballroom dancing then look no further than Cunard Line !

Ballroom,Latin or Sequence is one of the strong points of the Cunard product & Brand. QM2 claims to have the largest ballroom at sea,and occasionally a 32 piece live band in the evenings, not to mention Gentlemen (Female occasionally) dance hosts available for singles & afternoon Tea dances on all cruises/voyages.

Please don't be put off should you hear/read any negative comments about evening dancing on Cunard, it's all about a vacation and enjoying social dancing , not about swanning around at Blackpool Tower Ballroom competing.;)

Go for it and enjoy

As I can relate being one my self. I've posed the Quick Step question on our board West bound on the 10th of May although there are a number of folks on this board who should be able to answer it with authority!!:D

In our area there are pro/am events as part of competition dancing, something to consider if you've not done it.

As I can relate being one my self. I've posed the Quick Step question on our board West bound on the 10th of May although there are a number of folks on this board who should be able to answer it with authority!!:D

 

In our area there are pro/am events as part of competition dancing, something to consider if you've not done it.

What started out as "we'll take a couple of lessons so we don't just sway back and forth"... and then we wanted to do it *well* so it was multiple private lessons with male and female instructors...

and then we made the "mistake" of heading to a Pro/Am comp to see some others taking lessons with the same instructors...

and then... we gave the comps a try.

"The rest is history!" :)

In addition to Pro/Am, we also do Student/Student.

(We prefer being on the floor with the Pro/Ams and a few other S/S couples, not just other amateur couples. We think we gain from the general level of dance.)

If we can combine dancing with cruising - Heaven!!

It's sounding like this might be "it"!

But still looking for International style lessons at sea, if such exists...?

Was I mistaken when the programs at sea that I found all seemed to be American/smooth?

But we don't need lessons to enjoy a cruise with nice dance opportunities!

And... who is Vivian?

Note: We are NOT as competent as the above might suggest. But we love it.

We joke that we might be permanently in our own little "Geezer Novice" category, but that's okay.

Great exercise (physically and mentally), plus we can do it together, and... if we can indeed enjoy this while cruising... :) :)

Thanks again.

The professional dance teachers on the ships teach International style. You can book the couple for a lesson.

We're not allowed to name travel agents so Vivian is a bit of a codeword, but if you look in the USA Dance magazine, you quickly notice who we mean.

The dance group I'm traveling with (not Cunard) on Jan 26 and Feb 25 is primarily American but does offer some International lessons.

The professional dance teachers on the ships teach International style. You can book the couple for a lesson.

Excellent - good to know.

Many thanks.

Our travels to London and a "crossing" on the QM2 are fast approaching. A question about dancing as we do American Smooth and Latin, is line of dance conducive to open holds crossovers etc.?

Tango, is it line of dance or do we need to move outside of that for a number of steps? Can you request certain music such as Por Una Cabaza?

Any observations would be appreciated. Do they play Merengue for salsa dancing? What time does the music start as it looks as if we might have late dining, so dancing before and after dinner?

Our travels to London and a "crossing" on the QM2 are fast approaching. A question about dancing as we do American Smooth and Latin, is line of dance conducive to open holds crossovers etc.?

Tango, is it line of dance or do we need to move outside of that for a number of steps? Can you request certain music such as Por Una Cabaza?

Any observations would be appreciated. Do they play Merengue for salsa dancing? What time does the music start as it looks as if we might have late dining, so dancing before and after dinner?

 

 

GCurry, the tango and tune Por Una Cabaza is for Argentine tango, whereas the tango mainly played by the QR orchestra is for Internation (or English) tango, such as in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTvMCEUSsI0

During the orchestra recess, the DJ on recent cruises I've been on have played one Argentine tango, one or two merengue. As for line of dance, it's normal in all the ballroom dances, plus samba, to try to dance following a line of dance in counter clockwise direction. Of course, you sometimes need to move off the line of dance in doing a particular routine, but most dancers try to get back in the general line of dance direction.

Have a good trip on the QM2, a very special liner.

Our travels to London and a "crossing" on the QM2 are fast approaching. A question about dancing as we do American Smooth and Latin, is line of dance conducive to open holds crossovers etc.?

Tango, is it line of dance or do we need to move outside of that for a number of steps? Can you request certain music such as Por Una Cabaza?

Any observations would be appreciated. Do they play Merengue for salsa dancing? What time does the music start as it looks as if we might have late dining, so dancing before and after dinner?

 

 

Love this......sure I have seen it before. Which movie is it from?

Enjoy QM2. .she is a beautiful ship.

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