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Ballroom dancing on cruises


mcloaked
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Having done 9 cruises where our ballroom and Latin dancing (International Style) has been a key factor, all of which have been on Cunard or P&O ships we now tend to stay with the ships that we know have good ballroom/Latin dancing available every evening. The Cunard ships have the largest dance floors, and include occasional afternoon tea dances as well as the evenings. However there are some evenings when a Captain's reception takes the ballroom for a couple of hours in the first part of the evening leaving a short night's dancing. On those occasions the ballroom dancing is often relocated (for example to the Yacht Club on the Queen Elizabeth) but the alternative floor is too small to do any sensible ballroom dancing on.

 

On some of the P&O ships there is a modest but adequate dance floor - such as the Britannia, but I believe bigger and better floors on one or two smaller ships such as the Oriana. However being an older ship and smaller ship that has other disadvantages for the avid dancer.

 

There are many questions associated with the cruise ships for avid ballroom dancers - such as where can I find the list of dance pro couples who will be on a particular cruise, or how big is the dance floor on a particular ship, isn't always easy to find, and often you need to talk directly to someone else who has been on a specific ship, and who also dances.

 

There is a new P&O super ship being built and due to launch in the next few years but I have been totally unable to find out if the new ship will have a decent dance floor on it? Does anyone know?

 

Which other ships apart from those run by Cunard and P&O have a good sized dance floor which is big enough to dance ballroom in particular well, and also has a good dance band that can play good strict temp music and also has dancing every night of their cruises? It would be good to have a single thread on this topic that keen ballroom dancers can post to as well as refer to for info that other dancers might post. :)

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You won't find much "ballroom" dancing on the mainstream lines....sure, they may have some music suitable for that, but dance floors are pretty small, and you'll be sharing it with folks who do NOT do ballroom!

 

If that's what you cruise for, then you'll need to stick with what works for you!

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You won't find much "ballroom" dancing on the mainstream lines....sure, they may have some music suitable for that, but dance floors are pretty small, and you'll be sharing it with folks who do NOT do ballroom! ...

That's been our experience too.

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You won't find much "ballroom" dancing on the mainstream lines....sure, they may have some music suitable for that, but dance floors are pretty small, and you'll be sharing it with folks who do NOT do ballroom!

 

If that's what you cruise for, then you'll need to stick with what works for you!

 

I have heard that this is indeed the case for some of the big lines like Princess, Royal Caribbean and also MSC and Ohlsen. On Cunard ships the band does play reasonable strict tempo music for 9 of the main 10 International dances, but there are usually some (usually) American passengers who dance American smooth rather than international ballroom, which often does not mix well on the same floor particularly for a fast dance like the Viennese Waltz. However during the periods of recorded music in between band sets the floor is often not that busy and it is possible to get a good flow going across the floor and around the room especially if the other dancers on the floor are dancing well. However on formal nights particularly when the band is playing it is often packed solid and a good number of relatively inexperienced dancers in the mix can mean that experienced dancers would be better off waiting for a period with a quieter floor.

 

I was told that Crystal Cruises does have dancing but that it is mostly American styles rather than International?

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