Sdancer

Thank you for replying. What is this party theme? How many dance hosts are on this sailing? Thanks!

Thank you for posting. QM2 is sailing in Northern Europe. What kind of dancing event is it? The band has only 3 musicians, and most people are dressed very casually for an evening ballroom dance. Would you kindly ask your friends, if possible, how does an evening floor in QR look like, and how many dance hosts do they have? Thank you!

No - there is NO EASY solution to find anything even close to the pre-pandemic Cunard. You are obviously not a ballroom dancer, nor a dance parties lover, nor appreciate fabulous orchestras of the past Cunard. Cunard was a unique brand with Big Band Orchestras, dance hosts and fabulous dance parties - all the fun on Cunard in the past, especially Transatlantic crossings with no ports (QM2). The recent unfortunate changes eliminated this uniqueness. So, there are no other brands to switch to. The unique Cunard of the past is pretty much gone now. I booked a Transatlantic round-trip crossing with a refundable deposit just in case Cunard pandemic changes become permanent. I will cancel with no penalty 4 months before sailing if Cunard stays as it is now.

My friend who has retired from being a dance host years ago received the email from Compass Speakers, US based Co. It was emailed just last week. Here it is: Hi Gentleman Hosts: I hope this email finds you well! We are looking for fully vaccinated/boosted Gentleman Hosts for the 2024 Cunard cruises below. Please note that for the last voyage 22SEP23-05NOV23 Cunard would like 2x (my note: only two dance hosts) for entire voyage (it was a misprint - should be 22SEP24-05NOV24): 1. 22-Sep-24 to 18-Oct-23 Q430 Cunard QE, 25 days, San Fran to Sydney 2. 18-Oct-24 to 5-Nov-24 #Q431 Cunard QE, 18 days, Sydney to Fremantle. There are two tables in that email - one for QM2 where hosts are needed from 11-Jan-24 to 28-Apr-24, cruises #403 to #409. For QE there are cruise dates from 10-Mar-24 to 21-Jun-24, cruise numbers #411 to #419, all in the Japan region. There are no QV cruises mentioned at all! This email does not specify how many dance hosts are going to be hired for each passage. Since Cunard is NOT seeking dance hosts for cruises from NY on 3-Jan-24 on QM2 though there are no ports from Jan. 3 to Jan. 11 (NY-Southampton) and there were 6 dance hosts before the pandemic - it is obvious that other Transatlantic Crossings are not looking to add dance hosts. It is sad news for my booking NY-Southampton-NY in 2024. The email is signed as Kind regards, Jaimi Sheldon Coordinator, Onboard Programs Compass Speakers and Entertainment Inc. Galleria Corporate Centre 2455 East Sunrise Boulevard, Suite #804 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304 USA Tel #1 954 568-3801 / Fax #1 954 568-3825 Email: Coordinator@CompassSpeakers.com Website: www.CompassSpeakers.com

I called Cunard Customer Service asking about dance hosts on QV. Customer Service did not have any information about any upcoming changes in the near future. I know three dance hosts, two in the US and one in Europe. As far as I know, none was contacted for Cunard sailing. I have another idea. I called Cunard customer service today and found out that the CEO and VIPs (some or all?) are new. So, it looks like the lack of dance hosts and non-danceble orchestra music comes from the new top management. I asked when I could cancel my sailing if the real dance hosts program and proper orchestra does not return. I gave my booking number, and the comment with my complaint was sent to the appropriate department. The more complaints Cunard gets, the better are the chances to get back the dance hosts and orchestra with dance music. Last March I was on Celebrity. A couple of days before the sailing I went on Celebrity App and found out which house band was booked for my cruise. I went on-line to check out this band which turned out to be maybe ok for karaoke (and I am being kind) but not for dancing. I sent an email to the Celebrity Guest Department stating that this band is not good for dancing. I do not know if it was my email, or post-cruise complaints, or both, but this band was replaced at the last minute. We got a wonderful band and a singer and had a great ballroom dance cruise! On the last day I asked the band if they got their contract at the last minute, and they did! Maybe calling Customer Service and asking to send our complaint comments about a lack of dance hosts and danceble music would prompt the new top management to bring back ballroom dancing to the pre-pandemic level. What do you think? Can we do it?

I called Cunard customer service today and found out that the CEO and VIPs (some or all?) are new. So, it looks like the lack of dance hosts and non-danceble orchestra music comes from the new top management. I asked when I could cancel my sailing if the real dance hosts program and proper orchestra does not return. I gave my booking number, and the comment with my complaint was sent to the appropriate department. The more complaints Cunard gets, the better are the chances to get back the dance hosts and orchestra with dance music. Last March I was on Celebrity. A couple of days before the sailing I went on Celebrity App and found out which house band was booked for my cruise. I went on-line to check out this band which turned out to be maybe ok for karaoke (and I am being kind) but not for dancing. I sent an email to the Celebrity Guest Department stating that this band is not good for dancing. I do not know if it was my email, or post-cruise complaints, or both, but this band was replaced at the last minute. We got a wonderful band and a singer and had a great ballroom dance cruise! On the last day I asked the band if they got their contract at the last minute, and they did! Maybe calling Customer Service and asking to send our complaint comments about a lack of dance hosts and danceble music would prompt the new top management to bring back ballroom dancing to the pre-pandemic level. What do you think? Can we do it?

Would you know which sailings and how many American dance hosts? Thanks!

QM2 - 3064 passengers QE - 2116 QV - 2014

Thank you for your dancing information. It used to be at least 6 dance hosts before the pandemic. I have booked solo for the next summer hoping that the Cunard would bring the dance hosts program back.

That is why it is more compelling to hear about their negative experiences. They get free cruises for positive reviews, not for negative ones. You yourself have almost 5k posts though you have joined this site less than 5 years ago. It is 1000 posts a year plus reading and reacting to the posts. Sounds like a full time employment or a gig for the cruise industry. I have 300 posts in 13 years - big difference.

He was smart not to book after Crystal got in financial troubles - it is in the video. One does not have to actually cruise with each line to see warning signs of financial trouble. It is based on the expertise and life experience. I am not an expert but it was just common sense to cancel my bookings at the first lie about Crystal refund timing, and I did not lose any money because of that. My agency dedicated a few employees to call Crystal every day to monitor deposit refunds for all their customers and stopped booking Crystal. I understood that the agency got refunds for everyone who booked with them. The agency helped me to get my deposits back in full, including admin cancellation fees of $1000.

This is the best and most respected blogger about any cruise line, posted 4 months ago. The first 4 minutes are the most interesting for the past Crystal guests. Gary is THE most knowledgeable blogger about the cruise industry and his advice is always on the mark.

Crystal travel "advisor" assured me that Crystal would find an old Crystal employee to call me back sometime that day. The office was closed long time ago. Why I am not surprised that no one from Crystal called as was promised? I am done with the Crystal for now. I will wait and see for a year or two and then decide if I want to come back ... or not :). Meanwhile I am booking on two different cruise lines, one is very familiar to me (9 past cruises) and one new.

I called Crystal this morning and had a few questions. The vacation planner who took my call was new and could not answer a single question. She tried to answer but she did not even understand my very simple questions. She did not sound like she had any knowledge about the cruising industry. All she knew to reply was that whatever I asked would be determined close to sailing (?). I asked to talk to someone from the old Crystal that I could ask what had been changed but there was no one, no one, at their new office in Florida (old HQ were in Los Angeles). I asked to talk to a manager or a supervisor: "not available". This vacation planner did not have my record, did not care to access it or did not know how to do it (I called from the phone on-file and also gave my name) She took my phone number, and someone was going to call me some time (some day?) :). It was quite pitiful. I felt sorry for her being so new and not being trained properly to do her job. This is your new Crystal claiming 30 years luxury cruise experience.

Yes, you are correct - only once I was on a wait-list (during one summer sailing), the other times I was upgraded up 1-2 grades because the sailings were not full.

New Crystal posted "GUEST TO SPACE RATIO 1 TO 93.1 CU FT" (?!). Am I missing something? Sorry, somehow burial mausoleum sizes come to mind :). I would rather have "guest to staff ratio".

The culture comes from the top - the management. The old crew was wonderful to guests because the crew was happy with the management which valued them and kept them happy. Even if many of the old staff return, it is anyone's guess what kind of experience guests would turn out to have. I have called Crystal two times in January asking when their itineraries would come, and all I got was a hard pressure sales tactic to put a deposit for Crystal yet unknown sailings. This is a new management in action. I was told both times that if I do not put a deposit right at this moment, Crystal would be sold out any day now. It does not sound like the old Crystal, and the new Crystal does not know the old Crystal clientele. I had to tell, both times, that I do not mind paying more when I actually know the itineraries. My friend was told that the deposit was $250. He decided to do it, but when he called that same day later, Crystal already wanted $500 - he had declined. This is an unpleasant, disappointing experience and does not sound like the old Crystal.