Britannia - Ballroom Dancing Query etc.

We're on Britannnia in June and my husband has two left feet so that is nice to know!!

We are currently cruising on Britannia.

Quite pleased with the dancing and certainly better than Azura, Ventura etc. We probably prefer Oriana as Harlequins is a totally enclosed and possibly slightly bigger dance venue.

In terms of the adequacy of the floor, in our experience this depends on the number of people who wish to dance on any particular night. Clearly there are always busy times but this is never usually an issue.

We are currently cruising on Britannia.

 

Quite pleased with the dancing and certainly better than Azura, Ventura etc. We probably prefer Oriana as Harlequins is a totally enclosed and possibly slightly bigger dance venue.

 

In terms of the adequacy of the floor, in our experience this depends on the number of people who wish to dance on any particular night. Clearly there are always busy times but this is never usually an issue.

We have just been on Ventura and have been on Azura many times and the dance floor, as you know, is very limited and its like dancing in a goldfish bowl. We found the Britannia floor was a good size but was pretty popular and like any floor is spoiled where one or two couples with little "peripheral vision" or poor dance etiquette can make dancing difficult.

What annoys me about Azura/Ventura is how P&O can term dancing in the Atrium as a Black Tie Ball. At least Britannia has a proper venue.

I really do need to try Oriana though.

Incidentally, we have always had really good Dance Instructors/Hosts and some have been exceptionally good but our last cruise on the Ventura had the poorest hosts I have ever come across at any dance.

Thanks Chips9996 for the review. We've been going nuts here on RCCL Oasis and varied Carnival cruises. They both are moving away from Ballroom. Guess we don't drink enough. Actively trying to book P&O out of Barbados. Altho can't seem to be able to book via internet. Have to call long distance. We think it might be worth it. Thanks again. teabags2

Thanks Chips9996 for the review. We've been going nuts here on RCCL Oasis and varied Carnival cruises. They both are moving away from Ballroom. Guess we don't drink enough. Actively trying to book P&O out of Barbados. Altho can't seem to be able to book via internet. Have to call long distance. We think it might be worth it. Thanks again. teabags2

Not sure how good it will be but have our fingers crossed. The best cruise line I have been on for dancing is Cunard. Wonderful proper ballrooms with a live dance band. Joyous. But a decent allocated dance floor and a bit of music and I would want to be up dancing.

You'd think with the move to all inclusive they'd be filling the ship with dance floors. I notice the theatres don't have the waiters any more. The show is now a money saver instead of generator.

Cheers Nita

So looking forward to dancing on Britannia - just hope there will be some kind soul who will dance with me

I usually go to the dance classes just to meet other dancers.

I then "hang around" the dance floor in the hope I can dance with someone

So looking forward to dancing on Britannia - just hope there will be some kind soul who will dance with me

I usually go to the dance classes just to meet other dancers.

I then "hang around" the dance floor in the hope I can dance with someone

Alas there are so many of us ladies in similar positions. Kenny does dance occasionally but for health reasons he is worse now than he was 7 years ago when we first started to learn. In time I will settle for dancing Latin as Leader and find a Lady who is searching.

For now if there is 'jiggle about' music. I look for another lady who is dancing in her seat. I grab her to get up for a dance. Sometimes I grab a few and invite them to join us. I've only once had someone be rude back to me. Most people are glad to have someone to dance with. After a night or 2 they will normally just get up and join in. But I miss my ballroom and 'Follower' Latin.

Even if there was a willing gentleman, he may regret it. Pushing Kenny about, I just can't follow. If I'm going there, I'm GOING there. He'd have no choice but to be put there. I think I'd only be asked once. Ha-ha.

I hope you find someone to dance with. Dancing brings a lot of joy. Sitting and longing brings a lot of heartache. Good luck.

Nita

Hi- we returned from Britannia a few days ago, was wistfully browsing the forum and was interested to read the post. So now I'm wondering ....what is the difference between sequence and ballroom dancing? Is sequence dancing the same as line dancing? (The Crystal Room is a fair size and whatever was happening on the dance floor appeared to be providing a lot of enjoyment!):)

Hi- we returned from Britannia a few days ago, was wistfully browsing the forum and was interested to read the post. So now I'm wondering ....what is the difference between sequence and ballroom dancing? Is sequence dancing the same as line dancing? (The Crystal Room is a fair size and whatever was happening on the dance floor appeared to be providing a lot of enjoyment!):)

Ok this might not be technically correct. Sequence dancing can be based on either ballroom or Latin dances. Couples all dance exactly the same steps with each "sequence" of steps lasting about 45 secs to a minute with everyone travelling in the same direction. This sequence of steps is then repeated. The big advantage is that it allows a larger number of couples to dance at teh same time as there shouldn't be any collisions .... that is until we have a go and I forget the steps and get glared at .... I have a short attention span. Google: Mayfair quickstep or Sally Anne cha cha if you want to see examples. For pure ballroom or Latin, everyone does their own thing and it can be chaos in a small area.

Oh thank you Chris - obviously I had never given a thought to the potential for collisions etc. And I've only been watching Strictly for the last 6 years!

Oh thank you Chris - obviously I had never given a thought to the potential for collisions etc. And I've only been watching Strictly for the last 6 years!

Strictly is more Show dancing than ballroom. That is why Len gets out of his pram so much.

Chris: very funny and very true.

I'm so pleased to find this thread - we have recently returned to ballroom/Latin (NOT sequence!) dancing after an 18 year break (children now almost grown up).

We had a lovely time on Adonia last March, with two sessions of dancing (to CDs but always good music) every evening. Although the floor is very small, as there were only ever two or three couples dancing, it was fine. To our delight, several other groups of passengers told us how much they enjoyed just coming along and watching us so our confidence was boosted hugely!

We're booked on Britannia next year and will most certainly be there in the Crystal Room at every opportunity doing every ballroom and Latin dance, but using the sequence dances as well-earned rest periods!

I'm so pleased to find this thread - we have recently returned to ballroom/Latin (NOT sequence!) dancing after an 18 year break (children now almost grown up).

 

We had a lovely time on Adonia last March, with two sessions of dancing (to CDs but always good music) every evening. Although the floor is very small, as there were only ever two or three couples dancing, it was fine. To our delight, several other groups of passengers told us how much they enjoyed just coming along and watching us so our confidence was boosted hugely!

 

We're booked on Britannia next year and will most certainly be there in the Crystal Room at every opportunity doing every ballroom and Latin dance, but using the sequence dances as well-earned rest periods!

We were in the Crystal room every night on our 14 day cruise. It was a "Strictly" theme cruise too so had more dance devotees than perhaps on other cruises. The floor got packed but didn't detract from the enjoyment, we just had to "up" our floor craft.

The dance instructors were excellent and knew what music to play when the band was on a break. Had it not been for the Crystal Room our Britannia experience would have been a bit disappointing. Taking part in the passenger dance competition and dancing on the stage in front of the judges and a packed theatre was the highlight (if not a little nerve racking!)

We are very experienced ballroom and latin dancers and sailed the Britannia in October 2015. The floor (Crystal Room) is only just about adequate, size wise. It can become very crowded especially on formal nights. The dance band is not the best but not the worst either but their singer is atrocious. The pro couple didn't play good tempo music but concentrated on music for the sequence dancers. Hope this helps.

We have only been dancing ballroom and Latin approx. 3 years and really enjoy it, but have found as others have said there is an awful lot of sequence dancing happening on certain ships therefore, we were thinking of maybe learning a couple of the sequence dances so we are not sat down all the time.

Could anyone please help with the titles of the most commonly used sequence dances please?

Regarding your queries, we have been cruising for a number of years now. We are very experienced Ballroom and Latin dancers and have seen both good and not so good dance venues. Talking of Costa ships, our first cruise was on the Costa Fortuna and the floor was very large. I remember it was mostly, if not all, ballroom and latin, and the band at the time were extremely good. Our second cruise was on the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas where the dancing was good, and the instructors were also pretty good. We have danced on the Celebrity Equinox and most of the time dancing was in the atrium which is disgraceful - on formal nights some of the tiny area is taken up by the photographer and a constant array of couples waiting to be photographed. Very frustrating as here is a decent sized floor near the top of the ship (albeit round!) which was hardly ever used for dancing. The Norwegian Jade had a very small ROUND floor and a 3 piece mediocre "band" (the elderly female singer seemed to be a reincarnation of Marlene Dietrich) and the other (good sized) dance floor was used for dancing only once when it was a Big Band evening. We have been on the Queen Mary 2 which has a large ballroom in a very elegant setting, and sequence dancing had its "slot" earlier in the evening than the ballroom and latin, which gave people there choice (some people attended both sessions). The band wasn't terrific unfortunately but we used to dance to piped music (or CD's - not sure which it was) earlier in the evening and we had the floor almost entirely to ourselves as not many people "were around" at that time. Fairly recently we sailed on the MSC Orchestra and the floor although small wasn't bad, and the band wasn't the worst. We combined this cruise with an extra week on another Costa ship (Serena) and as with the Fortuna, the floor was very large and at first we thought Bingo! Ballroom and latin dancing again. But from the second night onwards, there wasn't much of that, but mostly nondescript Italian dances which people were almost dragged onto the floor to take part in - they certainly didn't look as though they were enjoying themselves.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we were on the P&O Britannia and the Crystal Room is adequately sized although not classed as large but it was spoiled a bit for us as the dance instructors seemed to be more in favour of sequence dancing Have heard that the P&O Ventura only has dancing in the atrium, but cannot really comment there as we have not sailed on that ship.

I hope you find this information helpful and that you find some dancing at sea to your liking!

We have only been dancing ballroom and Latin approx. 3 years and really enjoy it, but have found as others have said there is an awful lot of sequence dancing happening on certain ships therefore, we were thinking of maybe learning a couple of the sequence dances so we are not sat down all the time.

Could anyone please help with the titles of the most commonly used sequence dances please?

Sequence dancing is often derided by "proper dancers" but there is no reason it should be. If you dance correctly and to the scripts, the techniques, footwork etc. are still proper ballroom and latin dancing. The main difference is that a sequence dance is written to fit 16 bars of music before the sequence repeats itself.

There are so many sequence dances and they increase in number every year as people develop new dances (there are even competitions for this).

Generally the most popular dances can be found wherever you go to dance on ship or shore. Whilst not an exhaustive list I would suggest considering the following as we've found these are nearly always played wherever you go:-

Rumba One, Square Tango, Waltz Catherine, Melody Foxtrot, Saunter Together, Tango Sereda, Sally Ann Cha Cha, Mayfair Quickstep, Argentine Stroll. You can look these up on YouTube although the execution of these is often very varied. ;)

It's rare to find Sequence Jives, Sambas or Paso Dobles being played although there are numerous examples of these. There again it's pretty unusual to see a Samba or Paso Doble on board at all. :D

Sequence dancing is often derided by "proper dancers" but there is no reason it should be. If you dance correctly and to the scripts, the techniques, footwork etc. are still proper ballroom and latin dancing. The main difference is that a sequence dance is written to fit 16 bars of music before the sequence repeats itself.

 

There are so many sequence dances and they increase in number every year as people develop new dances (there are even competitions for this).

 

Generally the most popular dances can be found wherever you go to dance on ship or shore. Whilst not an exhaustive list I would suggest considering the following as we've found these are nearly always played wherever you go:-

Rumba One, Square Tango, Waltz Catherine, Melody Foxtrot, Saunter Together, Tango Sereda, Sally Ann Cha Cha, Mayfair Quickstep, Argentine Stroll. You can look these up on YouTube although the execution of these is often very varied. ;)

 

It's rare to find Sequence Jives, Sambas or Paso Dobles being played although there are numerous examples of these. There again it's pretty unusual to see a Samba or Paso Doble on board at all. :D

Thank you very much for your reply and explanation of the sequence dances, I know some people have an issue with this type of dance (each to their own) but if the footwork and techniques are similar to ballroom/Latin then I would rather be on the floor giving it a go rather than sitting down. (Making room for some more food)

Thanks again

Expect and enjoy sequence dancing on Oriana where this also ample opportunity for Ballroom and Latin. We hav both danced for many years and are quite proficient in both sequence and a.lroom & Latin. However, space is limited because of the number of dancers on the floor so anything beyond social ballroom is going to be difficult except towards the end of the evenings.

As for Cunard , we have danced there but found the music restricted to anything Frank Sinatra could sing ( so boringly repetitive). The floor is large but more crowded than Oriana.

Expect and enjoy sequence dancing on Oriana where this also ample opportunity for Ballroom and Latin. We hav both danced for many years and are quite proficient in both sequence and a.lroom & Latin. However, space is limited because of the number of dancers on the floor so anything beyond social ballroom is going to be difficult except towards the end of the evenings.

As for Cunard , we have danced there but found the music restricted to anything Frank Sinatra could sing ( so boringly repetitive). The floor is large but more crowded than Oriana.

We enjoy our Dancing when cruising with P&O and it provides for us an important part of our cruising experience.

So long may it continue. :D

BTW, have you encountered teachers occasionally turning their noses up at the prospect of catering for sequence dancers. We were onboard Britannia when there was a large proportion of sequence dancers but the teachers were quite rude and were very reluctant to cater for them.

We like sequence/ballroom and feel that they should cater for everyones dancing preferences.

P-L-B we have cruised well over 30 times and with the exception of. Ballroom Dance Cruise on Azura we have not experienced sequence dance lessons being taught. I feel sequence dances are pretty easy to learn and so always opt for improvers Ballroom and Latin to learn something new. Most teachers are mediocre in this respect with 3 notable exceptions where the teachers were exceptionally proficient.

Perhaps sequence lessons could be incorporated a little more in completely separate lessons.

P-L-B we have cruised well over 30 times and with the exception of. Ballroom Dance Cruise on Azura we have not experienced sequence dance lessons being taught. I feel sequence dances are pretty easy to learn and so always opt for improvers Ballroom and Latin to learn something new. Most teachers are mediocre in this respect with 3 notable exceptions where the teachers were exceptionally proficient.

 

Perhaps sequence lessons could be incorporated a little more in completely separate lessons.

Sorry for the confusion on my part.

I agree with you, it's also been our experience that sequence dance lessons are not usually taught, but I wasn't talking about the lack of on board sequence dance lessons. I was highlighting the fact that sequence dancers are sometimes overlooked when it comes to the evening dances that are usually organised and run by the on board teachers. We always attend the evening dances but as said occasionally some teachers are reluctant to offer sequence dances in their dance programs. Their dance programs should include Ballroom, Latin and Sequence dances to cater for all. I organise weekly dances at our local community centre and I usually provide a 50% Ballroom/Latin and 50% Sequence program and that works well for most.

The original post is over three years old. They already know the answer, and have probably forgotten why they asked it.

The original post is over three years old. They already know the answer, and have probably forgotten why they asked it.

:')

Agreed, but I wasn't the one that resurrected it. :D:cool:

Better late than never. Britannia's crystal room is the best afloat for me, never crowded, lively music and good size floor. Cunard's larger floor but boring music and no one it,unless gala night-then there's no room. Oriana's was good but few people bothered and the floor is 6inches sunken, as in a 6inch kerb to climb to the tables. This has an effect of reducing the floor size somewhat.

So, I'm about to book Britannia again, just because of the dancing.

Tried Fred Olsen, won't try again.