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Britannia - Ballroom Dancing Query etc.


Slow Foxtrot
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Could any experienced dancer comment on the facilities for Ballroom Dancing aboard Britannia? Is the floor big enough for the amount of people who want to dance? How does it compare with Oriana for dancing?

 

Also, does anyone know if Natural High are still playing for dancing on P & O?

For many years they were one of the best dance-bands at sea but I think Johnny Baxter left some years ago. Thanks for your comments and info.

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I too would be interested to know the answers to those questions.

 

Jean's answer was most unhelpful.

We are no longer dancers, my wife now being confined to a wheelchair, but we enjoyed watching the dancing in the crystal room on Britannia. The dance floor is not massive but certainly adequate, and it was very well patronised most nights, yes there was quite a bit of sequence dancing, but this in fact did seem to be the most popular. We also found the music in here, both taped and live, to be more to our taste than the Live lounge, and certainly the volume was far more pleasant.

 

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Thank you Jaceyar and John. Very helpful answers.

 

I'm not into sequence dancing so will sit those out. So long as there's some good slow foxtrot music and ballroom jive I'll be very happy.

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I'm sorry if you found that unhelpful, but it's very true. My husband and I both can do ballroom foxtrot, waltz, quickstep, tango and jive. Last cruise on Oriana, nearly everything was sequence because that's what they teach on ships. So if you don't know how to do it, you can't dance. The rarely have just ordinary ballroom.

Edited by jeanlyon
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I'm sorry if you found that unhelpful, but it's very true. My husband and I both can do ballroom foxtrot, waltz, quickstep, tango and jive. Last cruise on Oriana, nearly everything was sequence because that's what they teach on ships. So if you don't know how to do it, you can't dance. The rarely have just ordinary ballroom.

 

Whilst what you said may be true the question was about Britannia not Oriana.

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It's been the same on all the ships, including Fred Olsen :-( I even asked once why there were so many sequence dances and was answered "because that's why we teach". I did say, but what about everybody else and got a shrug.

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On Ventura in January the lessons were all ballroom and latin. The dancing in the evening was a mixture of all the traditional dances and sequence. Have to admit the sequence dances were very popular and we tried to learn them by following (badly). Maybe depends on teachers or where they are?

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On Ventura in January the lessons were all ballroom and latin. The dancing in the evening was a mixture of all the traditional dances and sequence. Have to admit the sequence dances were very popular and we tried to learn them by following (badly). Maybe depends on teachers or where they are?

 

On the Cunard ships and most P & O ships the lessons are predominantly ballroom and latin. However, for the last couple of years or so they have had special sequence dances on some Cunard ships and they have proved popular with British cruisers. The Americans do not do sequence dancing and they watch with curiosity and some even try to join in. There's nothing wrong with sequence dancing and most experienced ballroom dancers have a knowledge of most of the popular ones.

It's not always easy to keep everyone happy on a public dance-floor so most popular UK dance venues have a mixture of 50/50 ballroom/sequence. Plus of course the jive and rock 'n' roll etc. That's normally the procedure at Blackpool Tower.

We are ballroom and latin medalists but always enjoy joining in the sequence dances for a bit of fun, although nothing beats an elegant slow foxtrot on a spacious floor. Sadly, most cruise ships don't do spacious floors !

Edited by Slow Foxtrot
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We actually enjoy the sequence dances, as on a small Floor, which most ships have, it is a bit tight for quick steps and waltz if people don't stick to the line of dance.

Also, most Sequence incorporate traditional ballroom steps, so I'm not sure what the down is on sequence.

Surely if you like a Foxtrot then a Melody Foxtrot Sequence is better then not dancing on the cruise.

At home you will often find many dances are 95% sequence with a quickstep and waltz either side of the break.

We dance most weekends and it goes ballroom, Latin, ballroom, sequence, jive.......

Out of all the Ships we have cruised on, only one taught a sequence, all the rest taught ballroom and Latin.

Happy cruising and dancing.

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The problem with not doing any sequence is that if you dance in the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool or many other venues you will spend half of your time just sitting down and watching!

 

And, as 1160451 says, most sequence dances contain genuine ballroom steps. For instance, anyone dancing the Glenroy Foxtrot will be doing some really genuine slow foxtrot steps which are usually the preserve of very experienced dancers. Some years ago we were at a Nottingham dance which featured a demonstration by the (then) world champions Chris Hawkins and Hazel Newbury. Later in the evening they joined in with various sequence dances.

The bottom line is that sequence, when performed by accomplished ballroom dancers, can look quite attractive.

 

It's true that sequence attracts many older people who lack the ability to dance proper ballroom steps but we will all be old one day!

Edited by Slow Foxtrot
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Going back to the OPs question, albeit we are not ballroom dancers, the Crystal Room is a lovely venue and very popular. The band are excellent, whether you are into dancing or not, and the seating is very nice. We took our 80 year old Mums there many times (to watch) and they loved it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Jean I think your missing out on some enjoyable dancing but that's your choice.

Coming back to the original question.

It seems the floor looks very spacious compared to some on Cruise Ships.

As one of the main criteria when choosing a ship is the availability of Dancing we may look at this ship.

We were disappointed on the Azura, only dancing was in the Atrium.

We cruise on Fred Olsen regularly where there is plenty of dancing.

I am told the Costa ships have plenty of dancing which surprises me.

Happy Cruising

Edited by 1160451
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We have just come off the Britannia and were in the Crystal Room EVERY night. There was a great atmosphere in there and that was down to the Band and the Dance Instructors as well as enthusiastic dancers. Rachel, the singer, was very good and James, the band leader, was hilarious. Ian and Penny, the Dance Instructors, were excellent hosts and really encouraged dancers.

The floor is a fair size and the venue is very nice. The Band did two 45 mins followed by two 45 mins with cd's and finished at 12.15 am.

The band did almost entirely Ballroom and Latin with very little Sequence. Some minor problems with timing.

The Dance Instructors did about 50/50. They were very successful with their lessons and managed to get a lot of beginners dancing so the floor could be busy. It was a bit difficult to do Ballroom but we managed especially as the night wore on and the floor emptied a bit.

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Well that sounds better! Glad you had a good time. We are not prepared to go to dance classes just to learn sequence, so simply sit them out and do the occasional ordinary waltz, quickstep, jive etc.

 

Agree about Azura. Terrible place for dancing - the Atrium and right outside the library!!

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We have just come off the Britannia and were in the Crystal Room EVERY night. There was a great atmosphere in there and that was down to the Band and the Dance Instructors as well as enthusiastic dancers. Rachel, the singer, was very good and James, the band leader, was hilarious. Ian and Penny, the Dance Instructors, were excellent hosts and really encouraged dancers.

The floor is a fair size and the venue is very nice. The Band did two 45 mins followed by two 45 mins with cd's and finished at 12.15 am.

The band did almost entirely Ballroom and Latin with very little Sequence. Some minor problems with timing.

The Dance Instructors did about 50/50. They were very successful with their lessons and managed to get a lot of beginners dancing so the floor could be busy. It was a bit difficult to do Ballroom but we managed especially as the night wore on and the floor emptied a bit.

 

Great news. Thanks for letting us know. Just what I wanted to hear.

 

Only 6 weeks to go for our turn

Edited by Esprit
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  • 3 months later...
On Ventura in January the lessons were all ballroom and latin. The dancing in the evening was a mixture of all the traditional dances and sequence. Have to admit the sequence dances were very popular and we tried to learn them by following (badly). Maybe depends on teachers or where they are?

 

Hi,

 

Do you yourself ballroom or latin dance?

 

Nita

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Yes ... We can get round most dances. You?

Chris

Hmmm. We were better at it 4 years ago. Kenny has always struggled on a busy floor. On Cunard we'd jump up on the empty floor and get off when it filled up. Having learnt 'routines' has a lot to do with why Kenny struggles. He prefers the Latin as it is in your own space.

Nowadays, due to a health issue he struggles and gets nervous and then it goes to pieces. So we'll get up and jig around sometimes. My favourite is the Jive. But Kenny has a blind spot when it comes to that dance. He can do it but is convinced he can't. It becomes self fulfilling.

 

We don't do sequence though. When we retire it will be something we'll take up. I find it a bit boring though. I know the Mayfair Quickstep. Enjoy doing it to Red Hot Salsa. But after 3 repeats I'm bored.

 

Maybe we'll see you on the Dance floor in January.

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I love to dance and can do most dances quite well ---- however I have no partner so I tend to go to the lessons so at least I can dance a little and in the hope that someone may feel sorry for me one night or that one of the teachers may dance with me - it tends not to happen very often sadly.

 

Are the teachers present in the evenings to dance with anyone do you know?

 

Many thanks

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I love to dance and can do most dances quite well ---- however I have no partner so I tend to go to the lessons so at least I can dance a little and in the hope that someone may feel sorry for me one night or that one of the teachers may dance with me - it tends not to happen very often sadly.

 

Are the teachers present in the evenings to dance with anyone do you know?

 

Many thanks

 

The Dance Instructors are always happy to dance with guests.

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