Dancing on Oceania

I will be taking a cruise Ath-Ist May 5th. I've done a search for dancing on board and it does not come up with many threads so I thought I'd post my question here. My husband and I like to dance and while we did take ballroom classes onboard a Princess cruise we knew not to expect that on Oceania. I was wondereing though if there is some space to dance before/after meals and if there is a band that plays or if it is all D.J. If there is music what kind is generally played.Any information would be appreciated. I want to pack light (always a problem for me) and don't know if I should pack my dancing shoes??????? Thanks for your help.

Pack your dancing shoes. I don't remember the exact times, but there is dancing. Usually before and after the show. Live band.

We are currently taking lessons so we can trip the light fantastic on our next cruise. We took lessons the first year we were married and enjoyed it, but life got in the way. Never even thoought about it before our first cruise. Last year we planned to take lessons but just never got around to it until it was too late. There was a large ballroom dancing group from Victoria on the cruise and they had a lot of fun.

Hope 18 months is long enough for me to exchange some of my left feet for dancing ones! :D

Mo

this was one of the things I was searching for as well....my husband and I especially enjoy a nice Quickstep, Cha cha cha, Samba, Rumba and english Walz....I was hoping there would be opportunity for this on Regatta but I could not find alot of info.

When the time comes, we will probably pack our dancing shoes because you never know......

Pack your dancing shoes! There is dancing on Oceania to a live band! It is before dinner in Horizons and before the show in the showroom. Since it's a small ship, it's the same band that moves from one room to another. There is also dancing before the Captain's welcome party and the repeater's party. Just read the daily bulletin to find the times.

Sheila

There is also a pianist who plays in Martini's from late afternoon until about 9pm. On our cruise (Barcelona to Istanbul), he was supplimented by a basist, and a drummer during the (extended) cocktail hours ( on several occasions a violinist joined in too! ). There were dozens of couples dancing every evening. It was lovely ;)

Oh, and I just remembered, the cruise director (a blond british woman) sang with this combo too!:D

By all means, bring your dancing shoes!

Enjoy your cruise~

Stan & Jim

P.S. What if the Alley Cat IS "What it's all about???":eek:

Anyone have recent reports of times and locations for dancing? I have seen one or two posts that there is not much dancing and yet some folks report dancing. Any pointers would be appreciated.

We have sailed with Oceania twice. On each cruise a very good 8 piece orchestra played at least one 45 minute set per day. Unlike most ships the tempo was quite good for ballroom dancing. The dance floor is not as big as QM2 but much bigger than the postage size now standard on most of the mega ships. A little quickstep is possible but limited due to the dance floor size. Since there are less than 700 passengers on board the dance floor is seldom crowded. We will sail on Regatta January 2nd for 2 back to back cruises and are very much looking forward to the dancing.

We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Nautica last week. There are definitely opportunities to dance. The bar Horizons has a DJ or maybe a small band (we only went twice but read in the daily currents) almost nightly. They play enough of a variety of music to appeal to a wide range of ages. Some nights are themed like "Stayin' Alive" night which was disco. I think there is dancing before most of the shows; there was a 12 piece band (with dancing and free drinks) at the Captain's party.

Hope this helps.

My husband and I are semi pro ballroom and latin dancers. I think most people know the QM2 has a very large floor. For people who don't know, it is the largest floating ballroom and there are also male dance hosts for the single ladies. I suppose that is the norm for the Elizabeth and Victoria too. The CDs played on the QM2 before the band comes on later are mostly very good tempo tunes. The band is reasonable but their repertoire is very limited, so it is the same layout every evening. However, may be the band changes from time to time - I don't know. For us there are too many themed nights but they seem to be a popular thing for most people. For us they get in the way because the floor becomes far too crowded with people moving in the wrong direction and bumping into everyone. I have read just before typing these comments that the Oceania is good for dancing so we may try that ship some time.

Well since you resurrected a 10 year old thread you may want to try one of the larger ships Marina or Riviera (built long after this thread was started)

they have a larger dance floor

We met a couple on Nautica last year who expected Oceania to be good for dancing and were deeply disappointed. They too had been on QM2. I think dancing has perhaps fallen out of fashion on O ships. There is a band that plays music for dancing but in my experience only a few people get up and dance. Of course that could change depending on the people on board. I'd say that the dancing on the Oceania ships is nothing like the experience on the QM2. I thought the band on the QM2 last year was great in terms of repertoire and tempo, whereas on O the band has been more variable. YMMV.

I think dancing should be banned.

Once you allow that, who knows what sort of debauchery might follow?

Note to readers: It's just a bit of sick humor!

"Now I've had the time of my li-i-ife .........."

I'd like to resurrect this thread. My husband and I enjoy dancing and we like classic rock and roll too. We were on Oceania Riviera in April 2017 and somewhat disappointed - no real dancing that we saw other than at the Captain's reception. Maybe we just did not know where to look. We had previously been on a very small ship - Uniworld SS Catherine Riverboat and even though only approx 100 passengers they had music and dancing every night - it was a lot of fun - for those that stayed up in the evenings.

It is a port intensive cruise and cruise line and people need to be up pretty early - but not every day... Was wondering if anyone who has sailed recently on Marina or Riviera can provide more info on this topic.

Sailing on Riviera April, 2019.

Not a dancer, but...

There is dancing always before the evening shows in the theater to the music of the band. Also, I believe they have dancing later at night in the Horizons although I have never actually attended :)

In the past they offered dancing classes by the Russian/Ukrainian dancers although I don't think this is still going on as these dancers are no longer part of the entertainment crew since NCL took over the entertainment.

There was no dancing before the show on Riviera in August, I’m afraid.

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Usually we have seen dancing before the show on the R ships & up in Horizons after the show

I do not think there is room to dance on the O ships in the theater though I have not looked for it

I have seen a few dancers at Afternoon tea on the O ships ..

I do not think there is room to dance on the O ships in the theater though I have not looked for it

There is no dedicated dance floor in the Main Lounges of the O ships.

Those who dance pre-show, do so on the stage, right next to the Orchestra

Usually we have seen dancing before the show on the R ships & up in Horizons after the show

 

I do not think there is room to dance on the O ships in the theater though I have not looked for it

 

I have seen a few dancers at Afternoon tea on the O ships ..

Agree - should have specified dancing before the show on R ships. Do not recall seeing it on O ships although it's been a while since I've been on an O class ship.

There is no dedicated dance floor in the Main Lounges of the O ships.

 

Those who dance pre-show, do so on the stage, right next to the Orchestra

well that would be tricky with all the cables there

or maybe we do not go to the lounge early enough

I would love an update on this topic. We have danced on QM2 but the dance floor is very crowded. I had hoped to cruise on Crystal but that won't happen now as they are out of business. Would settled for a combo that would play some ballroom dance music. Is that happening now on Oceanic?

On the Regatta May 3, 2022 cruise there was dancing in Horizons during cocktail hour in the evening before dinner (I think it was from 5:15 to 6:00) with music provided by members of the Oceania band.  Usually there were a few couples dancing.

I’m not keen on ballroom dancing but like disco/club type music , and like to have the best in my feet after my dinner, which is usually around 10 , I miss the show which is 9.30 and I’m still at dinner, I like Oceania but find the evenings a bit boring ,

We agree.... we often will go up to Horizons lounge at 10 after the show.... on our last cruise in March on Marina....they had an awesome cover band.... was a lot of fun  (they could play lots of our favorites and do it so well - great singer also) ....Unfortunatley,  not a lot of people come up...it is kind of an older crowd. One exception was the XMAS New Year's cruise - every night was a party night and lots of fun. 

Things start early in the day on board so some ppl may be tired later in the evenings.... We are not morning ppl tho.  ;)

Would recent sailors of the R ships please provide an update on current dancing opportunities (and perhaps your personal experience) in the main show lounge and Horizons?  Thank you very much.