Strange Cruise Question

[airbusdrvr]

My DGF's mother met a man the other night at a Christmas party in Naples Fla. and he was telling her he cruised all the time and got paid by the cruiseline to dance with single older women . She said he was an attractive man in his early 60's and very charismatic.

 

I have never heard of this and personally think he was shooting her a line of bs . Has anyone ever heard of cruiselines paying men to cruise just to dance with older single women ?

[Merion_Mom]

My DGF's mother met a man the other night at a Christmas party in Naples Fla. and he was telling her he cruised all the time and got paid by the cruiseline to dance with single older women . She said he was an attractive man in his early 60's and very charismatic.

 

I have never heard of this and personally think he was shooting her a line of bs . Has anyone ever heard of cruiselines paying men to cruise just to dance with older single women ?

 

It was standard in the "olden days" and may still happen on some of the other cruise lines. (HAL, premium and luxury lines) but most assuredly not on RC.

[DarthGrady]

Definitely an antiquated practice.

 

The movie "Out to Sea" with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau was about them going on a cruise ship as dance hosts. Worth a watch if you run out of ANYTHING better to do.

[Coralc]

My DGF's mother met a man the other night at a Christmas party in Naples Fla. and he was telling her he cruised all the time and got paid by the cruiseline to dance with single older women . She said he was an attractive man in his early 60's and very charismatic.

 

I have never heard of this and personally think he was shooting her a line of bs . Has anyone ever heard of cruiselines paying men to cruise just to dance with older single women ?

 

Yes, they were called dance hosts. I don't know which lines (if any) still hire them. Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_ship_dance_host

[SRQfireman]

As mentioned, it still may be out there on some ships....Holland America comes to mind. They cruise for free, and are on there to dance with women. They are of course screened and (supposedly) not allowed to do anything but dance......no romances or anything like that.

Sooooo.....it's not BS...they either did participate in this, or they still do. (more than likely use to)

[Basman]

Back in Dec '07 we were on the Pride of Aloha now the Norwegian Sky. There were 3 or 4 older gentlemen that were dance hosts. I don't know if they were paid beyond getting a free cruise. We first met them in the gym area and gave me and my wife some informal dance lessons. We did see them in the lounges dancing with older ladies.

 

Besides the dance hosts, there was another couple I met after the cruise who had been on the POA for about 5-6 back to back cruises. He told me that he gave a couple of lectures each cruise about photography and his wife gave a couple of lectures about some sort of arts and crafts stuff. While we didn't attend any of these lectures, I believe there were other people who gave similar presentations. I don't know if they (NCL/NCLA) still do this but it seemed like a pretty neat way to cruise for next to nothing.

 

Back to your DGF'sM. A word of warning, there are a lot of charming men out there that are after just one thing and it's not her body, its her $$$. I'd advise her to take it very careful with him. If he has a great investment opportunity or needs money for some venture, she need's to drop him in a heartbeat. Also let me guess, DGFsM is widowed or divorced and has some money.

[Curly locks]

My DGF's mother met a man the other night at a Christmas party in Naples Fla. and he was telling her he cruised all the time and got paid by the cruiseline to dance with single older women . She said he was an attractive man in his early 60's and very charismatic.

 

I have never heard of this and personally think he was shooting her a line of bs . Has anyone ever heard of cruiselines paying men to cruise just to dance with older single women ?

 

They have them on Cunard.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I know someone who does this for HAL occasionally.

 

Strict rules though. He has to give every lady an opportunity, can't make any suggestions that he likes one lady more than another, etc.

[TravelerThom]

I'm pretty sure there are a lot less dance hosts now than there were even 5-10 years ago. Celebrity used to have them [easy to spot as they wore name tags, and danced with a different person every dance], but I can't recall seeing one on Celebrity in the last 5 years [my guess, seemingly confirmed by this thread, is that based on demographics, HAL and Cunard would be the most likely lines to have them].

 

Where they exist, the deal would probably be similar to the deal received by most ship lecturers. From http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1176

 

you usually will pay the agency an administrative fee of $50 to $100 for each day they place you on a cruise. These fees are how the agency makes its money. As a guest speaker, you will be allotted a stateroom, and you are allowed to bring a companion with you at no additional charge. Transportation to the ship is almost always the speaker's responsibility, as are gratuities (typically $10 to $15 per person, per day).

 

Given that I within the last several months a TransAtlantic balcony on Celebrity Silhouette could be had for slightly under $50pp/day with full benefits [Frequent Cruiser points, etc] not available to lectures, on many cruises even if you could find a slot the work would far outweigh the benefits [might not be true on a peak cost cruise]. Years ago I talked with several Dance Hosts over pre-breakfast coffee; learned that they got half price drinks, BUT were expected to buy a drink for their partner of the moment [effectively full price for them, a free drink for partner of the moment].

 

Do [or at least did] Dance Hosts exist? Definitely. Did they actually get paid [versus getting a deal]? Highly unlikely.

 

Thom

[Brandis]

Saw them on Prinsendam a couple of years ago. They also sat with single women for breakfast and lunch up in the buffet and also attended the singles party.

 

But as has been said before, they had to spend equal time with all the ladies and switch partners after every dance.

[loubetti]

Obviously you're not going to see "gentlemen hosts" on the mass market cruise lines, such as RCi, CCL etc., but they remain alive and well on some of the upscale lines such as Cunard. They do not just act as dance partners, but might go on shore excursions too.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I spent time in the Solarium sitting next to the wife of the lecturer on a cruise we took last year.

 

She was very pleased with the arrangement they had with the cruise line. He was a college professor. He was lecturering on several caribbean locales. They were getting a free cruise and he was getting paid a small fee.

[Suite Cruise]

No dance hosts are not an antiquated practice on certain cruises.

 

We are doing a TA cruise on Crystal Serenity on 3/31/2013 and they have just increased the dance hosts form six to twelve for the Big Band Cruise Theme with the Glen Miller Band.

 

While I am hoping to get a slow dance or two in with my wife, should the dance floor show offs give us a chance, we will still enjoy the cruise. If not, there are other venues to dance.

 

The dance hosts will dance, eat dinner with single women and go on port trips with the single women.

 

They have yet to add 12 drop dead good looking women for the single men or widowers to dance with on a cruise.

 

Are the men less worthy of the same attention?

 

Oh well, times are a changing. I am waiting for the Captains to ask if they can show up to formal night in a speedo and flip flops.

 

Gene

[Familygoboston]

I just saw a cruise brochure for a premium line ( can't remember which because I would (NEVER) cruise them! I was looking for Antarctica cruises and this line does them and other regular cruises. About 1/2 of their Europe and Caribbean cruises listed "gentlemen hosts" as being on board for certain sailings. So yes, it is still happening- these were 2013 dates? Silverseas, maybe? Also could have been an American cruise line that does Mississippi river cruises..wish i could recall. Ive dumped their brochures already.

 

Ed. I'm fairly certain that the hosts were indicated by a little icon...there was one for "bridge" with little cards, and the one for the hosts I think was like a bow tie or a tux sort of thing.

[SPacificbound]

Maybe it's me...... but that is just strange and a bit creepy in the 21st century. :rolleyes:

[Merion_Mom]

Maybe it's me...... but that is just strange and a bit creepy in the 21st century. :rolleyes:

 

It's just you. ;)

[avalon007]

Maybe it's me...... but that is just strange and a bit creepy in the 21st century. :rolleyes:

 

 

No it's not just you, I think it's a bit odd & creepy as well, but maybe these older ladies of a different time actually enjoy the attention?

 

I asked my 80 year old mum who lives with us what she thought & she said it didn't appeal to her either. But she did concede that older ladies whose husbands had passed on who love to dance may enjoy having a partner.

 

I guess it is related to a generation that tends to dance as couples, whereas younger generations can dance as singles in a group of people & don't need a dance partner as such.

[anandaindonesia]

Crystal Cruises list of complimentary programs mentioned (among others) :

Ambassador Hosts. Cultured, well traveled gentlemen are on board to socialize and dance the night away.

 

Anyone?

[celle]

It was standard in the "olden days" and may still happen on some of the other cruise lines. (HAL, premium and luxury lines) but most assuredly not on RC.

 

Well, I encountered one on Brilliance of the Seas, in 2003. It was at a line-dancing class and he chipped in and started showing me what to do.

 

I thought I was doing OK and I could have done without his well-meaning interference. I was actually enjoying myself, dancing alone. DH has a "thing" about dancing, so I often go on my own to classes like line dancing.

 

And no, I didn't enjoy the attention.

[monn_a]

I have a friend who is a ballroom dancer (long before it become popular) and she does, sometimes, three dance cruises a year and they supply host for these cruises. Also if you book the luxury lines solo they sometimes have cruises where they supply host for single women. It's definitely not as big as it use to be but it still exist...

[Chicky2181]

My DGF's mother met a man the other night at a Christmas party in Naples Fla. and he was telling her he cruised all the time and got paid by the cruiseline to dance with single older women . She said he was an attractive man in his early 60's and very charismatic.

 

I have never heard of this and personally think he was shooting her a line of bs . Has anyone ever heard of cruiselines paying men to cruise just to dance with older single women ?

 

Sounds like a gigolo to me. ;)

[Kartgv]

There were several on the Celebrity Summit, though it was many years ago. Many single women seemed to enjoy the opportunity to dance. I did find it a little creepy, but only because one of them was a dead ringer for my ex-husband, who my current (over 30-years-married-to) husband nicknamed "Slick".

[trev71]

I think it was a total line os BS, I cant imagine a cruise line paying someone to go on a cruise just to dance with the ladies, If this is really true sign me up i am 32 yrs old pretty decent looking I could do this. anyone have the link for the job. lol

[styxfire]

Maybe it's me...... but that is just strange and a bit creepy in the 21st century. :rolleyes:

I am fairly modern in my ideologies and my career, and I don't find the concept of gentlemen hosts the least bit offensive.

 

It's about time that the tides turned and the men start being paid to serve the women :)

 

But seriously, women outlive their spouses by a decade, which by default would lead to a severe shortage of men on cruises if the cruiseline didn't hire some to even up the score. If I were to pay thousands to go on a luxury cruise, there darn well better be a few thousands-worth of entertainment there to keep me happy. A dance partner or pleasant conversationalist is part of what I paid for.

[styxfire]

The more I think about it, the more appealing a "gentleman host" sounds. A guy who will make my evening pleasant without any expectation of trying to get into my bed later, or wanting to exchange addresses, etc.

 

Just a simple, enjoyable time. Somebody whose sole purpose is to meet my needs. What's not to like about that?