Cunard story on their web site about ballroom dancing

[Winifred 22]

4 hours ago, Sdancer said:

 

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.

 

I don’t think there is much chance of a return to pre pandemic standards. I am happy with the current offerings and would not want to see prices rise too much. I think people grow out of cruise lines then it’s time to move on. I have outgrown P&O but still think they offer a value for money offering but it just doesn’t appeal as much as Cunard but I won’t engage in deriding the product .

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Exactly... so the people who want to live in khakis/polos, want 24 extra cost dining venues and a giant tv on the lido deck... go on the 95% of ships that already offer that and leave Cunard as it is alone!  

 

 

Sadly, I think it you who might have to go elsewhere as folk continue to choose to book the existing and the new Cunard ships.

[ballroom-cruisers]

There is a big difference between Cunard and the many other cruise lines.  Cunard is special and has a unique on board experience that you can't get on any other line. So there is no ready alternative, so naturally people will do their best to maintain what they like in the way a Cunard cruise is managed and the offerings that can't be found anywhere else on a ship, and defend the standards that are perceived to be slipping. Those complaints are often aired on this board if they can't get to speak directly to the managers on board or at Cunard HQ. It is very different if you 'were' a P&O loyal passenger and no longer accept their changes - because there are plenty of alternative cruise lines that give you a comparable or better experience.  And yet on the P&O threads there is even more complaining than on this board!

 

One other thing is also a factor - many British passengers do not wish to do fly-cruises, due to the significant loss of faith in airports and airlines in reliability of travelling as booked without hassle, and almost everyone knows someone who has had flights cancelled, baggage lost, or had their travel plans changed because the airlines failed to provide the flights that had been booked.  There is only a fraction of cruise lines that depart from and arrive back in the UK.  That does limit the choice of alternatives for cruise options.

Edited August 14, 2023 by ballroom-cruisers
typos

[alibabacruisers]

After reading about the Queens Room on QM2, some friends, Paul and Carole who have given me permission to use their photo, who are on board and posted a picture of everyone having a wonderful time, so I thought I would post it here.  I had forgotten how it all looked as we haven't been on here for awhile.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by alibabacruisers

[Sdancer]

13 hours ago, alibabacruisers said:

After reading about the Queens Room on QM2, some friends, Paul and Carole who have given me permission to use their photo, who are on board and posted a picture of everyone having a wonderful time, so I thought I would post it here.  I had forgotten how it all looked as we haven't been on here for awhile.

 

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!

Edited August 27, 2023 by Sdancer

[Host Hattie]

It shows a Party Night so not the full Queens Room orchestra. 

[Sdancer]

45 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

It shows a Party Night so not the full Queens Room orchestra. 

Thank you for replying. 

What is this party theme?  

How many dance hosts are on this sailing?

Thanks!

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Sdancer

[Host Hattie]

1 minute ago, Sdancer said:

Thank you for replying. 

How many dance hosts are on this sailing?

Thanks!

 

I've no idea, I'm not on this sailing, I just read the writing behind the musicians. 

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, Sdancer said:

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!

It was taken on a recent Transatlantic sailing. I was on the same crossing. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Winifred 22

[Sdancer]

2 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

It was taken on a recent Transatlantic sailing. I was on the same crossing. 

Thank you for your post.

I am surprised that people do not dress up on a Transatlantic crossing, especially for a party.

 

 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

9 minutes ago, Sdancer said:

Thank you for your post.

I am surprised that people do not dress up on a Transatlantic crossing, especially for a party.

 

 

 

 

It was a Smart Attire night, people will be more dressed up for the Gala Night Balls.

[ballroom-cruisers]

Having talked to people directly involved with the dance hosts and the dance professional couple it seems that Cunard is covering the period where the professional ballroom couples resigned by having a pair of dance hosts, who are running the dance classes, as well as acting as dance hosts for singles in the evening ballroom dancing.  From September at some point some of the professional ballroom couples are coming back on new contracts, and there is expected to also be a pair of dance hosts where it is possible to have them accepting being on board voyages. It is possible that not all voyages will have both professional ballroom dancers as well as dance hosts. On any voyages where it isn't possible to attract dance hosts to be there then there are usually some passengers who may be prepared to dance with single passengers. Hopefully on most voyages the evenings will have people dressing up, especially on Gala nights - experience shows that most do, even on non Gala nights except on some of the shorter voyages.

[SireDoime]

I my first Cunard cruise aboard Qn. Elizabeth I can say there was dancing every evening in the Queens Room - ballroom style or just dancing to whatever music they played. There was an orchestra and other nights a DJ of sorts, if recall. I can't really dance, but attended both Galas and the dancing was nice and there was an orchestra at both events. There was even a professional dance couple of night - they were fantastic!

Edited August 28, 2023 by SireDoime
yayayya

[Sdancer]

My GH friend got the following information for me directly from the source about the Gentlemen Hosts for TA on QM2.

He found out that currently Cunard is not looking for GH on QM2 TA sailings in 2024.

 

[deck chair]

Hello!

 

I just returned from a 28 day voyage on QM2 round trip from NY.  Ship sailed July 21 and returned August 18.   On the first two segments there were two dance hosts, a husband and wife. On the TA home (The ballet crossing) there were two new dance hosts, a man and woman who replaced the first two.  In all cases the dance hosts were kept very busy. In fact, there was a crying need for more.  These hosts were in addition to the professional dance couple.  

 

This was my first voyage on QM2 since covid.  Prior to these sailings I have sailed on QM2 on 41 occasions since 2006.  Prior to covid there were always 6-8 dance hosts.   Why Cunard has cut the number is a mystery to me. I know I spoke with numerous single passengers who were quite dismayed by the lack of sufficient number of hosts and questioned if they would return to Cunard.   Ony the bean counters can explain.  I hope this helps.

Deck Chair.

 

[Sdancer]

38 minutes ago, deck chair said:

Hello!

 

I just returned from a 28 day voyage on QM2 round trip from NY.  Ship sailed July 21 and returned August 18.   On the first two segments there were two dance hosts, a husband and wife. On the TA home (The ballet crossing) there were two new dance hosts, a man and woman who replaced the first two.  In all cases the dance hosts were kept very busy. In fact, there was a crying need for more.  These hosts were in addition to the professional dance couple.  

 

This was my first voyage on QM2 since covid.  Prior to these sailings I have sailed on QM2 on 41 occasions since 2006.  Prior to covid there were always 6-8 dance hosts.   Why Cunard has cut the number is a mystery to me. I know I spoke with numerous single passengers who were quite dismayed by the lack of sufficient number of hosts and questioned if they would return to Cunard.   Ony the bean counters can explain.  I hope this helps.

Deck Chair.

 

Thank you so much! It does help to know!

I booked TA crossing  expecting to have dance hosts to dance with. I am a solo ballroom dancer.

The lack of dance hosts on TA crossing with no ports is inexcusable.

I have until February to cancel my June NY-NY 14 days TA.

I have started looking at other cruise lines.

 

[Dancer Bob]

I'm appalled at the photo of alleged "dancing". Only one couple looks to be dancing, except it looks like Argentine Tango, which of course is the exact opposite of ballroom dancing. None of the women appear to be wearing decent shoes. I've found that to be a good predictor of whether it's worth bothering trying. If that's their idea of fun, I can get that on American ships for far less money.

I'm highly doubtful of dance hosts trying to teach a lesson. If you look at Floataway and especially Compass, the required qualifications are hardly better than able to walk onto the floor without falling down. (Maybe the couples are better.) I'm sure many of the posters on these threads could do a far better job.

If that's what to expect from Cunard, I be sticking with Costa. Even though there's trade-offs, at least there's a lot of people who like to dance, not just drunken stumbling. For Sdancer- the animation staff on Costa dance with passengers. They're not very good, but better than nothing.

[Sdancer]

36 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

I'm appalled at the photo of alleged "dancing". Only one couple looks to be dancing, except it looks like Argentine Tango, which of course is the exact opposite of ballroom dancing. None of the women appear to be wearing decent shoes. I've found that to be a good predictor of whether it's worth bothering trying. If that's their idea of fun, I can get that on American ships for far less money.

I'm highly doubtful of dance hosts trying to teach a lesson. If you look at Floataway and especially Compass, the required qualifications are hardly better than able to walk onto the floor without falling down. (Maybe the couples are better.) I'm sure many of the posters on these threads could do a far better job.

If that's what to expect from Cunard, I be sticking with Costa. Even though there's trade-offs, at least there's a lot of people who like to dance, not just drunken stumbling. For Sdancer- the animation staff on Costa dance with passengers. They're not very good, but better than nothing.

Thank you, Dancer Bob!

You are absolutely correct about the shoes and alleged "dancing".

I am very grateful for the posted picture - it shows how sad MQ2 QR looks which does not inspire to sail TA on Cunard. 

 

About Compass dance hosts: old Crystal had a dance host who could not keep a bit and another kept stepping on my feet :).

When prospective GH are going through a Compass interview process, their dancing is the very last consideration by Compass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Sdancer

[SusanS54]

Like Deck Chair I recently travelled on the "Dance the Atlantic" crossing (i think Paul and Carole must have been on the return crossing).  On the crossing I was on, the full Queens Room Orchestra (and singers) were in the Queens Room most nights - and were joined by the Royal Court Orchestra on the Big Band night.  There were a lot of very competent ballroom dancers on the crossing and the Queens Room was pretty full most evenings - probably as full as it usually was pre-Covid.    Generally I haven't noticed any particular change / decline in the number of people getting dressed up on gala nights or not adhering to the smart attire dress code after 6pm and the younger groups (there seemed to be a lot of guests in their 20s/30s/40s on this crossing as well as quite a few teenagers) appeared to embrace the more formal dress-code.     Obviously with only two dance hosts rather than 4-6 as previously, there is less opportunity for solo passengers who wish to ballroom dance, which I have to say is the main reason I began to cruise with Cunard, but it is better than having none at all which was the case on the Queen Victoria in November.      The picture posted appears to relate to a "party night" - not one aimed at ballroom dancers - and the band on stage is the Four Tunes which is the party band - ie, the one that usually plays for sailaways at the Terrace Pool, the Pavilion Pool, G32 etc.     Although I didn't attend myself I seem to recall that the Four Tunes played  in the Queens Room on the last night of the crossing I was on and as I was getting up at 4.30am for the sail in to New York I gave that one a miss.  This photo may have been taken on a similar evening on the return crossing.   

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

Yes that picture was certainly on a 'party evening' - we have had some nice ballroom evenings on voyages the past couple of years since Covid, but the number of ballroom dancers regularly on the floor, and the number of non-ballroom evenings in the Queen's Room seems to vary depending on which voyage it is.  We had a voyage in June where all but two evenings of a two week voyage were pure ballroom all evening. On the other hand a friend on QV going to the western Med and back very recently had four party nights out of 7 on the one week voyage, which meant only 3 ballroom evenings in the QR. Our experience the past year or so has been never more than two dance hosts on a voyage.  Pretty much every time it has been a man and a lady as dance hosts, but also a professional couple who did the dance lessons and the show dances on the Gala evenings.  I am led to believe that this is the arrangement that is planned at least for QV from next month, but I don't know the arrangements planned to QM2 the rest of this year concerning both dance hosts and professional ballroom couple.  It does seem that the US dance host recruitment is independent of that in the UK. The UK recruitment organisation seems to focus on QV so perhaps QM2 is serviced by the US organisation when it comes to dance hosts and the professional couple?  What about QE and Queen Anne - does anyone know the situation for those?

[Sdancer]

2 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

 Our experience the past year or so has been never more than two dance hosts on a voyage.  Pretty much every time it has been a man and a lady as dance hosts, but also a professional couple who did the dance lessons and the show dances on the Gala evenings.  I am led to believe that this is the arrangement that is planned at least for QV from next month, but I don't know the arrangements planned to QM2 the rest of this year concerning both dance hosts and professional ballroom couple.  It does seem that the US dance host recruitment is independent of that in the UK. The UK recruitment organisation seems to focus on QV so perhaps QM2 is serviced by the US organisation when it comes to dance hosts and the professional couple?  What about QE and Queen Anne - does anyone know the situation for those?

The American company Compass is providing dance hosts for QM2 and QE.

Cunard did not request dance hosts for TA crossings on QM2 for 2024.

 

 

[Sdancer]

1 hour ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

Yes that picture was certainly on a 'party evening' 

Is it how very casually guests dress for a "party evening" on Cunard or just for the evening? 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Sdancer

[ballroom-cruisers]

Is it not more the case that those who dress casually tend to stay the same on party evenings if they are in the Queen's Room, and dress the same when going to other venues on board on non-party evenings?

[Sdancer]

On 8/27/2023 at 1:53 PM, Host Hattie said:

It was a Smart Attire night, people will be more dressed up for the Gala Night Balls.

 

Here is what Evenings dress code on board being described on Cunard website:

 

"If you do want to make an effort in the evening you won’t be alone. The majority of guests travelling with us embrace the chance to switch to smart attire by night. This doesn’t mean you’ll be expected to wear a gown or dinner jacket each evening. Smart attire simply means a dress shirt and trousers, skirt and a top, or a cocktail dress. Essentially, choose something along the same vein as you’d wear to a stylish restaurant or the theater on a special occasion."

 

 

 

I do not see much "smart attire" at the "party night". Any idea why?

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Sdancer

[Jenny Bond]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:01 PM, Sdancer said:

 

The lack of dance hosts on TA crossing with no ports is inexcusable.

 

I was on a recent TA and we learned something interesting about dance hosts. Apparently, in order to get a paying gig as a dance host, the dancer is expected to book at least four different cruises/voyages paid for with their own money and no discount. They then have to volunteer to be dance hosts every night of that cruise and after four of them, if they get good reviews, they might get offered a paid position.

 

They essentially have to foot the bill for their own audition. This was relayed to us as we were traveling with a large group of ballroom dancers and one of the gentlemen had looked into getting a job as a dance host on cruise ships and that is what was explained to them when they inquired about the process.

 

I have not personally looked into the process but this is what we were told by the man who did look into it as a retirement job. Not sure how many dancers can afford to do that just to get offered a position. Might explain the lack of large numbers of them.

 

On the recent TA I was on the dance floor was absolutely packed every night. There were two hosts (husband and wife) but they were disembarking the same time I was.