Dancing

[The Mommy]

Hello

 

Can anyone please tell me about the dance hosts and dance lessons on Celebrity. We are booked on Summit in April and I would like to know what to expect.

 

There was talk last year of scrapping the dance host programme but I did not hear the outcome.

 

I had also heard that costs were cut by not hiring professional dance teachers any more but using the dancers from the shows for lessons.

 

I would appreciate if anyone can help

 

Many thanks

Gail

[The Mommy]

I wish I knew how to put the title in bold print as I think my question may get lost before someone sees it. Can anyone tell me how to do it please.

[MiataKath]

Hello,

 

We sailed on the Galaxy last year (2006) 10-night Galveston Round Trip.

The Dance Captain of the Celebrity Dancers conducted Ballroom Dance lessons on the stage. It was very well attended. The instruction was excellant.

 

We believe with respect to the Dance Hosts (yes we met them as well on Galaxy), they were being discontinued.

 

We thought it was a mistake....so many "single" ladies can afford to travel and nothing is better than being able to dance, if one so chooses. The Dance Hosts were very attentive, capable gentlemen who were not there to "hit" on anyone. They were basically there to socialize with the ladies and behaved accordingly.

 

 

We hope that the Dance Hosts are brought back. It was a very nice activity that Celebrity offered to their single lady passengers.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Don and Kathie

[lucky white heather]

The rumour on cruise critic a while back was that dance hosts might still continue to be aboard cruises of more than 12 days... I think I read that poster "Tugger" knew one of the regular hosts personally and would be able to check this out . Don't recall seeing the outcome though..we'll be on ML in a week's time on a 15 nighter so we'll find out...the hosts would definitely be worth reinstating if X have cut the service .

 

In our experience as regular dancers at the Rendezvous lounge every cruise, we've met lots of ladies who either travel alone, or sail with a friend , or are a partner of someone who does not dance, and all came along hoping to have the opportunity of a turn around the floor with any of the gentlemen hosts.

On Cunard they have at least 6 hosts most trips..so I can see this might become an alternative cruiseline for disappointed ladies to try !

[lucky white heather]

Regarding the dance tuition aboard, we have attended dance classes regularly.These have usually been taken by a dancer from the dance group aboard and have been pretty basic but enjoyable...the dance hosts always attended to help out .They were required to partner those who attended classes but had no dance partner and sometimes a "round robin type" system was in place to help out with greatly uneven male / female numbers.

Cunard offered daily dance tuition classes (as well as private tuition if you wished to book and pay) with a resident dance couple who were excellent teachers....we were totally surprised by the numbers who attended the daily classes..in excess of 150 cruisers every class! Cunard do boast the largest ballroom at sea of course!

[hajekfam]

I have found that on the Celebrity cruises that we have been on, the dancers who are now teaching dance courses don't really know ballroom dance. My husband and I have taken ballroom lessons for a number of years and usually go to the class so that we can practice in the back of the room. We were shocked by the teachers and their lack of knowledge of basic ballroom.

[Kathie44]

I was talking to a single lady on our recent Mercury (1/29) cruise and she said she danced with a dance host on several occasions. She had heard they were being discontinued, but evidently they are still around. :D

[hajekfam]

I think those that still had contracts are being used, but they are probably not contracting any new hosts.

[Rev22:17]

Gail,

 

Can anyone please tell me about the dance hosts and dance lessons on Celebrity. We are booked on Summit in April and I would like to know what to expect.

 

There was talk last year of scrapping the dance host programme but I did not hear the outcome.

 

I had also heard that costs were cut by not hiring professional dance teachers any more but using the dancers from the shows for lessons.

 

I would appreciate if anyone can help

 

In my experience, the dance lessons on cruise ships are not worth much because the instructors -- generally members of the show cast -- are trained in a very different style of dance that's choreographed rather than led. As a result, they do not teach leading and following. Rather, they tend to teach a simple choreographed pattern for each dance, which works if you get up to dance with somebody else who learned from the same instructor but breaks down as soon as you get up to dance with anybody else. They also do not teach proper dance posture, which is what makes leading and following work. And they also do not teach proper styling, which is what makes the dance look right. If you were to do the most basic step of each dance with proper styling, you would get raves from those watching about how great you look on the dance floor.

 

If you really want to learn to dance properly, the best option is to go to a quality dance studio. The Arthur Murray Dance Studios and Fred Astaire Dance Studios, both international chains of locally owned and operated franchises, tend to offer consistent quality and the advantage that you can transfer lessons or classes to a studio where you happen to be when you are travelling. I think that Arthur Murray tends to be the better of the two chains, but that might not be true in every city. Many major cities in the eastern United States have also independent studios that are superior to both chains, but unfortunately many independent studios are a lot worse than the worst of either chain.

 

As to dance hosts, I really don't know the current status. I don't recall seeing dance hosts on my last three or four cruises, but I was not exactly looking for them. I understand that the "luxury" lines, like Crystal and Silversea, do still have dance hosts, but they are much more expensive than Celebrity.

 

Norm.

[Jim_Iain]

Just off the Constellation 11 Western Caribbean cruise (2-19 Cruise). I did not see any hosts on the ship.

 

I was traveling with a group of 80. A special request was made to Celebrity for Ball Room Dancing classes. Celebrity provided a wonderful dancer / instructor to teach about 20 of us 4 ball room dances. I was surprised at how good she was in instructing not only the basic steps and 4 or 5 variation, but also on how to lead and to communicate with both you hands and feet to your partner.

 

Our instructor not only taught but made it a fun experience.

[lucky white heather]

Hi Norm.. I don't really heartily disagree with everything you said about the dance classes on offer aboard but remember these cruisers trying to learn any basic dance step are not expecting to turn into a Fred Astaire in one easy lesson..they struggle to follow instructions as they are generally completely unfamiliar with what they are trying to achieve... and can be self conscious about looking silly and/or making mistakes. Not everyone lives in the USA where many "learn to dance" opportunities exist ... for example here in Scotland we would have to make a longish journey , often in bad weather conditions of a winter's night to attend a dance class in town for a couple of hours. It takes dedication to do this.

 

On a cruise I M O the dance lessons are supposed to be informative /as accurate as possible for newcomers to the "sport" but also for simple enjoyment and satisfaction of getting something out of the opportunity to learn in an atmosphere where they might feel less self conscious about not coping.

[rebeccalouise]

I had a great time with the dance hosts on Constellation in April of 2006. I spoke with them and they said that they get offers to go on various cruises and they pick the ones that they would like to go on.

I wonder if there isn't a big enough pool of men out there willing to be dance hosts.

I thought it was great dancing with someone who enjoys dancing and is good at it. As a single person it is hard to dance on a cruise with men my age- because most don't know how to waltz or cha cha (I'm 41). And if I were to dance with someone else's husband- that might cause problems. So the dance hosts make it fun without worrying about some drunk man putting the moves on you.

[Rev22:17]

rebeccalouise,

 

I had a great time with the dance hosts on Constellation in April of 2006. I spoke with them and they said that they get offers to go on various cruises and they pick the ones that they would like to go on.

I wonder if there isn't a big enough pool of men out there willing to be dance hosts.

 

No. Rather, the mass market lines simply don't want to give away cabins that they can sell. The way the program works now, the dance hosts come through the same company that provides guest lecturers. They pay an agency fee (IIRC, $25/night for the duratoin of the cruise) to the company and travel as (non-paying) guests of the line. They occupy what otherwise would be a passenger cabin.

 

I thought it was great dancing with someone who enjoys dancing and is good at it. As a single person it is hard to dance on a cruise with men my age- because most don't know how to waltz or cha cha (I'm 41). And if I were to dance with someone else's husband- that might cause problems. So the dance hosts make it fun without worrying about some drunk man putting the moves on you.

 

If we are ever on the same cruise and I'm still unattached, you won't want for a dance partner.

 

BTW, I'm still forty-something, and will be for another couple months, so we're not too far apart in age.

 

Norm.