Dancing at Sea!

Just the other day a customer asked me if the cruise she was looking at was good for dancing as both her and her husband love dancing when they cruise.  Over the past couple of months they have not been the only ones to ask me this so I thought I would do a little research and give you a little insight into dancing at sea.

What are the best cruise lines if you love to ‘cha cha cha’ your way around the Med, Waltz round the Fjords or Samba round the Caribbean?

Thanks to programs like Strictly come dancing, the popularity of ballroom and Latin dance has soared in the last few years

So who is the best when it comes to providing more dance for your dollar!!!

P&O Cruises

2015 will follow the tradition of the last few years and host 4 Strictly Come Dancing themed cruises departing 23^rd April 2015, 28^th may 2015, 20^th June 2015 and 25^th July 2015. Each cruise sailing from Southampton will have 2 of the professional dance couples on-board as well as 2 of the judges of course.  You will get the chance to see the experts strut their stuff on stage as well as honing your own skills with P&O’s instructors or if you really want to show off your skills you can enter the on-board strictly contest.

Cunard Cruises

If you want to boogie in style then why not try a Cunard cruise. The sheer elegance of the ship itself conjures up images of yesteryear. As Queen Mary makes her way across the Atlantic                              from Southampton to New York every night is ballroom night, but the culmination of this is the Gala ball held in the stunning two storey, Queens Room.                                                     This event is usually themed, Black and white, Masquerade but whatever the theme, elegance is the name of the game.

If you are a single passenger who loves to dance or you husband just doesn’t cut it on the dance floor then Cunard have gentlemen hosts to partner the ladies or offer lessons to hone their skills.

The Cunard ships all host themed gala balls so don’t think you will miss out if you are not on the transatlantic route.

Holland America line

Cashing in on the upsurge in popularity of dancing as dance shows sweep the TV screens Holland America, like P&O are heading along the lines of Star studded theme cruise with Celebrities from Hit US dance shows.  Dates are not out yet but watch this space…

Like P&O they are having dance class sessions which will be free to passengers and of course a competition to show off your new found skills with a chance to win a place on a Champions cruise to compete for a grand prize.

Celebrity Cruises

Not as obvious as some of the other cruise lines, Celebrity offer Dance classes as part of the program on board to entice passengers to try new things. Aimed at all levels from beginner to expert the classes explore everything from a Classic Waltz to the sultry tango, high kicking jive or sensuous American smooth.

Crystal Cruises

Heading back to the up market end of cruising, Luxury line Crystal has two Ballroom and Sea-themed transatlantic dance parties to the sultry sounds of a big band orchestra. Wow I would love to be on-board just for that. I love big band music.

June 12^th and December 11^th will have you tapping your toes even if getting up and strutting your stuff is not for you.  Like the other cruise lines they will also have dance instructors and celebrity guests to enhance the experience for the passengers.

Saga Cruises

Not my first thought for dance experiences as Saga do tend to have an older clientele in general but the cruise line obviously knows something I don’t as it hosts a 60s-themed voyage next year.  One of the cruises is a 4 night mini cruise on the 7^th March from Southampton that will feature music from the swinging sixties era including pop culture tracks from the Italian job and other films of the era. There will also be a second sixties theme cruise on the 2^nd December on one of the longer voyages.

Norwegian Cruise Lines

Not you scene! Do you prefer strutting your stuff on an altogether different dance floor to a totally different tune? Well do not despair. Norwegian Cruise line’s have just the thing for all you disco diva’s out there. So why not try night clubbing under the stars aboard Norwegian Epic where the H20 pool converts into a dance floor for an adult only beach party no less.  Along with a little cruise pizzazz as they have dancers, light shows etc to spice things up a little.

Princess cruises

Here is the dark horse in the bunch.  Not that I didn’t think princess would offer choice for dancers but from reviews I have read princess seems to top the charts for choice, style, dance floors and overall atmosphere as far as the dancing passengers are concerned.  To quote “Almost every night on Princess there was themed dance music: 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, disco, etc., either in the Explorers Lounge, Club Fusion, Skywalkers disco or all three.”  “We have cruised mainly with Princess as their entertainment seems to cater to the ballroom and latin dances (foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, swing, waltz etc…) and we have a had a consistent experience with them and always meets others on the dance floor having a great time. The main reason we love to cruise is to dance every night and feel we got very lucky with Princess.”

Royal Caribbean

Here is the surprise finding. Customers were not that impressed with Royal’s dance offerings with comments about the dance floors being too small, no special dance events on-board and other such comments. As one customer puts it. “Much to our chagrin, dancing seemed like an afterthought on the Mariner. Not sure what the other RCI ships are like, but that was our experience on the MOS a year ago… if dancing is high on your must-have list, you might consider another cruise line.” I have to say the Royal Caribbean ships I have been on have had people dancing in the in the entertainment venues so who knows. So perhaps on Royal Caribbean the dancing is best left to the professionals.

In short most cruise lines offer dancing in some form or another but it depends on what you want. Whether you want to quickstep every night or rumba once a week, choose your cruise line carefully. Ask me or one of our other experienced staff or read the reviews on line before you book. That way you won’t end up disappointed.