Ballroom Dancing.

[jc, liverpool]

Hi all.
Since started sailing on P&O i enjoy a nightcap watching the ballroom dancers do their stuff.
I learn to do Ballroom at school but the memory of the steps receded with time,,i do like a shuffle around and a good jive though.

But i have noticed some of these dancers are the most rudest on the ship....beware anyone who wants a slow move around the floor....you will get run over,,,and its done with gusto and deliberate.
I have even seen some move off line to barge someone out of the way.

On my last cruise on Ventura,i saw a lovely young girl stood just off the dancefloor trying to copy the moves of the dancers.
An obnoxious woman,actually veered off the floor to barge her to the floor,the kid was crying her eyes out,,,,,the woman told the girls mother she needs good insurance if the girl comes near the dancefloor again.

The mother was to shocked to say anything,,,,we was sat with a family,who's 3 daughter where all teachers,,,they each in turn took the young girls hand and took her onto the dance floor teaching her the steps.
Telling the rude woman it would be she who needed insurance if she bumped them.

Is there an Etiquette (rules) applied to Ballroom Dancing on ships?
The problem is solved on Britannia,,,it has a dedicated lounge (Crystal Room) for the Ballroom dancers,,non dancers enter at your peril.!!!

[Guy, Ormskirk]

What a horrible attitude that woman had and woe betide anyone who treated my child like that.

I think anyone who has a passion or a talent should be thrilled if others are interested and want to learn. I love watching the dancers but have occasionally commented that some take it very seriously indeed and try to monopolise the space.

The ballroom should be open to anyone whatever their ability and as long as they are enjoying themselves it is a pleasure to see...Carol

[cruiser, Larne]

It amuses me immensely when I watch the dancing, usually in the atrium, on our cruises. There always seems to be at least a couple of pairs who take up the whole floor while others shuffle around the edges. I usually find myself thinking they have been doing dancing classes in preparation for their cruise because it looks so 'wooden' and you can almost see them counting out the steps! On Celebrity Reflection recently we saw a lady who looked well into her seventies and she stepped alone onto the dance floor and danced her heart out for the duration of the band playing. The music was varied from pop to jazz and some ballads and she kept it up through it all, arms waving through the slow ones, feet moving like mad during the fast ones. I watched in envy wishing I had her stamina!

[carol, welwyn garden city]

Trouble is, the dance floors are just to small to be selfish when you are on it. I can't ballroom dance, but do like to watch, and some people are more or less running round, there are lots of collisions. I don't think there is any particular etiquette, may be just some good manners and a more tongue in cheek attitude.......................................... ........................Carol

[Neil Down, Southampton]

Ida and I used to do a lot of "ballroom dancing" although we have slowed down in our later life. Sure we liked to move fairly quickly at times around the floor but would never condone let alone copy the actions or the attitude of the person you describe. In fact I have never seen anyone with that kind of Prima Donna attitude on ships. .....Neil

[mauden, billingham]

MY OH and I still go dancing every Saturday night , although these days it is modern sequence dancing , we started dancing in the 50s when there were dance halls like the Maison and the Palais in our area , in fact in those days I think it was where most people met their partners , great nights the young ones miss out on so much these days, I have just found out that in Saltburn by the sea , not far from Scarborough for those who do not know this area , on the 19th of May there is going to be a GUINESS WORLD RECORD for the largest number of people doing a waltz, they are wantin g 2000 couples to try and break the previous record of 1500 couples in Bosnia .
We are hoping to participate in this , think it will be great fun , hope everyone knows the dancing etiquette there or it could go spectacularly wrong. I have never seen any bad manners on the dance floor, , Love the ballrooms on Cunard .

[Bigsis, Waterlooville]

There is ballroom etiquette...beginners may like to stay in the middle and let the more experienced dancers whizz around the outer edges....in an ideal world that is.
We used to feel a bit intimidated but now we just get stuck in. I do like watching the expert dancers though ,especially if we're in the Queens room on QM2

[Bradbury, Coventry]

One should always travel in an anticlockwise direction around the room and its up to the gentleman to keep his eyes open for potential collisions and lead the lady out of danger. If its unavoidable you should stop and then carry on.