Hi Everyone,
We host a travel and cruise website. MANY cruisers are ballroom dancers and are looking for advise on the best ship to dance on, and where they can dance post or pre cruise.

We are now desiging a page to provide this information to our members. Unfortuntaley I am doing this from memory... We always find a place to dance on our cruises, but never documented it.

I would be so greatful if anyone with info or especially picutres of dance floors/bars on cruise ships, could help us. We are also looking for dance ideas in ports...NYC, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, SF, Texas.

I cant tell you how many people purchase dance lessons prior to a cruise, and then continue on. That was how we started some 10 years ago.

Picture can be EMailed to JUSTEATIN@Yahoo.com. You can EMail us comments as well, or go right to our website and write your comments in our memeber review section. WWW.JustEatin.com
(FYI, I did get an OK from Jonathan to post this request)

Thanks everyone!

Janet . You can forget Celebrity cruise lines ,we were on the century and the dance floors were so small it was hopeless to dance even a decent cha cha.

I am booked on a Royal Caribbean Lines cruise in the winter and I asked about dance hosts. they said they don't plan on having any "at this time." does anyone have any experience on this line? do they ever have dance hosts? is there anyway to convince them it's a good idea?

Bee. there were two dance host on Century dancing American style.

We were on the Sun Princess. One of the theatres had a sleeve on the stage that could be lowered to increase floor space. It created just enough room to do a quickstep (in a bit of an arc). They had an hour's dancing before the show to an 18 piece orchestra. It was a funny experience for the 8 of us. If we got on the dance floor people were intimidated an left. So we started going and sitting in the audience for the first 30 minutes. Then we'd get up, dance and people sat and watched. By the end of the cruise people we waited for so we didn't intimidate them were now waiting for us to go first.

I've put around 20 people on about 80 cruises as dance hosts over the last year or so. I don't supply to RC though.

OB

This is really a complex question. One of my dancing friends just returned from a cruise on Seabourne, and they had one barely adequate dance floor, but oftentimes it was taken up by food service or some other non-dance need.

The Queen Mary probably has the largest dance floor afloat, but there are a whole bunch of dance hosts, and people get up to sway, not to dance.

Dance cruises, of course, always have too many dancers on the floor. I want the floor to myself!

I was on a Princess cruise a few years ago, where they had 2 dance floors, one for swing and the other for Latin or ballroom, and we ran back and forth from one to the other all night for the entire trip. That's what sold my wife on cruises.

But then, we were on the Golden Princess last year, and the floor was small, oddly shaped, and often preempted by other needs like Bingo or Trivial Pursuit.

Jerry

Jerry,

We're doing this one in March:

http://www.cruiseholidaysvictoria.com/cruisedancer/cd_info.html

Originally out of New Orleans. This is one of the biggest ships out there. I have no idea what the dance floors will be like. This one has a skating rink if I recall correctly. I've heard they cover the rink for an acceptable dance floor on those that have them.

I'm the one squinting.

OB

Janet: Here is a website that sponsors ballroom specific cruises. They would know better than anybody which ships are the best hosts. http://www.dancersatsea.com/index.html

Having been on no less than 6 cruises, (none geared to ballroom dancers) I have never benefited as a dancer. Personally, I would never use NCL, although they might be the best for dancing, they have terrible customer relations. Royal Carribean (most recently on the Adventurer of the Seas) doesn't know what dancing is and has postage stamp lounge dancing. Celebrity provided 2 dance hosts on a mediterranean cruise - who were goofy and barely adequate for an experienced dancer. Hope this helps.

Thank you all for your replies. You have said pretty much what I have found so far.

I find that the cruises that are longer in length, and usually have older passangers have the best music to dance to, and floors that can somewhat accomdiate.

Remember a lot of the dancers are new to ballroom, and the size floor they require is smaller.

We have found so far that Princess was the best ship to dance on, Celebrity OK and RCCL and Carnival non exsistance. We will be on NCL in July, HAL in November. Most 3 day cruises out of Miami have good latin and Salsa music.

I'll be on the Crystal Symphony in March. Their website actually names the dance instructors and the FOUR dance hosts on board!

I'll let you know what the dancing was like after the cruise is over.

Jerry