dance on HAL ship

[littlefish]

Hi, there:

I and my husband like the social dance very much (although we are about 30 now), like swing, waltz, chacha. And we also enjoy the latin dance like sumba, salsa. Is there any place where we can enjoy this kind of dance, but not the disco on HAL ships?

We are the first time cruiser and thanks for your valubable information.

[bepsf]

You should be right at home in the Ocean Bar...

We had a wonderful singer - Joanne Mitchell - aboard w/ us on Amsterdam. She took requests and encouraged couples to dance - she was great!

[catlib55]

On the Rotterdam, there were people dancing in the Explorer's lounge and the Ocean bar, I believe. We are not dancers, so we didn't do any dancing, but we enjoyed watching the others dance.

[VB]

Hi! My boyfriend and I are also in our 30's, and we enjoy ballroom dancing and swing. Our travel agent told us that HAL would be perfect for us, and in some ways it was, but we were really disappointed with the opportunities for dancing during our October Westerdam cruise. There were two sets of extremely basic line dance lessons (held in the small, crowded disco space) and no other lessons that we saw. There was one night where about three couples were doing swing (also in that small disco space). We went up to the Crow's Nest, where the teas and ballroom-type dancing were supposed to be held, several times, but each time we found that everyone was just standing there swaying. The floor was crowded, so there was no way to move around it. There was one good night of Latin dance music in the disco, and we got to do a little cha-cha and a little salsa (and saw some other couples who were fantastic dancers). Perhaps we weren't looking in the right places--it was our first cruise--but I'd say don't get your hopes up too high! Best wishes for your cruise!

[ron46936]

I've always wondered where they kept those big dance floors that they show on the ships in the movies. My wife and I are ballroom dancers and it takes some real ingenuity to find room to dance on most ships. Ideally you find an out of the way lounge with a good band. The Crow's Nest on the Volendam and the rear lounge on the Horizon both have good memories.

[littlefish]

thanks for all your information. Actually i and my hubby are chinese. I am really curious about how many percent of americans like ballroom dance. Every year, when my department hold the christmas party, there is always very few people dancing the soical dances. Most of them just do some swaying, or twist. I always feel weird to dance the latin or waltz in such event. It makes me weird.

[Pilot70D]

Hi, there:

I and my husband like the social dance very much (although we are about 30 now), like swing, waltz, chacha. And we also enjoy the latin dance like sumba, salsa. Is there any place where we can enjoy this kind of dance, but not the disco on HAL ships?

We are the first time cruiser and thanks for your valubable information.

We just returned from our first HAL cruise on the Volendam (albeit not our first cruise period). There were almost unlimited opportunities to dance every afternoon and evening in the Explorer's lounge, the Ocean bar, the Crow's Nest and by the main pool. Ballroom type dancing was most commonly found in the Explorer's Lounge and the Ocean Bar. There was a 50's & 60's sock hop in the Crow's Nest one night as well. One of the live combo's on board was playing by the main pool one afternoon and this turned into an impromptu polks session. Overall there was a lot more ballroom dancing than any other type of dancing but they were all there. We certainly enjoyed several different types of dancing at the various venues around the ship.

The bottom line is that there will be lots of opportunities for ballroom dancing so go enjoy your cruise. We really enjoyed ours.

[the2ofus]

Probably the best place to dance ballroom style on HAL ships is in the Ocean Bar. However, the dance floor varies quite a bit from ship to ship and a lot depends on the musicians. Some of the dance combos are better than others at keeping to good dance tempo. Also, they seem to play a lot of 4/4 time stuff like swing and fox trot, unless the other dances are requested. Once they know what you want, many of the groups will be sure to play your favorites when you are in the room.

On the S class ships like Statendam, there is a lip on the edge of the dance floor, which can be a real hazard. The Volendam has an odd shaped dance floor, also with a lip. The dance floor in the Ocean Bar on the new Westerdam was the best we have found on a HAL ship.

The biggest challenge to dancing on a ship is the motion of the ocean. You never know just where you will be putting your foot down. It's fun!

Glad to know there are other ballroom dance lovers out there. Enjoy!!

[Dolphins]

We always enjoyed dancing at the Ocean Bar on HAL's pre-Vista Class ships. Our favorite group performing there were called "City Lights."

[deepwater]

On the Oosterdam Dec. 12-19 cruise we enjoyed ballroom dancing in the Ocean bar. The band or trio was fair, and the smoking section was far removed from the dance floor, and that made it enjoyable for us. We were able to dance about 2 hours an evening. There was also ballroom dancing in the Crow's nest but I found that too filled with smoke. So take your dance shoes and you will have a great time.