Black & White Ball

[Cruise Fanatic]

I will be on the Noordam on their 9/28/06 cruise (Rome to NYC) On my Panama Canal Cruise in '04 they had the "Black and White Ball" on one of the formal nights. Does HAL still have this event on cruises of 15 days or more? I really enjoyed not to mention it gives me a chance to wear my white dinner jacket.

[bepsf]

We had it on our 10 day out of NYC - so I'd bet that yes, you'll have one too.

[J&R Cruisers]

Has the black and white ball on the Noordam crossing and the crew and staff had a separate room for them to enjoy the ball apart from the passengers. No passengers allowed in that room and they kept to themselves.

[SabreSailor]

On the Noordam transatlantic, the Black and White Ball was held in the Crows Nest and all passengers were invited - it was great - Guy Lombardo provided the music....

[sail7seas]

We had a Black and White Ball on our recent 14 day Ryndam cruise. :)

[SDHALFAN]

On the Noordam transatlantic, the Black and White Ball was held in the Crows Nest and all passengers were invited - it was great - Guy Lombardo provided the music....


Either you are talking about an earlier Noordam or that must have been a "Heavenly evening" since Guy Lombardo died in 1977.:D

Valerie

[jayjaycan]

Guy Lombardo is dead and hopefully his music.

I don't know what the newer ships do. We have experienced it on the old Westerdam, the old Noordam and the Volendam.

The "Black & White Ball" seems to vary from ship to ship.
Sometimes the Dining Room is decorated in black & white, while others celebrate it in the lounge, which is decorated in black & white and the ship's officers are availble for dance requests.

[sail7seas]

On Ryndam, the dining room was not decorated with the balloons though we have seen that done on other ships.

The Black and White Ball was held in the Crows Nest.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Onour 15 day Amsterdam Hawaiian cruise - no Black and White Ball.

However we have had them on other long cruises - some started out in the show lounge and then we went to a decorated Crow's Nest. Others just started out in the Crow's Nest.

[RuthC]

Yes, Guy Lombardo is sadly dead (and he took New Year's Eve with him), but his orchestra continues to play. I had the pleasure of dancing my legs off to the Guy Lombardo Orchestra on an Amsterdam crossing. :)

The Black and White Ball continues on longer cruises. I know it was held on the first two cruises of the ms Noordam, but was not held on the third cruise. :(
If your cruise is in the 12-day and up range, I would say there is an excellent chance that you will have one.

[Copper10-8]

Had it on Prinsendam in the Ocean Bar on the 13-day Ottomon Empires (Black Sea) cruise in OCT 04. The dining room was decked out with B&W balloons and full white seat covers. A couple of nights before, C/D Bruce Allen Scudder and his cruise staff were handing out "dance floor prizes", one of which included something called "Princess for a Day". This included going into the jewelry shop and picking out and "loaning" up to $5,000 worth of jewelry to be worn during the B&W Ball. My wife happened to win that prize, thanks Bruce;) . We had to return the stuff to the store the next morning:( Guy Lombardo was propped up in a corner of the OB on B&W Ball night but he didn't look too good and had a peculiar odor emitting from himself:eek:

[bflo john]

I will be on the 9/28/06 Noordam Rome to NYC cruise as well. Been on many cruises but never one that had this ball. Looking forward to it! Hope they have it!

[betonic]

For you guys that are going on the Noordam September 28th come and check out our roll call!!! There are already a bunch of us posting regularly. Can't wait to meet you all.

Nicole

[Tricia724]

I've never been on a ship with a B&W Ball, but it sounds very nice. I hope they will do one on our repo cruise in September. I always have a couple of black dresses with me, so I'm ready.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On all the repositioning cruises that we have been on, there has been a Black and White Ball.

[Grumpy1]

We had Black and White, Black and Gold, St. Patrick's and Valentines Balls on the 2005 Prinsendam Grand World Voyage. All were held in the Queen's Lounge after the late dinner and were very well attended. The dining room and the Queens Lounge were decorated in the appropriate color scheme complete with balloons. After the ball officially ended, the dancing continued in the Ocean Bar. The Crow's Nest on Prinsendam is pretty small to hold a ball.

[Sunshine91]

I thought it was called B&W because the officers attend & they wear the B&W? Pax are certainly not required to wear it. Many on Noordam's inaugural didn't. I wore a bluish-purple formal. Brian, help me out. Didn't Mrs. Scott, the captain's wife, wear scarlet red? And look fabulous?

If you are onboard & find that your ship is having the dance, please attend, no matter what color you plan to wear that night. You'll have a ball. Promise.

Copper - sure don't remember any announcements for jewelry loans on Noordam. Sure would have liked that. I'm sure Mrs. Copper looked fantastic!

[bepsf]

Brian, help me out. Didn't Mrs. Scott, the captain's wife, wear scarlet red? And look fabulous?

No love - that was Mrs. Ruth Card. Mrs Scott wore black w/ silver sequins as I recall...

I gave Ruth a hard time for being the "Lady in Red" but it sure doesn't matter what color you wear as long as you come and enjoy the party!
:)

BTW - The Guy Lombardo band is named "The Royal Canadians"

[Sage]

We had a wonderful Black and White Ball in the Crow's Nest on our recent cruise of 18 days to Hawaii on the Volendam. Everyone looked incredible and had such a great time.

[Slinkiecat]

On the Prinsendam world cruise 2005, our daily announcements stated something like "Passengers are encouraged to wear black and white formal attire."

I have the picture of myself dancing with an officer at the Black & White Ball, but it's too big to attach.

Slinkie

[dsawyer]

I was so excited about attending a "Black and White" Ball on the Noordam because it is so unusual from anything that other cruiselines have. I even saved by black gown for the last formal night just in case they had one.

There was none on our sailing of 3/25/06. :( Ours was the 4th sailing out and only the first 2 sailings had one.

I inquired as to why when I had the opportunity to have a conversation with the hotel manager, Stan Kuppens. He said it worked really well with the group on the maiden voyage but it didn't work at all with the 2nd group out so they decided not to to do it anymore. He didn't elaborate about what was wrong with the 2nd group but I would guess it wasn't widely attended and the officers had to give up a free evening for nothing.

I am sure the officers aren 't really thrilled with having to dance with a lot of us passengers and pretend they are having a good time. :D

[bepsf]

I was so excited about attending a "Black and White" Ball on the Noordam because it is so unusual from anything that other cruiselines have. I even saved by black gown for the last formal night just in case they had one.

There was none on our sailing of 3/25/06. :( Ours was the 4th sailing out and only the first 2 sailings had one.

I inquired as to why when I had the opportunity to have a conversation with the hotel manager, Stan Kuppens. He said it worked really well with the group on the maiden voyage but it didn't work at all with the 2nd group out so they decided not to to do it anymore. He didn't elaborate about what was wrong with the 2nd group but I would guess it wasn't widely attended and the officers had to give up a free evening for nothing.

I am sure the officers aren 't really thrilled with having to dance with a lot of us passengers and pretend they are having a good time. :D

Geez - what a disappointment!

***looks sternly at the 2nd cruise group for spoiling all the fun***

[Grumpy1]

I have the picture of myself dancing with an officer at the Black & White Ball, but it's too big to attach. Slinkie
Grumpy to the rescue!

[dsawyer]

Geez - what a disappointment!

***looks sternly at the 2nd cruise group for spoiling all the fun***

Yes it was a disappointment!

What did you guys on the 2nd cruise do to spoil it for the rest of us?

Wear shorts/jeans and tshirts? Whine and complain to all the officers? Refuse to dance when asked? Come in and have your free drink and leave? Just not show up? :eek:

[RuthC]

What did you guys on the 2nd cruise do to spoil it for the rest of us?
Those of use on the third cruise heard that the second cruise was a sort of imitation of nights in a cemetery---no life at all!
I forget the nicknames they had for the disco and other lounges, but apparently there weren't even enough people out at night to scare the mice.