UK Blog Post: Strictly Come Cruising

Hi, I went on the Azura on a Strictly cruise last May. I was so excited as Ian Ball was the pro dancer. But I was very disappointed. Ian, Craig and Natalie

didn't join the ship until we were on the way home. We hardly saw them round the ship at all, I thought they were going to be attending the dance classes and be on the cruise for the duration.

Even worse was the clique that developed between the dance teachers employed by P&O.. I was a single lady traveller and was completely ignored by one of the male teachers from the beginning. Then I was out of the clique that developed and I spent a very lonely and miserable holiday

I made the mistake of asking if they did any salsa classes on the cruise and he said no they wouldn't be and he didn't dance it either. That wasn't true because when I checked his website when I got back he definitely could dance salsa. I was made to feel the outsider and it was a horrible experience. I get on with all sorts of people and cannot understand why they were so stand offish. On two occasions I was so blatantly ignored for the entire evening that I ended up going back to my cabin in tears. I complained to the Entertainments Organiser while I was on the ship about the way I was being ignored and also complained when I got home, not only about that but the fact that the Strictly dancers only appeared for one night.

It was ridiculous to have a Strictly dancing cruise and no male or female dancers to partner solo travellers. Worse cruise experience of my life. Not friendly at all.

Hi, I went on the Azura on a Strictly cruise last May. I was so excited as Ian Ball was the pro dancer. But I was very disappointed. Ian, Craig and Natalie

didn't join the ship until we were on the way home. We hardly saw them round the ship at all, I thought they were going to be attending the dance classes and be on the cruise for the duration.

 

Even worse was the clique that developed between the dance teachers employed by P&O.. I was a single lady traveller and was completely ignored by one of the male teachers from the beginning. Then I was out of the clique that developed and I spent a very lonely and miserable holiday

 

I made the mistake of asking if they did any salsa classes on the cruise and he said no they wouldn't be and he didn't dance it either. That wasn't true because when I checked his website when I got back he definitely could dance salsa. I was made to feel the outsider and it was a horrible experience. I get on with all sorts of people and cannot understand why they were so stand offish. On two occasions I was so blatantly ignored for the entire evening that I ended up going back to my cabin in tears. I complained to the Entertainments Organiser while I was on the ship about the way I was being ignored and also complained when I got home, not only about that but the fact that the Strictly dancers only appeared for one night.

 

It was ridiculous to have a Strictly dancing cruise and no male or female dancers to partner solo travellers. Worse cruise experience of my life. Not friendly at all.

Hi .. what a shame you didn't enjoy your cruise. Unfortunately you have to really study the fine print and not expect what seems logical ! The pro dancers are contracted to do certain hours and certain show dances and will not do any " extras " as they don't get paid for that. The P&O dance teachers also will be very careful not to get pulled into having to dance with all the single ladies ( if they dance with you they will have to partner any other lady who requires it ) I know it seems hard but if you like to dance then perhaps Cunard would hit you better as they have Dance Hosts who will partner any ladies wishing to dance.

Hi Koonard

Many thanks for your response. I know what you mean about dance teachers not being contracted to dance with passengers. However, as this was a strictly dancing cruise they both the male and female dance instructors did take pasengers on the dance floor every night. Except me! No, I don't have BO. I really don't know what it was that made them so mean to me except at the very beginning of the holiday I asked the male dancer if they were going to be doing any salsa and he said no. There was a younger lady than myself who also found him to be very stand offish for the first week but as she could do a lot more different styles of dancing than I can, she did manage to get into the clique which had developed.

On the back of that horrible lonely experience I booked the Queen Elizabeth last Nov and had a wonderful time with the dance hosts on there. I could (and did) dance all night long in the ballroom. I am looking for another Cunard cruise that I can afford as a singleton. I had such a super deal last time. Thanks again for getting back to me. By the way, I note Fred Olsen has dance hosts, how did you rate your Olsen experience in the past? I was thinking of going on a particular long Olsen cruise recently until I found out that the same dance couple who had been on m P&O cruise were booked for the Olsen one !!