mcloaked

10 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

What is the problem with this? In the 1970s, I went to Italy when there was (most improbably) a small pox alert in North West London, where I happened to live. I had the vaccination, got a piece of paper, and waved it at anyone who was interested at frontiers, as I went by train. It really wasn't difficult. Now small pox really is a deadly disease, but the process was straightforward. So, why should this be different?

The difference is that it it now 50 years later and fraudulent documents are a much bigger problem now than they ever were in the 1970s.

Sure, but in this case absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence of surface transmission - so it might be better to be safe than sorry - though of course people can decide not to take any precautions and hope for the best. The choice is entirely up to the individual.  I guess the real test would be to have a community where everyone was meticulous in social distancing, wearing of masks, and personal hygiene, but then had a large buffet and let all the serving staff touch as much as they like, and all the customers touch the serving implements and even food like fruit, as well as no sanitisation of tables, chairs, door handles and or the cutlery, and see if the rate of covid infection goes higher than a similar eatery where nobody is permitted to touch things, and sanitisation of surfaces is meticulous. Then repeat this for several dozen restaurants or cruise ships. Would you be prepared to volunteer for the experiment where there is assumed no surface contamination problem? I wouldn't!

Every time you check in for a cruise you go to the desk, and you hand in your e-ticket, along with your passport, and have your credit card ready - the check-in desk staff are trusted to scan your passport and ticket, and your passport is electronically compared with the database of known criminals and if no red flags come up, you let the check-in person photograph you so that your cruise card is linked to a digital image of your face, and that data is then put into the ship's computer so that you can be visually checked against the stored image every time you embark or disembark the  ship, or indeed if you are doing your passport check on board during a transatlantic crossing on the way to Southampton!  It might be possible, since this is a global issue to have governments require that the vaccination process is confirmed by the authority conducting the jab, to send electronic confirmation to the passport authority of the country concerned, and a suitable flag added to the passport database, so that when you check your passport in at embarkation, or even when checking in for a flight to get to the port of embarkation, that this will flag to the check in staff if you are clear to travel. 

Electronic national databases are quite common now - after all in the UK, your car has the insurance validity, MOT test validity, and registration validity all in the DVLA database and the police, and indeed the public, can check whether a particular vehicle has all three currently valid or not.  It is not beyond the whit of man to require vaccination status to be a part of the passport check.  It is just one additional flag on top of the other data that is checked at the embarkation terminal. Any modern advanced society could easily add this kind of data if it was deemed critical to getting travel moving again - and after all travel of all kinds has been massively impacted on a global scale. Of course the first step is to have a working approved and proven effective vaccine available to the majority of the population of all countries.  Indeed also given that any vaccine would need a few weeks for the immune response to build up immunity, then the vaccine would have to have been given a couple of weeks before travel otherwise it would not protect the person fully.  Of course paper documentation would be a necessary backup, but a lot of thought also needs to be put in to preventing fake documentation or fraudulent confirmation whether electronic or paper!

1 hour ago, ew101 said:

There is just not recent data here supporting surface transmission.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32648899/

That article is dated 10th July.  This one is dated 16th July and includes more recent evidence of surface data for viral rna on surfaces, as well as some data on cruise ship outbreaks: https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/sars-cov-2-orofecal-transmission/  It makes sense to take precautions given the numerous outbreaks that have occurred in quite a number of places where it was thought the incidence rate and level of transmission was under control. In order to keep the incidence level and spread as low as possible all available methods of reducing the likelihood of infection need to be done concurrently, and that includes not only social distancing, strict personal hygiene and wearing of masks, but also sanitisation of surfaces and good ventilation.

I think this echoes the view of many long standing cruise passengers - and one reason that I would be surprised if Cunard doesn't extend the current pause beyond November.

Dancer Bob - it is all down to the skill and practice and learning process as to whether reverse turns are executed well or not. If done properly (!) then reverse turns should not be any more or less problematic than natural turns! If posture and frame are maintained correctly and movements done properly then there should be no 'twist' in either partner's body too. However not everyone has the time or inclination to practice and train to the point where frame and balance, as well as weight transfer and movement are all done well.  Certainly as you say the music played by the QR orchestras can be a little variable at times - and that has been a topic that evokes quite strong responses among our cruise dance friends too....   some feedback to the band leader and the MC in the Queen's Room as had an effect at times but not usually long lasting! But we have had reactions waiting to dance where there have been 6 or 7 Viennese Waltzes within an hour and a half, or a Cha Cha played every second or third song and some dances not played at all for a few hours, or multiple quicksteps in a single band set but not a single rumba, and so on. Some bandleaders are sensitive to the needs of the ballroom dancers, but certainly not all!

Spot on, BlueRiband.  We would all like the answers right now, but this is one of those classic situations where the answers to the questions are simply not known right now. Hopefully it won't be too long before the answers become at least partially clearer!

Hopefully there will continue to be a market for cruises once the future path of the pandemic and our collective response to it becomes clearer over the coming months.  We are on contact with a number of cruise friends near and far, and every single one of us wants to get back on our favourite ships just as soon as conditions allow, and we feel that the risks are acceptably low. Right now the risks are not acceptably low, for our friends and us, and we would not be prepared to get on board and risk getting ill with covid19 with its consequences both on board, as well as potentially being taken off the ship in some foreign land to be hospitalised. Equally right now if the experience of being on board meant a significant loss of the quality of the ship-board experience, then we would not want that experience as it stands. So like so many others, we have moved all of this year's booked cruises into next year, or taken FCC.  Equally we are in the relatively early retirement phase and we certainly yearn to have enjoyable holiday experiences before we get too old or lose health that would prevent us from enjoying life on board to the full, so we would like to get back on board as soon as it is sensibly possible to do so. But the future is uncertain, and the decisions that the cruise companies make will govern whether we will decide to go or not - after all a cruise is not the cheapest kind of holiday and we do want to get good experience value from the outlay.  Let's hope that cruises will become both viable and potentially enjoyable again before the next year or so passes.

I feel pretty sure that the authorities are taking their cues from the expert scientists across the world, who have spent years understanding the way viruses of many kinds can be transmitted.  Clearly how long virus particles remain on surfaces varies depending on the surface and which virus it is.  Can virus particles be placed on a tea maker handle, or door handle by someone who is shedding virus, and wiping a hand across their face or mouth shedding billions of viruses - yes most certainly. If you touch that surface before the virus becomes inactive and then touch your eyes or mouth or nose can you then be infected - certainly - and the experts have been working to understand roughly how many virus particles you need on your mucus membranes for covid-19 to become infected - the figure I saw was around a hundred.  Compare that with typical flu, which needs around 1000 viruses on your membranes, or norovirus which needs around 10 only, and you will see that covid-19 is a pretty infectious virus. Hand hygiene is essential, and is needed without forgetting a few times to sanitise. If someone infected, even when they aren't aware, and may not have symptoms, then either coughs, or breathes heavily due to singing, shouting, dancing, jogging or other reasons and isn't wearing a mask then they can eject an aerosol spray of viruses a lot further than 1.5 metres - so wearing a mask will protect others around someone who is infectious. But wearing a mask won't protect you very much especially if any air around you can be drawn in between the mask and your nose or mouth - and in any event masks don't cover your eyes - which have lovely mucus membranes only too willing to accept viruses in aerosol droplets arriving from some nearby who is infected. So the key factors in keeping yourself protected are not being close to other people and rigorously washing hands and sanitising.  Any shortcuts whether to washing, or touching newly arrived grocery bags could put you at risk of being infected.  Of course out of any set of 1000 grocery bags there will only be a few that may have been touched by an infected person before you touch it - so it is a bit like playing Russian Roulette if you decide not to take the precautions of using gloves, and allowing a 72 hour decontamination period.  However the real change will come with the availability of a covid-19 vaccine that has minimal serious side effects and protects someone vaccinated for a reasonable period of around a year - so let's hope that one of the many vaccine candidates does pass the full set of trials through phase 3 - and is produced in enough doses to protect the majority of people across the globe - even if an annual jab is needed, like the flu jab, each year, that will allow life to return to much closer to the previous normal than any of the current necessary precautions to try to limit transmission. The sooner there is a vaccine, the lower will be the global death toll - and we can all get back to cruising without having serious concerns about the consequences of booking a cruise and being on board.

Yes Camgirl is right.  On any cruise there is a mix of levels and confidence of the various couples and singles who come into the Queen's Room.  There are some periods when the floor is packed, and usually then we just sit and chat and watch. At other times the floor can be quiet and then even if there are better (not show-offey) couples on the floor it is perfectly fine to dance as a beginner since the good couples will be only too happy to move such that the less experienced couples can dance at their own pace.   If when booking you could try to find out if there is a 'dance group' on the cruise then it might be better to book a different voyage, since dance groups, at least in our experience, tend to be least considerate to other dancers of any level of experience.  The other thing is that there are a lot more less experienced dancers than experienced ones!  Usually the ballroom and Latin classes are well taught by top level Internationally trained couples, who have had high level competition experience, and although group classes are always aimed primarily at beginners, they also can be booked for private lessons that they will teach at any level that you want right up to competition level.  So I would agree - take the plunge once cruises restart, and you will most likely love it.  

19 hours ago, DWhit said:

Interesting.  We live in the US, and they taught us in our ballroom lessons that for the travelling dances, the more experienced dancers go in circles around the edges, while the inexperienced couples should stay more in the middle, allowing the experienced couples to move easily around them.   But, I have always thought that is its more natural for the inexperienced couples to try to stay out on the edges.   Especially on a ship where many couples just want to have a special occasion dance, and do not want to get in anyone's way.  I know when we started ballroom dancing, we headed to the nearest corner.   

If that is the advice in the USA about inexperienced couples going to the centre, that explains a lot about what we have seen in the Queen's Room!.  For International style ballroom and Latin for travelling dances it has always been clockwise around the floor, and inexperienced dancers at the edges - even in the competitions where for example if you watch the Viennese Waltz heats you will see everyone going round the floor anticlockwise, with the only exceptions when couples gently move diagonally to the middle to do a few fleckerls and then gently join in the general flow around the room. Other competition dances with foxtrot or waltz can move against the flow but the standard of floorcraft is such that other dancers can do stationary figures or change choreography to continue flowing around the room even if in unconventional direction, Social dancing wherever I have been other than on the ships, has been keeping to anticlockwise movement, with less experienced at the edges since if everyone keeps to those simple rules then the floor tends to be ordered and not chaotic.  If people gather and don't move with the general flow around the room then it generally ends up with big traffic jams, and people can't go anywhere. With a relatively small floor having near stationary couples in the middle causes a lot of traffic jam issues and a lot of dancers are then stuck completely - in that situation we usually take small steps to the nearest edge and leave! 

It would actually be really helpful if they would announce two successive dances of the same style - for example "The next two dances will be slow foxtrot, the first for less experienced couples, and the second for experienced couples" - then the less experienced couples would not feel intimidated as much and feel they can get on with dancing smaller step sizes, and then the more experienced couples could move more in their session, and also for both the density of couples would be less and make it easier for everyone - and yes you would get less 3 minute dances but a better experience overall. Another thing that would be useful for Viennese Waltz, would also be two successive dances - one for International style and the other for American style (smooth) - the two often conflict badly on the same floor because in International style it is flowing always around the room apart from fleckerls in the centre, whereas American Smooth Viennese couples can stop dead and 'open out' which gives a complete barrier wall and anyone coming up behind doing International style finds an impenetrable brick wall ahead and has to completely stop until the opening out couple then regain some movement and carry on round the floor.

I guess everyone decides what they want to do on the dance floor. Of course it is perfectly possible to have full frame and dance small - they are separate things.  The ballroom frame (or Latin posture) is what gives the couple the right balance on the floor allowing movement in any direction being in perfect control at all times, and also allowing proper connection between the couple. The size of steps taken for any figure is independent of that. Of course if there isn't enough space to allow upper arms and elbows to extend and affects the other dancers, then good couples will let their arms down so as not to conflict as they move. Of course some couples just want to move around the floor to the music enjoying each other's company, and are not trying to show how well they dance, but not everyone is like that.

2 hours ago, corporate services said:

There are always some dancers who feel that they have the right to dance in full ballroom, competition type hold and dance at speed.  There is not the room in the Queens Room for this, in my opinion it is a social situation and dancing should be done socially.  I have been around ballroom dancing for many years, good dancers can weave their way around the floor (floorcraft) without charging at full speed and without their arms up and elbows out.  Arunas and Katusha are world champions and are beautiful dancers but I am pretty sure they would never consider dancing in full hold in a social situation.  The Queens Room is for everyone and consideration should be shown,  I have heard many people say that they felt intimidated and would not venture onto the dance floor because of 'better' dancers and that is sad.

The better dancers are those who can dance with their frame when the space is available and move as space permits - there are times on most evenings when it is a full floor and dancing small is the only option, but there are other times on the same floor when there are a few couples only and dancing big is perfectly possible without getting in anybody's way. It's being adaptable and considerate as well as skilful that make for a good dancer! By the way Arunas actually only does competition dancing, and doesn't do social dancing! Katusha is possibly open to being persuaded in a social dance!

Yes - floorcraft - quite analogous to driving along a road. If everyone sticks to the general rules then everyone can go along quite easily, and faster cars can overtake the slower ones. Or a bit like walking around a shopping centre - most people can get to where they want to go without bumping into someone else along the way.  On a relatively small floor such as in the Queen's Room (at least compared to the generally larger floors available on land), having people in the centre as well as the edge often leaves no acceleration lane between stationary couples in the middle and slower couples on the edge so it works much better if slower dancers stay at the edge and leave the centre for couples moving more to overtake. Of course for roads and shopping centres when it is really packed then everyone is in a traffic jam and some days or evenings we have to accept are like that on the dance floor, especially on Gala Nights! Of course there are occasionally a few couples who will do a modern jive to every piece of music in the middle of the floor, and then if the music is really a progressive dance like a waltz, quickstep or foxtrot then couples can easily be blocked and unable to do the dance that the music calls for....  but most of the time that doesn't happen in reality!

5 hours ago, mcloaked said:

 

I must admit that on transatlantic sectors the QM2 Queen's Room floor we have also found very busy, and it was the case that for us the least considerate dancers were those in booked ballroom group cruises who at the time seemed to feel that because they were a group that they 'owned' the floor. So my experience of QM2 ballroom is not dissimilar to yours - although on a cruise a few years ago where we did two transatlatics with a Caribbean sector in the middle, the Queen's Room was actually really pleasant once the large groups left when the ship got to NYC, and the inconsiderate dancers weren't on board.  So I guess the experience on the dance floor depends on which dancers are on board when you are there.

Oh and by the way the top level dancers are able to fit in with a busy floor, and use appropriately small steps and still dance beautifully, except when it really is shoulder to shoulder - but they are also able to extend and take larger steps as appropriate on a spacious floor to show their true skill at moving with awe-inspiring musicality when they have more room to move. If you are a beginner then the experienced ballroom dancers will move around you provided you stay near the outer edge of the floor. Kindness and considerate dancing shows the other dancers you are skillful in the ballroom, and that is appreciated by everyone else irrespective of their ability.

2 hours ago, Camgirl said:

Very well said!

 

We were non dancers when we started cruising in our forties.  We loved spending time watching the dancers and listening to the music, spending nearly every evening in the Queens Room. 

 

Then we saw lessons advertised near us and started learning to dance, inspired by watching the dancing on our cruises. We love it, though we are not that good. We still spend our evenings in the Queens Room but now we get up to dance as well. 

 

On the other hand, we don't go to the casino, night club or play tennis or golf. However, you won't see us suggesting they reduce those areas, even though, compared to the dance floor, they are often used far less in our experience. There is room for all of these things and there are plenty of ships providing the things a Cunard ship does not have (such as water slides and climbing walls etc!).

Keep up your dancing - it is one of those wonderful skills that can be enjoyed at any level from beginner to top competition - and the level you want to achieve is entirely up to you - though to dance really well takes a combination of training, experience and huge amounts of practice (practice at least ten to 20 times as many hours as lessons!), and learn from the best teachers to get the most progress.  Enjoy it when you next get back to the dance floor once dancing restarts after lockdown.

13 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

I'll probably get some angry, indignant responses, but here goes:

 

DH and I love big band, swing, Latin, etc. We enjoy ballroom dancing and don't go to the disco or the casino. However, when we tried dancing in the Queens Room on QM2 we were completely intimidated. There were too many people whirling their way around the floor who simply expected you to get out of their way and had no patience with folks who just wanted an enjoyable, albeit less polished, dancing experience. We retreated to our seats and later found our home listening to jazz in the Chart Room.

 

I must admit that on transatlantic sectors the QM2 Queen's Room floor we have also found very busy, and it was the case that for us the least considerate dancers were those in booked ballroom group cruises who at the time seemed to feel that because they were a group that they 'owned' the floor. So my experience of QM2 ballroom is not dissimilar to yours - although on a cruise a few years ago where we did two transatlatics with a Caribbean sector in the middle, the Queen's Room was actually really pleasant once the large groups left when the ship got to NYC, and the inconsiderate dancers weren't on board.  So I guess the experience on the dance floor depends on which dancers are on board when you are there.

There have occasionally been posts which suggest that there should be less ballroom dancing on cruises, and on Cunard in particular. One recent thread included the same suggestion. However that is a preference that some people will request and argue for but let's have a look at some facts about cruises, activities and dancing.  Some passengers will have spent a lot of time training to be better at golf, and when on a cruise will enjoy going to the golf driving nets on deck to practice, and keep up their skills.  Other passengers will have a go at 'fencing lessons' despite the vast majority of passengers having no interest in learning to fence, or ever wanting to try it, but they don't suggest that passengers who do should not have that opportunity during a cruise.  Some passengers will want to go to the lessons learning how to do water colour painting, or to continue developing their skills in art via that opportunity whilst on a cruise - but I have not come across any suggestion that there should be less emphasis on art on cruises.  Others enjoy going to the gym, and using the treadmills, rowing machines and other facilities every day, or more than once in a day, to keep up their fitness levels that may have taken months or years to tune up.  Equally there are people who have spent years developing their posture, core strength, and ability to move in the most beautiful way to ballroom and Latin dance music, and even if they are not up to the level of world champions such as in the video at:

Ballroom dancers still get a great deal of pleasure in moving to the great music played by the ballroom orchestra, and some of the recorded music in the Queen's Rooms.  Dancers not only want to keep their skills up, but simply enjoy the sensation of connecting to the music as a couple sharing a passionate experience. Many non-dancing passengers love to watch ballroom dancing because they see that pleasure and it gives pleasure even watching.  However ballroom dancers only have this activity available at sea on a limited number of ships.  On the other hand disco dancing can be done on pretty much every cruise ship afloat - and indeed on the Cunard ships can be done every night, in the Yacht club on QV and QE - disco dancing needs no training, and little space - and indeed those who want to disco dance can do it every night - whereas ballroom dancers have evenings where the evening is cut in half by receptions in the ballroom, as well as some evenings where the ballroom is turned over to 'party nights'. 

On many cruises the ballroom dancing evening is cut by half in almost half the nights of the cruise due to those other activities taking up the floor. Most of the calls for reducing ballroom dancing seem to have come from those who want to do disco dancing in the ballroom, and yet the disco dancing is available every night anyway, so why is there a call to reduce the ballroom dancing even more than it has been already?

Equally there are other activities that people enjoy such as the casino. I don't hear any calls to reduce the casino availability on cruises from people who have no interest in gambling. There are many passengers who have no interest in the spa on a cruise - and again those passengers don't call for a reduction in spa availability.  There are short tennis courts on deck that take up quite a lot of space but I don't hear a call to reduce the options for tennis on deck. So what is it about ballroom dancing that some people feel they would prefer to have less available?  Not everybody goes to the theatre on board, but there are no calls to take the theatre away. I am trying to see the logic here? Anyone care to comment.

4 hours ago, AspirationalFlyer said:

I’ve really enjoyed the Cunard cruises I’ve been on, but they should do more to appeal to a younger demographic. 

 

Suggestions: 

 

- Younger people in advertising and promotional materials

- Better and more effective use of social media including Facebook and Instagram 

- More 90s and 00s music in the theatre and nightlife venues - same goes with booking acts 

- Sail away parties that are properly promoted and have a DJ

- More of a focus on the use of technology onboard - Cunard ships such as the QE2 were innovative for their times - have they lost their way on this? 

- Refresh of the cabin interiors - they are ok but look a little stuck in the 90s

- Free or much cheaper WiFi 

- Revamp the loyalty programme so it is much more attractive to younger cruises 

- More active promotion of wellness and exercise classes

- Speakers that appear to a younger audience - some of the lectures are really quite boring 

- Less emphasis on ballroom dancing - how about a party afternoon tea? 

- Bring back a once per cruise midnight buffet

- More adventure focused shore excursions - totally optional of course 

- Drinks package - too expensive currently - Celebrity is a better model 

- An “in between” dining venue - i.e. a restaurant where you don’t have to be dressed up but not the buffet

- A revamp of the Golden Lion - feels like an expensive Wetherspoons currently 

- New cocktail menus 

- Special meets and greets / possibly drinks parties for under 40s 

- Encouraging diversity onboard 

 

All of the above should be cheap and easy to implement. 

 

I personally like dressing up, but I’d also suggest a “white party” or a theme party that is different from what they do currently and isn’t dinner suitS and ball gowns, in particular, on the Med and port intensive cruises. Sophistication does not always mean black tie. 

 

The general set of suggestions you list are pretty well covered by quite a number of ships already in service under the brands of Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and others as well as the British version under the P&O flag.  So for those who want to party, eat masses of food, and consume plenty of alcohol, there is a lot of choice already (at least once cruising starts up again when the pandemic is more under control).  However there is a market, and not just for those in their twilight years, who hanker after a quieter cruise environment, and who do like ballroom dancing, and who don't particularly want to spend their holiday attached to an iPad for much of the time, and who like quieter excursions.  For that group of cruise passenger there is very little choice other than Cunard, and one or two other lines.  So why is that that those few ships that do offer that kind of cruise experience should change to become like the many dozens of other ships already offering the style of cruise you describe? There should be a variety so that different desires can be accommodated by a choice of cruise style.  Some like small boutique ships with small passenger numbers, others like adult only ships, and others want family oriented facilities, and children's entertainment.  Some will be happy with large pools full of happy noisy children, whilst others will want a quiet swim or gentle soak in a hot tub adjacent to the pool.  May Cunard keep offering its unique style of classic cruise ship and entertainment for some time yet - and let's all hope a vaccine will indeed become available before too long.  Any additional changes to operations, such as improved hygiene, and temperature scanning, as well as improved ventilation and even enhanced air filtration on ships, can only lead to less risk to passengers and crew on board.  After all if the filtration systems were to be enhanced with HEPA filtration and fresh air circulation instead of part fresh air circulation then there would be fewer passengers coming away with the Cunard cough, and lower risk of norovirus, as well as lower risk of covid-19.  There is for sure a lot to think about - but I am certain that a lot of experienced cruise passengers will be only too keen to see arrangements made that will allow us all to get back aboard and enjoy holidays at sea again, whatever part of the world you like to travel the oceans.

One factor that makes it difficult for us in trying Silversea is that as far as I know SS has no ballroom dancing - and if that is a key part of being on a cruise that becomes the make or break deciding factor!

3 hours ago, Mapmuppet said:

Any ideas if the additional on board spending applies if you have already been issued OBC by Cunard at the time of the original booking ?

Any OBC applying to the original booking won't apply to a transferred voyage and any OBC on the new voyage will only be what is being offered to anyone booking at the time.  So any OBC you got for the original one such as special extra OBC by booking on board a previous voyage will be gone. However it is certainly a better deal than losing the entire investment!

9 hours ago, Sdancer said:

Hi Fred&Lily,

Too bad that I am not on your cruise since I am a solo dancer and first time on Cunard. I am one week ahead of you.

 

I am posting in reply to your "what more can be said about the miserable job it is to be a dance host."

It is definitely not a miserable job to be a dance host on Ocean Crystal ships. 

I was on three Crystal cruises (last one in January 2020) because Crystal had dance hosts to dance with.

Dance hosts on Crystal were treated very nice. Their job was to dance and to host dinner tables at the Main Dining Room  every other night (two hosts per night).

They ate at the same places as guests and could reserve a specialty restaurant for the same charge as guests (excluding a sushi bar at a specialty restaurant).  The only rule was that dance hosts were not allowed to have a dinner one-on-one with a guest. Crystal did not have a dinner buffet, only restaurants. 

Their laundry was done complementary by Crystal. 

Since all beverages, including fine wines, champagne, premium spirits and all non-alcoholic beverages such as bottled water, soft drinks and specialty coffees, were included for all guests, dance hosts were welcome to enjoy it too.

 

There are only two Ocean Crystal ships and dance floor on each is rather small. Very few guests cruise to dance and they are mostly women. 

The quality of dance hosts is hit and miss.

Lets see if dance hosts on Cunard are any better :).

 

 

 

 

 

The dance hosts vary quite a bit on Cunard.  Some are dance teachers and can lead well for most of the dances.  However on any one cruise it is pot luck which dance hosts will be there. From what I have gleaned talking to hosts, most dance on only a few cruises per year for a week or two at a time. So across the year and across the three (currently) ships that Cunard have there is a large team of hosts and which you will get on any one voyage won't be known unless you know them personally and they can tell you which is the next cruise they will be on.  Some go on cruises as a paying passenger, and sometimes on such a voyage they are still prepared to dance with single dancers but of course will then choose when they wish to dance as opposed to being required to dance the whole time if they are an official host.  Either way hopefully the tradition will continue!

Different classes don't refer to better or worse - just the kind of job people do..... or not...

11 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Can someone please explain all this to me. I am TOTALLY confused. I've tried looking on Google but all that comes up with is the vertebrae and I know its definitely not that.😕

It's outlined here:

https://www.ukgeographics.co.uk/blog/social-grade-a-b-c1-c2-d-e

14 hours ago, Dancer Bob said:

Just got off Costa Luminosa, with a large dance group including my silver/gold friends. More dance venues and better music than Cunard, even not counting group activities. The cruise staff do dance with passengers. The guys were not very good but were close to a half-century younger than Cunard hosts. A couple of the women were quite good at a pre-bronze level, good balance and poise.

My gold friend is talking about putting together an informal group on Cunard, but looking at itineraries/prices, I don't think it's going to happen.

Two very common faults, easy to spot- lady places her left hand behind the man's shoulder, which causes her to flop on the man, no backward poise, he has to carry her around. Lady turns her head to the right and pants in the man's face, causes her body to twist right, preventing the man from moving his right leg or making reverse turns. (Latin is less obvious, losing balance on turns). Hosts have to put up with this, You can get an idea of their competence by how well they cope, but you can't really see from deck 3. The hosts report to the Social Hostess, talk to her (I find the idea that you are your husband's property to be utterly ridiculous in the #MeToo era).

I believe at least one American agency is still providing hosts, as far as I know the standards are as low as ever. I agree with Lakesregion that few hosts have much money, I do wonder about the motives of the ones who can't dance.

Small groups are usually expensive and the hosts teachers trying to sell lessons. Not really fun to dance with and try to teach what I don't want to learn.

Interesting comments about the Costa Luminosa - Dancer Bob, how much of each evening on that cruise was devoted to ballroom (and Latin)  dancing with good strict tempo music?  Was the ballroom dancing in one venue or moved between venues during each evening?  I would be very interested to know - thanks.