Ballroom dancing on Eclipse

[shoreham01]

Everet, do you go on the roll call forums for your cruises? You may find someone there who is looking for a dance partner. My OH is a ballroom dancer but I have two left feet and hate dancing. I always say to him to ask one of the ladies to dance, but he says he is too shy :)

[dutrie]

I posted a comment in 2012 wondering about dancing on the Eclipse. Since then we have been on the Eclipse 3 times.

 

While the Eclipse is a great ship, and we have enjoyed our cruises on her, it is a very poor venue for ballroom dancing. There is not a single wooden dance floor on the ship.

 

There are three venues for dancing on the Eclipse:

 

Although music is played for dancing in the Grand Foyer (Deck 3) almost every night, it is a terrible dance venue. The floor is rock hard (literally), it is very small, there are two support columns in the way. You have to contend with traffic crossing the floor and coming down the stairway, and most nights a photographer sets up in the same space.

 

The Sky Lounge (Deck 14) has a larger floor (not big by any means) but again it is ceramic tile and very hard. On our first cruise, Perry Grant occupied this space almost every night. On our second, a large group used the room most nights. On the third, it was available and music was played most nights. So, it is hit and miss.

 

Quasar is the disco room. Music is played by a DJ. I have heard this space may be turned into something else.

 

The quality of the music is variable. While dance music is played, most is freestyle rock and roll and not ballroom. In my experience, the quality of the musical groups has not been good on the Eclipse, at least not as good as Princess.

 

Dance lessons are offered for many types of ballroom dance. They are very basic and taught by the performers that dance on-stage in the productions. The problem is, while the instructors are very good dancers on stage, they are definitely not trained as ballroom dancers or instructors. I have found the lessons to be poor.

 

Some of the major lines hired qualified dance instructors in the past, but like many other things, budget cuts have eliminated them. HAL used to have dance hosts, but no longer. I think Cunard still does.

 

Bottom line, yes, you can dance on the Eclipse. Just don't expect to be able to dance smooth or standard. Latin and rhythm is possible, as is freestyle, but in a confined space.