The Grandest Ballroom at Sea

[PunkiC]

According to Rai Caluori, EVP - Fleet Operations, Princess Cruises, Cunard will no longer host the "grandest ballroom at sea".

 

See this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1849030

 

wherein Calouri states:

 

".... we are confident that our passengers will appreciate the opportunity to dance each evening in the grandest ballroom at sea, the Royal Princess Piazza!"

 

I can't imagine that any passenger who has had the opportunity to dance on the QM2 will be very excited about dancing on a marble floor in the center of the busiest thoroughfare on the new Royal Princess.

 

Groan. :( How could they so completely misunderstand the needs of dancers?

[fantasy51]

Thanks for the link. I've read the thread. I think all keen dancers will avoid the ship and any other Princess ships that follow this pattern. They certainly can't claim to have the best ballroom at sea. It is only an area for dancing (and not a good one at that).

 

By the way, which of the Cunard ships is meant to be the biggest ballroom at sea? I have heard competing claims.

[pmb1]

By the way, which of the Cunard ships is meant to be the biggest ballroom at sea? I have heard competing claims.

FYI the Cunard site says this about Queen Mary 2 Queens Room:

 

Here is your opportunity to foxtrot in the largest ballroom at sea. There is no better place to hone your dancing skills than under the dramatic high ceiling with its beautiful crystal chandeliers.

[lannp]

That area on a Princess ship is a very busy thoroughfare and can be very noisy. I wouldn't consider it preferable to the Queen's Room on the QM2.

[fantasy51]

FYI the Cunard site says this about Queen Mary 2 Queens Room:

 

Here is your opportunity to foxtrot in the largest ballroom at sea. There is no better place to hone your dancing skills than under the dramatic high ceiling with its beautiful crystal chandeliers.

 

On one cruise on Queen Victoria there was a very annoying entertainment director who kept saying 'We have the best X and the best Y and the best Z.' My recollection is that she said that Queen Victoria is the best ballroom at sea. (Of course, it could be that when she talked about 'we' I thought she meant our particular ship, whereas she might have meant Cunard.)

[Dancer Bob]

I agree QV/QE have the NICEST ballrooms at sea, and perfectly adequate when it's not busy. I'm no great fan of QM2 even if it is quite large. When the marketing spin doctors say "biggest"- how are they measuring? Costa Serena, to my personal knowledge, has a circular floor which I'm pretty sure in square footage is larger, but not in useable rectangle. And Crystal Serenity, if you take the Palm Court and Stardust rooms together, are larger than the Queens Room and G32/YC/HS combinations.

Size means nothing if the floor is packed solid. And given Cunard's woeful music, "opportunity to foxtrot" is a bit optimistic (I would be astounded if Cunard's marketing really knows what an actual Slow Foxtrot is).

[tangoll]

I agree QV/QE have the NICEST ballrooms at sea, and perfectly adequate when it's not busy. I'm no great fan of QM2 even if it is quite large.

 

Dancer Bob, I will be at Maria's 01 July Canada Day BBQ for that and the dancing at her home dance studio. Will you be there? I'm flying in from NY in the morning and staying one night, then leave back to NY the next day.

 

tangoll

[pmb1]

FYI the Cunard site says this about Queen Mary 2 Queens Room:

 

Here is your opportunity to foxtrot in the largest ballroom at sea. There is no better place to hone your dancing skills than under the dramatic high ceiling with its beautiful crystal chandeliers.

On one cruise on Queen Victoria there was a very annoying entertainment director ...

Ray Rouse excepted, that's redundant.

 

... And given Cunard's woeful music, "opportunity to foxtrot" is a bit optimistic (I would be astounded if Cunard's marketing really knows what an actual Slow Foxtrot is).

I don't dance, I just quote.

[wripro]

What they call a ballroom I call a dance floor.

[Dancer Bob]

tangoll, yes, Maria was talking to me a few hours ago (we were talking about the 2014 Stardust dance cruise, which is American style, no proper VW). I'll probably be the one meeting you at the airport. Maria's dance studio is a lovely room, puts a lot of studio sound systems to shame, but not really equal to QV/QE.

[Slow Foxtrot]

...........

 

".... we are confident that our passengers will appreciate the opportunity to dance each evening in the grandest ballroom at sea, the Royal Princess Piazza!"

 

I can't imagine that any passenger who has had the opportunity to dance on the QM2 will be very excited about dancing on a marble floor in the center of the busiest thoroughfare on the new Royal Princess.

 

Groan. :( How could they so completely misunderstand the needs of dancers?

 

Any cruise line that expects dancers to dance on a marble floor should be avoided like the plague. Dancing on marble is a recipe for damaged feet and, very often, nasty falls. But we wouldn't expect marine architects to understand that, would we?

 

Foxy

[tangoll]

Any cruise line that expects dancers to dance on a marble floor should be avoided like the plague. Dancing on marble is a recipe for damaged feet and, very often, nasty falls. Foxy

 

Dancing on a hard floor like marble or concrete is really bad for the knees. I for one would not subject my knees to hard floors, even tennis hard courts. Knees deteriorate with age, and damaged knees can never recover or improve beyond what their condition was before, and the best one can do is slow down the deterioration. I take glucosamine/chrondroiten for my knees.

 

I imagine the same holds true for ankles. And I have never experienced such pain when walking with an inflamed achilles tendon.

 

Dancer Bob, look forward to seeing you, Maria, and Silvana again. I arrive Monday 01 July, by AA 3632, 11:39 am, Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport. Will have only carry on bags so should be out reasonably quickly, unless Canadian immigration is slow for US passport (which is what I will be travelling on.) Or unless this American Eagle operated flight makes me check my regulation carry on bag (22 x 14 x 9 linear inches).

[gisnered]

Any cruise line that expects dancers to dance on a marble floor should be avoided like the plague. Dancing on marble is a recipe for damaged feet and, very often, nasty falls.

 

Too true! Also shin splints and knee complications.

 

But we wouldn't expect marine architects to understand that, would we?

 

Foxy

 

Well, one would - sort of. The simplest bit of research will provide the proper information to an architect. However, I suspect that it is not the architects who direct the designated use of spaces, nor the selection of the overall nature of the finishes specified. Management generally calls the shots in these kinds of things, and management doesn't dance - don't ask them.

 

Al

[Dancer Bob]

Foxy's getting mellow. Never pointed out that anyone who would inflict marble floors on us probably doesn't even understand the concept of decent music. I can tolerate bad floors for a while, but not bad music.

 

tangoll, you'll be arriving Terminal 3. Shouldn't be too busy, mid-day on a holiday. American Eagle uses commuter jets YYZ/NYC, 2 + 1 seating as I recall, not much bin space, but they have ramp check if your carryon is pushing the limit, only slows you down a couple of minutes.

[stowaway2k]

we are confident that our passengers will appreciate the opportunity to dance each evening in the grandest ballroom at sea, the Royal Princess Piazza!

 

 

 

He's being quite loose with his definition of "ballroom". :rolleyes:

 

I think the marketing staff at Cunard have nothing to worry about. ;)