Is Princess moving away from dancing on its ships?

[pakarinen]

Thank you for the info on Costa dancing opportunities. This answers a question I have had for a while, and not gotten too much help with. Would you know, off hand, whether lessons were offered (either free or for a fee) and whether one should expect to have similar dance opportunites on all Costa ships?

 

If you've not gotten an answer, you might want to look into companies that sell dance cruises. They sail different lines and offer different things, but you can be assured that there will be dance lessons (added into the cost of the trip, of course).

 

Errp, nevermind, I blew by the response above. A dance cruise might still be an option though.

[SeagoingMom]

If you've not gotten an answer, you might want to look into companies that sell dance cruises. They sail different lines and offer different things, but you can be assured that there will be dance lessons (added into the cost of the trip, of course).

 

Errp, nevermind, I blew by the response above. A dance cruise might still be an option though.

Yep, looked into dance cruises a little -- they are so much more expensive than regular cruises, they really put me off. I still think of "group rates" in travel meaning paying less, not more! [Yeah, I know, it's the group leaders who pay "less" (read "nothing") by organizing the group.] I guess I am not yet ready to pay a premium for what they purport to offer -- especially when the "small print" says there are no guarantees they will get access to the dancing venues they hope to use on board ship.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Yep, looked into dance cruises a little -- they are so much more expensive than regular cruises, they really put me off. I still think of "group rates" in travel meaning paying less, not more! [Yeah, I know, it's the group leaders who pay "less" (read "nothing") by organizing the group.] I guess I am not yet ready to pay a premium for what they purport to offer -- especially when the "small print" says there are no guarantees they will get access to the dancing venues they hope to use on board ship.

 

Many of the theme cruises do cost more for participants (and the others in their party) than for others on board. I remember looking at a cruise for writers (with workshops, etc) and it was much higher. I would guess the guest speakers were going to have their fares comped by the organizer (which would come from the extra money charged to participants). Unfortunately, even if your significant other wasn't going to take part, there's not a reduced rate for him/her.

[SeagoingMom]

Many of the theme cruises do cost more for participants (and the others in their party) than for others on board. I remember looking at a cruise for writers (with workshops' date=' etc) and it was much higher. I would guess the guest speakers were going to have their fares comped by the organizer (which would come from the extra money charged to participants). Unfortunately, even if your significant other wasn't going to take part, there's not a reduced rate for him/her.[/quote']

Yep, exactly. That's why there will probably be no "dance cruises" for us in the immediate future (or perhaps ever...) But this sort of thing makes a lot of sense, I think, if you are traveling with a dance club or something -- a group you are already a part of...

[bigenna]

Questions from someone unfamiliar with these cruises :

Is it possible to unwittingly book passage on a ship that is having a theme cruise without knowing it? Or will it clearly show up as theme cruise?

And if I happen to be on a ship that is a theme cruise and am not part of it, will it affect my cruise in terms of taking away from venues/events that would normally be part of the cruise (were it not a theme cruise)?

[Cruisin' Chick]

Questions from someone unfamiliar with these cruises :

Is it possible to unwittingly book passage on a ship that is having a theme cruise without knowing it? Or will it clearly show up as theme cruise?

And if I happen to be on a ship that is a theme cruise and am not part of it, will it affect my cruise in terms of taking away from venues/events that would normally be part of the cruise (were it not a theme cruise)?

 

Yes, it's possible. It's probably a good idea to do some googling for your ship and date of sailing to see if some group mentions it on their website. Check your roll call, too. Maybe someone mentions being a part of a big group. But no guarantee that some big group won't show up in a google search.

 

And from my experience, there's often groups on board every cruise we've gone on, or maybe large families (look for any group sporting the same tee-shirt in droves:rolleyes:). I can imagine some people who don't use this site (which will undoubtedly be the majority on your ship) might even view the CC group with wary eyes -- as in, oh, great, I wonder if they're going to be taking over lounges and pools on this cruise.

 

Some groups won't have any impact as they won't be taking over big parts of the ship -- maybe a lounge for a meeting here and there. On our last cruise, there was some sort of law group that had their meetings in the dining room not being used for breakfast or lunch, so no impact on the rest of us. Have seen this on other cruises, and again no impact.

 

Did board a Carnival ship (my second cruise, and before I used the Internet) that had a big sign welcoming passengers to "The World Tourney of Bingo" when we boarded. As I had no interest in bingo, you would think this wouldn't impact us. But you did not want to be between these passengers and the door to the dining room when it opened. Same with the casino. This group was more than a third of the passengers, and very addictive types. I definitely would try to change a sailing if spotting this group on google.

[bigenna]

Thanks Patty, good advice. I'll try that.

[Dancer Bob]

There's a lot of us around here who like to travel in January and February, to get away from snow and ice, but we don't want to sit in some bar with nothing but trivia and karaoke. We do both value-added groups, where we pay to have extras like competent teachers doing classes and dance hosts for the women, and private groups, where a bunch of us just get together and decide on a ship and date, then each make their own arrangements. (It's a LOT of work to organise a group unless you're either a paid travel agent or a control freak.) Affinity groups like dance clubs are fine if the dates work, but most aren't widely advertised.

After reading UKRoger's report on the Royal Princess, which seems to indicate a very poor management attitude, I think we'll be staying with Costa, for all its faults.