Is Princess moving away from dancing on its ships?

[Astro Flyer]

Lets not cast too wide a net in assuming that all those who don't ballroom dance are insatiable technocrats with no attention span (and, presumably, bad manners and no respect for their elders). As an early thirties cruiser who has checked their email on board once in my 4 cruises (to assure that my home was still standing following a storm), we can be disinterested in ballroom dancing just as anyone else can.

I'm twice your age & agree with you that just because someone doesn't participate in ballroom dancing doesn't result in his description of a passenger. I enjoy reading & going to lectures and to experience other cultures.

 

I just don't like to dance & it's a big stretch to imply that only dancers are sophisticated. :rolleyes:

[Working 2 Cruise]

Changes, changes and more changes. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the world does not stand still. One of the best things I saw on my very first cruise was a couple who did some fantastic dancing... They were great!

 

I am hoping that Princess keeps this tradition, at least in part.

 

Punki C, did you see what HAL is doing? They have "Dancing with the Stars" cruises. You may be interested in checking this out...

[Cruisin' Chick]

I was just thinking about this matter this morning while reading the Auto Club magazine as there was a little blurb about the Dancing with the Stars cruises on HAL. I am guessing that ballroom dancing has gained a new audience because of that show.

 

There is some interest among tweens, believe it or not. Some local elementary schools just participated in a ballroom dancing tournament (one principal who is on my Facebook list because we belong to a parents group -- our kids are in the same high school band -- had some photos of her holding up the school's newest trophies). It's probably more of a middle class/upper class thing, but I imagine the actual program is also being held for disadvantaged kids too.

 

There was plenty of dancing on my last three cruises on New Years Eve, and occasionally on a few other nights, but not ballroom type, even though ever once in a while you'll see a couple close dancing. The holiday cruises do tend to attract those in a partying (in a good way) mode.

[Loonbeam]

One of the cooler options I came up with (and passed along) was a complete loop of South America on the Coral. Not sure how the logistics would work and what ports, but basically go down the gulf/atlantic side, around the horn and up the pacific side then through the canal.

 

This is one of my biggest "fears". I love the Coral through the canal. Hopefully the canal will be delayed long enough so that I can do this voyage one more time in the near future.

[bhopal21]

I think the moment that Princess decided to compete head to head with Royal Caribbean with Caribbean Princess is when the cruise line lost it's identity - marketed as something different (which it is) it's now becoming something the same.

 

The interesting thing is that there are still many of us who are willing to spend money on longer and more varied itineraries and who have put a good chunk of money already into Princess. What happens to us?

 

I could not agree with that more.

 

And I am afraid I know the answer to the question.:(

 

Mike:)

[Times Prince]

I'm a baby-boomer & dancing (particularly true dance steps) was never a part of my life so it's not important to me. I know that for some it's very important & hope they keep a few options for them. However I feel those numbers are steadily decreasing so new ships are being designed around other activities to attract future generations of cruisers.

 

I'm more interested in wine, dinner & a show and to feel that I'm at sea and not at a land-based resort hotel.

 

Others have already posted the financial reasons why but it's very doubtful if traditional dancing will ever be a priority for my kids or grandkids generations.

I too am a baby boomer and must disagree based on personal experience about the "decreasing" numbers. Since the advent of Dancing With the Stars on TV there is more interest in ballroom dancing, and Princess has, until now, been offering more opportunities for ballroom dancing. The dance floors for ballroom music are often full, but when the band switches to more of a rock and roll based music (not swing) the floor empties. This is based on our observation for the cruises on Emerald, Crown, Caribbean, and Grand Princess, especially.

 

Wheelhouse Bar has often had a band (more recently a "duo" with MIDI instrumentation) and for ballroom, latin, and swing music one can rarely find a place on the floor. Dances such as Foxtrot are almost impossible to do based on the small dance floor and crowding. But dancers do get thirsty and will order something to drink.

 

For personal reasons I hope Princess keeps the ballroom options on existing ships and plans for them on future, like the Regal Princess.

 

If one want to reduce everything to just financial reasons, the theater evening show/production has probably the worst return per passenger, as few will order drinks. Perhaps this suggests cruise lines should try tactics used by land nightclubs where there is a cover charge at entry and/or a drink minimum. Can you imagine a new venue (perhaps the new "TV studio" on Royal) with some name entertainment and a cover/minimum?

[Astro Flyer]

'Times Prince'...thanks for that current info & hopefully it's encouraging news for those who enjoy ballroom dancing. :)

[RickEk]

With no live music. and they have clearly stated that the Vista Lounge will host a "party" a/k/a "shake your booty" band.

 

I am an old technocrat who is rarely separated from her iPhone except when on a plane, dancing or at Mass. I do, however, long for the elegance, formality and class of yesteryear. The specialness of Love Boat has sadly gone the way of Concorde and the dodo bird. :(

 

The current nightclubs (Skywalkers et al.) don't have live music now... never have. The video I saw references a "Vegas-style" band... But really, this all remains to be seen. We can speculate all we want, but I'm sure there will be reports and reviews of the dance situation in the next few months...

[Cruise Junky]

Hope they do stop catering to them, they're dance floor hogs. Tired of being trampled on.

[bdjam]

Hope they do stop catering to them, they're dance floor hogs. Tired of being trampled on.

 

Nice.

[Griller]

I too am a baby boomer and must disagree based on personal experience about the "decreasing" numbers. Since the advent of Dancing With the Stars on TV there is more interest in ballroom dancing, and Princess has, until now, been offering more opportunities for ballroom dancing. The dance floors for ballroom music are often full, but when the band switches to more of a rock and roll based music (not swing) the floor empties. This is based on our observation for the cruises on Emerald, Crown, Caribbean, and Grand Princess, especially.

 

Wheelhouse Bar has often had a band (more recently a "duo" with MIDI instrumentation) and for ballroom, latin, and swing music one can rarely find a place on the floor. Dances such as Foxtrot are almost impossible to do based on the small dance floor and crowding. But dancers do get thirsty and will order something to drink.

 

For personal reasons I hope Princess keeps the ballroom options on existing ships and plans for them on future, like the Regal Princess.

 

If one want to reduce everything to just financial reasons, the theater evening show/production has probably the worst return per passenger, as few will order drinks. Perhaps this suggests cruise lines should try tactics used by land nightclubs where there is a cover charge at entry and/or a drink minimum. Can you imagine a new venue (perhaps the new "TV studio" on Royal) with some name entertainment and a cover/minimum?

 

NCL do it with the Ice Bar and The Blue Men. Or did, it was a couple of years ago I last sailed NCL.

Don't know if its been mentioned on here but the keenest ballroom dancers I have seen are the excellent ethnic Chinese dancers,generally US/Canadian, they often meet up from all over for a family reunion aboard a ship and are keen dancers.

Don't know if any are on CC? Maybe got better things to do with their time, I should have too.

[Esprit]

Last November on Island Princess we were very disappointed with the lack of dancing in the Wheelhouse bar. After 4 previous cruises with great bands playing excellent dance music in that bar we expected nothing less. Phoenix Rising the band we had on Island were extremely poor by comparison.

 

But if you think Princess care less for dancers you will want to stay well clear of Celebrity!

[PunkiC]

Hope they do stop catering to them, they're dance floor hogs. Tired of being trampled on.

 

I'm confused. To which "them" do you refer?

 

That's interesting, Esprit, we have always enjoyed Phoenix Rising and just had a report from some competitive dancer friends that they really enjoyed Phoenix Rising on their cruise last week. What seemed to be the problem?

 

I think I may have heard some scuttle butt that one of their members was out for some reason last year, maybe that made a difference.

 

Yes, Griller, some of our favorite cruise dance friends are ethnic Chinese and we have a huge group of ethnic Chinese dancers at our Friday night dance club.

 

I can't understand why more people don't dance. It makes for a wonderful date night and is fabulous exercise, disguised as great fun. :)

[Wehwalt]

With no live music. and they have clearly stated that the Vista Lounge will host a "party" a/k/a "shake your booty" band.

 

I am an old technocrat who is rarely separated from her iPhone except when on a plane, dancing or at Mass. I do, however, long for the elegance, formality and class of yesteryear. The specialness of Love Boat has sadly gone the way of Concorde and the dodo bird. :(

 

It's not all bad. I've never once seen a captain in shorts.

[PunkiC]

Changes, changes and more changes. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the world does not stand still. One of the best things I saw on my very first cruise was a couple who did some fantastic dancing... They were great!

 

I am hoping that Princess keeps this tradition, at least in part.

 

Punki C, did you see what HAL is doing? They have "Dancing with the Stars" cruises. You may be interested in checking this out...

 

I have had many passengers tell me that even though they don't dance themselves, they love to come into The Wheelhouse and watch, especially on the Island and Coral which are laid out in a manner which makes it easier to watch.

 

We did get the HAL sign up for a free Dancing With the Stars cruise. If we win, we will go. :) On Celebrity we had a Dancing With the Stripes contest and it was a great lot of fun except the officer with whom I danced didn't have an ounce of rhythm. :D The officer my husband danced with was really pretty good, but then he is a really excellent lead.

 

Another thing that really annoyed me on our Hawaii cruise was that, even though they had an excellent orchestra playing at the Captain's Cocktail party, we were asked NOT to dance by the Cruise Director. :confused: :confused: This was the same Cruise Director who thought that 15 minute jazz riffs were great dance music. :( What the heck was that about? That has always been one of our favorite parts of the cruise and it was a huge disappointment that there was no dancing before the awards.

[cr8tiv1]

 

Another thing that really annoyed me on our Hawaii cruise was that, even though they had an excellent orchestra playing at the Captain's Cocktail party, we were asked NOT to dance by the Cruise Director. :confused: :confused: This was the same Cruise Director who thought that 15 minute jazz riffs were great dance music. :( What the heck was that about? That has always been one of our favorite parts of the cruise and it was a huge disappointment that there was no dancing before the awards.

 

I was on the Golden to Hawaii and danced during the Captain's Cocktail party for Platinum and Elite. The Princess Orchestra was playing. Be it all 15 minutes of dancing...still dancing. Not many joined us on the small floor.

[PunkiC]

I was on the Golden to Hawaii and danced during the Captain's Cocktail party for Platinum and Elite. The Princess Orchestra was playing. Be it all 15 minutes of dancing...still dancing. Not many joined us on the small floor.

 

We were also on the Golden when there was no dancing.

 

When was your cruise? Who was the Cruise Director?

[casavaha]

PunkiC: You must have been on the Christmas cruise with us on the Golden to Hawaii.

Not only was the band in the Wheelhouse terrible for dancing but you could not

listen to them as well. Fortunately, Bruce Tilden, the piano player in Crooners did his

best to help us dancers. We were dancing on carpet, marble, terrazo etc. I phoned

Princess Corp as soon as we reached Hilo. They did their best to help us by having the

Princess Show Band play in the Wheelhouse and Bruce doing NYE in the Wheelhouse.

 

Remember when HAL used to have quartets in the Ocean Bar. No more. I still like

Princess. I would have done a smaller ship but the Royal was the only ship doing a

TA from Venice.

 

I want to hear the reviews of pax from the Royal.

 

Greg

[cr8tiv1]

We were also on the Golden when there was no dancing.

 

When was your cruise? Who was the Cruise Director?

 

I was on the February 13, 2013 voyage to Hawaii with Dave Cole as the Cruise Director. Most nights, we danced in the Wheelhouse with Rhapsody. They played a lot of cha cha's and rhumbas, but honored our requests for waltz's, fox trots, swing, and even a tango. The Princess band did one night of big band music but they took up more of the dance floor. A few nights, we danced in the Explorer's club too. As a dancer, you know that you hunt out any opportunity to dance.

 

I even got once dance in while watching ELUA. Dancing in the Piazza was absolutely no fun.

 

I agree with everyone on all of these threads. Princess needs to listen to their dancers. Floors should not be getting smaller (or eliminated). Please...Please...Please. When there is good danceable music, the floor will be packed with dancers, almost to the point of being dangerous. Thank goodness dancers are the most courteous and polite people on the ship.

[Sitmar Lady]

Dancing is a big part of cruising for us including ballroom, night club, group dancing, whatever as long as there is music, we will dance. On our Coastal cruise on the Sapphire this April two things happened that lead me to believe the original poster might be correct. There wasnt a deck party night and the staff didnt come up the night club on the first formal night so the night club was a ghost town the entire cruise. (Keep in mind, this was a spring break cruise)! Some of us like to keep it moving on a cruise so I really hope this isnt the case.

[ctteach5]

Interestingly, most of the dancers I know who cruise on Princess have elite status. Obviously Princess simply does not understand the importance of appropriate dance venues to some of its most loyal passengers.

 

Although we've gone on 6 other cruises, seen most of the USA, enjoyed Mexico, and the Dominican Republic's beaches, it is only now, with retirement, are we able to do more international cruises. Our priority is, however, the destinations which help us choose the cruise line. Dancing, and dining are secondary. We are certainly happy with what Princess has to offer us.

[PunkiC]

On our cruise, which was in December, ELUA actually played the best dance music of any band on board. We weren't thrilled about dancing in the Piazza, but it was the best we could find on the ship.

 

I honestly think our cruise director was simply totally ignorant when it came to the needs of ballroom dancers. She didn't know and didn't seem to care. I typically don't much care who is cruise director, but I will in the future avoid any ship where I know she is in charge of the entertainment.

 

Can't wait to hear first hand reports of the dancing situation on the Royal. We have dance friends who are sailing her sometime this summer and I know they will give an accurate and complete report. Hopefully things won't be as bad as I am thinking they will be.

 

Is that being pessimistic and optimistic at the same time? :D

[skynight]

It's not so much just ballroom dancing on the Royal, but just a lack of venues to handle the various and varied evening activities, which includes dancing. Princess is promoting with great vigor their "Princess Live TV Studio" to host live concerts, cooking demos, comedy and game shows (who wants to watch these live events on TV on a ship, we can do that at home, there is a channel for everything). Surly nothing new in entertainment here, just in a new studio. This venue will seat less than 300 on a ship with 3600 passengers.

 

While a TV studio might have been a unique idea in the 1960's or 70's it isn't today. My point is why a TV studio? It just seems to be a silly waste of space. Certainly with today's technology they could have had a combo studio/lounge that could handle all the things they mention, plus some standard evening activities such as dancing.

[stunnedinva]

On my recent California Coastal Sapphire cruise, there were what appeared to be dance hosts who sat around the edge of the dance floor in Club Fusion every evening we were there and danced with women who also sat in that area. They had metal name tags, so we thought they were Princess employees. But it seemed they always danced with the same women, so it might just have been a group of like-minded dancers who booked the cruise together. Anybody know? :confused:

[PunkiC]

That sounds more like an organized dance group. To the best of my knowledge Princess has never had dance hosts.