Help deciding if Princess is right for us

[Carnevale]

We have sailed Princess twice before but it was a while back and as things change over time, we want to check to make sure it is still a good fit.

 

We mainly cruise as a way of travelling while ballroom dancing so we tend to look for cruises with lots of sea days so that as we get to new place we have a lot of dance time.  Does Princess still have dancing onboard?  If so, is this the case on all ships or do some have more dancing than others?  Is dancing limited to the Wheelhouse or other locations and, if other locations, do they have a wooden floor?

 

Any input on this will be most welcomed!  We recently sailed on Holland America and were very disappointed to find they seem to have eliminated ballroom dancing so if there still is dancing, Princess may be what we do.

 

 

[riclop]

Give it a try.

[dckmusic]

There is definitely ballroom dancing, at least last time we sailed in January on the Caribbean Princess.  My wife is looking forward to doing some again this January on the Ruby.

[neverbeenhere]

We have seen the most on Cunard line.  But here is an article for you. 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1127

[geoherb]

There was lots of dancing in the piazza on our trans-Atlantic cruise on the Royal last month. We had five sea days in a row. 

[RDC1]

You might find some dancing opportunities, with a few couples dancing.  Oceania might provide more dancing opportunities.

[dchip]

The Royal and the Regal do not have wood floors in the piazza. There is no room for ballroom dancing in the Wheelhouse on that class ship either. We aren't dancers but this was a big issue when the Royal came on line in 2013. 

 

Cheers, Denise 

Edited October 23, 2018 by dchip
Auto correct

[jennybenny]

We used to see a lot of couples ballroom dancing when we first started sailing on Princess.  I have not noticed there being many in a while, always a few couples out there, but we tend to take holiday cruises.  Perhaps the ballroom dancers avoid the holidays at sea.  It's lovely to watch an experienced couple dance.  We've seen it at Wheelhouse and Explore's lounge in the past.  Our last holiday cruise there were always the same 3 couples in the Wheelhouse bar every night.   

 

[donswife]

We saw couples dancing in a number of venues around the Caribbean Princess, and I have also seen them on other Grand class ships. I have never been on a Royal class ship.

[jagoffee]

I suggest you continue your research.  I cannot even remotely imagine that Princess would have better or more opportunities for ballroom dancing than Holland America.  It would be counterintuitive IMO. 

I do not mean to leave you would the impression that Princess does not some opportunities for Ballroom dancing.  Just that if you are disappointed in Holland America ballroom opportunities, I doubt your disappointment would be less with Princess.

[Carnevale]

Many thx for all of these replies....they are very helpful!

 

 We just spent some time looking at options and the cruises we are most interested in are on the Regal and the Crown Princesses.  Any notes anyone can offer on the opportunities for ballroom dancing on these ships?

[fishywood]

The only organized dancing on Regal is either in the Piazza or Club 6. As noted above there is no dance floor in Wheelhouse Bar, and no Explorer's Lounge at all, on the new Royal-class ships. My observations on Ruby and Emerald (sister ships to Crown) is that while hardly strict tempo there were some "traditional" dance hours in Club Fusion and Wheelhouse (sometimes live, sometimes recorded music) plus the occasional Big Band performance in Explorer's.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Cunard has the best ballroom dancing at sea in the Queen’s Room. They have a live orchestra, huge floor with high ceilings. It is much more formal.  In the main dining room and Queen’s Room men wear suits and ties nightly and tuxedos on the formal nights. Women are in beautiful dresses nightly and long gowns on formal nights. This is what really makes the atmosphere magical. 

 

[skynight]

12 hours ago, Carnevale said:

We have sailed Princess twice before but it was a while back and as things change over time, we want to check to make sure it is still a good fit.

 

We mainly cruise as a way of travelling while ballroom dancing so we tend to look for cruises with lots of sea days so that as we get to new place we have a lot of dance time.  Does Princess still have dancing onboard?  If so, is this the case on all ships or do some have more dancing than others?  Is dancing limited to the Wheelhouse or other locations and, if other locations, do they have a wooden floor?

 

Any input on this will be most welcomed!  We recently sailed on Holland America and were very disappointed to find they seem to have eliminated ballroom dancing so if there still is dancing, Princess may be what we do.

 

 

 

Royal & Regal and other Royal Class ships do not have any lounge for ballroom dancing. From our cruises on the Royal Princess most ballroom dancing was in the Piazza, marble floors, and most of it was in the early evening. The Piazza has multiple uses and only is available sometimes for ballroom dancing. On our last Royal Princess cruise there were some sets in the Vista Lounge with a wood floor, but not every evening. The Wheelhouse Bar on the Royal & Regal does not have a dance floor.

Grand Class ships do have the Wheelhouse Bar where there is normally soft music suitable for ballroom each evening. There is a wood dance floor. The Crown, Emerald & Ruby have installed high tables in a section of the Wheelhouse for the Salty Dog Pub. On one cruise either on the Emerald or Crown I noticed they only had a guitar player as an entertainer. Grand Class ships also have some dance sets in Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion. Both have wood floors. Lots of these sets are with the party band.

[Carnevale]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

Royal & Regal and other Royal Class ships do not have any lounge for ballroom dancing. From our cruises on the Royal Princess most ballroom dancing was in the Piazza, marble floors, and most of it was in the early evening. The Piazza has multiple uses and only is available sometimes for ballroom dancing. On our last Royal Princess cruise there were some sets in the Vista Lounge with a wood floor, but not every evening. The Wheelhouse Bar on the Royal & Regal does not have a dance floor.

Grand Class ships do have the Wheelhouse Bar where there is normally soft music suitable for ballroom each evening. There is a wood dance floor. The Crown, Emerald & Ruby have installed high tables in a section of the Wheelhouse for the Salty Dog Pub. On one cruise either on the Emerald or Crown I noticed they only had a guitar player as an entertainer. Grand Class ships also have some dance sets in Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion. Both have wood floors. Lots of these sets are with the party band.

 

Thank you for this great and very useful info!

 

It sadly sounds like things are starting to change on Princess with a move away from as much ballroom dancing as they had in the past.  We are 3 star on Holland America and after our last cruise with them earlier this month we decided we can no longer sail on their ships as without any ballroom dancing they just don't meet what we are looking for when we cruise.

 

We have sailed a few times on Cunard and just wish they had  more ships and itineraries as they have great dancing.  A recent trip on Regent gave us daily dance time as well as has Crystal however, with both of these lines being all inclusive, they are pricey.  So, we had hoped that Princess might be the answer to what we are looking for but we'll have to avoid the Royal Class ships and hope they don't further reduce what is offered.

 

Thanks again!

[skynight]

6 hours ago, Carnevale said:

 

Thank you for this great and very useful info!

 

It sadly sounds like things are starting to change on Princess with a move away from as much ballroom dancing as they had in the past.  We are 3 star on Holland America and after our last cruise with them earlier this month we decided we can no longer sail on their ships as without any ballroom dancing they just don't meet what we are looking for when we cruise.

 

We have sailed a few times on Cunard and just wish they had  more ships and itineraries as they have great dancing.  A recent trip on Regent gave us daily dance time as well as has Crystal however, with both of these lines being all inclusive, they are pricey.  So, we had hoped that Princess might be the answer to what we are looking for but we'll have to avoid the Royal Class ships and hope they don't further reduce what is offered.

 

Thanks again!

Further comments.

On the Crown you will get sessions of ballroom dancing. If they have a group or duo in the Wheelhouse they will be there most evenings from around 8pm onwards. They usually play soft ballroom music, lots of Latin, Fox Trot, and some waltz. There are soft leather chairs and sofas to sit between dances. 

On the Royal this past February there were a number of very accomplished dancers in the Piazza every evening. There was usually dance music from around 5pm to 9pm. Although the floor was marble, they didn't seem to have any difficulty and looked like they enjoyed themselves. The Piazza is a large dance floor area. Since the Royal & Regal are sister ships, I'm thinking it will be the same on the Regal.

It's always difficult to predict exactly what kind of live music you will find when you board. It depends on which groups have been hired for the time you are on board. There has always been some ballroom dancing on every Princess ship I have been on.

[Carnevale]

12 minutes ago, skynight said:

Further comments.

On the Crown you will get sessions of ballroom dancing. If they have a group or duo in the Wheelhouse they will be there most evenings from around 8pm onwards. They usually play soft ballroom music, lots of Latin, Fox Trot, and some waltz. There are soft leather chairs and sofas to sit between dances. 

On the Royal this past February there were a number of very accomplished dancers in the Piazza every evening. There was usually dance music from around 5pm to 9pm. Although the floor was marble, they didn't seem to have any difficulty and looked like they enjoyed themselves. The Piazza is a large dance floor area. Since the Royal & Regal are sister ships, I'm thinking it will be the same on the Regal.

It's always difficult to predict exactly what kind of live music you will find when you board. It depends on which groups have been hired for the time you are on board. There has always been some ballroom dancing on every Princess ship I have been on.

 

Thanks for this additional info.  We were heading in the direction of ruling out the Royal class ships but, from this, we should reconsider.  Marble isn't a great floor for dancers especially given the amount of time we like to spend every day on the floor, but we've danced on many types of flooring with the more important things being the amount of space and the amount of time given to ballroom dancing all of which you have so kindly helped us understand.  

[RDC1]

my Bil and his wife are avid ball room dancers.  They take lessons, are in competitions and are part of a group that meets twice a week. They also are very active dancing during their cruises. They have spoken very well about Oceania.  It is now the only cruise line that they do. You might check them out.

[california and cruising]

We have found that Princess has not done ballroom dancing as much as in the past. We don't really dance but enjoy observing. They had it in the Piazza and it was very cramped. So I don't think they still cater to that.

[Thrak]

On 10/22/2018 at 7:55 PM, dchip said:

The Royal and the Regal do not have wood floors in the piazza. There is no room for ballroom dancing in the Wheelhouse on that class ship either. We aren't dancers but this was a big issue when the Royal came on line in 2013. 

 

Cheers, Denise 

 

I have read this before and also read that people detested having the Piazza be the "premier" dancing area on the ships. I'm not a dancer myself but both of my wife's sisters are major dancers. I know they would be horribly disappointed in the Regal/Royal for their dance venues. Older (Grand Class) ships I have sailed on had good wood floored dance areas in Vista Lounge as well as Wheelhouse. Ballroom dancers don't want to dance on "tile" floors.

 

Some Princess ships will make the dancers happy. Others (newer ships?) won't. Like I said above, I am not a dancer. (Really not a dancer!) I do, however, really enjoy watching accomplished ballroom dancer (not the posers...) "do their thing". It's wonderful to see really good dancers in action. I feel that my generation was pretty much "ripped off" by the change in dancing that happened when it was "our turn" to learn to dance. Modern dancing is crap. Ballroom dancing is art.

 

Note: To be clear, the "hustle" is dancing but not ballroom dancing! Watching my mother--in-law dancing was a great experience. People from "her day" really understood dancing.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Thrak

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We are on the Caribbean Princess for a 10-day cruise and seen a few planned events. We have another thread going that has most of the daily patters posted. If you read through those, it should give you an idea as to how often they dedicate a time to play music just for ball room dancing. Two nights ago, no one showed up as we were still sitting in Wheelhouse bar, and they continued with regular music, asking after each song if anyone was there for ballroom dancing. One couple did show up and danced a couple of songs and left. 

[SandraH]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:20 AM, Thrak said:

 

I have read this before and also read that people detested having the Piazza be the "premier" dancing area on the ships. I'm not a dancer myself but both of my wife's sisters are major dancers. I know they would be horribly disappointed in the Regal/Royal for their dance venues. Older (Grand Class) ships I have sailed on had good wood floored dance areas in Vista Lounge as well as Wheelhouse. Ballroom dancers don't want to dance on "tile" floors.

 

Some Princess ships will make the dancers happy. Others (newer ships?) won't. Like I said above, I am not a dancer. (Really not a dancer!) I do, however, really enjoy watching accomplished ballroom dancer (not the posers...) "do their thing". It's wonderful to see really good dancers in action. I feel that my generation was pretty much "ripped off" by the change in dancing that happened when it was "our turn" to learn to dance. Modern dancing is crap. Ballroom dancing is art.

 

Note: To be clear, the "hustle" is dancing but not ballroom dancing! Watching my mother--in-law dancing was a great experience. People from "her day" really understood dancing.

 

+1 I am with Thrak on dancing for our generation.  Ballroom dancing is so lovely.  

 

I was on the Emerald for a cruise to and from Hawaii earlier this month.  In the Patter, I saw that there was ballroom dancing in the piazza maybe 2 times during the 15 night cruise.   Since I wasn't sure if this was going to be a show by professional dancers or what, I went to see and it was the ship's orchestra playing for passengers that wanted to dance ballroom.  I really enjoyed watching it from the sidelines.