Latin bands on RC ships

[shipgeeks]

After a number of years on RC ships with no Bolero's, we are now sailing regularly on Enchantment.  The two groups aboard have been fantastic!  Latin Dream, earlier in the year, were wonderful, and are now on another ship.  Son del Rio's, currently on Enchantment, are so good that we passed up all the shows and other evening events just to be there.  Interesting background.  They are from Uruguay, and got this gig after winning a contest there.  The percussionist is apparently well known in that country. The singer, and the keyboard player, are also excellent.

What bands are on other ships?  How are they?  How are the crowds?  Do they attract many dancers?

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

How are they?  How are the crowds?  Do they attract many dancers?

That's about as subjective and varied as the MDR food.

[Cruise_Dancer]

10 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

What bands are on other ships?  How are they?  How are the crowds?  Do they attract many dancers?

 

It's been almost ten years since my wife and I were on the Enchantment, though we're looking at the New Years' cruise on her this year.  Bolero's at the time was a huge disappointment for us, as there was no Latin music being played, no Latin bands, and certainly no Latin dancing.  That said, even if there had been Latin music we would probably not have done much dancing in Boleros for one simple reason:

 

The floor.

 

The floor in Boleros is absolutely beautiful but it's made of stone; any prolonged dancing on it is going to do a number on our knees and ankles.  Cruise ships love these floors because they look gorgeous and they're easy to clean, but as dancers we're not fans (still better than the rubber dance floors on Celebrity Summit, though.  *shudder* ).  Still, we're booking Enchantment because we love the ship, the itinerary, and the price.  We go other places to go dancing, and I'm escorting a group on the Queen Mary 2 next year where the dance floor is the main selling point to our group.

[Ret MP]

One thing that makes me solidify the fact that I'm finally on a cruise ship is hearing the reggae and/or latin music, live or not on the pool deck.  When I hear that, I say to myself, "LET THE PARTY BEGIN".  Then I go take a nap 🙄 😆.

[shipgeeks]

CruiseDancer, Have you danced in the Southwest(?) Lounge? (Deck 6, beyond Schooner Bar.)  Wooden floor; smallish but nice. Sadly, it had hundreds of easels for the art auction set up for virtually our entire cruise.  I think there were one or two sessions of recorded music for ballroom dancing.

There were always a few people dancing in Centrum, evening music sets as well as a number of exercise type classes. The floor there is hard, too!  And when we sailed ships with no Bolero's, we usually went to VC and asked the DJ for Latin music.  The downside there is that the floor is hard, and worse, it has metal strips across it which always tripped me up.

[smokeybandit]

There always seems to be a small but faithful crowd at the bars where the latin music is being played.

[Cruise_Dancer]

On 10/3/2022 at 7:36 AM, shipgeeks said:

CruiseDancer, Have you danced in the Southwest(?) Lounge? (Deck 6, beyond Schooner Bar.)  Wooden floor; smallish but nice. Sadly, it had hundreds of easels for the art auction set up for virtually our entire cruise.  I think there were one or two sessions of recorded music for ballroom dancing.

There were always a few people dancing in Centrum, evening music sets as well as a number of exercise type classes. The floor there is hard, too!  And when we sailed ships with no Bolero's, we usually went to VC and asked the DJ for Latin music.  The downside there is that the floor is hard, and worse, it has metal strips across it which always tripped me up.

 

We did most of our dancing in the Spotlight lounge which had a mixed wooden and metal floor.  We'd do some dancing in the centrum but, with its marble floor, would be judicious about choosing which dances we wanted to do (i.e. not swing) and how much technique we'd put in.  For example, we'd do very little rise and fall in our bolero (irony, I know).

[OCVTSGIRL]

Recently sailed on the Adventure.  Boleros is small but they had an amazing Latin band playing there.  Sorry I don't remember their name.  I don't speak Spanish so I didn't understand the songs but still enjoyed listening to them because they were that good.  

[RJ257]

I'm a fan of Boleros music. Just kind of draws me into the area if I'm nearby. Many good dancers. Last cruise on Allure it was packed all the time around 9-10 ish. Maybe shows were getting out at that time?