Friends who are part of a ballroom dance class are interested in a Baltics cruise. Would a Regent cruise be appropriate for them? Which cruise line/ship would best allow them to engage in this pastime?

I myself am of the two-left-feet persuasion so I haven't a clue how to advise them.

2 bits, there are often ballroom dance classes on some of the longer Regent cruises that have sea days. Not sure whether the rather port-intensive Baltics cruises have them. I have watched wonderful dancing from guests in the Horizon Lounge, either before or after dinner.

Hi 2 bits,

Maybe they want to look into the Cunard ships (Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria). They have ballroom dancing every day at tea time and at night in the most beautiful ballroom I have ever seen on a ship. They also feature music by a full orchestra.

Maria, are those mainly for crossings, or do those Cunard ships also do the Baltics? I have never even looked into them, but know you have cruised Cunard.

Hi Olivia,

You are right, the QM2 which we cruised on does mainly the crossings. But the Queen Victoria (smaller than QM2) does Europe and Baltics in the summer. They are coming with a new ship soon, the new Queen Elizabeth.
That ballroom is so beautiful, I always thought it was a shame Bob and I are not ballroom dancing kind of people.

One of these days, Maria! After all, I saw you (and the other BK queen, Linda Littiken) master a great Greek dance when we were in Norway on the Navigator, and you seemed to love it! I have a picture of Bob smiling on the sidelines!

Thanks for chiming in on the topic, Olivia and Maria. I appreciate your input and will relay it.

:lct:

My wife and I are certainly not serious ballroom dancers, but we started after dinner dancing on a cruise several years ago and totally enjoy it. We have at least learned the basics.

We have danced on cruises with Regent, Silversea, and Windstar. All have been fun, but we like Regent the best. The music is contemporary, but with very clear Rumba, Fox Trot, Waltz, ChaCha, Swing, etc beats.

On most of our Regent cruises, there has been a vocalist and keyboard/percussion duo, and the music has been very danceable. They are often our favorites. After the theater performance ends, the five or six piece "orchestra" sometimes replaces them, for a larger sound. On Voyager and Mariner, there is also a smaller "night club" venue, with a more disco sound....often with a DJ. I don't know about Navigator.

The dance floor in the Horizon Lounge is a good size, not a little square around a bar, but not so large and grand that you feel conspicuous if there are only a couple pairs dancing. The mood is relaxed and light-hearted....people seem comfortable joining in even if they are clearly ad-libbing.

On our longer cruises with multiple days at sea, there have been some dance classes; on shorter cruises with daily ports, no.

I suspect there are cruises with more serious ballroom dancing that approaches competition level, but for us Regent fits well.

Wow, thanks, GeneBK! Your detailed comments are most helpful.

I have been extolling Regent's virtues and believe most of my friends would prefer the more relaxed/less formal atmosphere onboard Regent ships.

:3smile: