An unexpected bonus of having a husband who fell sick the day we boarded Queen Mary 2 in Valparaiso was the opportunity to meet and dance with Cunard Gentleman Dance Hosts.
Queen Mary 2’s elegant Queen’s Room is an impressive ballroom at sea spanning the full width of the ship and features a 1,225-square-foot rectangular dance floor, crystal chandeliers hanging from the two-deck-high ceiling, a resident orchestra and multi-tiered seating offering great views of the dance floor as well as the sea.
Ballroom dance lessons offered on sea days in the Queen’s Room were all well attended, and taught by a professional dance couple who dazzled us with their dancing displays on formal nights in the same venue. A wide variety of dance genres were offered including cha-cha, waltz, foxtrot, rumba and tango. Cunard’s gentleman dance hosts were also on hand during lessons to assist female guests traveling solo or without a dancing partner.
We were introduced to all eight of them at the Black and White Ball, all dressed to impress in their white dinner jackets. They aren’t paid, and are not expert dancers, but are proficient in the basic steps of ballroom dances and travel free so long as they foxtrot, rumba, tango and/or quickstep with ladies that show interest and longing to dance, even if they’re too shy or embarrassed to make the first move.
In my case I received a tap on the shoulder from one of the Dance Hosts when I was seated with another couple watching the dancing at the South Pacific Ball; “would you like to cha-cha?” an unexpected question but I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to practice the skills I had learnt on board. Maybe it was the smiles on the faces of the other women I witnessed on the dance floor at the balls, formals and even afternoon tea in the Queen’s Room (as pictured) that fostered my toe tapping/longing look that night?
As for etiquette, I was led to and from my seat, and informed that the hosts never ask a woman to dance if she’s already seated with a man unless they are asked by him to step in and dance with their partners, which was the case on our last formal night when I could not beg or bribe my husband from his seat to join me in a waltz.
Obviously if this kind of thing is not your scene there are plenty of other venues on board to head to for a drink or dance, but in my experience the opportunity to cha-cha and waltz on Queen Mary 2’s ballroom dance floor was an offer too good to refuse and a delightfully memorable experience. And as for my husband? He considered it a win-win.
As the saying goes, “Happy wife = Happy Life!”
