Itchy feet, single and love to dance? Choose a cruise with Gentleman Dance Hosts.

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!”

International Dateline Day

It is 3.45pm on board Queen Mary 2, and until a couple of hours ago it was Tuesday March 1 until we crossed the International Dateline. Which means it’s now March 2, I think.

No big fuss was made about the crossing or time change apart from the ships time going back an hour over the past few nights. Breakfast was when we were ready, I made it to line dancing at 11 and even managed to nag Greg to join me for a jive lesson at 12.15. Pool time after lunch and now it’s time to start preparing for another formal night.

Life on board moves slowly but the days fly by, and although the dateline crossing is doing my head in right now I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.

If you leave me, can I come too?

Well the cases are packed and ready to go, all dress codes and scenarios prepared for as far as I know.

Mastering the art of travelling light is simply beyond my ability when our cruise itinerary includes five formal nights and three balls. Even hubby is struggling and we’ve both ended up with cases weighing more than twenty kilos, although it should be noted that the empty cases were close to five kilos each before we started adding contents. After we removed the cat of course.

So by this time tomorrow we’ll be on our way, with our new ‘normal’ being the contents of our cabin luggage for the next few days.

Right about now is when the nerves start kicking in, as do thoughts of the journey being over before it even begins.

Not sure if and when I’ll be online, so for everyone we’re leaving behind please know you are all in my mind.

No news is good news when it comes to a cruise

Is it just me, or is the online media suddenly full of bad cruise stories?

Last night a story about a ship being hammered by a hurricane showed up on my news feed, an outbreak of gastro on board a Christmas cruise was all over the news, and even a ‘brand new’ P&O Australia vessel wasn’t immune from an outbreak of norovirus.

Or is it that the old adage ‘no news is good news’ applies?

Think about it, in the age of Social Media everyone with a phone can get online and share their stories, but it’s mostly only the bad stuff that goes viral and gets picked up by the media.
Reports of hundreds of people being struck down on the “cruise from hell” certainly don’t present a favourable picture of the industry, but it won’t stop people like me from planning and looking forward to my next cruise holiday.

Norovirus is associated with cruising because the international health regulations require the reporting of any notifiable diseases on board a vessel, which is not the case for hotels, restaurants, and other places where people share living and eating areas.

Maybe I have been lucky, but to me it simply comes down to good hygeine and common courtesy that applies in any shared space; cover your mouth if you need to cough or sneeze, wash your hands, try to avoid touching anything that others might have like railings, lift buttons and bathroom doors, and only eat food at the temperature it is meant to be eaten.

The weather of course is not so easy to control, but I board with the knowledge that the Captain and crew have families they want to go home to as well so they are not going to deliberately steer the vessel into troublesome waters.

So for anyone contemplating a cruise holiday who may have been put off by the bad news stories I highly recommend trying one for yourself, and in the meantime will continue to share my personal good news cruise stories.

The Tyranny of Distance

Four weeks from today we will be on our way to our next adventure, cruising on the Queen Mary 2 from Santiago to Sydney. Thanks to Clean Cruising we scored an amazing bargain that was quite frankly too good to refuse; a 22 night cruise in a balcony cabin with US$1000 on board credit and a bottle of champagne each!

One of those deals that seems too good to be true and there must be a catch.

The catch is that it is going to take our party of four a total of 42 hours to travel from Perth to Santiago, via Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, with 29 hours flying time. Yes there is a faster way to get there, but given this was a last-minute purchase it was agreed that a day or two of travel stress, in theory, would be palatable given the cruise starts with four days at sea.

Unless we embark on a cruise in our home port of Fremantle it is a given that there will be at least one plane flight involved with exploring horizons beyond one of the most isolated cities on Earth. Interesting that our cruise also includes Auckland, considered the most remote city with a population in excess of one million, from another city of at least that population.

Maybe that is why it felt so much last home last time we were there, on our Christmas cruise from Sydney?

This photo was taken by me when the Queen Mary 2 was in Fremantle on her Maiden visit on March 2010, when thousands of locals lined the harbour to wave flags at and admire the majesty of such a beautiful vessel. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would one day be sailing on her! Just goes to show that you should never let the Tyranny of Distance prevent you from going off exploring.

Thankyou Facebook for remembering my birthday

And reminding me to wish my friends and family best wishes on their special day.

Yesterday was my birthday, and given the popularity and reach of
Facebook it was also the anniversary of birth for many other people in the world.

Yet thanks to Facebook I received numerous birthday wishes and
messages, both online and in person, from old school friends and
acquaintances who I only touch base with on Social Media, to close friends and family I regularly catch up with in person.

Every single post on my page reminded me that, even if ever so briefly, I was in their thoughts, and that their thoughts of me were positive and happy.

Kind of a similar concept to the ‘Warm Fuzzies’ we were encouraged to write and leave in individual envelopes at school camp a long time ago in a Galaxy far away. Would you believe that I still have mine, in a box along with the letters and cards I have received from friends and lovers over the years.

Not that I ever look at them, just knowing they are there is enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy, as did reading through my birthday posts throughout my special day.

So thanks again everyone for the birthday wishes, and thankyou
Facebook for making them possible.

Have you been paying attention?

In the blink of an eye the end of another year is on the horizon, so before we get there it feels appropriate to reflect on 2015.

A year when same sex marriage was legalised in Ireland, and an archaic law permitting unwanted homosexual advances as a defense for murder was repealed here in Aus.

The World struck a deal on climate change, however a major corporation was caught ‘cheating’ on emission tests.

Saudi Air strikes, ISIS terrorists and refugees flooding into Europe hit the headlines, but there’s water on Mars and a new antibiotic that have been discovered so there’s still hope.

Hope for my friends seeking love that their special someone will sweep them off their feet to live happily ever after, hope that the curse of cancer can be conquered and recede from existence, and hope for another year filled with love and life.

Here’s cheers to the end of an amazing year in my World; hope you start the New Year full of love and life and inspiration, and I hope you’ll stay interested in following the stories of me.

My 25 Days Dry

Elton John on Instagram last week:

“25 years of sobriety today. One day at a time. #Gratitude #Happiness #Blessed #ShareTheLove”

Today is the third day of August, and three days ago I celebrated the end of my Dry July with a champagne toast.

In total I was officially ‘dry’ for 25 July days, received Golden Tickets to account for the other six and raised more than $300 for the Cancer Council WA.

Along the way I learnt some lessons about planning for and managing my alcohol consumption, and that I don’t need to have a few drinks to feel confident in social settings.

Unfortunately my plan to also lose excess kilos didn’t pan out; I need to overcome the urge to reward myself with food and drinks or find other ways to that won’t add to my calorie consumption.

Interesting to consider how insignificant my 25 days are when compared to the impressive 25 years by Elton John; imagine how hard it has been for him over the years in his social circle!

One day at a time is my plan from now one, but as for Dry July:

Let the records show, I took the blows, and did it My Way!

My ‘Claytons’ @Dry July

This year is my first attempt at committing to Dry July and for me the experience has evolved into an interesting social experiment.

Drinking alcohol is so ingrained in my world that my abstinence appears to be somewhat of an affront to others and they are only too willing to pay for me TO drink rather than have me be the wallflower.

Obviously this is a dilemma others have experienced, hence the ability to purchase a ‘Golden Ticket’ for a specific date, which means that despite being signed on to staying sober for 31 days I have the option of taking a ‘leave pass’ from sobriety.

Effectively a win-win for me and my nominated charity recipient, to date I have already received three Golden Tickets which has helped boost my fundraising tally and (in theory)
allow me to drink with a clear conscience.

So why is my conscience standing with her arms folded and one eye-brow raised giving me ‘Evils’?

It feels like I am cheating, having a drink when I am not drinking, hence the Claytons reference.

For the uninitiated, Claytons is a Kola Tonic packaged to look like Whisky that was heavily advertised in my childhood as
“the drink you have when you’re not having a drink”.

A quick search online reveals that it is still available but hard to source in my local area. To be honest I don’t think it sounds particularly appetising, and like all the other non-alcoholic beverages I have been drinking over the past two weeks it’s likely that there is only so much you can consume before craving a spirit to mix it with.

As for my Dry July, to be fair I logged a not-too-shabby ten day draught before my first Golden Ticket, and that is longer than I have gone without a ‘social lubricant’ in a very long time.
My fundraising total is already $200+ and I have two more ‘leave pass’ dates to look forward to before the end of July.

It will be interesting to see how many Golden Tickets I accumulate and what they contribute to my fundraising tally by the end of the month, but in the meantime I will ignore my conscience and look forward to the opportunity to plan for and savour my next alcoholic drink.

At the end of the day, it’s looking like that will be my key learning from the whole experience.

Think before you drink; I think there’s a lesson in there for all of us.

#dryjuly

Know Before You Go

Thinking of feeding pigeons in San Francisco or carrying your shopping in a plastic bag in Rwanda? Think again.

I can get arrested for that? Some acts that could get you in hot water overseas

Of the many advantages of a cruise holiday, for me the information that is provided in advance of arriving at destinations is priceless. Taking time to review the literature or watch the presentation on board means that travellers can step onto foreign soil without fear of causing offense to local residents or even worse breaking local laws.

I was well prepared with suitably modest clothing and a scarf for the tour of Abu Dhabi on our recent cruise which included the local mosque, yet despite the warnings on board the ship and the tour coach others were not which resulted in public humiliation and no doubt reinforcement of negative attitudes towards foreign cultures and customs for some.

You would think that someone planning an extended stay overseas would want to be especially well informed and wary of the culture,
customs and laws; apparently not if the recent media coverage of the Australian arrested in Abu Dhabi for a Social Media post is any indication.

In the age of Social Media it pays to think twice before publicly broadcasting your personal opinion on foreign soil, and do your research if you are steering your own ship overseas.

For me the opportunity to see and experience another way of life, even if ever so briefly, is the whole point of travel; along with some chill time for relaxation and reflection of course.

Don’t let a negative encounter influence or worse still determine your travel experience.