Dancing the Night Away

One of the things that I look forward to on my cruises is ballroom dancing. As a single person living in a village this is the only time I get to participate in one of my favourite activities.

It wasn't until my third P&O Cruise that I discovered that members of the Entertainment Staff drop in at the dances and help the host and hostess by dancing with people needing a partner. Unfortunately, since that cruise, it seems that the young men no longer have the time or, as I discovered on one cruise, they cannot dance.

Obviously I have complained to both P&O and Carnival (the parent company) each time I have returned from a cruise. The popular response is that they don't - at the moment - have enough members of the Entertainment Teams to go around but.... They are working on it and there will be more staff and they will be taught the basic steps. I first complained after a cruise last September and I am not giving out any prizes to those of you who have guessed the reason for this blog.

On one occasion I was told that there are Dance Hosts on Cunard but not on P&O because Carnival want to keep each Line distinctive. (When I cruised on P&O's Oceana last year it was just like being on a Carnival cruise ship. I know because when I lived in Florida I used to take short breaks on their ships out of Tampa).

As single people pay extra - a LOT extra - surely we are entitled to a couple of Dance Hosts?

Of course there are Strictly Come Dancing Cruises on P&O but you can guess what happens to the price. Way out of my league with the added Single Supplement.

Come on, P&O, stop spoiling the cruises for singles who want to dance.

Thank goodness for the dance tutors who also act as hosts. Without them I wouldn't get in any dancing and on this Baltic cruise it was Wayne and Sharon who came to my rescue. Thanks guys!

A plea - if you are single, cruise and enjoy dancing but there aren't dance hosts on the Line you use - write and complain. It seems that that is the only way - at least with P&O. Maybe if a few thousand single ladies write and complain they might (fingers crossed) re-think their policy.