Dancing out on the Open Waves!

 

I first saw the Masters In Line’s Cruise advertised last summer and thought this would be a holiday of a lifetime..  I had always wanted to do a cruise but thought I couldn’t take to the cruise life and it would be too expensive but after reading the leaflet it did sound tempting.  The idea of visiting all these wonderful cities, travelling in luxury, good weather and a chance to dance the nights away – it sounded too good to be true. 

 

My travel companions and I set off early hours Sunday 6th June from Swindon, Wiltshire to Heathrow to catch our flight.  Half asleep we arrived at the Terminal to surprisingly meet up with our dancing friends from Scotland.  We spent the hours waiting to check in by amusing the other travellers to dancing in the waiting areas.  Now how did Funky Town go again?

 

We also started to spot the “Dance Holidays” yellow suitcase labels of people’s cases, where new friends were made asking “Here for the MIL Cruise?” “Where do you dance?”

 

We arrived at Genoa Port after a very quick and comfortable flight and a 2.5-hour coach journey through windy road and picturesque mountains (time for a bit of a sleep too).

 

This is where we met up with the rest of Masters In Line Cruise Holiday Group.  More exchanges of “Hello”, hugs, “ooh you’re on the holiday today too – great! and “How have you been?” exchanged.

 

Now you want to know what actually happened, don’t you…..

 

The cruise ship MSC Melody was stunning – 2 pools (absolutely freezing), 7 bars, disco (which I frequented too often), stunning restaurant (where I ate too much!), cafes, 7 decks with lovely cabins.

 

Every night except Sunday (first night on the ship) and Thursday (in port in Majorca) we danced the night from 9pm till 1am or 2am on the open deck.  Martyn and Chris from Rebel Riders were our DJs for the week.  They were great the whole week, some how managing to get through all our requests.  I was happy, because they played all mine!!  The first night dancing outside was fantastic; I kept on forgetting we were actually out at sea.  It wasn’t until I looked over the side and saw no land.  You were none the wiser that the boat was moving.  Rob, Rachel, Paul and Pedro all danced with us till the early hours.  I think the dance of the week had to be “Poetry in Motion”.  I never seemed to dance this so much before.  Still a favourite of mine though.

 

Even on the first night on the ship we wanted to dance, so we managed to fit our dances to the music played by the band – Real World, Let Me Love and Have Fun Go Mad were just some of the dances we fitted to the music.

 

Each night our fellow holidaymakers were able to watch us in action, which was really nice.  Even a few of the younger ones joined in.  It gave us a chance to advertise the hobby and let people see what line dancing was all about.  Even one evening the Captain of ship was shown our fancy footwork but we couldn’t tempt him to join in.

 

On a few evenings the dancing had to be put to a grinding halt for a short time so we could fill our faces at the stunning Midnight Buffets.  I had never seen so much food in my life.  All these different sculptures made out of fruits, ice etc. 

 

During the holiday us dancers had the opportunity to see Masters In Line show why they are the best!  This included demos from Paul & Rachel (“Lady in Red demo), MiL “Travel through music”.  Also an impromptu demo of the “Beast” by Rob joined by Deanne one evening.

 

On the cruise were some newlyweds from Sweden.  The cruise was their honeymoon.  One evening Mia (the bride) was asked sing a song.  She had a very good voice.  She sang the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest entry.  Everyone joined in doing “Black Coffee”.

 

There were 2 fancy dress nights – Toga Night and Pirates and Rogues Night.  If hadn’t dressed up you were in big trouble on Toga Night.  You were forced by the Romans to dance “Red Hot Salsa” and “One Step Forward” for their entertainment.  Thankfully I didn’t have to join in, too busy filming the event.

 

The Pirates and Rogues was the last night.  Everyone looked stunning dressed as pirates with their eye patches and plastic swords.  There was a treasure hunt competition, which we won a bit too quickly.  We had to guess where the treasure was by listening to 3 songs.  We got it after the first 30 seconds of the first song!  Sorry MiL!

 

Once the dancing finished, for some of us with still some energy, would all end up in the disco to continue the dancing to the early hours!!!

 

So what did we do during the day?  Well if you wanted to do you could join in the workshops, which were conveniently scheduled when we were out at sea.  During those workshops dances of all levels were taught, including “Buy Me a Rose”, “Latin Spice”, “Time to Ride”, “Musicology” and a new one specially written for the cruise “MSc Melody”.

 

When we weren’t dancing, we could relax in the sun on the top deck of the ship or take part in the many excursions offered by the Cruise Company.  Our ports of call were:-

 

  • Naples, Italy – A number of us visited the ruins of Pompeii.  The ruins were stunning.

 

  • Palermo, Sicily.  No trips that day, needed a day in the sun to start looking like I had a holiday.

 

  • Tunis, Tunisia – Thought I would visit the island.  See the many markets. The stall holders were very persistent.

 

  • Majorca – Some of us in the evening visited a few of the bars.  Pedro was very good keeping us on schedule – he didn’t want us to miss the ship!

 

  • Barcelona – there was an optional excursion with danceholidays.com for a barbecue and dance party.  We all had a short coach trip to a super fish restaurant on the sea front.  The food was smashing and the atmosphere great.  We all played games while we ate our food which was very entertaining – What is it now Rob? – Buzz, Whizz, 3, 4 5???  Afterwards we all danced the afternoon away outside the restaurant on a huge concrete floor overlooking the beach and the sea.  I was totally shattered afterwards.

 

  • Marseille – the Cruise ship offered a shuttle bus into town.  For me I did the 2 hour walk round the city.  A very beautiful city I would love to visit again.

 

As with all holidays, the week went too quickly.  On the final night MiL said a huge thanks to all us.  MiL really worked hard over the week to make sure we enjoyed the cruise to the full.  They enjoyed it, as much as us I think as for them it was a holiday too.  They socialised with us at every opportunity and made sure we were enjoying ourselves.  Michelle and Deanne Fowler joined in with everything and Pedro’s friend Geoff and not forgetting Woody (Toy Story doll) took part in all the merriment.

 

At the end of holiday MiL stated they would be doing another cruise next year; a huge hooray went round the deck. 

 

I would like to express a BIG THANKS to everyone involved in dance holidays, Rob, Paul, Rachel and Pedro (Michelle, Deanne, Geoff and Woody) for making it such a great week.  As this was my first cruise, I am totally addicted to the “Cruising Life” and already booked up for next year.

 

If anyone would like further information on next year’s holiday please contact danceholidays.com on 01293 527722 or at www.danceholidays.com