We had booked a transfer from The Intercontinental Resort to the cruise ship pier with the Princess Cruises representative at the hotel. There were advantages to doing this. Firstly, although the recommendation for normal check-in time is after 2 Pm for speedier processing, our transfer was scheduled for 11 am and we could check in as early as 11:30 am. That gave us lots of time to get settled and still have the afternoon to explore the market and pier-side area of Papeete.
It also meant that apart from having our suitcases ready for pick up by 9 am, we could forget about lugging bags and things in taxis. Check-in was very quick.
We took advantage of being on board early to visit the Lotus Spa on the 10th floor next to the gym. We both booked massages. I booked one for the 31st, thinking that after four days of dancing my body would really need it. I also booked a pedicure thinking that I could get purple polish to match the dress I was going to wear on New Year’s Eve.
The Nutcracker,
A Goh Ballet Production
Choreographer Anna-Marie Holmes
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Vancouver Opera Orchestra
Conducted by Leslie Dala
The Centre for Performing Arts
Dec 15 to 18, 2011
Vancouver, BC: The Nutcracker has been a Christmas tradition for ballet companies all over the world for many years. I remember way back as a child in Cape Town, being enthralled by the music and the fantastic visions on stage. That was an early event that led to my lifelong love of dance. Vancouver's Goh Ballet has established a tradition of its own with this year's show being the third production of this version of the ballet. It has been a while since I have seen The Nutcracker, but it has lost none of its charm for me. This production sparkled and I loved every minute of it.
After a busy day and the very satisfying but filling lobster lunch at the Fish House Grill in Bar Harbor I felt as if I would not want to eat again for a year.
But we were asked to gather for group pictures before dinner, so there I was at dinner time with the gang in the lobby, watching Wendy try to marshal her staff for the pictures of the hosts for this cruise.
Wendy was trying to get everyone together while Honey was adjusting Chris's cummerbund and Bruce was giving advice in the background.
Imogen and I took advantage of the moment to get a photo too.
Bar Harbor, Maine - day three of the Autumn Escape East Coast ballroom dancing cruise.
Our stop in Bar Harbor was memorable for two things- the tour of Acadia National Park with stunning views out over Frenchman Bay; and the buttery, lobster lunch that left us messy and smelling of shellfish but smiling in total gastronomic happiness.
The Queen Mary 2 dropped anchor out in the bay beyond the sandbar from which Bar Harbor gets it's name, and we were tendered into the port. Bar Harbor is known for being "cottage country" for the ultra rich and famous in the mid-19th century. Although the cottages were in fact palatial mansions. Most were destroyed by a massive fire in 1947. Now it is a summer resort dominated by inns, motels and bed and breakfasts, with a tiny permanent population of around 4800 people.
There is a very picturesque harbor with a tourist centre advertising the wide range of water-activities available. Some of these activities include whale watching aboard jet powered Australian designed catamarans that take you 20 miles south of Bar Harbor where the larger whales feed. They often see harbor porpoises, sharks, seals, pods of pilot whales, dolphins and often humpbacks, Minkes and finback whales. You can sign up for a lobster fishing and seal watching boat tour or even head into Acadia national park and take a rock climbing course.
However my organized roomie, Carol had booked us on Oli's Trolley Sightseeing tour, a one hour sightseeing ride that includes a 15 minute stop at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, and a stop at Thunder Hole. It was a good choice.
We disembarked from the tender and made our way up to the landing. As we rounded the corner of the building we were entranced by the fragrant scent of freshly baking, and there in the window we saw a tray of freshly made blueberry muffins.
We promptly turned round and headed into the bakery/cafe where I bought a delicious blueberry muffin and Carol acquired blueberry scones. Great marketing technique. They say olfactory stimuli are among the most powerful sensory inputs and it certainly worked on us.
Fortunately my friend Carol is a great organizer because left to me, I would probably not see much of the various ports at which we call. Remember for me its the journey! But thanks to Carol we had a itinerary planned for this first destination in Boston.
We decided to have an early breakfast in the King's Court buffet, where we met up with Dorothy and Bruce, and enjoyed a good chat. I was scheduled to have a lesson with Honey at 9:30 so I headed down to G32 where we worked on styling and following. Its those arm movements that get me every time. I think I have to just get less self-conscious and just let my arms move naturally.
After the lesson I found Carol waiting in the cabin and we headed ashore. We had booked a Boston Duck Tour and needed to get to the Tour start center at the Prudential Building.We got there a little early and wandered through the shopping center before returning to wait for our tour.
The threat of turbulent seas from Hurricane Earl meant that the cruise itinerary had to be revised. So when I checked into my stateroom, there was a notice saying that the Queen Mary 2 would remain at the Brooklyn Pier till later that night and in the early hours, set sail, so to speak, for Boston. So instead of visiting Newport, we would have an unexpected day at sea.
I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try a lunch at the Todd English restaurant so I trotted down the corridor to the aft end of the ship and made a reservation for lunch at 12:30 for Carol and myself, and figured I would check with her later. I had been wanting to check out some of the alternate dining opportunities both on the Queen Victoria and on the QM2 but since with DAS we generally have each evening's dinner as a group, I have been reluctant to seem unsociable and skip out on a meal. So this unplanned day at sea seemed like an ideal time to eat out.
The reason I went on my first dance cruise with Dancers at Sea, the West Coast Ballroom Dancing and Wine-Tasting Cruise, that started my whole craze for dance cruising, was because on the DAS web-site, I noted that Wendy promised a dance host for every three single guests. So at worst, one would be dancing every third dance instead of sitting wistfully on the sidelines watching others on the dance floor.
On the second cruise I took with the DAS group, the four night East Coast Labor Weekend Getaway from New York, I first encountered Dance Hosts from the Queen Mary 2 Dance Host program. A couple of the hosts on that cruise were really excellent dancers and thanks to them, we found that we got to dance more frequently than every third dance. The next three cruises I went on were on two Princess and one Costa ship, none of which had dance hosts and I thought for me, that was a significant lack.
This has been an unusual voyage from the dancing perspective because of the timing of the days when the ship is at sea. Wendy usually organizes two dance workshops taught by her dance pros in the morning on sea days and most times there is at least one quite early in the voyage. But in the cruise round the British isles, the sea days came at the end. So workshops were scheduled on the days that we sailed between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh back to Southampton.
We gathered in Club Hemispheres at 9 am for the first workshop taught by Robert, on rhumba.
Quite often at the workshops there are many more women than men but on this first morning two of the Cunard hosts joined in for the first class and part of the second, and as well Wendy invited another passenger who had been dancing with our group. So for the first class at least we were evenly matched and that meant that rotating partners worked well.
By the time we returned from our shore expedition to Edinburgh, it was time to change for dinner. Most of us made it to the Britannia Restaurant by six-thirty though our ranks were a bit depleted.
The dinner was as usual very good. I have been really impressed by the food and by the excellent dining room service on this particular cruise. It is also interesting watching how some dishes seem to catch everyone's attention, and other times the whole range of options appear on the table.
Tonight most of the people at our table ordered the Char sui pork (Chinese barbecue pork) spring rolls with BBQ sauce- and they were good. Crisp and tasty.
Shortly after I wrote my first Dance Cruise Travelblogue, the West Coast Ballroom Dance Cruise, I received a delightfully enthusiastic comment from someone I had never meet. Her name was Peggy, and she commented that she and her husband Harlan were long time cruisers with Dancers at Sea and always had a wonderful time.
When I finally met Peggy in person on the New Year Caribbean Cruise, she was as bubbly and enthusiastic as in her correspondence. Harlan in turn I found to be an equally enthusiastic dancer, and a thoughtful gentleman, who made sure to dance with all the ladies at some time, especially when Peggy was up dancing. This endeared him even more to all of us.
We had booked a transfer from The Intercontinental Resort to the cruise ship pier with the Princess Cruises representative at the hotel. There were advantages to doing this. Firstly, although the recommendation for normal check-in time is after 2 Pm for speedier processing, our transfer was scheduled for 11 am and we could check in as early as 11:30 am. That gave us lots of time to get settled and still have the afternoon to explore the market and pier-side area of Papeete.
The Nutcracker,
After a busy day and the very satisfying but filling lobster lunch at the 
Bar Harbor, Maine - day three of the Autumn Escape East Coast ballroom dancing cruise.
However my organized roomie, Carol had booked us on Oli's Trolley Sightseeing tour, a one hour sightseeing ride that includes a 15 minute stop at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, and a stop at Thunder Hole. It was a good choice.
We disembarked from the tender and made our way up to the landing. As we rounded the corner of the building we were entranced by the fragrant scent of freshly baking, and there in the window we saw a tray of freshly made blueberry muffins. 
Fortunately my friend Carol is a great organizer because left to me, I would probably not see much of the various ports at which we call. Remember for me its the journey! But thanks to Carol we had a itinerary planned for this first destination in Boston.
After the lesson I found Carol waiting in the cabin and we headed ashore. We had booked a Boston Duck Tour and needed to get to the Tour start center at the Prudential Building.We got there a little early and wandered through the shopping center before returning to wait for our tour.
The threat of turbulent seas from Hurricane Earl meant that the cruise itinerary had to be revised. So when I checked into my stateroom, there was a notice saying that the Queen Mary 2 would remain at the Brooklyn Pier till later that night and in the early hours, set sail, so to speak, for Boston. So instead of visiting Newport, we would have an unexpected day at sea.
This has been an unusual voyage from the dancing perspective because of the timing of the days when the ship is at sea. Wendy usually organizes two dance workshops taught by her dance pros in the morning on sea days and most times there is at least one quite early in the voyage. But in the cruise round the British isles, the sea days came at the end. So workshops were scheduled on the days that we sailed between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh back to Southampton.
We gathered in Club Hemispheres at 9 am for the first workshop taught by Robert, on rhumba.
By the time we returned from our shore expedition to Edinburgh, it was time to change for dinner. Most of us made it to the Britannia Restaurant by six-thirty though our ranks were a bit depleted.
The dinner was as usual very good. I have been really impressed by the food and by the excellent dining room service on this particular cruise. It is also interesting watching how some dishes seem to catch everyone's attention, and other times the whole range of options appear on the table. 
Shortly after I wrote my first Dance Cruise Travelblogue, the 
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