Dancing Aboard the Rhapsody

Dancing on the Rhapsody  (please note there are three letters at the bottom of the page)
Written by Rick Archer

(Note: I had quite a bit of help from Stefani Callihan, Don Schmidt, Stephanie Barrow and several others who were kind enough to contribute their thoughts such as Gary Richardson, Maureen Brunetti, Leroy Ginzel, John Frierson, Stella Moore, Lorraine Cull, Ken Proctor, Gareld and Virginia McEathron, plus Pat and Jess Carnes. Thank you very much for your help!  And thank you Gary for all the great pictures!)


As most of you can figure out without much help on my part, Dancing is always a big part of every SSQQ cruise.  Dancing is, after all, the bond that unites us all.

The Rhapsody 2004 trip was certainly no different. There was dancing everywhere and we have lots of pictures to prive it!! 

There was dancing by the pool, there was dancing during the day in SSQQ workshops and there was dancing during the evening at the Shall We Dance events like Western Night and the Sock Hop.

There was more dancing during the evening at the Viking Crown Disco and to the Ballroom music in the Centrum. And if that wasn't enough, there was dancing in the Shall We Dance Lounge to Gary Richardson's computerized music into the wee hours of the morning.

And we exported our dancing as well. We danced in the bars of Key West, to the sounds of "Tequila" at a bar in Costa Maya, and at Senor Frog's in Cozumel.

And let's not forget all the fun we had dancing at the Wedding Reception, the Captain's Reception, and the Crown and Anchor Reception.

Everywhere we went, it was Dance Dance Dance.

In the picture at right, Usual Suspect The Great Gabino plus Hall of Fame Mischief-Maker Maureen Brunetti are dancing the Whip at Ernest Hemingway's old drinking hole in Key West known as Sloppy Joes.  Note that two other Usual Suspects Mr. Handsome and Center of Attention managed to sneak in the picture as well.

Maureen has been on every cruise except the Mardi Gras trip earlier in 2004. She has misbehaved many times in the past, but if she was up to no good on this trip, she definitely did it under my radar.  Nevertheless Maureen maintained her status as the best woman dancer on the trip with her victory in the Twist Contest.  Maureen and Paul Foltyn also contributed to make the band lose its place in the middle of a song with some impressive acrobatics.

Speaking of good dancers, I thought Joanie Grossman appeared to be ready to step up and give Maureen a challenge.  Joanie definitely held her own out on the dance floor. Seen at right dancing with Gary Richardson, she moves very gracefully on any dance floor, even outside by the pool.

I might add that Gary seemed to have a lot of fun dancing.  He is a marathon dancer these days. Gary likes to needle me that he dances to practically every song while I dance to one or two a night. Unfortunately I have to admit he is right on that score. Although I did my fair share of dancing, Gary out-lapped me by several miles on this trip.

The difference of course is that Gary does computers for a living and dancing is his beloved hobby. I play basketball for my hobby.  Did I mention our Alaska ship in 2005 has a B-Ball court?  Can't wait!

Ballroom Dancing is pretty quiet on land back in Houston, but you wouldn't know it after watching the SSQQ Gang down in the Centrum.

Practically every night anywhere from one couple to ten couples filled the marble dance floor to dance Foxtrot, Waltz, Swing, and Cha Cha. And guess who their biggest fans were?  You guessed it - The Band.  Normally this floor stays pretty empty, but not this week.

The Band was very pleased to see their music appreciated so much.  One humorous quip came from the singer named Tammy who exclaimed, ""You guys can dance to anything!"

That's true, we can, but we probably could have passed on "Achy Breaky Heart" which we heard practically every night. Ouch.

We forgave them the moment they played a Tango. Then they surprised us again with "The Girl From Ipanema" which worked nicely as a Rumba. 

I am not quite sure why, but I am starting to enjoy Ballroom Dancing more than at any other time in my dance career.  I definitely appreciate the variety of the different dances.  I also enjoy dancing all dressed up to a live band!  The elegance appeals to me. 

It is fun to suck in the tummy, square up the shoulders, put on the smile, move around the floor as gracefully as possible while I pretend to be Fred Astaire dancing with the lovely Ginger Rogers. It is definitely a fun fantasy. 

Am I the only one who thinks this way?  Definitely not. The ladies love to get all dressed up and show off. It is the height of sophistication to be seen dancing gracefully in a beautiful gown with high heels and a bemused look.

It is fun to see the ladies smile while they dance.  In the picture at right, the beautiful Wendy Chuang clearly enjoys Swing Dancing with Don Schmidt. 

Let me add that Don was VERY popular on the dance floor throughout the trip.  Not only is he a versatile dancer, he is gentle and very smooth. Best of all, I never see him leading moves that might be considered over his partner's head. 

Another male dancer with the same reputation for combining smooth dancing with gentle dancing is the sophisticated Iqbal Nagji. Pictured at right dancing with Leslie Goldsmith, Iqbal is a source of great fascination to everyone. He is a perfect dancer and a complete gentleman at all times.  One thing I have always found interesting about Iqbal is that he is capable of talking with great intelligence on any topic imaginable. One night I brought up a story about a cruise liner that sank in its own shipyard. To my surprise, Iqbal knew more about this obscure story than I did!

Born in Tanzania, Iqbal has probably seen more of the world than all the rest of us combined. He loves to travel and he has been on many cruises in addition to the ones he has shared with our group. However despite his obvious worldliness, Iqbal is extremely down-to-earth and quite approachable. Everyone respects him so much.

Iqbal was also quite the leader. He organized the bar hopping at Key West that led to many great dance scenes in unexpected places!  (See James Bowling and Sherry Thornton dancing at right)

Another man in demand was my friend Paul Foltyn. Paul of course was the Hero of my Wedding when he loaned me his shoes after I forgot my own.  But Paul didn't need the notoriety to be popular on the dance floor - he is a great Swing dancer!  Paul teaches Acrobatics for us at the studio. As I mentioned earlier, he and Maureen Brunetti shocked the Band when he flipped Maureen over his back in the middle of a song. The band was so surprised they lost their place in their song!  I wish I had been there to see that one!  Afterwards, no one dared take their eyes of off Maureen and Paul just in case they tried another trick like that!

All week long our dancers were treated as celebrities. As I said in another story, back home all of our dancers pretty much think they are maybe beginning/intermediate dancers or perhaps slightly above average. They can quickly point to a dozen people they know who are "So Much Better Than I am!!"

But aboard this ship, even the complete beginners still know so much more about dancing than the other guests that they receive tremendous amounts of attention whenever they dance.

Any time there is music, SSQQ dancers become the "Entertainment".  Even the Rhapsody Staff sits up and takes notice.  Here is a quote from a letter that Stefani Callihan shared with me (Stefani is pictured at right dancing with Ramon Banea.)

"I received a compliment I will treasure from one of the ship's main song and dance performers. She stopped me on the last night after I had been dancing with Don Schmidt in the Centrum. Just before we left to head over to the Shall we Dance Loungem she leaned over and said, "You are an excellent dancer."

(Of course, we know my dancing ability is directly related to the great lead Don is!) Her compliment put me over the top!"

Stefani's cute story was repeated time and time again by many dancers in our group. We took over the trip and captured the imagination of so many people who had never seen dancing like this before in their lives.

The passengers loved watching us. The players in the bands loved watching us. The Rhapsody staff loved watching us.  We added so much energy throughout the ship every day and night of the trip.  And we of course appreciated the attention very much.

The only sad note of course is that I wish we could add this sort of energy on every trip. For example, we could DEFINITELY help the Rhapsody improve their Sock Hop Night. Instead of a Hula Hoop Contest or a Twist Contest that barely involves a few passengers, we could have the entire room dancing to SSQQ-flavored Line Dances. Maureen Brunetti made this exact same point in her letter:

"I talked to cruise director Julie who seemed very receptive to more involvement from us on future Rhapsody trips. Especially on "Sock Hop" night!! Nobody knows how to Sock Hop like SSQQ. We could do all kinds of fun line dances. The Stroll, Raisin Dance, Cha Cha Hustle, Twistin the Night Away, etc. The Rhapsody passengers would have a ball!  I just know they would."

I imagine the Staff had to feel something of a let-down the week after we left.  Oh well.  Maybe someday the Rhapsody executives will arrange a way that we can export the same dance magic on every trip. I will cross my fingers and hope!

Of course many of us fussed about the sticky floors and music that was played way too fast or way too slow. When it comes to complaining about the dancing, maybe we should realize it isn't completely fair to compare dancing on the ship to dancing at SSQQ. You may not realize that dancing on the Rhapsody is a huge improvement over the other cruise lines.  I have been a passenger on three different lines and the Rhapsody is clearly superior to the other.  Nor am I the only one who feels this way.  Here is an excerpt from a letter by Gareld and Virginia McEathron:

"Of the three different cruise lines that Virginia and I have been on, the size of the floors, quality of the music and variety of dance venues we experienced on the Rhapsody would make it improbable that we would be interested in returning to the other lines."

I completely agree.  I am sold on Royal Caribbean.  We had a marvelous time aboard their ship.  Take a look at some of the smiles in the pictures below if there is any doubt in your mind.

And maybe... just maybe... someday SSQQ will be allowed to share some its own special magic with ALL of the Rhapsody passengers. Wouldn't that be fun?

Fred and Ginger

Steve and Maureen

Gary and Joanie

The Centrum Crowd

More Centrum

Wendy and Don

Lesley G and Iqbal

Sherry and James Go Wild in Key West

Penney and Paul

Stefani C. and Ramon

John Safos and Penney

The Great Gabino and Ms. Lollobridgida

I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts about the dance issue on the cruise. As one of those who searched for dance venues on this trip quite often, I feel qualified to offer my point of view on this subject.

I looked for places to dance on the ship from early afternoon until the wee hours of the morning. It was more of a challenge than I expected on an SSQQ cruise. During the times that a band/music was available, there was a core group of us who danced as much as was possible. And when those places closed down, we hunted as one would for food if one was starving, and we remained unfed.

When Gary was finally able to DJ for us in the Shall We Dance Lounge, it was as if yet another banquet was laid out for us. And we feasted.

I am not one to lay around and vegetate, and I would have welcomed more dance opportunities during the daytime hours while we were at sea, and much more dancing opportunity every night than was available.

The Shall We Dance Lounge was lovely and very comfortable for resting and viewing the dancers, but the floor was somewhat sticky. The Centrum area was beautiful as well and had a better floor, but the dance area was rather small. The Viking room at the top of the ship was great, but the cigarette smoke was lethal and the music was too loud. I danced two dances in there and left, never to return.

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment on the Rhapsody. It is an incredibly beautiful ship with a nice layout. The bands and the music were really great. I enjoyed the amenities on board and I truly enjoyed the dance opportunities we had, AND I would have welcomed more.

As far as the idea of more involvement with the studio goes, my imagination wants to go wild with that idea, as I envision dance taking a much greater role in my life than it does presently. I'll be quite interested to know how this possibility plays out.

I had so much fun on the cruise, I still find it hard to believe. And although there seemed to be issues around available dance venues for us, I still danced every night to my heart's content.

Little did I know how valuable the lessons I have taken would be, or the joy I would experience on a daily basis out there on all those lovely dance floors on the Rhapsody. And the third article written by Rick about Rhapsody 2004 captures the essence so well...it was a spectacular feeling to dance and enjoy myself AND offer spectators their own form of enjoyment at the same time. It was also surprising to me how much the different bands enjoyed our "performances". I lost track of how many times I heard one of the performers say "You guys can dance to anything!" And the group that played most often in the Centrum seemed to absolutely light up when a group of us showed up to dance.

I also received a compliment I will treasure from one of the ship's main song and dance performers. She stopped me on the last night after I had been dancing with Don in the Centrum, as we were headed to the Shall we Dance Lounge. She leaned over and said, "You are an excellent dancer." (Of course, we know my dancing ability is directly related to the great lead Don is!) Her comment put me over the top!

How can I not follow this great cruise with another one! I have no doubt that it will be at least as great and most likely even better because I will have had another year of fabulous classes and will have built upon the many new friendships created on this first cruise, and so will be sailing with good friends I didn't have before.

Thank you both for putting together a spectacular vacation opportunity for me, and everyone else who chose to take advantage of it. My first cruise ever could not have been better.

Yours truly,
Stefani Callihan


Dancing on the Rhapsody Letter Three
Written by Stephanie Barrow

Dear Rick,

I wanted give some feedback about dancing aboard the Rhapsody.  This was my first time on a cruise, so I do not know how dancing accommodations compared to other trips, but I do have a few thoughts I'd like to share.

First of all, there was too much emphasis on line dancing.  I understand they are supposed to be an ice-breaker for people without partners or prior dance experience, but I haven't met anyone yet who did not feel silly doing them (and not in a healthy YMCA/Macarena way).  Maybe they should have reserved the line dancing for a children’s activity.

I noticed in the Daily Compass that several attempts were made to unite the singles onboard.  They could have used one of those activities as an opportunity to teach some basic dance steps (foxtrot and waltz for formal night, two-step and polka for the Texas night, etc).  Then, they could have maintained the dinner theme well into the night by coordinating a dance theme as well.  If they taught the dance classes with the same format of switching partners, like you have done, then the singles would all eventually meet and maybe get the courage to dance together later.

Ok, one more criticism before I get to the positive . . . The DJ in the Viking Crown Lounge should try and play a wider variety of music from night to night.  I heard the same songs every night, and it got to the point where I asked on Friday "Didn't they just finish playing this song?"  I wasn't trying to be clever; I actually thought they played the song twice.

Despite the musical deja vu, I did enjoy the Viking Crown Lounge as a place to show off my freestyle lessons.  And the Shall We Dance Lounge was beautiful.  My only concern was that I wanted to be in both places at once for one event or another.  So, perhaps they could stagger or even extend the times of the dance opportunities?  You know how it can be, when you have a great dancing experience, you don't want it to end.

I really enjoyed the music by the pool.  If the Captain feels that there is not enough dancing going on, perhaps crew members can be planted on the dance floor to boost confidence.  Shy folks like me don't like being the first one out there.  The crew could even ask passengers to join them (one on one rather than shouting it over the microphone).

I'm curious about how occupied the dance floors normally are without our stunning talent gracing the ship.

On a side note, wouldn't it be great publicity if the dance crew aboard the Rhapsody were trained by SSQQ?  There are pros and cons to that, of course, I'm just thinking "out loud".

Well, that's all my input for now (ha ha sorry for being long-winded).  I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

Thanks for the lovely experience, and I look forward to the party on the 15th.  I e-mailed you and Marla some pictures that I thought you'd enjoy, but my e-mail server failed to deliver them.  I'll try again tonight (it's just some wedding shots and the pic I took of you and George shaking hands before the "Smack Down").  Have a great day!!

Stephanie Barrow

Center of Attention and Don. Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Disco Ball!



Maureen and Iqbal



Mara and Mr. Handsome



Gary and Joanie Struttin' their Stuff.
Reminds me of a scene from "Shag"
where they dance in shorts and swimsuits along
the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk!!


Stephanie Barrow and the Great Gabino