Monday - January 21, 2008

Buccaneers' Ball

The first ball of the cruise is the Buccaneers Ball where the staff dress up like pirates, as do some of the guests. The decorations and costumes were quite good this year and it was fun to see everyone having a good time. The dance floor was crowded with all those couples who were taking the opportunity to try out the dance steps they had been learning in the daily morning dance classes. 

The gentlemen dance hosts were busy escorting a lot of the single ladies onto the dance floor, and there are a lot of single women on this cruise. I saw one who made me wonder how he got the job, because he looked as stiff as a board out there, but maybe he was pretending to have a peg leg! 

The music is great because the Orchestra plays a lot of dance numbers from the big band era. I always feel as though I have been transported to another era when I see the men in their tuxedos and the ladies in their best ball gowns, and listen to such enduring tunes as "The A Train" and "Time after Time". I keep expecting Frank Sinatra to take the microphone to belt out a song. If it all has this effect on me, one can only imagine how many memories it all brings back for those people who lived through the '40s.