The performance is designed to feature each individual celebrity’s best moves as well as the collect

Holland America Line 's Oosterdam has been great, and Alaska has been great. But the main event onboard this particular cruise has been the Dancing with the Stars: At Sea sensation which has been a huge hit for the cruise line. On this our final day of the cruise, we have just experienced the last guest dance-off, and it was so much fun to see the enthusiasm from the crowd as well as the performers, summing up the Dancing with the Stars: At Sea experience perfectly.
The popular TV show has made ratings magic with its signature pairing of professional dancers and celebrities, and Dancing with the Stars: At Sea makes waves of its own by matching the cruise line with the hit production. The result is a set of theme cruises featuring select dancers and stars onboard – such as ours – and a fleet-wide dancing competition, on all sailings departing queen tour dates through November 2013, for a chance to win a free cruise.
Across the line's 15 ships, participating passengers will accumulate points with the single highest scorer per ship winning passage on the Champions Cruise in January 2014. Onboard, a final dance-off will commence to see who will be rewarded a special version of the Mirror Ball Trophy as seen on the show. Only two theme cruises remain for now, but the partnership is expected to renew.
Holland America Line has offered dance classes on its ships before, but the Dancing with the Stars brand has effectively quadrupled the interest queen tour dates in them with not only a full stage of students but also a full house of spectators, itself a novelty. Each session is introduced by a video clip of pro dancer Kym Johnson explaining the steps and form for each particular dance. queen tour dates Then the resident dancers from the ship take over to personally oversee the class.
Once the lesson is complete, the four most proficient dancers are chosen to compete with final points tallied from the judges's scores and popular votes just as on the TV show. At the end of the cruise, six finalists gathered from the previous classes perform once more to crown the winner of the entire sailing and perhaps make it to the Champions Cruise mentioned above.
Taking the entertainment partnership even further, the theme cruises highlight a number of the stars and pro dancers onboard with the opportunity for guests to meet and mingle with their fan favorites. queen tour dates One component of these select cruises is a fashion show where dozens of the dresses from the show are paraded poolside, worn by the visiting troupe – pros themselves – and resident dancers.
The detail on these dresses is phenomenal, and they and the ladies wearing them were stunning. queen tour dates The vibrant colors and flowing fabrics were a sight to behold, and the high energy music and strutting of the dancers made for a fun afternoon hosted by none other than pro Kym Johnson and star Carson Kressley.
For those fans who ever had a question to ask their favorite performers from the show, a 45-minute Q A provides the perfect opportunity. Truly, all of the dancers and celebrities are extremely friendly and happy to interact with the fans. In fact, the cruise is as much of a treat for them as it is for the passengers.
Our cruise featured pro dancers Kym Johnson and Tristan MacManus as well as celebrities Shawn Johnson, Sabrina Bryan and Carson Kressley who are all lovely people. Carson in particular is an absolute hoot onboard with his constant wisecracks and playful antics. There has certainly been a whole lot of smiling and laughing occurring onboard.
As you might expect, the highlight of the cruise is getting to see the performers dance in person. In place of one of the regular Broadway-style productions, Dancing with the Stars: At Sea takes over with a full fledged show that quickly filled up the theatre with patrons by 6pm for the 8pm performance. Also, the 10pm show was equally as popular.
The performance is designed to feature each individual celebrity's best moves as well as the collective company with video clips from the TV show placed as transitions between the numbers. The show is well paced and never slows down, with every dancer giving it their all with beaming smiles. Carson Kressley acted as emcee here and there and always had the crowd rolling with laughter.
The show is just plain fun and does a great job of bringing the TV studio experience to the fans in a very intimate way. A delight and certainly a crowd pleaser, it ended with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Holland America queen tour dates Line and Dancing with the Stars have much to be proud of.
As someone who had only seen a handful of Dancing with the Stars episodes prior to the cruise, I can honestly queen tour dates say that I'm hooked on the show now, which is a testament to the brand exposure this partnership brings to existing and new fans. And what's more, it is a perfect fit for the cruise line's core demographic as well as an even broader one it is doing well to attract.
Multigenerational fans – grandparents and grandchildren alike – have packed the house for the dance classes, queen tour dates fashion shows, photo-ops, signings and performances, illustrating the program s great success. "I think what they love so much about it is that they get to be a part of it," explains Carson Kressley. Shawn Johnson adds, "It's very intimate. We walk around the cruise all week and get to share breakfast, lunch and dinner with all these people."
The experience is clearly a home-run for the cruise line, its guests and also the celebrities themselves. Professional queen tour dates dancer, Kym Johnson exclaims, "it's my first Holland queen tour dates America cruise, and I love it."
Your fun, refreshing oasis for cruise reviews and behind-the-scenes explorations of cruising in videos, photos, and words. We were christened in 2012 by our captain and editor-in-chief, Jason Leppert.
At 29 years of age, Jason is a cruise expert with 59 sailings under his belt and a fresh, youthful perspective on the industry. He has been cruising since before he was even two years old thanks to his parents' shared passion for traveling and their desire to experience all journeys together as a family.
Before starting Popular Cruising, Jason was a regular contributing editor at CruiseMates . He now also participates as a co-host on Cruize Cast and contributes to Onboard.com and the Travel Channel . Additionally, he is a monthly cruise columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper .