It was another wonderful QuickSteps Dance Holiday as we cruised with P&O’s Pacific Eden to Papua New Guinea from Cairns.
Here are just some of the highlights…
The flight to Cairns was pleasant. When we touched down at 11am we were welcomed with sunny skies and 30 degrees! Just what we all needed 🙂
From there, thanks to Seb’s forward planning, it was a short 15 minutes ride on our own private bus to the Cairns Cruise Terminal.
Within an hour we were all onboard and ready to set sail. We each headed to our cabins to unpack and began exploring the ship.
The Sail Away Party
It is traditional when cruising that the ship’s staff will host a ‘Sail Away Party’. This is where all the cruisers meet on the top deck to enjoy drinks and live music as the ship sails away.
But there was a two hours departure delay! So in true QuickSteps style, we created our own Not Yet Sailing Away Party. We enjoyed cocktails and wines in the Dome Bar and deck whilst listening to chilled out tunes and getting to better know one another.
Dance Workshops
The Dome Bar is also where we held our morning workshops. It had a great dance floor, and quickly transformed into an energetic and fun filled dance club by night.
Our first workshop looked at progressive dances that we could use throughout the trip. A QuickSteps Trip favourite, named Tropical Island Breaks (a circular Cha Cha) was a great dance for getting to know each other. We then moved onto Progressive Jive, another favourite.
Francesco later ran a workshop teaching us Rueda De Casino, so don’t be surprised if you see this salsa-like progressive dance happening at our regular dance parties.
Group Dinners
We arranged four groups dinners so that our members could enjoy a meal all together.
We enjoyed our dinners at the Waterfront restaurant, Angelo’s, the speciality Italian restaurant, and Dragon Lady, the specialty Asian fusion restaurant.
Themed Nights
The ship arranges three themed nights, each finishing with a big party.
First up was the Back To School Party so we got the old school uniforms on and went out dancing around the ship. First stop was the Ocean Bar and then to The Dome to dance the night away…
By midnight the QuickSteppers where exhausted and could dance no more, so the teachers ended up giving performances! We called it a night and headed back to our cabins to rest our feet and catch some zzz’s.
Let’s Dress in White!
Imagine an entire ship of 1200 passengers head to toe in white… getting in theme for the Bianco Party!
After a long day of island-hopping, first stop after dinner was the Ocean Bar for a bit of a warm up consitsing mainly of rumba, foxtrots and swing.
Then it was on to the Piano Bar. Jamie Burgess, the resident piano man was so entertaining that we ended up there most nights.
The Bianco Party ended on the Pool Deck with live music, smoke machines, special effects lighting and the cruise dance troupe. But don’t fret, QuickSteps held our own on the dance floor!
Bring back the 20s!
The Gatsby Party was the last of the themed parties to be held on the P&O Pacific Eden. They saved the best ‘til last!
Everyone onboard was dressed in their finest Gatsby garb! Feather boas, long cigarette holders with fringes and pinstripes galore!
After dinner we met in The Dome where the event staff had organised a lavish cocktail party with live music and free champagne.
Passengers that had attended our Charleston dance workshops during the day managed to put their new skills to work after the party directors set up games to get the party started. Who knew there was an adult version of musical chairs?!
Onboard Quizzes
Everyone loves a quiz and P&O held many of them throughout the day. Some of our members went to multiple quiz games throughout the day, and won multiple times! So if you need a new P&O key chain (the default prize), please let us know!
We went along to the Name that Tune quiz. The host would play the first 10 seconds of a song and we had to guess the name and artist. Being dancers we did rather well and finished second. In the meantime, we will be working on our music knowledge for the next cruise!
Line Dancing Classes
Just in case hours of dancing at night, multiple quizzes per day, constant movie screenings and daily island hopping wasn’t enough, the cruise held line-dance classes during the day. So of course we went along!
We learned a line dance to Timber by Ke$ha and Man I feel like A Woman by Shania Twain. Since then we have been dancing them to almost any song and they fit well! You will certainly see these two new dances at the studio 🙂
Visiting the Islands
We didn’t just stay on board! We stopped at Alotau, Kiriwina and the Conflict Islands, all in Papua New Guinea. Many took part in shore tours which included cultural tours, snorkeling, kayaking and releasing baby turtles into the wild!
Every great trip comes to an end…
On the final night we were thrown a huge farewell party on the pool deck where all of the entertainers got together to put on a spectacular show of singing, dancing and special effects.
QuickSteppers were the last to leave!
From the QS Team, thank you to all of you that came along, you made it very special and memorable for us all. X
For those of you that missed out… don’t despair, because we’re going on holidays again!
In July 2019 QuickSteps is going to Bali! We already have 40+ members coming along so get in quick! Speak to Mish, Ben or your teacher to find out more. Oh, and of course, it’s open to non-QuickSteps Members too 😉
