A day in the life of a dance host can start with waltzing lessons in
the morning, escorting single ladies on shore excursions, and
dancing with a dozen women each night.
Tough job.
Host are usually unmarried, professional dance teachers who join
cruise ships to accompany the growing number of solo female
passengers.
A smaller number of females are also employed to dance with the
single men.
Only four cruise lines continue to employ dance hosts: Cunard,
which calls them “gentlemen hosts”, Crystal Cruises, which calls
them “Ambassadors”; Silversea; and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Ed Murmurian is one of the originals – he started in 1993 with the
line that launched the concept of dance hosts, Greek company Royal
Cruise Line, based out of San Francisco.
For the past 15 years, he has worked with Crystal Cruises, which
employs between four and 12 hosts per voyage.
“Crystal is the best, they treat us so well,” he said.
“I go on 18 or 19 cruises a year, but this year I’m only doing 12.”
Ed took his first dance lesson at age 15 “because I found out girls
like men who dance”.
While in college, he taught dancing in a studio in Michigan, USA,
and still dances socially five nights a week.
A single parent of two adult children, his dance host career began
after he quit his job as a buyer for a shoe business and responded to
an ad in the Sunday newspaper travel section.
“It’s all about making sure the ladies have fun,” he said.
“If you can’t dance, if you miss a step, so what? As long as you have
a good time. There are no dance police on board!”
Ed encouraged Australian women to shake off any concerns about
travelling alone.
“Crystal makes sure single women are taken care of,” he said.
“Especially after they become widowed, they might prefer to come
with their daughter or sister, but then they see other single women
enjoying themselves and they realise they can come on their own
next time.”
The obvious question: any ‘post-dance romance’ with passengers?
“We sign a contract not to have any liaisons with guests,” Ed said.
“It’s best this way as you have to be professional — and you don’t
want another lady to get jealous.”
Joining a table for dinner is another part of the Ambassador’s role.
“It’s preferred that we don’t dine on a one-on-one basis with a lady,
so it doesn’t appear you have a relationship going,” Ed explained.
Sometimes they are propositioned, he admitted, so this may
require a polite explanation of company policy.
“But we can take phone numbers or email addresses to keep in
touch after we leave the ship,” he smiled.
Crystal Cruises dance program
Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity offer complimentary dance
lessons and nightly dancing with the hosts and live music.
According to Ed, transatlantic crossings attract the most solo women.
Single supplements are among the most reasonable in the industry:
125% of the double occupancy fare for stateroom categories C to E;
135% for A and B.
For details, see www.wiltrans.com.au.
