Zydeco Cruise 2002 - photos and account by Nigel Worthington

Brian Jack & the Zydeco Gamblers
Zydeco dancing on the Lido Deck aft
Dancing on the tables in the dining room
One of several ice sculptures at a midnight buffet
Carnival Victory in St Thomas

For at least the last two years I have wanted to go on the Zydeco cruise and having finally made it I can say my expectations were definitely exceeded. This year the cruise was from Miami. The evening before departure there was a Zydeco dance party in a Miami Beach hotel which was rather hot during the first half whilst the air-con was being fixed, but very enjoyable. 

The Carnival Victory is unbelievably large (101,000 tonnage) and we got a good view of the Miami islands from the 12th deck above sea level as it quietly sailed out on the evening of 3 November. With this size and efficient stabilisers – fins that come out from the hull of the ship below water – there was little or no perceptible roll, though we were lucky with calm seas on this cruise.

Our group was a really friendly crowd of 250+ Zydeco dancers, nine dance instructors and two bands – Geno Delafosse & French Rockin’ Boogie and Brian Jack & the Zydeco Gamblers. Both bands were excellent, played very danceable music and created a really good atmosphere. I particularly liked the rocky sound of Brian Jack. There should have been a third band – Andre Thierry – but unfortunately this band didn’t make it, although the reasons were unclear. The other bands filled the slots. There was usually a dance starting at about 5pm and another after dinner at about 10.30 going on to 1 or 2 am with a break for the midnight buffet. Dances were on deck and it was really lovely to dance Zydeco in the warm breeze of the Caribbean air. 

The workshops were mainly in the afternoons – either on deck in the open air, or in the Arctic Disco below. The air-conditioning in the ship was fairly enthusiastic and the Arctic Disco lived up to its name. There were three levels – Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced - with seven one-hour sessions of each after an introduction to the instructors. There was also an intro to Zydeco basics that was open to all. The instructors were Patricia Angelle, Willie Bushnell, Barbara Davis, Kent & Ann Donely, Gary Hayman,  Marla Meyer, Steve Nash and Michael Seider.

My impressions of the ship generally were pretty favourable and the crew work pretty hard to look after guests. A passenger was observed running his fingers along a high ledge that he could only just reach and saying “You can’t even find dust here!”. Likewise the restaurants are kept spotless. Food is excellent and there is a lot of variety. Most Zydeco dancers ate in the dining room for dinner – where they had been allocated special tables on the 8pm sitting. There was a good choice on the menu and most dishes were fairly light. There were even calorie and fat counted options. Wine was available, but there was no pressure to have this and we were not asked after the first night. One night was formal dress – otherwise the dress code was smart casual. On a couple of nights a dance team came into the dining room and the maitre d’ also encouraged diners to also dance during this brief interval – including on the tables! The music even included some Zydeco!

One could also eat breakfast and lunch in the dining room but most preferred to go to buffet restaurants offering a wide choice of food including Chinese, East Coast Deli, barbecue and 24 hour pizza. The food everywhere was pretty good. You could help yourself to soft drinks, tea and coffee at most times and there was ice cream/iced yoghurt also free on tap. Water was provided free at the dances and workshops, as well as at meals. Apart from the well-publicised gratuity/service charge, optional shore excursions, (and alcoholic drinks if wanted), there was little need to incur much in the way of extras, unless you chose to. It was clear that those with a hearty appetite could go from one eatery to another without overtly appearing to be greedy!  I was never hungry enough to sample the midnight buffet, but on one evening a Philippino ice carver did some magnificent carvings and the display also included a whole host of carved vegetables and fruit – see the photo. 

In the heart of the ship there is an auditorium which is about the size of many London West End theatres, but rather more comfortable. I watched the start of a show – music and dancing – rather Vegas like, but very well done, crisp and professional. The bit I saw of a magic show was almost up to TV standard and I heard that the late-night comedy was very funny. There were also talks by the cruise director who was really funny even when talking about mundane subjects like shopping or how the ship is run. As you might have guessed it is hard to fit in shows without missing Zydeco dancing. 

On the very top of the ship is an excellent gym with a view of the sea. Basic equipment was free to use, as were the two Jacuzzis, but this did not apply to massages, beauty treatment or the chakra balancing machines. For, I think, 40 dollars, these are said to provide the equivalent of three hours rest in 20 minutes – very useful with the busy schedule and late nights, but I regret I have no reports of effectiveness! There are a lot of other facilities on board and, of course, a large gambling room.

The first port of call was St Juan, Puerto Rico. As usual there was a range of excursions available. These are not cheap, but nevertheless often sell-out early. We chose a kayak trip to see bioluminescence. A long coach ride in rush-hour on congested motorways passed endless fast food places – I think 14 Burger Kings alone – and eventually arrived at a remote bay. By this time it was dark. With two to each kayak we followed the light on the one in front leaving the bay and going through a narrow mangrove lined channel. Only one kayak capsized, but fortunately it was a warm evening. We finally reached a lagoon that had impressive bioluminescence whenever the water was disturbed. The guide explained about the phenomena. There were only four such places in the world - three of them in Puerto Rico.

The other natural phenomenon that was quite interesting on this cruise was the multitude of flying fish that were often visible from the ship. These escape predators (or perhaps the ship’s wake) by shooting out of the sea and flying up to 30 metres before diving. A neat trick! 

At St Maartan, Pat and I chose to go on a large sailing catamaran that went to a small island for snorkelling. Actually there wasn’t enough time to sail so we motored, although the sail was up. Rum punches were flowing freely and we had a bit of dancing on the way back – not Zydeco – more like the Congo and YMCA! The last port of call was St Thomas – US Virgin Islands – and this time we chose to go diving and still had time to check out the shops. What came as a surprise was that the whole town shut up dead on the stroke of 5pm local time despite having a captive audience of cruisers around!

All in all the cruise left pleasant memories – especially dancing on the deck at night. I would certainly go again. Next year the Zydeco cruise will revert to departing from New Orleans. It looked like there were quite a few regulars from Louisiana that gave it a miss because it went from Miami. They have already started booking for 9-16 November 03.