On Monday, February 1, 1999, 150 dance enthusiasts from all over the U.S., Canada, and even Scotland boarded Carnival Cruise Line's Ecstasy for 5 glorious days of sun, fun and dancing.

After the mandatory lifeboat drill, all the dancers had a "welcome meeting" complete with refreshments and the chance to get acquainted with the rest of our group.  At this point, we introduced the celebrity instructors for the week.  The line-up included Max Perry, Kathy Hunyadi, Peter Metelnick, Pedro Machado, Jamie Davis and myself, Jo Thompson. In addition, we were thrilled to have recording artist Ronnie Beard and his wife Kim on board to entertain us during the evening dances.   Organizing our group was Dean & Mary Faast from Minnesota, with their son, Tim, being our DJ for the week.

Dinner the first night was casual, and we quickly found our way to the upper deck where we danced the night away under the stars.  As a special treat, Max Perry taught his line dance "Angel Two Step" and Ronnie Beard performed "Honky Tonk Angel".