All aboard

Whether you want salsa dancing or a Jimmy Buffett song, Boston’s most offbeat cruises can accommodate any tastes

- AMI ALBERNAZ | Jul 27, 2006

Nicole Martinez (center) and Fernando Bossa party aboard the Salsa & Latin Dance Cruise, where salsa and reggaetón set the beat. (Globe Photo / Wiqan Ang)

EASY AS 1-2-3

As a trio of women in pantsuits and perfectly manicured hair stepped onto the dock for Salsa Boston’s Salsa & Latin Dance Cruise on a recent Sunday evening, I wondered if I’d made a mistake. What was I, flip-flopped and wooden-hipped, doing on a boat with a group of exiles from the now-gone Sophia’s? Relief soon appeared in the form of fellow rhythmically challenged folks who crowded the dock for the preboard salsa lesson: polo-clad young men mimicking the basic three-step alongside their girlfriends; attentive 50-somethings who had felt like trying something new; and Wahb, the tall, gracious beginner who fumbled with me through some basic turns. For the next two hours, old hats and tenderfoots glided together around Boston Harbor, fueling up on Latin fare such as pupusas, empanadas, and carne asada from the dinner buffet. Then, it was time to face the club-style mix of merengue, bachata, and reggaetón on the first floor and traditional salsa on the second. While teenage girls captured their dancing parents on camera phones, earnest novices — emboldened by Coronas and slushy margaritas — tried out their new moves with more seasoned salseros, and the flip-flopped, wooden-hipped wallflower danced a pseudo merengue with a corporate operations planner she’d met in the buffet line. When the dance floors grew sticky and the constant counting to three grew tiresome, the upper deck offered respite as well as sanctuary for snuggling couples who preferred to sit and watch the skyline until the boat pulled up to the wharf and the frenetic stepping subsided.

Salsa Boston’s Boston Harbor Salsa & Latin Dance cruises run every Sunday until Sept. 17. Tickets: $22 at the dock, $17 in advance. Latin buffet is $10 extra, and salsa lesson is $2. 617-513-9841. www.salsaboston.com/cruise