For years, cruise ships have used "gentlemen hosts" to escort lady passengers around the dance floor. We catch up with the oldest of the hosts on the Queen Mary 2.  Atlantic Ocean, Off Nova Scotia  It is nearly midnight on a recent Tuesday and Martin Jaffe is scanning the room for single women. He strides over to Lidia Butzky and, nodding to the woman she's with, jokes, "She said you wanted to dance."  For Mr. Jaffe, this isn't entirely a social call. It's his job to dance and mingle with the single female passengers here in the ballroom onboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. At 83, he is believed to be the U.S. cruise industry's oldest "gentleman dance host." And while Mr. Jaffe is in the twilight of his dance-host career, the program itself is in danger of disappearing.  Some cruise lines have canceled host programs, which debuted in the mid-1980s, to cut costs and to respond to shifting travel trends. In recent years, the lines have made a big effort to recruit younger travelers, who are more interested in the ships' new Broadway shows, water slides and climbing walls than their ballroom dance floors. Women in their 50s and 60s—a core cruise passenger—are more likely to want to dance to rock 'n' roll, which doesn't necessarily require a partner, than do the fox trot. "Can you imagine the Rolling Stones traveling with social hosts?" says Erik Elvejord, spokesman for Carnival Cruise Corp.'s Holland America Line, which cut back its host program three years ago.  Now, Holland America sails with hosts only on the handful of its cruises that are longer than 30 days. The line has focused more on cooking classes and wine-tasting events that better appeal to baby boomers, Mr. Elvejord says.  Norwegian Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises have canceled their host programs outright. Norwegian ended its host program in 2003 because of "lack of demand" as the line started seeing more couples and families traveling, says a spokeswoman.  Martin Jaffe dances with Queen Mary 2 passenger Rose Parenteau, 81. It was Ms. Parenteau's first dance since her husband died 18 months ago.  Robust host programs remain on Carnival's Cunard Line, Silversea Cruises and Crystal Cruises, upscale lines that attract older travelers.  Doug Jones, president of Sixth Star Entertainment, one of the two primary placement agencies for gentlemen dance hosts, attributes some of the decline to the popularity of shorter cruises where passengers spend more time in ports. "There's less time at sea. There's just not the need," he says.  The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company had six people handling the host program at its peak in 2006. Now, it has just one.  Mr. Jaffe and his five colleagues—also called "distinguished gents"—were required to be on the dance floor for several hours every night on this recent 11-day cruise from New York to Quebec City, and back. As part of their duties, they attend "singles" events, host tables at dinner and sometimes escort travelers on sightseeing trips.  In an effort to modernize the program, some cruise lines are trying to recruit younger hosts in their 40s and 50s. Compass Speakers & Entertainment Inc., a major placement agency for hosts, tries "not to put people out that are over 80," says Tracy Robison, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company's director of onboard programs, gentlemen-host division.  The gentlemen hosts aren't paid. The trip is free, though the hosts usually have to double up in cramped cabins. They pay a placement agency about $30 a day. And the list of rules for dance hosts is long. Romancing a guest is the biggest no-no. Transgressors are thrown off at the next port.  Hosts can't dance with the same lady twice until all the single women in the room have been escorted. And they can't dance with a married guest without her husband's permission. Guests avidly police the hosts' behavior, reporting any flirting or favoritism to ship employees. They'll say, "You danced seven minutes with that lady. When I danced with you it was only three minutes," says Mr. Jaffe, who on this voyage is represented by Sixth Star.  Hosts are evaluated by ship staff—judged on everything from manners to "stamina and fitness"—after every cruise. Too many low scores and they aren't asked back.  Mr. Jaffe, a retired automotive-business owner from Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., has spent nearly 100 days of every year dancing on cruise ships since his wife of 55 years, Gayle, died in 2005. (He spends winters skiing in Utah.) "I come for the dancing, the socializing, the light conversation about nothing," he says.  A seasoned traveler, he rarely goes ashore when the ship is in port, preferring to spend his free time socializing, napping and playing solitaire. "This," he says, pointing to his gold badge reading "Martin Jaffe, Gentleman Dance Host," "gives me license to harass people."  On this voyage of the Queen Mary 2, many of the single women in the ballroom, primarily widowed and divorced ladies in their 50s through 80s, are sailing specifically for the gentlemen hosts. Every night before the dancing starts in the elegant Queens Room, sisters Gayle and Lynn Legenza, both in their 50s, snare a table next to the dance floor and take a spin every time a host asks. "Some are excellent dancers," says Lynn, a retired teacher from Scranton, Pa.  Lee Ann Butler, a 76-year-old small-business owner from Branson, Mo., and Orlando, Fla., wears eye-catching outfits to make sure hosts seek her out. "Last night I had sequins on my headband and on my shirt," she says. "You have to learn to have a little bling bling going."  Passengers on this cruise are paying anywhere from $1,195 a person for an inside cabin to $27,495 a person for one of the four duplex apartments in the Queens Grill, the ship's first-class area with its own restaurant and lounge.  Martin Jaffe escorts Connie Weininger, an 80-year-old retired bank executive from New York who has traveled on the Queen Mary 2 18 times. 'The only time I really dance is when I'm on the ship,' she says.  On this Tuesday night, as a 13-piece band plays, the six gentleman hosts are easy to identify, with their formal white jackets and gallant manners. After a dance, they escort ladies back to their seats, often retreating with a little bow. Among them is Jim Currie, a 63-year-old retired carpenter from Stewarton, Scotland, who is hands-down the best dancer. (He has taught ballroom dance for 14 years.) At 57, Colin Jennings, with his full head of hair and vigorous dance style, is the baby of the group. Terry Hopley, a 75-year-old retired cruise-line commodore from Cheltenham, England, is the only married man. "My wife thinks I've gone shopping," he jokes.  Mr. Jaffe is modest about his own dancing prowess. "I'm not a good dancer. I make up for it with enthusiasm," he says.  On this particular sailing, there doesn't seem to be any forbidden romantic intrigue going on. But despite the rules, it does happen. Mr. Jaffe says he met a woman during one of his hosting stints whom he ended up dating for two years.  Janet Sigal, a retired psychology professor from New York in her mid-60s who has done an Atlantic crossing on a Cunard ship every year since 1998, met a past boyfriend while he was working as a host. The romance, however, didn't heat up until the voyage ended. "They don't care what you do off the ship," she says.  Write to Andrea Petersen at andrea.petersen@wsj.com
Gentleman hosts, a tradition of the cruise industry, dance and mingle with female passengers, but they are becoming a rare sight on ships.