In January 2018 (just after the hurricanes) I took a two-week Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Pride (out of Baltimore). It was a "Journeys" concept. Two weeks, more intellectual and cultural experiences.
The ship just came out of drydock. They took out the library and Chapel and replaced them with a pay-to-play video game room! They're pushing paying for things like getting on and off the ship first, getting a 15 drink a day package that includes free milkshakes and boutique coffee drinks, herbal tea bags, canned soda. Why the heck should I have to pay for milk shakes and a herbal tea bag when drunks don't have to????
Then there's the stops. I don't like the large ships; it's not me to be surrounded by mobs of people who aren't at least familiar faces. Okay, so I get on a smaller ship. But at a port that's busy, it's a mob scene equivalent to Spring Break in Daytona! And then there's the only few hours at most ports. If you take a bus or boat shuttle tour, a lot of that on-shore time is doing that.
What's happening is they're appealing to people I don't have much in common with. I can't imagine being on a cruise with people who wouldn't want access to new reading material for two weeks, or a Chapel to say a prayer if a passenger has to be evacuated (for example).
And now, stretching it to the breaking point with safety....that cargo ship that went down awhile ago, the ship that almost toppled in a freak wind, this Norwegian coast situation, the Carnival Pride doing a few more cruises before engine problems were fixed are probably not the only close calls (or worse). What happens when (not if) it's one of the mega-ships that has one of these problems?
Next vacation, Tennessee. Real Blues music and early rock instead of the stuff that wouldn't make it to a HS musical. And not being herded like cattle!
Cruises are for people who want to think they have been somewhere but do not realize they have not.