Arthur's Blog: Another Super-Sized Cruiseship is an Occasion to Grieve for the Cruise Industry

This morning, the Internet was full of news about the contract that Norwegian Cruiseline has given to a German shipyard to construct a 163,000-ton passenger line called the "Breakaway Plus," to be delivered in 2015. It will carry 4,200 passengers -- 100 more than the cruiseline's earlier, humongous Norwegian Epic -- and will be filled with amusement facilities staggering the imagination.
I sailed on an orientation cruise of the Norwegian Epic, and it was the worst recreational event of my life. The atmosphere aboard ship was noisy, jangled, hectic. There was not a single quiet spot I could find for mere relaxation. Loud contemporary music filled the air, loud crowds of merry-makers surged through the corridors, everywhere were lines of middle-aged men waiting to go down water slides, bands of rock musicians were given precedence over any competing activity. I searched in vain for a library -- there was none -- and headed in desperation to a so-called lounge, only to find that it contained a bowling alley alongside its easychairs.
I thought back, at the time, to cruises I had taken before the mania of size had infected the cruise industry. I thought of cruises where you read a novel you had always intended to finish, in the open air and on a comfortable deckchair affording privacy and quiet. I thought of cruises where conversations with newly-met people were a major point of the experience. I thought of cruises addressed by various experts on subjects of history or science, of cruises where passengers engaged in meetings to discuss various topics. And where you enjoyed quiet meals and strolling about quiet decks in the ocean's open air. 
All these hallmarks of cruising are fast disappearing in the wake of culturally-deprived, entertainment-obsessed, cruiseship executives wanting to convert popularly-priced cruiseships into amusement parks. Repeat: amusement parks. It is a tragedy that the only cruiseship facilities that can provide the traditional amenities and rewards of a cruise are the high-priced ones. I assume there are no waterslides on Seabourn, Regent, or Seven Seas. Henceforth, only the 1% or the 2% will be able to enjoy a cruise of the sort that once captivated so many people.