The cruise ship industry is one of the more bizarre creations of modern society, a floating jumble of contradictions. It peddles freedom and exploration, but the actual experience is designed to be predictable, choreographed, and familiar—like a Vegas hotel with an amusement park. It advertises the great outdoors, but mostly keeps people distracted from it with ice-cream Sunday bars, waterslides, and go-kart tracks (yes, go-kart tracks).
