A New Vibe and a Glass of Whine

March 12, 2023

I didn’t know this coming week would be Spring Break for the whole East Coast. Last week there may have been 50 children on board. This week, there are 500 children. Plus many more immature adults.The ship is full, and then some. It is at 110% capacity. Many of the cabins now have 3 or 4 occupants. (Double occupancy capacity is 3660. We now check in at 3972. This is the greatest number of passengers Sky Princess has ever endured hosted.) 

We noticed the new vibe on the ship as soon as we returned yesterday. All of the venues are more crowded. The noise level has increased - in general, and specifically. We have new neighbors and they are unbelievably loud. Mr. Neighbor was on his balcony literally shouting into his phone. (The phones don’t work well inside, so you have to go outside to make calls.) I was trying to speak to our children on our balcony and I could barely manage it. I couldn’t hear my son and I couldn’t even hear myself talk. Mr. & Mrs. Upstairs left their balcony door open when they went to dinner. The motion of the ship caused ti to slide open and then slam shut, over and over.

In general, the cabin door slamming and the balcony door slamming has gotten BAD. And I am not talking about when people leave the door open. It isn’t just noise - it shakes the walls between cabins.

Also, Mr. & Mrs. Neighbor were smoking on their balcony the first day, before we had even left port. Smoking is absolutely prohibited on the ship, except in a few designated areas. It is NEVER allowed in a stateroom or on a private balcony. There is too great a risk of fire from burning ash blowing back onto a deck. And it smells bad.

There are a lot of extended families and groups of friends traveling together this week. The average age of the ship’s population is much younger this week. 

Working people and students on a 7-day vacation act differently from retired people on a two-week or longer trip. They try to cram everything in, and there is a palpable attitude that “This is MY VACATION and I get to do whatever I want, so get out of my way and don’t expect me to be polite or considerate.” This is much more of a party crowd than we are used to - and we are not here to party.

All of this really changes the social dynamics onboard. It’s a lot harder to meet nice people to have dinner with. It’s even harder to find a spot at a “sharing table.” Many short-term cruisers and first-time cruisers don’t want to share. The groups of families and friends don’t want to share. 

Elevators are hard to come by. If you squeeze yourself into a packed elevator, four more people will inevitably come along and force their way in, compressing everyone else to the back. 

I am annoyed with Princess for allowing the ship to be this full — and for running a “Kids Sail Free” promotion which included this sailing. I am annoyed that they haven’t added enough security to keep gangs of free-range kids from running up and down the corridors and terrorizing those who, by choice or necessity, move more slowly. And I am annoyed with them for failing to provide ushers or common courtesy behavioral guidelines for the theater: “no talking,” “turn off your devices during the show.”

I am also upset with myself a little bit. Many years ago we figured out that cruising during Spring Break was awful, especially on 7-day cruises. We said we would never take another 7-day cruise during Spring Break. We have not done it in so long that we forgot how bad it is. Oops, we did it again.

In addition to the passenger demographics, there are other changes this week that contribute to the feeling that there is a completely different vibe. Captain Laakkonen has gone on vacation and has been replaced by Captain Fortezze. Our wonderful Loyalty Manager, Emerson, has been transferred to another ship. The cast of Spotlight Bar has been replaced with a brand new cast - and they clearly have work to do to reach the level of the old cast, who have been together for 9 months. The daily activities are different now. Knitters and Natters wasn’t on the schedule for today, a sea day. Since it requires zero effort on the part of staff to hold this unhosted event, I don’t see why it can’t be listed.

On the bright side, we did finally get to see Rock Opera today. It is still an outstanding show! Matt Baxter and Topaz are still onboard. We have a completely different itinerary this week. The food is great! The weather is great! We are very fortunate that we are able to be here on this lovely ship.

Today’s color is Imperial Japanese Navy Green. I am not making that up. This is as close as I could come to the color of the ocean today, a sea day.