...But I suppose ships like these are what the cruising public wants or they would never get built...
I am not sure I can exactly agree there.
The public wants cruises.
There are cheap cruises and expensive cruises.
It is a fiercley competitve business, and so the cheapest provider wins.
So if the customer of the shipyard is the operator, then it is what the operator wants.
A bit like McDonalds. I think all of us would rather go to a small family restaurant or even a decent chips shop. But they were dearer than McD and were effectivley pushed out of the market.
Market forces aim will often reduce things to the lowest common denominator. i.e. cheapest food service not involving prosecution, or abandonment by the customer. Hence the ubiquitous McD, KFC, Donner Kebab, Weatherspoons etc.
Maybe not what the customer wants, but what the customer is willing to accept. I am sure we would all rather travel on the likes of the old QE2, if we could afford it.