It seems that the cruise lines' nearly uniform campaign to promote cruise ships as huge luxury hotels that just happen to be on water and move around comes back to bite them sometimes. Many (most?) passengers are totaly clueless about the sea, thinking, as the marketing types must want them to think, that everything is under control, the sea will always be flat around the ship, and nothing could possibly interfere with the schedule. I've even heard that crew are instructed to not "confuse the guests" with "jargon" like bow, stern, port, and starboard. When reality intrudes, many react with anger against the company, blaming it for the less than perfect conditions... because, in their minds, they were led to believe that everything would be perfect.
It appears that exectives at some point decided that being candid about the reality of a sea voyage would limit their potential market. Selling a cruise as merely a stay at a wonderful moveable luxury hotel increases sales, but brings the consequence of the company's being blamed if anything detracts from the quality of the experience. I'm sure the photos of the Carnival ships pitching through heavy seas as they fled Rita last year (pictures which I found reassuring, showing their ability to handle truly rough weather) will never be featured in a company brochure.