But camaraderie isn't lacking. The karaoke cruises quickly become mass singalongs, with strangers passing one another the microphone, Buckley said. "By the end of the evening, it turns into a dance cruise."
Of course, there are technical challenges. The Zephyr has added 10 flat-screen monitors so that people can follow along with Livin' on a Prayer from anywhere on the ship. The Temptress has 16 speakers. "Sightlines were a bit of an issue," Szufnarowski said of preparing a vessel. "There are no boats that are built with music in mind."
Szufnarowski, a former booker at New York's Knitting Factory club, strives to give the Rocks Off series street cred. His talent has included the electronica auteur and sample wizard Amon Tobin, who has performed twice despite a bout of seasickness on his first trip, and the vintage punk rockers the Bad Brains, who threw the release party for their comeback CD aboard the Temptress.
"That's the first time I've ever seen a mosh pit on a boat," Szufnarowski said. "Just seeing people crowd-surfing on a boat with open windows, I was thinking, why did I think this was a good idea?"
In the end, no life vests were necessary, and mishaps and seasickness seem rare. More common, Szufnarowski said, are "people looking like they've had way too much too drink lying down for the last 20 minutes."
"People forget that they're stuck there," he added.
But for some, that's the point.
"I like getting away from the city," said Kirk Faulkner, 27, a Brooklyn screenwriter who went on the Kid Koala cruise after a fight with his girlfriend.
"It's like a minivacation," added Lisa Pettersson, 26, an actress (and not the cause of Faulkner's troubles).
On Kid Koala's dance floor, the disco ball's glitter competed with the river's shimmer. By the time the boat approached the dock, the setting had cast its spell: couples were making out everywhere. Everyone else stood rapt as Kid Koala scratched and mixed Moon River. Manhattan floated by.
Marc, 24, a theater director, and Chelsea, 23, a writer, spent most of the cruise outside on the deck. It was their first date. Did they like Kid Koala's set?
"We didn't see any of it," Marc said. "We wanted to be alone."
They wouldn't give their full names: They weren't supposed to be out together.
"This is a great place for a secret date," Chelsea said.
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