This is what I assumed as well. That these ships were too expensive and therefore would never be fully loaded. If they were, it was mostly with the elderly who don't hang out at the pool.
But it seems a lot of millenials and GenZers are getting onboard with their Bitcoin & NFT fortunes 🤑 and whatnot. Oh, well...that's why I booked a Suite with a large enough balcony, but I want to be on the pool deck. Hopefully, on my sailing there won't be as many people - it's a 21 day, and I've learned from my last 14 days on NCL Bliss that long haul sails don't usually have a full passenger load due the cruise length. And that cruise was the FIRST time I was ever on the pool deck of any cruise I'd been on, with the others being so crowded.
But I did hear that medium and large Groups are booking Regent now, so...that could change.
It'll be interesting to see what the lounger situation looks like while crossing the Atlantic.