Cruises are fertile ground for community and wholesome, silly fun. People aboard ships, free from work, news from the outside world, and other adult responsibilities, get into all kinds of joyful mischief. They hide rubber ducks around the ship for others to find, decorate their cabin doors, and leave notes of appreciation when someone's room is especially well decorated. Groups also wear matching shirts and other ridiculous outfits.
One such group tradition has made cruise ships around the world a little more colorful: people, in droves, have been dressing up as the iconic Three's Company character Mrs. Roper.
Played by Audra Lindley, Helen Roper was famous for her quick wit, sassy demeanor, and extraordinarily loud outfits. Notably, in the long-running sitcom she was usually seen wearing a caftan—a long, flowy robe or tunic—along with wide, boldly shaped glasses, chunky beaded necklaces, dangly earrings, and, of course, her signature short, curly hair.
Though the character had a popular run in the late '70s and early '80s, Mrs. Roper experienced a renaissance in the 2010s, when she became an icon in the LGBTQ community. Dressing as Mrs. Roper at Pride celebrations and other events became popular around 2013. People embraced the character's open-minded, progressive personality, as well as the way she challenged societal norms for older women on television in her era.
It's also, let's face it, just plain fun to dress up in such a wild and unencumbered outfit.
More recently, hordes of Mrs. Ropers have been spotted aboard cruise ships, with the best and brightest of these meetups known as "Mrs. Roper Romps." Parade magazine reports that nearly every Royal Caribbean sailing has featured a sizable romp over the past few years.
In social media groups and cruise forums, Ropers-in-waiting meet up to plan their romps. They might organize a bar crawl, a deck walk, or a dance party. Of course, no romp is complete without plenty of photo ops.
The dress-up meetups have been popular on land for years now, but being at sea allows fans to take the gag to a whole new level. Being on vacation, in international waters where "anything goes," and buoyed by a hint of onboard anonymity allows people to truly let loose once they don the signature muumuu.
But what is it about Mrs. Roper that inspires so much flirtatious sass? The New York Times writes:
"By 2023 standards, the show might be considered retrograde in its attitudes toward feminism and homosexuality. But when it aired, its randy suggestiveness pushed broadcast boundaries. Mrs. Roper was its progressive Pole Star: Freethinking and voluptuary, she pooh-poohed her husband’s anti-gay slights and illustrated for Janet and Chrissy how an older woman could have sexual agency. ... That attitude has made the character into something of a cult figure today, particularly among gay men and straight women, who make up most of the Mrs. Roper Romp crowds."
Planning romps with strangers allows passengers to connect with like-minded new friends and make their vacations even more memorable.
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Not everyone, however, is a fan of cruise-based "Mrs. Roper Romps."
When you're on a cruise ship, it's hard to escape the crowds and constant hustle if you're not participating. That's why the romps have received some pushback from passengers annoyed by gaggles of Ropers taking over the pool deck day after day.
In fact, the "controversy" has drawn so much attention that key cruise line figures have been forced to weigh in.
Carnival's longtime brand ambassador, John Heald, recently took to social media with a simple plea.
"I'm sorry, but this Cruise phenomenon of dressing as Mrs. Roper is getting out of control and needs to be stopped now.!!!" he wrote in an Instagram post.
Of course, in the very same post, he posed in a bright orange muumuu, a curly wig, and a humongous beaded necklace.
Love it or hate it, the atmosphere on a cruise ship is special and hard to recreate anywhere else.
They're like massive, floating resorts, but being on the open ocean adds an extra nautical twist to the typical vacation experience. The rooms are small, so passengers spend all day and most of the evening out and about. And while cruise ships are big, they can't compete with the size of an open beach. The relatively close quarters have a way of fostering even more community. You run into the same people over and over and frequent the same spots on the ship.
And all the while, most passengers have little to no access to their cell phones or the internet (unless they've paid a hefty fee for spotty service). With distractions and responsibilities removed, carefree fun thrives.
In divisive times, a cruise is almost the perfect escape. In fact, in 2024, one cruise line announced plans to offer a four-year "skip ahead" voyage for anyone who wanted to more or less check out of the news cycle for the foreseeable future.
"Mrs. Roper Romps" may not be everyone's cup of tea, and getting caught in one while trying to grab a drink at the pool bar can be a hassle, but the loud, proud celebration of joy and self-confidence is something everyone can get on board with.
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