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I have literally seen the world by cruise ship. And I have seen a lot more than I could see flying to all of the places I have been. For examples, I have flown to Australia and boarded a cruise ship in Sydney that took me to 3 other Australian cities and then to 6 cities in New Zealand. I went through security in Sydney once, unpacked my bags once, had all meals and entertainment provided each day and essentially moved from one city to another while I slept. Another example, I flew to England and boarded a cruise ship in Dover that took me to Poland, Eastonia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, and Russia. Again, I went through security once, unpacked my bags, had all of my needs supplied as far as food, entertainment, a place to sleep, and a place to relax. When you travel by plane you share a seat next to a person or two. When you travel by cruise ship you share a cabin with your travel partner (all cabins are sold based on double occupancy, or you pay a "single supplement" that's essentially a double fare) and you can find any number of places to relax and there are no seat belts.

Most places I have cruised to provided about 6 to 8 hours to tour. While some will say that's not enough time, I have found that with a few exceptions it is enough time. The exceptions would be places in Italy, like Rome, Naples, and Florence. I would like to go back to those places again and have more time. Also places in Greece and Turkey I would like to visit again or different sites. But if you are cruising around the Caribbean a visit to one island is about like a visit to another. So that 8 hours you have there is plenty enough; you'll have another nice beach experience the next day.

Travel by plane is a hassle, from the "get to the airport 2 hours early" stuff , to the standing in long security lines, to hassling to get on the plane and store carry-ons, to delays in taking off and missed and delayed flights and then looking for your luggage that may be lost or delayed. When you cruise they take your luggage at the dock and deliver it to your cabin door.

For the price of a plane ticket to Aruba and a stay for 5 days there, you can have a 7 days cruise to several islands with all meals, entertainment, and transportation included

The biggest drawback with cruise stops is the limited amount of time you are in each port. The benefit is leisurely going from one place to the next, you wake up in a different port. Another drawback is the amount of time needed to cruise, obviously ships don't travel as fast as a plane so if you're limited to 1 or 2 weeks vacation that might be better spent getting to each destination faster by air. Those are probably the 3 biggest issues with cruising. Good luck with it.

Those two really don't compare. A cruise provides food. Your room doesn't have people in the other rooms leaning over into yours. Cruise ships don't lose your luggage. You can move around. Planes are about the worst way to travel--breathing recycled air and keeping your feet scrunched into 1 foot of space. The only advantage they have is speed.

A cruise you unpack one onboard. Then you don't have to repack until the end of the cruise. You don't have to get suggestions every day for where to go for dinner and risk having a terrible meal.

Cruises are limited on where they can go. You can't get to many of the countries in Europe on a cruise ship. Cruises also will be at the most popular cities so you can't get to more remote areas. Cruises also have a strict schedule. If you travel by yourself, you can just decide to stay an extra day in Munich and skip Vienna. Because of that schedule, often you miss out on the nightlife in an area.

to me, there is no drawback to a cruise vs air travel, you can actually do stuff on a cruise, like go swimming, go in a sauna, dine, etc... you get your own room, you are free to move around, you're not stuck in a seat for hours, and you don't really see anything from a plane. the only drawback I can think of, is it tales longer by cruise than by plane.

A two week cruise is my dream one day. It wouldn't be so much the destinations but the experience on the cruise ship I would enjoy.