I have traveled extensively, having seen almost every new and ancient “Wonder of the World” that exists. In every case I arrived by cruise ship. The only two sites I have not personally seen, Machu Picchu (Peru) and the Taj Mahal (India) are now both available via cruise ship tours all the time, but they both require three to four nights of travel away from the ship. So, the “travel aspect” of cruises has become a largely overlooked and under-rated topic.

First of all, I contend that there are many places that are isolated by water where one day is more than enough to see everything - meaning a sailing vessel is by far the best way to visit them. Examples include Crete, the Greek isles of Santorini, Rhodes and Delos, also Dubrovnik, Juneau, Tahiti, and many more. Furthermore, it is very common for cruise ships to stay for two or three nights in more intensive ports like Venice, Italy or St. Petersburg, Russia.

For that matter, there is no better way to see Hawaii than to take the 10-day “Pride of America” cruise/tour that visits all of the Hawaiian Islands with overnight stays. Without the ship you would require four flights and four hotels. A travel logistics nightmare.

The “anti-cruise travel” ethos is epitomized by well-known “independent travel” guidebook author, Rick Steves, who waited until 2011 to write his first guidebook about cruise travel. And the story behind the reason he waited so long is telling.

Steves wrote “Mediterranean Cruise Ports” after meeting tourists in Europe, clutching his ubiquitous guidebooks, that surprised him by saying they had arrived by cruise ship. In fact, before that, Steves was known to refer to cruises as “mere hedonism for people who want to see if they can still snorkel after eating five meals a day.”

Now, I don’t mean to knock Rick Steves, he is a sincere travel writer who was not the first to dismiss all cruise travel as being merely escapism. But I do find it funny that in trying to “knock” cruises he actually makes them sound pretty good. Here is an example; “If the rug merchants in Kusadasi are getting a little too pushy you can simply retreat to the comfort of 24-hour room service, tall glasses of ice water, American sports on the TV, and a roomful of people who speak English as a first language” as if all of that is a bad thing.

But then he asks “But, is it really Europe?” It isn’t Epcot Center, and he proved this to himself by purposely testing mainstream cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the Mediterranean to see if he could go from what he perceived as a “typical” cruise ship into the back neighborhoods of Venice and Dubrovnik on his own. He reports that he found he could, quite successfully.

And he still seemed to miss the fact that more travel-focused cruise lines like Azamara, Oceania, Windstar and even some tour-focused mainstream lines like Princess can help you to see far more of Europe in a week than you ever could see by traveling independently. In fact, you are in port every day and you sail by night – while you are sleeping. What other travel conveyance allows you to sleep comfortably as you travel between the best sites in Europe? Could you actually see all of the major port cities between Istanbul and Barcelona in 12-days any other way?

Furthermore, cruise ships also provide excellent, super easy to access tour guides and onboard lecturers such as Smithsonian experts who give you something to do at night on your ship other than watching ESPN-International.

So, he says “cruising is in many ways an anathema to the back door travel philosophy I have been preaching for 30 years.” Actually, it isn’t at all, as I experienced myself starting almost 35 years ago. He writes “I produced what I believe is the first and only guidebook written by someone who has a healthy skepticism about cruises.” From what I can tell, that statement is mostly a clever way to say “You can travel in Europe by cruise ship - as long as you don't allow yourself to enjoy being on the ship.”

About Paul Motter, Cruise & Travel Writer

<p>Paul Motter took his first cruise in 1983, when he was lucky enough to get hired by Royal Viking Line, a small but very influential cruise line still credited with inventing all-inclusive luxury cruises. At the time less than one million Americans had ever sailed on a cruise. For the year 2017 the projected number of cruise passengers is over 25-million people.</p><p>Paul's first cruise included sailing ten straight days at sea from San Francisco to Bora Bora, and he had no idea that was unusual. In the next year he sailed to destinations all the way from Tahiti to the North Cape of Norway. In later years Paul also worked aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's S.S. Norway and aboard three Holland America Line ships.</p><p>In 1999 Paul started the web site CruiseMates.com, the first professional cruise review site on the Internet, with well-known AOL cruise reviewer Anne Campbell as his partner. Paul served as the CEO of CruiseMates until 2007 when he became the editor-in-chief, the role he maintained until 2016. Paul has cruised on every popular cruise line in the U.S. His favorite ships include the Royal Caribbean Oasis-class, Carnival's Vista-class, Norwegian Cruise Line's Breakaway class, Celebrity's Solstice class, Oceania, Crystal, or any cruise on Princess or Holland America. His favorite river cruise experiences include the Nile in Egypt and a 10-day Russian River on Viking River Cruises.</p><p>His favorite memories as a cruise reporter include seeing Queen Elizabeth, Princess Kate and Camilla (all separately) commission the three Cunard ships now in service.</p><p>Paul has written about cruising for Women's Day, The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Herald, Sherman's Travel, FoxNews.com and CruiseMates.</p>