I have also heard lots of great things about cruises - that they are a lot of fun and feature great food and fun destinations. But you also hear a lot about mass illnesses happening on cruise ships and that is what keeps me from
going on a cruise altogether.
Add me to the list who say "Sign Me Up!" I went on a cruise 25 years ago as a teenager and it still remains the best vacation I have ever taken -- even better than Disney World which I finally made it to a few years ago for the first time. Disney was special and I would love to go again, but a cruise is so much cheaper in the long run. It is very similar to a resort vacation with all of the activities and amenities available on cruise ships these days -- they really are huge resort hotels that float on water. Depending on what ports you visit, you have the luxury of lounging (or being active) at the various spots/rooms on the ship and your next sight-seeing destination "comes to you" so to speak. You don't have to hop a bus or plane or train and travel all night to get there (at least it doesn't feel like it) -- you just wake up in your stateroom one morning and you are at the next stop!
As for the comment quoted above, I don't have hard data to say exactly, but the occasions of mass illness outbreaks on cruise ships are such a small percentage of the overall numbers, they just get reported out the wazoo when they DO happen because it sells newspapers and gets/keeps the TV viewers attention. When was the last time you saw a news story about a commercial airplane that departed/arrived on time with no incidents or issues? When was the last time that you DID NOT hear about a plane that had major and/or catastrophic problems? Millions of people still fly everyday without incident.