90-Second Read: Why do Americans love cruises despite viral outbreaks?

Expedition cruise lines "haven't experienced any slowdown in bookings" following the deadly Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius, said The Wall Street Journal. Despite the scary headlines, industry experts "expect a record number of people" to take cruises this year, said The Associated Press. The stories are "piling up" about cruise ships being ocean-bound "fetid petri dishes." There is not "one thing" a cruise offers "that isn't available in the safe bosom of dry land." Cruises will remain popular anyway.

Record numbers expected to sail this year Two things are true: Cruise ships can be breeding grounds for disease. The Hondius drew worldwide attention, but a separate ship that was briefly quarantined with a rash of stomach flu cases was largely overlooked by the media. People who criticize cruises are "wrong about nearly everything," Nicole Russell said at USA Today.

The answer is a "bit complicated." Cruises are "absolutely great places for illnesses to thrive," but there is not a "great deal of evidence showing that infections are more likely" than on land. After arriving in the Netherlands, the ship is to be "disinfected using chlorine and peroxide," and the crew quarantined. Oceangoing travelers "generally understand the realities" of long boat journeys, Expedition Cruise Network CEO Akvile Marozaite said to the newspaper.