I got COVID on a cruise. It's still the ultimate getaway. | Your Turn

Famed cruise critic Rex Huppke has spoken, and readers have clapped back. Mostly.

In a recent column by our own anti-cruise-ader, Rex asked folks a simple question: Why, amid all the germs, crowds and general trappedness, do folks still cruise? And love it?

From the recent deaths suspected to be from hantavirus aboard a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean to the many bouts of COVID-19 outbreaks in recent years, cruises aren't doing much to beat those petri-dish charges, but devoted cruisers persist. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the industry annually welcomes more than 35 million ocean-going passengers who clearly see past the risks.

So we asked you, our readers: What do you love about cruises, or why have you avoided them?

Below are some of the responses you shared. For more opportunities to weigh in at usatoday.com/forum, leave us a voicemail at (202) 655-3923 or drop us a note at [email protected].

The positives outweigh the negatives – even COVID

Cruising is the ultimate getaway from real life. You don't have to worry about anything. You can drink without having to worry about driving. There are more dining options than you could possibly cover. There's entertainment and activities for nearly every interest and activity level.

If you do it often enough, the cruise line will even do your laundry for you. And if you still find it boring, you can get off the boat to visit an exotic port of call for the day. Our favorite cruises have involved the opportunity to just totally unwind, sit on the balcony, sip a cold drink and watch the ocean pass by. Not a care in the world.

We've met some fascinating people on cruises and stayed in touch with them after we returned home. That said, we've also contracted COVID-19 and who knows what else from so many people in such a confined space, but the positive experiences and memories far outweigh the unpleasant.

— Don McNulty, Georgia

Cruises make travel accessible, but at an environmental cost

Because my wife frequently suffers from fatigue, it is good to be close to everything, such as entertainment, dining, nice places to exercise and toilets. At times when she does not feel up to doing activities, I can have fun and be nearby in case she needs me (phone texting apps work on the ship's Wi-Fi service).

On the downside (and counterintuitively), cruise ships are an environmental disaster. They are the least efficient means of transportation, generating about 421kg of CO2 per day per passenger (eight times more than equivalent land-based vacations).

I drive an electric car, but it doesn't make up for this discrepancy.

— Bob Aronsohn, Illinois

We look past inconvenient dangers

Why pay thousands of dollars to sit in lawn chairs in the sun all day? It seems rare to go on a cruise and not catch some very nasty virus. It is impossible to keep norovirus off of ships, since people can spread the virus for weeks. And employees are underpaid and don't get enough time off.

A couple of family members went on a cruise, God doesn't even know why, and they came home with COVID, and I thought they were lucky.

I don't understand the notion of paying enough to buy a car on common amenities available for far cheaper and far closer to home. During the pandemic, a guy at Disneyland with his family said you can't go through life worrying about it.

At Camp Mystic in Texas, when Guadalupe River surged over 26 feet amid a very violent storm in July, staff were more focused on soothing kids with hymns of praise than heading for high ground. The ability of people to deny danger is phenomenal.

— Dora Smith, Texas

Bad cruise news makes headlines, but not most experiences

There is a cruise for every taste and budget. We have purposefully stayed away from the largest ships, bigger than many towns in the United States. We've heard the resources are often strained by the larger crowds. That said, we also look forward to smaller, boutique experiences like those offered by Ritz-Carlton.

Look, these aren't for everyone. We know the bad experiences make the news. And that's fine. We have never felt unsafe on a ship. Our room was cleaned by the same person every day, and the best ships are staffed to keep all public areas sanitary. If you think you'll be miserable, then don't bother.

— Drew Taylor, Texas

YouTube is as close as I'm getting to a cruise

For 40 years, every once in a while, like when a new "world's largest" cruise ship is built, I think maybe I'd like to see it, and then, bam! Another story of some sort of virus attacks a ship, and everyone has to spend the rest of their time with nasty things coming out of both ends. Does not sound like a great time to me.

Fortunately, I've discovered plenty of YouTube clips of people on these enormous petri dishes, and the ships do look great, but that's as close as I'm ever going to get.

— Tony Urbaniak, Illinois