Cruising

Ovee the years that I've been traveling outside the United States, about 12 years now, I've gone on five cruises on large cruise ships.  All of those trips were pleasantly uneventful (except for the ship that almost tipped over - but that's another story).  I've also gone on one river cruise and I really enjoyed that more than traveling on any of the large ships.  I think perhaps I find it reassuring to see land and feel like I could swim to shore in an emergency.  I have no idea if I could really do that but there's a lot better chance on a river than an ocean.  I started thinking about the pros and cons of cruise ship travel after seeing a story on this evening's news.  A huge (from the picture) cruise ship couldn't stop in time and plowed into a small boat and a pier in Venice.  There were several injuries on the small boat and pier and I expect that people on the big boat were pretty shaken up too, although they might not have felt a thing.  Evidently the impact sent some pretty powerful water surges through the canals also.  Poor Venice, it is such a beautiful city, one of my favorites, but it does have water problems.  So now my dilemma is do I go on a cruise on a river boat and risk being run down by a big boat, or go on one of the mega-cruisers?  For now I think I'll stick to flying and land travel.  Of course I have heard some scary stories about pilots and bus drivers.  But then again, statistically, most fatal accidents happen within 25 miles of home, so long distance travel is obviously safer.  This reminds me of a joke I heard recently.  A 102 year old man was asked if he thought he would live to be 103.  His response was "Oh yes, statistically very few people die between the ages of 102 and 103."