I read too many horror stories about cruise ships. Sickness, mechanical breakdowns, poor service, etc. You couln’t pay me to go.
This is shortsighted. All that you mentioned is quite rare when considering the number of ships. Poor service and mechanical breakdowns are really quite rare. I've been on 20 cruises and it is the best bang for the buck vacation that you can buy. On a week's cruise, you can go to four different vacation spots and your hotel moves with you! Not only that, you don't have to worry about making restaurant reservations every night (a pain during busy season) and you get a list of great shore excursions that you can painlessly sign up for.
All in all, it is the most stress free vacation that you can get.