Someone told me that taking a cruise is really the worst way to travel. I don't know about that. It's certainly not a great way to experience a different city. You only spend eight or ten hours in each city, so you're never going to learn anything about the people and their culture. Most passengers on cruises just go to the main tourist sights and do a lot of shopping. I agree that is not any kind of meaningful travel. That's more for tourists than travelers.
Our cruise started in Shanghai, stopped in Xiamen, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh and ended in Bangkok. I went straight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, so I didn't see much of the city. We were in Xiamen for nine hours, so obviously I didn't learn everything there is to know about Xiamen. In fact, I still don't really know anything about the place. I know it's crowded and dirty and it gets unnecessarily hot in June. We were in Hong Kong for ten hours, but I live here, so that wasn't the highlight of the trip for me. We were in Ho Chi Minh for eight hours, but I didn't even get off the boat. I learned nothing about Ho Chi Minh.
We spent the most time in Bangkok because that's where the cruise ended. We stayed in a hotel for a few days after the cruise. That's not a long time, but it's better than eight hours. So now I know more about Thailand than Vietnam, but obviously I'm no expert.
If you want to know everything there is to know about wherever you're going, don't take a cruise. Then again, a two week vacation in a western hotel isn't going to tell you everything there is to know about the place either. I've met a lot of people who went somewhere for a week or two and think they are experts. I've lived in Hong Kong for over two years and I'm not even close to being an expert.
Seeing other cities is not the main point of a cruise. When you fly somewhere, the destination is the journey. The flight is mostly stale air and airport bullshit. When you take a cruise, the journey is the destination. Or something like that. The main point of a cruise is what you see and do on the ship. The stops in exotic cities are a bonus.
