One of the biggest decisions you'll make when planning your cruise is where to go. From old standbys like the Bahamas and Caribbean to more ambitious options like Asia and the Arctic Circle, there are plenty of regions from which to choose.

If you're new to cruising, be warned: with this type of travel, there are nuances too numerous to count. But that doesn't mean we won't try.

We'll help you prepare for your first sailing with these 10 common questions most cruisers don't have until they're already onboard.

Even if you're an avid traveler, your first cruise can be daunting. Because ships are self-contained on some days and end up in different locations on others, there are many moving parts that make cruising different from other vacations you might have tried.

We've rounded up 20 things first-time cruisers might not know before they go so you can be ahead of the game on your inaugural voyage.

The last thing you want to do is make a major mistake on your first cruise vacation. Avoiding common pitfalls is a smart way to set yourself up for a great vacation.

Unfortunately, a lot of first-time cruisers do not take a little bit of time to learn about these all too common blunders, and they always regret it later.

Here are the top ten cruise mistakes to avoid for anyone going on a cruise or thinking about planning a cruise vacation.

No matter how many times you cruise, boarding a new-to-you ship for the first time can be confusing. Cabin hallways can look the same, dead ends can force you to retrace your steps to get to dinner, and if we had a penny for every time we found ourselves at the back of the vessel when we thought we were headed to the front, we could buy a ship of our own.

To passport or not to passport? Fewer than half of American citizens have them; if you're someone who doesn't, you'll want to consider obtaining one before going on a cruise. 

Sure, you can travel on a closed-loop sailing -- one that leaves from and returns to the same U.S. port -- with just your birth certificate and a driver's license, but a passport offers more peace of mind in an emergency.

There's a lot to consider when you're trying to figure out which cruise line is the best. It's not a simple question to answer because it depends on the interests, personalities and budgets of you and the people with whom you'll be traveling.

When determining how to pick a cruise line, check out our superlatives below, which are designed to point you in the right direction. Simply find the things that matter most to you, and see which cruise line falls under most of them.

Before you go on your first Disney cruise, there is quite a lot of good tips and helpful information out there to ensure you have a great cruise.

In order to avoid some common first-time cruise mistakes, here are some of the critical things I wish I knew before I went on my first Disney cruise.

Virgin Voyages is one of the newest cruise lines out there, and you might be curious what it's all about. 

Richard Branson's newest venture has turned a lot of heads, starting with its first ship, Scarlet Lady, that began service in October 2021. 

Their second ship, Valiant Lady, conducted its first maiden voyage on March 18, 2022. Two more ships, Resilient Lady and Brilliant Lady, are expected to debut in 2023.