This article was last updated on May 1, 2021.

More than one year into the cruise industry's voluntary suspension of North American operations, passengers are curious when they might begin to see Norwegian Cruise Line's ships sailing again.

In the competitive industry of cruise tourism, companies are pushing the limits with what can be built on their ships.

From roller coasters to climbing walls, the things you can do on new cruise ships is incredible.

Here is a look at the top 15 most amazing cruise ship activities.

This article was last updated on May 1, 2021.

Royal Caribbean fans everywhere are itching to know when the line will resume cruising from North America.

Since the expiration of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ban on sailings in late 2020, several new developments -- conditional sailing framework requirements, vaccination roll-outs and an extension of Canada's no-sail order -- have shaped the way cruise lines are operating.

Royal Caribbean Group revealed the findings of a new study that looked at how aerosol particles spread on a cruise ship's ventilation system.

The study was conducted by the Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) onboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas to evaluate the efficacy of HVAC systems on ships in order to assess and improve ventilation to combat COVID-19 spread.

Is there hope for an Alaska cruise season this year?

During Norwegian Cruise Line Holding (NCLH)'s four quarter, NCL President and CEO Frank Del Rio thinks there is positive momentum to salvage at least part of the Alaska cruise season.

On February 4, the Canadian Minister of Transport issued a new Interim Order banning cruise ships in all waters until February 28, 2022. 

Canada's cruise ship ban has forced Holland America and Princess Cruises to cancel their sailings from Vancouver.

Princess said it has no choice but to cancel cruises that begin or end in Vancouver including:

Carnival Cruise Line has joined others in cancelling their May cruises.

The cruise line announced on Wednesday it has decided to cancel all of its U.S. departures through May 31, 2021.

In a statement, the cruise line said a "date for the return of guest cruising operations from U.S. ports has not yet been determined."

With the new round of cancellations, Carnival cruise ships won’t begin sailings until June at the earliest.

Disney will not be able to restart cruises in April.

Disney Cruise Line announced it has cancelled its May 2021 cruises, and Disney Magic sailings through August 10.

In a statement on its website, Disney said it needs more time while it waits to get further information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

"As we continue to refine our protocols and await further technical guidance from the CDC, we are canceling all sailings departing through May 2021."

Crew members live on cruise ships while they are working onboard, and they have an entire area of the ship just for them.

How much different are crew areas from guest areas, and what do these facilities look like?

In some cases, crew areas are a lot like guest areas because some crew have guest privileges. But not all crew have these privileges, so cruise lines dedicate certain parts of the ship just for crew.