When you finally decide on a vacation, rarely does one's mind resort to the worst case scenario: cancelling it. Life happens, however, and it's good to be prepared for when the unexpected happens. So, what happens when you book a Princess cruise and have to cancel it?

If you've found yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to scrap your booking, we'll tell you what you need to know about Princess Cruises cancellation policy, what fees may be associated with the cancellation, and what it will take for you to receive a refund, if eligible.

A new Holland America Line cruise ship has been launched from the shipyard.

The HAL Rotterdam was launched by Fincantieri at a shipyard in Italy today.

Rotterdam will next have her drydock filled with water and floated out on October 7 to begin the next stage of construction at an outfitting pier.

Coinciding with the launch is the traditional and well-wishing “coin ceremony" which sees the yard welding a silver dollar on the last deck of the ship.

Following an eleventh-hour extension of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's no-sail order, which now runs through October 31, 2020, Carnival has canceled sailings from most ports through December 2020.

The line said in a statement that, when the time comes, it will take a phased approach to its restart, focusing first on sailings from Port Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida. The line has not yet canceled November or December sailings from those two ports.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) has extended its cruise ship prohibition by adding an additional 30 days to the No Sail Order.

Late on Wednesday night, the CDC updated its website with a notice that the No Sail Order is now in effect through October 31, 2020.

This article was last updated on May 17, 2021.

As cruise lines push hard to resume operations in the U.S., several have already returned to sailing in Europe -- successfully. But what does that mean for Americans? When might we expect to be able to visit the Baltic or the Mediterranean or the Greek Isles again?

A new report claims the White House overruled the U.S. Centers for Disease Control over how much longer to extend the No Sail order that prohibits cruise ships from sailing.

Axios reported that according to two different sources, the CDC Director wanted to extend the No Sail order until February 2021, but White House officials would only allow them to go until the end of October 2020.

After 12 TUI Cruise crew members tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, follow-up tests show that those same crew have now tested negative.

The cruise line reported that repeat checks by Greek health authorities turned out to be negative.

After docking in Piraeus, Greece, the Mein Shiff 6 conducted two additional PCR tests and all came back negative.

Carnival Cruise Line's next giant cruise ship has begun her first set of sailings aimed at testing the ship's seaworthiness.

The Mardi Gras departed the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland on Monday morning to spend the next 10 days at sea.

Once her sea trials are complete, she will return to the dock for final preparations for its departure for the U.S.

Mardi Gras will be the first ship powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in North America.

Tests of 12 crew members aboard the TUI Cruises Mein Schiff 6 cruise ship have come back positive.

The ship, carrying 920 passengers, is on its way to the Greek island of Piraeus after the positive results were announced by Greece's Civil Protection agency and reported by Reuters.