One of the biggest questions cruisers have is whether or not they're required to book shore excursions in port. The answer is, most often, no, but there are caveats.

Read on to learn about the types of excursions you might consider, when you could be forced to book one and whether or not you should book one if the decision is left up to you.

Cruises have many nuances and moving parts that make planning more confusing than what you'd experience with a land-based vacation. You might be wondering, "Should I book my cruise through a travel agent?"

A Costa Cruises ship will end its sailing due to a Coronavirus outbreak in France, which follows a small outbreak on the previous ship's sailing.

The decision to cancel the Costa Diadema was made in an abundance of caution by the cruise line due to the health situation in France, where COVID-19 cases have spiked in recent days.

The Costa Diadema has been chartered by a French company for two sailings, with the first sailing having 7 guests test positive for COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic.

The chair of the U.S. House of Representatives' Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee has requested information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid allegations that the White House interfered with the extension of the CDC's no-sail order.

Disney Cruise Line released their 2022 cruises, which include sailings to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Caribbean and Mexico, departing from coast-to-coast homeports including New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, San Diego, Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida.

Bookings will become open to the public on Oct. 22, 2020.

New ship: Disney Wish

Disney's next new cruise ship, the Disney Wish, will have her maiden voyage in summer 2022.

Update, 4/11/2021: On October 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowed its no-sail order to expire and issued a conditional sailing framework, to which all ships must adhere in order to resume cruising. Since that time, Holland America Line has pushed back its restart date for all ships through June 30, 2021, with sailings to select regions on select ships canceled into August.

All sailings that depart from or return to Canada ports have also been canceled.

This article was last updated on May 24, 2021.

In March of 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order, which kept the industry at a standstill for nearly a year before it expired and was replaced with a conditional sail order. Since then, cruise lines continue to voluntarily cease operations as the world faces ongoing threats from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Cruises are indulgent: sunbathing and relaxation galore, a plethora of fun adult beverages and nearly unlimited food options. Whether you're normally a health and fitness nut or you're simply hoping to avoid gaining weight or getting sick on your next sailing, here are 10 practical tips for how to stay healthy on a cruise.

Following the other major cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Line announced it too has cancelled its November 2020 cruises.

There were six total ships set to sail from PortMiami and Port Canaveral in November 2020, but these are all now cancelled.