The American Queen Steamboat company has released its safety measures and guidelines aimed to keep guests and crew safe from the COVID-19 pandemic while onboard its ships.

These include new steps in pre-cruise screening, crew screening and boarding processes. Both onboard and ground operations will feature enhanced cleaning procedures.

While American Queen is not a major cruise line, its plan of action is an indication perhaps of what we can expect from other cruise line sas well.

Royal Caribbean executives have made different statements recently regarding the fate of its buffet on a Royal Caribbean ship once cruising resumes.

Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain spoke to travel agents and spoke on many of the changes the cruise line is considering to protect guests once cruises resume.

Virgin Voyages announced today it is pushing back its debut until October 16, 2020.

The new cruise line was scheduled to begin in the spring, but opted to cancel all sailings through October 15, 2020.

Virgin is offering affected cruisers options to make rebooking easier. 

Passengers who booked travel on impacted Scarlet Lady sailings would be eligible for a 100 percent refund. To make up for the inconvenience, customers who cancel will also receive a 25 percent future cruise credit.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced it will extend its global cruise suspension through the end of July.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has decided to extend the suspension of most sailings through July 31, 2020, with the exception of sailings from China, which will be suspended through the end of June.

The cruise line has updated its date to resume service to be August 1, 2020.

Guests on cancelled sailings between June 12 - July 31, 2020 have the choice of a 100% refund, 125% future cruise credit, or to use Lift & Shift and move the sailing to next year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reported its first quarter 2020 results, as well as an update on what the company is doing to mitigate losses.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced on Wednesday it has extended its global cruise suspension and cancelled all of its sailings through July 31, 2020.

Guests who had an active reservation on one of the suspended cruises have automatically received a 125% or 150% refund of their cruise fare in the form of a Future Cruise Credit which can be applied towards any Norwegian Cruise Line voyage through December 31, 2022.

Norwegian Cruise Line has extended its Peace of Mind policy, that allows guests to cancel a cruise in exchange for a future cruise credit.

The Peace of Mind policy is extended through at least November 30, 2020.

If a guests chooses to take advantage of this policy, they can receive either a full refund or a future cruise credit (FCC) to be used on any new sailing through December 31, 2020. 

The Bahamas is mulling over reopening its borders for travel "on or before" July 1.

Tribune Business reports Bahamian Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the country is considering plans to resume domestic travel.

"We are looking at a possible date for commercial travel on or before July 1 of this year," he said. "These dates may change depending on the circumstance. I want to repeat, however, that this date is not final."

When Norwegian Cruise Line resumes sailings, it will probably begin with five ships at a time, and take around five to six months before fleet is operational.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. provided its plan as part of its first quarter 2020 earnings report to shareholders.

NCLH CEO Frank Del Rio explained the phased approach to resume cruises, beginning with up to six months to resume fleetwide operations across all 28 of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' ships.