Norwegian Cruise Line announced on Wednesday it has extended its global cruise suspension through the end of October 2020.

This means it has cancelled all of its cruises on Norwegian Cruise Line, and sister brands Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, until November 1, 2020.

Guests who had cruises booked that are now cancelled are entitled to a few compensation offers:

Nobody wants to spend a hard-earned cruise vacation wishing they had chosen a different line.

If you're deciding between Norwegian vs. Carnival cruises, you won't want to make a decision until you've properly compared the two lines in some of the most important areas -- cabins, dining, entertainment and, of course, price.

Overall

Planning a cruise can be daunting, and if you're not careful, you can pick a line that's not well suited to your needs.

Whether you're a seasoned sea dog or new to the world of cruising, we'll help you compare Norwegian vs. Royal Caribbean in the most important areas -- dining, cabins, onboard activities and price -- to help you make a better decision about which of these two top cruise lines is right for you.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced on Monday a collaboration to create a panel to create COVID-19 protocols.

The "Healthy Sail Panel" has a mission of developing recommendations for cruise lines to advance their public health response to COVID-19, improve safety and prepare to safely resume operations.

The co-chairs of the panel are Gov. Mike Leavitt and Dr. Scott Gottlieb. 

Leavitt is former secretary of the US Department Health and Human Services and Gottlieb is former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced on Tuesday it was cancelling all of its 2020 Alaska cruises.

In an email to travel agents, Norwegian cited both the impact of COVID-19, as well as port restrictions as why it was forced to cancel all of its Alaska cruises.

While we remained hopeful that we would resume our Seattle-based Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy Alaska sailings in September 2020, today's suspension includes the following cruises.

Cancelled sailings include:

Norwegian Joy

Wall Street analyst Chris Woronka of Deutsche Bank wrote a note that predicts in the long run cruise lines will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will take many years to accomplish.

While he does not see the cruise line stocks of Carnival, Norwegian or Royal Caribbean being low enough to buy right now, in the long term Woronka sees these stocks recovering after getting torpedoed by the COVID-19 panic.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced today it has cancelled all of its sailings through August 30th, 2020 and select cruises in September and October.

The announcement effects Norwegian, Oceania and Regent cruise lines.

Today's announcement includes:

Norwegian Cruise Line published its six-point Peace of Mind health program that aims to take every precaution to keep guests safe from COVID-19.

The cruise line says these rules "just the start of a wave of new technologies and enhancements" that will be rolling out.

The full list of health protocols are available to view, and fall under six major categories:

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.