Starting October 11, new North America bookings lose the 25% penalty tier entirely — you go straight from canceling free to a 50% hit. Royal is also consolidating its length brackets, which pushes 10-to-14-night cruises into the harshest tier. If you're close to committing, booking before the 11th locks in the older, gentler terms.

It comes down to one question: does your cruise start and end at the same U.S. port? On a closed-loop sailing, U.S. citizens can often board with a birth certificate and photo ID — but nearly every line still recommends a passport anyway. We break down the WHTI rules, the Alaska and one-way exceptions, and what kids need.

Carnival's CHEERS! usually has the lowest break-even thanks to a high per-drink cap; Royal's Deluxe is the best mid-market buy when it's on sale; Norwegian's Premium Plus suits heavy premium drinkers but costs the most per day. We run the break-even math line by line so you know when a package actually pays off.