Privacy Policy

The short version

You can read the guides without sending me your name or email address. The site uses Google Analytics 4 through Site Kit by Google to help me understand how readers find and use the guides.

Some technical information is collected automatically by the site and its service providers. Contact messages and any optional subscription or reader features involve additional information that you choose to share, as explained below.

Information you send me

The contact form asks for your name, your email address, your message, and optionally the address of a page you’re writing about. Submissions are delivered to the site owner by email and may be stored on the website so I can find them again.

I use that information to reply to you, to investigate corrections, and to check reader cabin reports against other sources. I do not sell it, rent it, or pass it to anyone for marketing. Anything you send may be kept as long as it’s useful for corrections or verification, and you can ask me to delete it.

Please don’t send me booking references, payment details, passport or other government ID numbers, or anything else sensitive. I have no use for them and no way to act on them.

If you send a cabin report

Reader cabin reports may inform what a guide says. If a report you send changes a published guide, the guide describes the finding, not you. Your name and email address are not published, and photographs you send are not used on the site unless you say they can be. If you’d rather your report stayed completely private even in summarized form, say so in the message.

Information collected automatically

Like nearly every website, the web server records standard technical information when a page is requested: IP address, browser and device type, the page requested, referring page, and a timestamp. This is used for security, spam prevention and diagnosing problems.

Google Analytics

I use Google Analytics 4 to understand which guides readers visit, how they find the site, and how they interact with it. Site Kit by Google places the Google tag that sends usage information to Google.

Depending on your browser settings and the features in use, this information can include page addresses, referral sources, browser and device details, approximate location, interaction data, and cookie or client identifiers. Google processes this information to provide Analytics reports.

For more detail, read Google’s explanation of Analytics data and privacy controls and the Google Privacy Policy. The cookie controls and Analytics opt-out option below explain choices available to you.

Cookies

Google Analytics can use first-party cookies, including cookies beginning with _ga, to distinguish visits and measure site use. Other features, such as WordPress login, saved comment details, or optional reader tools, may also use cookies or similar browser storage.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser and use its tracking protections. Some login, saved-preference, or reader features may not work as expected when storage is blocked.

Google also offers an Analytics opt-out browser add-on for supported browsers. It affects Google Analytics measurement, not every service on this site; see Google’s cookie information for more detail.

Services this site uses

CruiseShipInsights runs on WordPress. The services below support the site, with data handling depending on the features in use.

Web hosting and caching. The hosting provider processes technical requests and server logs to deliver and protect the site.

Site Kit by Google and Google Analytics 4. Site Kit places the Google tag, and Google processes analytics information as described in the Google Analytics section above.

Grow by Mediavine supports reader and subscription features where they appear on the site, and may process technical usage data, browser identifiers, and information you submit. Grow’s own notices explain its data use and choices, including any use for personalized advertising; see its reader consent explanation.

Jetpack, by Automattic, provides site management, performance, and protection features. Where its measurement or protection features are active, Automattic processes relevant technical request data.

Kadence Blocks provides page layout tools and the contact form. Form submissions are emailed to the site owner and may be stored on the site.

Yoast SEO generates search metadata and sitemaps. Some page layouts also load fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser makes a request to Google.

Embedded content from other sites

Articles may embed video, such as a cabin tour hosted elsewhere, or link to cruise line deck plans. Embedded content behaves as if you had visited that other site directly, and the other site’s own privacy policy and cookies apply. Following an outside link takes you out of this policy’s scope entirely.

Advertising and affiliate tracking

Google Analytics is used here for audience measurement, which is separate from running an advertising or affiliate program. The current Site Kit configuration links the Google tag to Google Analytics 4, not a Google Ads or AdSense destination.

Third-party reader tools such as Grow have their own data-use and advertising notices, even when no display ad appears. For commercial relationships and affiliate links, see the Affiliate Disclosure and Cruise Travel Disclaimer.

Email

Contacting me does not subscribe you to emails. If you choose an optional subscription form, the information you submit is handled by the service shown with that form, such as Grow.

Read the signup notice before subscribing and use the unsubscribe link in a subscription email to stop those messages. Unsubscribing from email does not disable website analytics; see the cookie controls and Analytics opt-out option above.

Children

This site is written for adults planning cruises and is not directed at children. I do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has sent me personal information, contact me and I’ll delete it.

Your choices

You can ask me what personal information I hold about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be deleted. Send the request through the contact page from the email address you originally wrote from, or tell me enough for me to find the message. Depending on where you live, you may have rights under laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws in the United States. I’ll honor those requests regardless of where you live, because the amount of data involved is small enough that sorting readers by jurisdiction would be sillier than just doing it.

To be clear about what this page is: it’s a plain description of how a small independent website handles data. It has not been reviewed or certified by a lawyer or any compliance body.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS and kept updated. No website can promise perfect security, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise, which is another reason not to send me anything sensitive.

Changes to this policy

If the site starts using a service that handles reader data, this page gets updated with the specifics and a new date at the top. It won’t be revised quietly.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or a request about your own information: use the contact page.