Privacy Policy
We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains exactly what data CruiseSolutioner.com collects, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have over it — whether you’re in the US, California, the EU, or anywhere else. Last updated: June 2026.
Who We Are
CruiseSolutioner.com (referred to as “this site,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an independent cruise travel information website operated by Daniel [Last Name]. The site is based in the United States and primarily serves US-based readers, though it is accessible worldwide.
We publish cruise planning guides, ship reviews, destination content, and product recommendations for cruise travelers. This Privacy Policy governs all data collected through the website at cruisesolutioner.com and its subpages.
What Information We Collect
A. Information you provide voluntarily
When you interact with certain features of this site, you may provide information directly, including:
- Contact form submissions — your name, email address, and the content of your message when you use our contact form
- Email newsletter sign-up — your name and email address if you subscribe to receive our newsletter or free guides
- Comments — if WordPress comments are enabled on any posts, your name, email, and website URL
We do not require an account to use this site. We do not collect payment information.
B. Information collected automatically
When you visit this site, certain information is collected automatically by us and by our third-party service providers:
- IP address — used to infer approximate geographic location and for security/spam prevention
- Browser type and version — used for site optimisation and compatibility
- Operating system — used to understand how the site is accessed
- Device type — desktop, mobile, or tablet
- Pages visited and navigation paths — which articles and pages you read, in what order, and for how long
- Referring URL — which site or search engine sent you here
- Time and date of visit
- Approximate location — inferred from IP address (country/city level only; we do not collect precise GPS location)
C. Information collected by third parties
Third-party services embedded on or linked from this site may collect additional data according to their own privacy policies. These include Google (Analytics and AdSense), Ezoic, Amazon Associates, Pinterest, and Twitter/X. See the relevant sections below for details.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
Responding to you
To reply to contact form submissions, answer questions, and process correction reports.
Email communications
To send newsletters, free guides, and cruise planning tips to subscribers who opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in each email.
Site analytics
To understand how visitors use the site, which content is most helpful, and where we can improve. We use Google Analytics for this purpose.
Advertising
To serve relevant display advertisements through Google AdSense and Ezoic. Ad personalisation is based on your browsing behaviour and may be turned off (see Section 6).
Security & fraud prevention
To detect and prevent spam, bot traffic, and other malicious activity. IP addresses may be used for this purpose.
Legal compliance
To comply with applicable laws, court orders, and regulatory obligations, and to protect our legal rights.
We do not use your information to make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Who We Share Information With
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers — We work with third-party companies that help operate this website, including our web host, email service provider, and analytics provider. These providers access data only as needed to perform their services and are contractually prohibited from using it for other purposes.
- Advertising partners — Google AdSense and Ezoic receive data (including cookies, device identifiers, and browsing data) to serve and measure ads. See Section 6 for details and opt-out links.
- Amazon Associates — When you click an Amazon affiliate link, Amazon receives your session data and any purchase information. See Section 7.
- Legal requirements — We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or government request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of this site, our readers, or others.
- Business transfer — If this site is sold, merged, or transferred, user data may transfer to the new owner subject to the same privacy protections described here.
Cookies & Tracking Technologies
This site uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — and similar tracking technologies including web beacons, pixel tags, and local storage. Cookies help us and our partners deliver a functional, personalised, and monetised experience.
Cookie inventory table
| Cookie / Technology | Set by | Purpose | Type | Duration | Opt-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_ga, _ga_* |
Google Analytics | Distinguishes unique users and sessions; tracks pages visited, session length, and traffic sources | Analytics | 2 years | GA Opt-Out |
_gid |
Google Analytics | Distinguishes users for session-level tracking | Analytics | 24 hours | GA Opt-Out |
_gat |
Google Analytics | Throttles request rate to Google Analytics | Analytics | 1 minute | GA Opt-Out |
AdSense cookies (__gads, __gpi) |
Google AdSense | Frequency capping, ad personalisation, measuring ad performance and conversions | Advertising | Up to 2 years | Google Ads Settings |
Ezoic cookies (__eoi, _ezoic_*) |
Ezoic | Ad personalisation, A/B testing, user experience optimisation, analytics | Advertising / Analytics | Up to 2 years | Ezoic Privacy |
Amazon session cookies (session-id, ubid-main) |
Amazon.com | Tracks affiliate referrals, shopping cart contents, and purchase attribution for Amazon Associates commissions | Affiliate / Commerce | Session / 30 days | Amazon Privacy |
Pinterest (_pinterest_sess) |
Site verification; enables Pinterest Save/Pin buttons where embedded | Social / Analytics | Up to 1 year | Pinterest Privacy | |
| Twitter / X widgets | Twitter / X | Renders embedded tweet feeds; may track interactions with embedded content | Social | Session / persistent | Twitter Privacy |
WordPress session (wordpress_*, wp-settings-*) |
WordPress / Site | Maintains logged-in state for admin users. Not set for regular visitors unless you have an account. | Functional | Session / 14 days | Browser settings |
Cloudflare (__cflb, cf_clearance) |
Cloudflare | Security, bot detection, DDoS protection, load balancing | Security / Functional | Session / 30 days | Not opt-outable (essential security) |
How to manage or disable cookies
You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies already on your device and set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. Note that disabling cookies may prevent some features of this site — including ad delivery — from functioning correctly.
Google AdSense & Google Analytics
Google AdSense
We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on this site. Google AdSense uses cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. This is known as interest-based advertising (also called “personalised advertising”).
Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising at any time:
Ezoic (Ad Management)
This site uses Ezoic, a Google Certified Publishing Partner (GCPP), to manage and optimise the delivery of advertisements. Ezoic acts as a data processor on our behalf and collects data including IP addresses, cookie data, and general usage statistics for the purpose of serving personalised ads and improving user experience.
Ezoic participates in the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF v2.2) for EU visitors. Their full privacy documentation is available at:
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use this site. Google Analytics collects information including pages visited, time spent on pages, the referring website, browser type, device type, and approximate geographic location. This data is aggregated and used to improve our content.
Our Google Analytics measurement ID is: G-XXXXXXXXXX.
We have enabled IP anonymisation in Google Analytics, which
means your IP address is truncated before being stored by Google.
Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months and then automatically deleted. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites by installing the:
Amazon Associates Tracking
This site participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. When you click an Amazon affiliate link on this site, Amazon may set cookies on your device to track whether a qualifying purchase is made during your session.
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Amazon affiliate links on this site include our Associates tracking tag
(tag=YOUR-TAG-20). When you click such a link, Amazon’s cookies
allow them to attribute any purchase made within the same session to our
Associates account. Amazon collects and processes this data in accordance
with its own privacy policy.
Clicking an Amazon affiliate link sends the following data to Amazon:
- The page on our site where you clicked the link
- The ASIN (product identifier) of the product you clicked on
- Our Associates tracking tag (used to attribute commissions)
- Standard browser and session data collected by Amazon on their site
We do not receive any personal information about you from Amazon as a result of affiliate link clicks. We receive only an aggregated commission report.
Third-Party Links
This website contains links to external websites including cruise line sites, port authority pages, Amazon product pages, and other travel resources. When you click these links and leave this site, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites.
We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external website you visit, particularly before providing personal information. The presence of a link on this site does not constitute an endorsement of that site’s privacy practices.
Social media platforms whose widgets or feeds are embedded on this site (currently Twitter/X and Pinterest) may collect data when you view a page containing their embedded content, even if you do not click or interact with the widget. Their data collection is governed by their own policies:
Children’s Privacy
In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect, solicit, or store personal information from children under 13 years of age. If we discover that we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, we will delete that information immediately.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided personal information to this site, please contact us immediately at the address in Section 15 and we will take steps to remove that information.
Visitors between the ages of 13 and 17 (minors) are permitted to use this site, but we encourage minors to use it only with parental supervision. We do not target advertising or content specifically at minors.
Your Privacy Rights
Regardless of where you are located, you have the following rights with respect to any personal information we hold about you:
You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
You can ask us to delete personal information we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., legal obligations).
Where technically feasible, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format.
If you receive our newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email. We will not send marketing emails to anyone who has not opted in.
You can opt out of personalised advertising using the tools listed in Section 5 (Cookies), including Google Ads Settings and aboutads.info.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 15. We will respond within 30 days (or sooner, where required by applicable law). We do not charge a fee to process reasonable requests. We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.
California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
- Right to know — You have the right to request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you in the past 12 months, the sources of that information, the business or commercial purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
- Right to delete — You have the right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
- Right to correct — You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
- Right to opt out of sale or sharing — We do not sell your personal information for monetary consideration. However, sharing data with Google AdSense and Ezoic for targeted advertising may constitute “sharing” under CPRA. You may opt out by using the DAA Opt-Out Tool or by disabling personalised advertising in your browser or through Google’s Ad Settings.
- Right to limit use of sensitive personal information — We do not collect sensitive personal information (such as Social Security numbers, financial account data, or precise geolocation) on this site.
- Right to non-discrimination — We will not discriminate against you for exercising any CCPA rights. Exercising your rights will not result in different pricing, service quality, or access to our content.
Email us at [email protected] with the subject line “California Privacy Request” and specify which right you wish to exercise. We will verify your identity and respond within 45 days as required by CCPA, with one possible extension of an additional 45 days where reasonably necessary.
Shine the Light: California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. We do not share personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes without your consent.
GDPR Rights
If you are located in the European Union, European Economic Area, or United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (and, for the UK, the UK GDPR) may apply to the processing of your personal data.
Our legal bases for processing
Your GDPR rights
Under GDPR you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of your personal data
- Rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
- Erasure — request deletion (“right to be forgotten”)
- Restriction — request that we restrict processing of your data
- Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Object — object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting lawfulness of prior processing
- Lodge a complaint — with your national data protection authority (e.g., the ICO in the UK at ico.org.uk)
International data transfers
As a US-based website, your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may not provide the same level of data protection as the EU. Where third-party processors (e.g., Google, Ezoic) transfer data internationally, they rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or other approved transfer mechanisms. Please refer to their respective privacy policies for details.
Data Security & Retention
Security measures
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information collected on this site, including:
- HTTPS encryption — all data transmitted between your browser and this site is encrypted via TLS/SSL
- Cloudflare protection — DDoS protection, bot management, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) via Cloudflare
- WordPress security — regular plugin and core updates, strong admin passwords, and limited admin access
- Email security — contact form submissions are transmitted via encrypted channels
No method of data transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Data retention periods
| Data type | Retention period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Contact form submissions | Up to 12 months | To enable follow-up; deleted thereafter unless subject to legal hold |
| Email newsletter subscriber data | Until unsubscribed + 30 days | Maintained while active subscriber; deleted within 30 days of unsubscribe request |
| Google Analytics data | 14 months | GA4 data retention setting; automatically deleted by Google thereafter |
| Server access logs (IP, pages, timestamp) | Up to 30 days | Security and debugging; automatically deleted by hosting provider |
| Advertising data (AdSense / Ezoic) | Per Google / Ezoic policies | Subject to Google and Ezoic’s own retention schedules |
| Amazon Associates commission data | Per Amazon’s policies | Amazon retains purchase attribution data per their own schedule |
| Legal compliance records | As required by law | May be retained longer where required by applicable legal obligations |
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other legitimate reasons. When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page
- Post the revised policy at this URL (
cruisesolutioner.com/privacy-policy/) - Where appropriate, notify email subscribers of significant changes
A change is “material” if it affects how we collect, use, or share your data; changes your rights; or adds new third-party data processors. Minor changes (fixing typos, reorganising sections without substance change, updating links) may be made without a separate notification.
This policy was last materially updated in June 2026. The previous version (dated October 2024) has been superseded. Your continued use of this site after any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. If you do not agree with the updated policy, please discontinue use of this site.
Contact Us About Privacy
For any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the personal data we hold about you, please contact us through any of the following channels:
[Your Address]
United States