We operate an online service that provides users with recommendations for travel and travel planning, including cruises, vacations, travel packages, travel guides and lots more. In this Statement, we refer to these as our “Services”.
The information that you and others entrust us with enhances our ability to provide more relevant, personalized and helpful Services. We know that sharing your information with us is based on trust. We take your trust in us seriously and are committed to providing you helpful information, products and services, curated based on the information you have shared with us. Equally, and perhaps more importantly, we are committed to respecting your privacy when you visit our website or use our Services and being transparent about how we use the information you have entrusted to us.
This Privacy & Cookies Statement (“Statement”) describes how we obtain, use, and process your information. It informs you of the rights you have, how you can exercise them and how you can contact us. Please review this Statement carefully to learn about our practices with respect to information and privacy.
Our Services are owned and operated by The Independent Traveler, Inc. (hereinafter “Cruise Critic”), which is owned and operated by Tripadvisor LLC (d/b/a Cruise Critic). By visiting our websites and related mobile applications, as well as other online platforms such as our affiliated partners’ websites, apps and social media, whether on a computer, phone, tablet, or similar device (each of these is referred to as a “Device”), you acknowledge and confirm that you have read this Statement.
We offer our Services to users in a number of countries and territories where the laws and customs differ. This Statement provides a general overview of our privacy practices. In addition, Sections 12 and 13 of this Statement provide specific information relevant to users residing in certain regions or countries.
We collect personal information from and about you as detailed in this Notice at Collection of Personal Information (“Notice”) and in this Statement.
We collect and use each category of personal information for the following business and commercial purposes described in more detail in Section 2 of the Statement: registration, membership and other contracts, to improve the services, personalization and customization, communication, and legal compliance.
We will retain copies of your information for as long as you maintain your account or as necessary in connection with the purposes set out in this Statement, unless applicable law requires a longer retention period. In addition, we may retain your information for the duration of any period necessary to establish, exercise, or defend any legal rights.
The terms “sell” and “share” are broadly defined in certain US privacy laws. We may “sell” or “share” the following categories of personal information to business partners, social media websites, advertising networks, data aggregators, and other third parties identified in Section 3 of this Statement for purposes of delivering interest-based advertising, analyzing use of our websites and apps, and enhancing user engagement on our websites and apps and on social media: biographical information/identifiers, Internet or other electronic network activity information, commercial information, and inferences drawn from the above. We do not knowingly sell or share personal information of individuals under the age of 16.
If you would like to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, you may do so by clicking on the “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link on our homepage. You may also use a universal tool that automatically communicates your opt-out preferences, such as the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”). We will process the GPC signal as a request to opt out.
When you access or use our Services, we collect and process information from and about you to provide the Services in a more personalized and relevant way. Some information we collect passively, for example, with our servers or with cookies or other similar tracking technologies. Some information we collect from different sources, including from you, affiliated entities, business partners, and other independent third-party sources. When you use our Services by “clicking-through” from a third-party website or when you visit third-party websites via our Services, those third-party websites may share information with us about your use of their service. Any information that we receive from third-party websites may be combined with the information provided by you.
Information collected may include the following:
We may also collect – in instances where you have provided it – information about other travellers or guests, including their email address and other travel-based information. If you are sharing information with us about other individuals, you must obtain their consent and ensure that they have understood and accepted how we will use their personal information (as described in this Statement).
In addition to the categories noted above, we may also collect certain location information if you have instructed your Device to send such information via the privacy settings on that Device, or, for example, if you have uploaded photos tagged with location information.
To the extent possible, we want to provide you with relevant content and a tailored experience when you use our Services, and we may use information about you to do that, including in the following ways:
Registration, membership, and other contracts
Improve our Services
Personalization and customization
Communication
Legal Compliance
In order to provide some of our Services and processing activities, we use service providers and may need to make available each category of information that we collect to these service providers and certain other third parties, including our group of companies, in the following circumstances:
Certain Device operating system versions permit you to opt out of certain types of information sharing, including to certain advertising networks. You can change the privacy settings of your Device at any time in order to turn off the functionality that collects and shares location information. Please check your Device settings if you want to limit such tracking. However, turning off location-sharing may affect certain features that we offer. If you have any questions about the privacy settings of your Device, we suggest you contact the manufacturer of your Device or your mobile service provider for help.
We also may share your information if we believe, in our sole discretion, that such disclosure is necessary:
You have options with respect to the collection and use of your information.
To exercise any of the options, please email, help@cruisecritic.com .
Our Services are not intended for children, which we consider to be: (i) individuals that are 13 years of age or under, or the age of privacy consent in your jurisdiction; or (ii) when processing data on the basis of a contract, the age of legal capacity to enter into the agreement.
We will only collect or process information belonging to children under very limited circumstances. We might need to collect personal information belonging to children as part of our Service if, for example, the personal information is required as part of a travel-related reservation. We will only collect personal information belonging to children if it is provided by and with consent of a parent or guardian. If we become aware that we have processed the personal information of a child without the valid consent of a parent or guardian, we will delete the personal information.
We offer our Services to users located in many different jurisdictions. If we transfer your information to other countries, we will use and protect that information as described in this Statement and in accordance with applicable law.
We have implemented appropriate administrative, technical, and physical security procedures to help protect your information. We only authorize specific personnel to access personal information and they may do so only for permitted business functions. We use encryption when transmitting your information between your system and ours, and between our system and those of the parties with whom we share information. We also employ firewalls and intrusion detection systems to help prevent unauthorized access to your information. However, we cannot guarantee the security of information from unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, or other circumstances outside of our control.
We will retain copies of your information for as long as you maintain your account or as necessary in connection with the purposes set out in this Statement, unless applicable law requires a longer retention period. In addition, we may retain your information for the duration of any period necessary to establish, exercise, or defend any legal rights.
We want your access to our Services to be as easy, efficient, and useful as possible. To help us do this, we use cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience, to enhance website security, and to show you relevant advertising.
Cookies are small text files that are automatically placed on your Device when you visit almost any website. They are stored by your internet browser and contain basic information about your internet use. Your browser sends the information from these cookies back to a website every time you revisit it, so it can recognize your Device and improve your experience by, among other things, providing you with personalized content. We also use other tracking technologies, such as pixels, SDKs, or server logs, that have a similar functionality. We also use cookies and tracking technologies to remember your login details, so you don’t have to re-enter them repeatedly when you use our Services or to help us understand your preferences.
To give you control, we provide you with a Cookie Consent Tool which allows you to adjust and customize your cookie settings. You can access the Cookie Consent Tool by clicking the “Cookie Consent” link at the bottom of every page and modify your preferences in our cookie banner. In addition, you can manage cookies through the settings of your internet browser. You have the right to withdraw your consent to cookies at any time by clicking on the “Cookie Consent” link and modifying and saving your preferences. In the settings of your internet browser, you can choose which cookies to accept and reject.
We allow third parties to collect and use information obtained during your browsing activities in order to deliver tailored advertisements to you. (from us and from third parties across the Internet), to analyze activity and engagement on our website or app, and to provide you with enhanced Services. These parties are listed in our Cookie Consent tool, where we provide you with their details and links to their privacy notices. When we disclose your information to these third parties, this may be considered a “sale” or “share” under the applicable US state privacy laws. Details on how to exercise your legal rights with respect to such “sales” or “shares” can be found below in Section 13.
Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of advertising cookies. See www.aboutads.info/choices/ and www.youronlinechoices.com for useful information on how to do this.
If you decline certain cookies, your access to some functionality and areas of our Services might be degraded or restricted.
Our use of any information we collect through cookies is subject to this Statement, which is linked on every page of our website.
We may update this Statement in the future. If we believe any changes are material, we will let you know by doing one or more of the following: sending you a communication about the changes, placing a notice on the website and/or posting an updated Statement on the website. We will note at the top of this Statement when it was most recently updated. We encourage you to check back from time to time to review the most current version and to periodically review this Statement for the latest information on our privacy practices.
If you have a data privacy request, such as a request to delete or access your data, please reach out to our dedicated privacy team by emailing help@cruisecritic.com with the email reference “Cruise Critic.
This GDPR Statement applies to persons in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including those based in the United Kingdom. This GDPR Statement supplements our Statement; however, where this Statement conflicts with the GDPR Statement, the GDPR Statement will prevail as to persons located in the EEA and UK.
Tripadvisor LLC (d/b/a Cruise Critic) is the controller of personal information we collect; however, in accordance with applicable data privacy law, we have appointed representatives within the European Union and United Kingdom.
The contact details of our European Union representative are:
Tripadvisor Ireland Limited
C/O Matheson
70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay
Dublin 2
D02 R296
Ireland
The contact details of our United Kingdom representative are:
Tripadvisor Limited
7 Soho Square
London
W1D 3QB
United Kingdom
Attn: Privacy Officer
The roles of Tripadvisor Ireland Limited and Tripadvisor Limited are solely to serve as contact points for questions on data protection from European residents and UK residents, respectively, and data protection supervisory authorities. For the avoidance of doubt, neither Tripadvisor Ireland Limited nor Tripadvisor Limited can field other communications or legal process on behalf of The Independent Traveler, Inc or Tripadvisor LLC.
You have certain rights regarding your personal information.
Your rights with respect to your own personal information include the following:
You will not usually have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights described in this Statement). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal information (or to exercise any of your other rights). To the extent you use a third party to submit a data request on your behalf, we may need to take reasonable steps to verify the authenticity of the request. These are security measures to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. In an effort to speed up our response, we may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request. To exercise your rights you can file a request by emailing us at help@cruisecritic.com.
We will only use your personal information under the circumstances permitted by the law or you.
Pursuant to GDPR, we will use your personal information in one or more of the following circumstances:
| Information Uses | Information Processing Legal Basis |
|---|---|
| Registration, membership and other contracts | Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you. |
| Improve our Services, personalization and customization | Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) to provide or improve Services, including our interest to provide you improved and personalized Services, and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. |
| Communication | Where you are a registered member, the information uses might be required to perform the contract with you. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) to communicate with you and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Where we need your consent for the information use, we will seek your prior consent. |
| Legal Compliance | Where it is necessary to meet our legal obligations. |
Your personal information may be stored or transferred to countries outside the EEA and the UK for the purposes described in this Statement. When we store or transfer your personal information outside the EEA and the UK, we take the following precautions to ensure that your personal information is properly protected.
Whenever we store or transfer your personal information outside the EEA and the UK, we will do so in accordance with applicable law, and we will ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by implementing appropriate safeguards. Transfers of personal information are made:
By using our Services, you understand that your personal information may be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it, as described in this Statement.
Depending on your US state of residence, you may have certain rights in relation to your personal information that we collect, use, or disclose in accordance with this Statement, including:
To take advantage of any of these rights, please contact us by emailing us at help@cruisecritic.com or contact us toll-free at tel:+18339305755. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. When submitting the request, please ensure the authorized agent is identified as an authorized agent. We may need to verify your identity or elements of the request to enable us to process your request. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity when you submit a right to know, delete, or correct request; these verification steps will vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information and whether you have an account with us. We may deny certain requests, or fulfil a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain personal information as permitted by law, such as for tax or other record keeping purposes, to maintain an active account, and to process transactions and facilitate customer requests. We value your privacy and will not discriminate against you in response to your exercise of privacy rights.
Depending on your US state or residence, you may have the right to appeal a decision we have made in connection with your privacy rights request. To appeal a decision, please submit your request here .
We may collect your personal information in connection with certain special offers, discounts, sweepstakes, contests, or other promotions (collectively, “promotions”) that we may make available to you. For example, we may collect your biographical information/identifiers (e.g. name, contact details, etc), commercial information, internet or other electronic network activity information, characteristics of protected classifications under California or U.S Federal law, visual and audio information, or inferences drawn from the above. Because these promotions may involve the collection of personal information, they may be interpreted as a “financial incentive” under California law or a “bona fide loyalty program” under Colorado law. We use the personal information that we collect as described in the Notice and in Section 2 of this Statement, and we may sell, share, or disclose the personal information that we collect as described in the Notice and in Section 3 of this Statement.
When you sign up for a promotion, we will provide you with relevant terms that apply to your participation in the promotion. To stop receiving promotions by email, you may unsubscribe by clicking the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of any email. If you decline to provide your personal information or ask us to delete your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with access to these promotions.
The value of any financial incentive or bona fide loyalty program we offer is reasonably related to the value of any personal information that you provide to us. We estimate the value of your personal information by considering, without limitation, the expenses we incur from collecting your personal information and/or providing the promotions to you, and/or the revenue generated through the promotions.
Previous version: https://cruisecritic.com/about-us/privacy-policy-2023