Last updated: July 2026

Who we are

SmartCruiseGuide (https://smartcruiseguide.com) publishes firsthand cruise reviews, planning guides, and money-saving tips. This policy explains what information we collect when you visit the site and how it is used.

Information we collect

Newsletter signups. If you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address is collected and stored by Beehiiv, our email platform, and used only to send you the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.

Contact forms. If you contact us through a form on this site, we receive the name, email address, and message you submit, and use them only to respond to you.

Comments. If you leave a comment, we collect the data shown in the comment form along with your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.

Cookies and analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site (pages visited, time on site, general location at the city level). This data is aggregated and does not identify you personally. We use a cookie consent tool (CookieYes) that lets you accept or decline non-essential cookies; you can change your preferences at any time via the cookie settings link.

Affiliate links and third parties

Some links on this site are affiliate links (including Commission Junction / CJ Affiliate and Squaremouth). If you click one, the affiliate network may set cookies to attribute any purchase you make. These cookies are governed by the privacy policies of those networks. See our Affiliate Disclosure for details.

Embedded content

Articles on this site may include embedded content such as YouTube videos. Embedded content behaves as if you visited the other website directly: those services may collect data about you, use cookies, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content.

How long we keep your data

Newsletter emails are retained until you unsubscribe. Contact form messages are kept only as long as needed to handle your inquiry. Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely so follow-up comments can be recognized automatically.

Your rights

You can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, or request that we erase it, at any time. To do so, or to ask any question about this policy, reach us through the contact page.