Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

AskCruise.ai is operated by AskCruise Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 17241334. We provide an AI-powered cruise discovery service accessible at askcruise.ai and askcruise.co.uk.

For all data protection enquiries, please contact us at: hello@askcruise.ai

2. What data we collect and why

Newsletter sign-up

When you sign up to our newsletter via the homepage, we collect your email address. We use this to send you hand-picked cruise offers, editorial content, and occasional sailings we think are worth knowing about. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email we send.

Discovery tool

When you use our guided discovery tool at askcruise.ai/discover, your answers to the discovery questions are processed to generate personalised cruise recommendations. This may include information you volunteer such as travel dates, budget, party size, and destination preferences. Where you provide a free-text brief on the homepage, that text is also used to personalise your experience.

Discovery session log

When you use the discovery tool we keep a record of your session, so we can check that our recommendations are right and put things right when they are not. The record holds what you type (your brief, your follow-up questions and any feedback), the options you choose on the questions, the three sailings we showed you, and the settings we searched with, such as dates, length, ship size and cruise lines. The record is linked together by a random reference made in your browser for that visit, which holds nothing about you. If you later ask us to contact you, we match the record to your enquiry through the email address you give us. Please do not type names, contact details or anything sensitive into the free-text boxes.

Usage data

We collect standard website analytics including pages visited, time on site, browser type, and approximate location (country/region level). We also use Microsoft Clarity to record how pages are used, which covers clicks, scrolling and mouse movement, so we can see where the site confuses people. Anything you type into a form is masked before it reaches them, so your name, email address and telephone number are never captured in a recording. This helps us improve the service. We do not build individual behavioural profiles.

If you arrive by a link that carries campaign tags (for example from one of our emails) or from another website, we hold the tags and the name of that website in your browser's memory only, and nothing is saved to your device. If you then send us your details, they are added to your enquiry so we can tell which of our campaigns brought you here. They are not sent anywhere if you do not.

3. How we use AI

AskCruise.ai uses Claude, an AI model developed by Anthropic, to power our cruise discovery tool. When you use the discovery tool, your answers and any free-text brief are sent to Anthropic's API to generate personalised responses. If you then ask us to contact you, your answers and your first name are sent to Anthropic once more, to prepare a note for the advisor who will be in touch. Your email address and phone number are never sent to Anthropic. Anthropic processes this data in accordance with their own privacy policy and data processing terms.

We do not use your discovery answers to train AI models. No automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects are made about you based on your answers.

You can review Anthropic's privacy policy at anthropic.com/privacy.

4. Who we share your data with

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data only with the following trusted service providers, solely to operate our service:

• Anthropic: AI model provider, processes discovery tool answers and free-text briefs to generate recommendations, and your first name alongside them when it prepares a note for your advisor (never your email address or phone number)
• HubSpot: Customer relationship management, stores your contact details and the enquiry you sent us
• Resend: Email delivery, sends your results and any follow-up correspondence
• Widgety: Cruise inventory data, supplies the sailings, fares and itineraries you are shown
• Vercel: Website hosting and infrastructure
• Google Workspace: Secure storage of the discovery session log
• Google Analytics / Vercel Analytics: Anonymised usage statistics
• Microsoft Clarity: Session analytics and heatmaps, so we can see where the site is confusing. Anything you type into a form is masked before it reaches them

All third-party processors are contractually bound to handle your data in accordance with UK GDPR requirements. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

5. Cookies

We use a small number of cookies to operate the site:

• Essential cookies: Required for the site to function. Cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use the site. These are only set after you accept cookies when entering the discovery tool. You can withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser cookies or emailing us at hello@askcruise.ai, and we will reset your preference.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. We do not share cookie data with third-party advertisers.

6. Your rights under UK GDPR

As a UK resident, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Right to erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal data
• Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability: You can request your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@askcruise.ai. We will respond within one calendar month.

Session records you have not linked to an email address cannot be traced back to you, so a request about them cannot be matched to you unless you give us the date and time of your visit.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. AskCruise Ltd is registered with the ICO as a data controller. Our registration number is listed in the contact section below.

7. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or destruction. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure API key management, and access controls limiting who can view personal data.

In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and inform affected individuals without undue delay.

8. Children's privacy

Our service is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will update the date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify registered users by email. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact us