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| Notices |
| Disclaimer |
Cruise Critic's Cruise boards, as well as the information you read in our Member's Cruise Review area, and our Cruiser's Choice Poll are designed to help cruisers obtain cruise-related information and discuss ways to make cruising more enjoyable, and perhaps even offer you a money-saving tip or two! On our Cruise Boards, this information is sometimes provided by our volunteer Hosts and more often by other contributors, the majority of whom use anonymous user names and are people we've never met. You have no idea who they are, what they do, or what their agenda could possibly be -- and neither do we. The only requirement for membership is a valid e-mail address. We recognize that while we have tons of great stuff in this forum, people sometimes post messages on the boards that could be misleading, deceptive, or downright wrong. They may do this unintentionally or, sad to say, intentionally. Additionally, there are many different groups who participate, such as travel agents, public relations employees, members of the media, affinity groups, fan groups, other cruise websites etc. whose agenda may not be apparent since we are operating in an anonymous environment. Treat the cruisers here the same way you'd treat anyone you'd met for the first time. This is important because anyone is welcome to participate in our community. You shouldn't make a cruise decision just because some stranger (or even an online friend) talks it up. Basically, you shouldn't treat cyberspace any differently than you would real life. The fundamental concept is that you should NOT totally rely upon the information or opinions you read. Rather, you should use what you read here as starting points for doing independent research on cruise lines, ships, hotels, shore excursions and bargain-hunting techniques. Then judge for yourself the merits of the material that has been shared in our forum. We do not guarantee the completeness of any information provided on our cruise boards. We cannot read through the thousands of messages we receive each day, but do make an effort to check out all the hyperlinked web sites. We cannot research each one for accuracy. That isn't why we're here. Staff members and our volunteers are here to provide you with an environment that is free from advertising and soliciting, free from harassment, vulgarity and disparaging statements, as well as providing you with a safe haven brought together by those sharing a mutual interest: cruising! We encourage you to utilize the reporting system built into the board system; you'll find a Report a Post icon located in the upper right hand corner of the posting. Use it! We will review the report and take appropriate action. On the other hand, we work very hard to ensure that all published reviews are coming from real people. We review every review submitted for publication to make sure that they meet our criteria and pass all of our fraud testing. Cruise Critic takes accusations of review fraud very seriously and remain vigilant in preventing fraudulent reviews from appearing on our site. If you are concerned with the authenticity of a particular review, e-mail us at community@cruisecritic.com. We'll research it and take appropriate action. Tell us the date, title of the review, and any other information that may help us with the particulars of your situation. We value your help and appreciate it when you alert us to a potentially fraudulent situation. In the end, you are responsible for your own cruising decisions. Cruise Critic will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader's reliance on information obtained on our forums or in any of our published member content, or in a hyperlinked area. As cyberspace continues to evolve, the freedom and openness from which we all profit can make us the target of touts, shysters, and frauds. These people could infect our forum, just as they infect other parts of the world. Please proceed with caution, do your homework, and be wary of those who post hyperlinks to strange web sites. |
| Disruption of our Community |
The harassment of our members is not allowed. Cruise Critic is committed to providing an online environment that is free from these types of harassing postings. Please, don't attack another poster or group of posters. Do not harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another member that is unwanted. This means: don't say bad things about them, don't keep sending them unwanted Instant Message notes, don't attack their race, heritage, or their sexual orientation, etc. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person. Postings of this nature will be removed from the boards. Do not post details or private information about any other person. Do not attempt to impersonate another person, either real or virtual. BR> Postings that have been placed on the boards to disrupt the flow of conversation or otherwise disrupt Cruise Critic members' enjoyment of the Community will be removed and you run the risk of losing your posting privileges. This would include, but is not limited to, the posting of essentially the same message over and over in response to different threads on the forums or utilizing the features of our Community to transmit messages of a personal nature. Please note that the determination of what constitutes "disruption" will be the sole determination of the Community Manager. |
| Inappropriate Content |
The use of profanity, foul or vulgar language, inappropriate graphic images and any other content not "family friendly" is not acceptable. Keep in mind that members come in all ages and all have access to our Forums. Using asterisks to blank out several letters of a word is *still* considered a violation if the vulgarity is discernible, as are acronyms for a series of vulgar words. There are far more powerful ways to get a point across. Discussions of any nature that staff feels inappropriate for the forums will be removed without notice to the original poster and you run the risk of losing your posting privileges. The above applies to all user-generated content throughout the site, including user names. |
| Advertising Is Not Allowed |
Cruise Critic has strict guidelines prohibiting blatant advertising, commercial sales and solicitation posts on all of our message boards. Our Cruise Boards are meant to be a cruiser's exchange of advice and tips where cruisers can talk about their travels -- not a marketplace for advertising and selling services. There are thousands of cruise professionals online and if we didn't insist on a non-solicitation policy the cruise boards would be very quickly overrun with nothing but ads. Cruise Critic defines advertising as an individual or company's attempt to generate business or other commercial enterprise, either directly or indirectly, by using our Cruise Board. Solicitation includes, but is not limited to, requests to be E-mailed, the posting of phone numbers for your business, constantly mentioning that you are in the travel business, and the referring to or posting of one's own Web site address. There shall be no third-party recommendation of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted. Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice. This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information. It also means you cannot post links to travel agencies, no matter what the specific reason. Cruise Critic will remove violations of the "third-party recommendation" guideline without warning. Additional posts will result in permanent suspension of your posting privileges. Other Cruise & Travel Sites Cruise Critic reserves the right to approve or deny links which lead directly to or link to cruise-related material or message boards that are not located within Cruise Critic. Additionally, we respectfully request that you do not use our forums to promote or advertise other cruise-related websites. The bottom line is: an ad is an ad. So, please no posting of "looking for roommate" type posts, tour shares (except in ROLL CALL threads), giveaways, ebay links, coupon books, coffee cards, etc. etc. |
| Illegal Activities |
Cruise Critic prohibits the discussion of illegal activities including (but not limited to) the posting of pyramid scheme/chain letter/make money fast-type information, as well as any activity that is considered against the law, such as illegal drugs and underage drinking. |
| Use of Content |
By becoming a member and posting on our forums, you hereby grant Cruise Critic the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any message posted in Cruise Critic's message boards or in our published member or port reviews (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed. |
| Copyright Infringement |
The posting of large blocks of text obtained from the Internet, online newspapers, web sites, magazines, etc., defeats the purpose of our Cruise Boards. All of this information is available to everyone online, and doesn't add to the idea of sharing firsthand experiences and cruise advice. Also, the majority of information out there is protected by an author's individual copyright. Therefore, we will remove such information from the message boards. However, linking via url to the information is allowed. The one exception to this would be Cruise Line press releases. You may post these on the boards, if you clearly indicate the source. |
| Media, Law Firms, Marketing & Other Companies |
Members of the media, employees of law firms, and other companies who desire to obtain information from our members *must* obtain permission from the Community Manager (community@cruisecritic.com) before posting on any of the forums within Cruise Critic. There are no exceptions to this policy. Posting/inquiries not approved by the Community Manager are removed without notice. |
| Participation of Travel Agents |
Travel agents (and their associates, employees or designated representative) are encouraged to participate in the discussions on the Cruise Board and establish themselves as experts on a particular topic by responding to members' inquiries with useful answers. You are welcome to sign your name and note your professional business as long as you comply with the following: - You may not use your business name as your Cruise Critic user name. - You may sign your posts with your first name only. - You may include your company name in your signature. - You may not list your phone number, business location (city or state), web site address, contact info or e-mail address. - You may not include your location and/or website address in your Cruise Critic profile. - Responding to member's inquiries on the boards with an ad for your services is not allowed. - Only items of a general nature may be discussed on the forums by any travel agent. Cruise Critic considers requests to be E-mailed for additional information as soliciting and will return those postings to any travel agent trying to sell or promote themselves on Cruise Critic. Additionally, attempts to circumvent our rules may result in your company name being censored from our forums. Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove any material from our message boards without notification. |
| Travel Agent Recommendations |
There shall be no third-party recommendation of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted. Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice. This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information. Cruise Critic will remove violations of the "third-party recommendation" guideline without warning. Additional posts may result in permanent suspension of your posting privileges. |
| Participation of Tour Guides/Drivers, Website Owners, Locals in Ports of Call, Property & Business Owners |
Website owners, property & business owners (and their associates, employees or designated representative) are also encouraged to participate in the discussions on the Cruise Board and establish themselves as experts on a particular topic by responding to members' inquiries with useful answers. They may not, however, list or refer members to their World Wide Web sites. They may not include their "business name" in their signatures, nor may they include their website link in their profile. No promotional material or conducting business is allowed. This includes mentioning pickup locations, scheduling times of tours, confirmation of events/deposits/e-mail receipt, etc (and any other discussion determined to be of a customer service nature in the sole discretion of Cruise Critic. Only items of a general nature may be posted on the forums. Locals living in ports of call are encouraged to contribute, as long as their recommendations are general in nature. Those living in ports of call who recommend individual business or tour operators will find that their posts have been removed and their posting privileges may be suspended. Our Ports of Call forums are meant to be a place for cruisers to exchange information with other cruisers. Therefore, the participation of Tour Operators, Tour Guides, Drivers, Transportation and Taxi drivers is not allowed. |
| Tour Guide Recommendations |
We welcome the legitimate review or recommendation of tour operators, guides, property & business owners in ports of call. You must post your recommendation in response to a request for that specific information or your post will be removed without notice. Cruise Critic considers requests to be E-mailed for additional information as soliciting and will delete those postings by any tour operator, guide or anyone trying to sell or promote themselves on Cruise Critic. Additionally, attempts to circumvent our rules may result in your company name being censored from our forums without notice. Please, abide by our Community Guidelines so that legitimate recommendations by our members regarding guides and tour operators may remain on the forums! From time to time, Cruise Critic management is contacted by Tour Operators/Guides/Business who request removal of negative posts about their company. You should know that Cruise Critic will not remove negative posts from the boards at the request of any tour company, cruise line, store, shop, taxi company, driver, guide, etc. One-Post Wonders This phenomenon essentially amounts to single or multiple posts created by a brand-new member which tout tour operators/businesses in ports of call. Posts of this nature will be removed from the boards without notification to the author. Cruise Critic considers these types of postings an attempt to circumvent our rules and may result in that company's name being censored from our forums without notice. Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove any material from our message boards without notification to members, the author or the company being recommended. |
| Guideline Reminders |
From time to time we may sent you a Guideline Reminder which is specific to an issue we have had with one of your postings. This reminder is for you to review the board guidelines that you agreed to when you became a member. A Guideline Reminder is a permanent part of your member profile that only you can see. Repeated board violations and Guideline Reminders may permanently restrict your access to the message board. When you’re issued a Guideline Reminder, an e mail is sent to the email address you used when you registered here at Cruise Critic. It is your responsibility to make sure your email address is current. If you don’t know whether you received a Guideline Reminder, you can check your User Profile or spam folder. Be sure and add community@cruisecritic.com to your email application as an address that you will accept emails from. If you have a question about a Guideline Reminder that you’ve received, please write to community@cruisecritic.com |
| Posting & You! |
| We Cannot Fix Mistakes
Please review your post carefully for typos, incorrect dates and spelling errors. Browse Before You Post Browse a topic first to see if your question has already been asked or answered by someone else. Also, many of the major cruise lines forums have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) topic that has been created by our members. Give that a try first. Browsing is your #1 best resource! Please post your messages in an appropriate topic so that you'll receive the best possible response. It is very time consuming to move misplaced messages that are in the wrong topics. Posts Appear Immediately We do not review messages before they are posted and you cannot delete your own messages once they are posted. As much as we'd like to, our volunteer staff is too busy to delete messages for you, extend spell-check services or rescue you from a momentary lapse in good judgment! ;) If you don't see your message after posting it, close your browser or click your "refresh" to see your posting. You'll see it -- and so will everyone else! Answer Posts on the Boards, Not Via Email! Please try to answer message board posts on the boards instead of E-mail when appropriate. There is a lot of great information that we're all missing because it is passing through private E-mail. There are of course times when private E-mail is more appropriate but if you have information that would be helpful to many people, please try to come back to the boards and post it rather than replying to a posting through E-mail. ALL CAPS Typing in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS is considering shouting by many, so please double check your caps lock key before posting. Rich Text & Graphic Images The use of these features on our message boards can greatly enhance your online Cruise Board experiences. However, postings that are difficult to read, too BIG or too small, too light in color, etc., may be returned to you so that you may repost. Signatures Cruise Critic has the following suggestions for keeping your online signatures manageable: - Keep your images to around three (approx) -- which would include a picture, clipart, photo or your countdown. - Try not to have any one image that is TOO large, which then takes additional time for your fellow members to download, - If you have a LONG LIST of prior cruises, think about chopping off some, OR rearrange them horizontally rather than vertically; - From time to time, browse through your signature and eliminate any extra blank lines, or old countdown codes, etc. Remember, not everyone is speeding along on DSL or cable modems, super-fast processors etc. so keeping your signature to a reasonable length will help speed all of us along! Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove/delete portions of your online signature and will let you know that we've had to resize your online signature. Bumping Please do not manipulate postings on the boards by "bumping" topics to the top of the forum. Members will assume something of value has been posted, only to find that the newest posting is nothing more than a "bump post". This only wastes everyone's time. |
| Removal of Posts |
Posts may be removed from our forums at the sole discretion of Cruise Critic without notification to the author or discussion participants. We may also MOVE a post to our Floataway Lounge that has veered off the original topic. All decisions regarding post removals are final. |
| User Names & Signatures |
You are allowed one Cruise Critic user name per person. Although we are often amused and awed by the creativity of our members when in comes to the selection of a USER NAME for use in the community, Cruise Critic reserves the right to change and/or delete any USER NAME in our sole discretion. Please do not create names that are vulgar, inflammatory or are intended to be promotional in nature. If you would like to change your user name, please send four or five choices for a new name along with the reason for the change to: boards@cruisecritic.com. In addition, we may, at our discretion, change or remove inappropriate graphics or text from online signatures and profiles without notice. This may include vulgarity, nudity, political statements, and or any other content we feel inappropriate for our cruise community. |
| Use of Cruise Critic Logo |
All inquiries regarding usage of the Cruise Critic logo and name should be directed to: community@cruisecritic.com. |
| Creation of T-shirts & Logo Items |
We think it is wonderful that people sailing together create logowear for their cruise, often creating a snappy name and offering it for purchase to those sailing on their cruise. For usage of the Cruise Critic logo in this endeavor, please contact: community@cruisecritic.com. We ask that the person creating these shirts actually be sailing on that specific cruise; and that any additional "fees" collected by the creator are used only for shipping/handling of the t-shirts. It is our belief that no one should be making a profit from "selling" anything to our members; but do believe they shouldn't have to front anyone the price of a shirt or shipping costs. We appreciate everyone's compliance with this directive. |
| Fake Posts and Ratings Manipulation |
The creation of additional user names by members with the intention to deceive our members, or to inflate their opinions by manipulating a discussion will not be allowed. These users will be banned from posting on the boards and submitting user reviews, will have their user names blocked as well as any IP addresses associated with those user names. From time to time, in the sole discretion of Cruise Critic, we may censor the company name of a travel provider if we believe ratings for that company have been manipulated in any way. |
| Posts in Foreign Languages |
Our forums are accessible from around the world. We welcome the participation of everyone. All we ask is that if you POST in your native language, that you simultaneously post your questions/comments in English in the same post. These are moderated message boards, and each and every posting is read by a volunteer moderator. They must be able to understand your posting to allow it to remain. If you post in English you're more likely to get an answer as that's the primary language spoken within the community. |
| Spelling & Grammar Errors |
It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes at one time or another, and that there are many users who use English as a second language, especially on our Cruise Boards. There are also a number of people who suffer from learning disabilities and who have difficulty noticing their spelling mistakes. Do not make comments on the spelling and grammar of other users. It is simply not a productive expenditure of energies. |
| Guard Your Personal Information Carefully |
It is best not to post your real name, address or phone number publicly on the boards. Also, keeping as much information about yourself private should be your first priority. think carefully before posting too much other personal data on any public message board forum, such as your stateroom number. Please note that we will do our best remove these posts automatically. |
| Cruise Critic Member Cruises |
We recognizes that our Community Members like to meet each other on board their cruises by planning a Group Cruise. We encourage our members to do so. To assist you in planning your cruise, please avail yourself of Cruise Critic's Member Cruise Program. Decision-making discussions regarding the 'who, what, where, & when' of your group cruise are welcomed on all forums. After booking through our Program, you may continue answering questions about your group cruise on any forum here at Cruise Critic. All members booked on a Cruise Critic member cruise may include links and pictures to the cruise information in their signatures. However, those booked should frequent the special forum set up just for your cruise to have "fun" until you sail! We respectfully request that forums set up for our Member Cruises be frequented only by those who have booked the sailing. Only Official Cruise Critic Member Cruises may be promoted or discussed anywhere on the boards. |
| Management of this Community |
| Discussion of our management policies and procedures -- including post deletions-- is considered off-topic discussion for our cruise boards and will be removed without notice. All decisions regarding any action taken by management shall remain final. If you have comments or concerns regarding the management of this community, please address them to: community@cruisecritic.com. |
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