Email Communications Policy

Effective Date: March 29, 2026 Last Updated: March 29, 2026

1. Introduction

This Email Communications Policy explains the types of emails CruiseAlert sends, how and when you consent to receive them, and how to manage your preferences.

We take email compliance seriously. We comply with the US CAN-SPAM Act, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and the GDPR for EU/EEA recipients. This policy explains how.

2. Types of Emails We Send

2.1 Price Alert Emails (Transactional)

What they are: Automated notifications triggered when a sailing you are tracking meets your configured alert conditions (e.g., price drops below your threshold, price changes by a set percentage, or any price change occurs).

Consent basis: These are transactional emails directly related to the specific service you signed up to use. By creating a price alert, you consent to receive notifications for that alert.

Frequency: Triggered by price changes. Frequency depends entirely on how often cruise prices change for the sailings you track.

Can you turn them off? Yes — you can pause or delete individual alerts in your account dashboard, or disable all alerts at once via account settings.

2.2 Account and Security Notifications (Transactional)

What they are: Emails required for the operation of your account, including:

Welcome email on account creation
Email address verification
Password reset requests
Login from a new device or location (security alerts)
Account changes (email address updated, account deletion confirmation)

Consent basis: These are necessary for the Service to function securely. They are not optional, as they protect your account.

Can you turn them off? No — these are essential service communications. However, you may delete your account to stop receiving them entirely.

2.3 Service Announcements (Transactional)

What they are: Occasional emails about important changes to the Service, such as:

Material changes to Terms of Service or Privacy Policy
New features that affect how you use the Service
Service downtime or maintenance windows affecting your alerts
Urgent security notices

Consent basis: Legitimate interest in keeping you informed about the service you use. These are low-frequency and high-importance.

Can you turn them off? Some service announcements (particularly legal notices) may not be suppressible. Where possible, you can opt out of non-critical service announcements in your account settings.

2.4 Marketing Emails (Commercial)

What they are: Promotional emails about CruiseAlert features, cruise deals summaries, travel tips, or news about the platform that are not directly related to a specific alert or account action.

Consent basis: Express consent only. We will only send marketing emails to you if you have explicitly opted in. We will ask for this consent separately from account creation.

Frequency: Periodic — at most a few times per month.

Can you turn them off? Yes, at any time:

Click "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of any marketing email
Update preferences in your account settings
Email us at legal@cruisealert.com

Unsubscribe requests will be processed within 10 business days.

Price alerts: Consent is given when you create an alert
Marketing emails: You must explicitly check an opt-in box — we do not pre-check it for you
Service announcements: Implied by your account relationship

3.2 Double Opt-In for EU/EEA and Canadian Users

For users located in the European Union, EEA, or Canada, we implement a double opt-in process for marketing emails:

You check the "opt-in to marketing" box
We send a confirmation email to your address
You click the confirmation link to verify your consent

This two-step process confirms you genuinely provided consent and verifies your email address. We will not send marketing emails until both steps are completed.

We maintain records of all email consent, including:

What type of consent was given
When consent was given
The method of consent (e.g., checkbox during signup, email confirmation)
IP address at time of consent (retained in full for 90 days, then hashed)
When consent was withdrawn, if applicable

These records are retained for 5 years for legal compliance purposes.

4. CAN-SPAM Act Compliance (US)

The US CAN-SPAM Act applies to commercial email messages. CruiseAlert complies as follows:

Requirement	How We Comply
No false or misleading header information	All emails come from verified @cruisealert.com addresses
No deceptive subject lines	Subject lines accurately describe the email content
Identify the message as an advertisement	Marketing emails are clearly identified as promotional
Include physical postal address	All marketing emails include our mailing address
Opt-out mechanism	All marketing emails include a clear, functioning unsubscribe link
Honor opt-out requests promptly	We process opt-outs within 10 business days
Monitor third-party email on our behalf	Any email sent on our behalf by third parties must also comply

Our mailing address (included in all commercial emails): Destinations Media & Travel (trading as CruiseAlert) [Physical Address — to be inserted before launch] Netherlands

Attorney review note: A valid physical mailing address is required by CAN-SPAM. Insert before any commercial email is sent. A PO box is acceptable under CAN-SPAM.

5. CASL Compliance (Canada)

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) applies to commercial electronic messages (CEMs) sent to Canadian recipients. CASL is stricter than CAN-SPAM.

For Canadian recipients, we require express consent before sending any commercial email. We do not rely on implied consent for marketing messages.

Express consent means you have clearly and positively agreed to receive marketing communications by checking an unchecked opt-in box or using a similar mechanism.

5.2 Content Requirements

All commercial emails to Canadian recipients include:

CruiseAlert's name and contact information
A functional, prominently displayed unsubscribe mechanism
The unsubscribe mechanism remains active for 60 days after sending

5.3 Unsubscribe Timeframe

Under CASL, we must process unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.

We maintain records sufficient to demonstrate express consent for each Canadian recipient, including the date, method, and wording of consent.

For users in the European Union and EEA, the GDPR imposes requirements on consent for marketing emails.

Consent for marketing emails must be:

Freely given: Not conditional on using the Service
Specific: Clearly for email marketing purposes
Informed: You understand what you're consenting to
Unambiguous: Requires a positive opt-in action (not a pre-checked box)

6.2 Right to Withdraw

You can withdraw consent for marketing emails at any time without negative consequences. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of emails sent before withdrawal.

We consider price alert emails to be transactional emails necessary to perform the contract (service) you signed up for, under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. You do not need to give separate marketing consent to receive alerts — but you can disable alerts at any time.

Attorney review note: The legal basis for transactional alert emails should be confirmed (contract vs. legitimate interest may both be defensible). The GDPR's relationship with ePrivacy Directive requirements for email should also be reviewed.

7. Managing Your Email Preferences

7.1 In Your Account Settings

View all active price alerts and pause or delete them individually
Enable or disable marketing emails
Enable or disable non-essential service announcements

7.2 Unsubscribe Links

Every marketing email includes an "Unsubscribe" link in the footer. Clicking this will immediately unsubscribe you from marketing emails. Your active price alerts will not be affected.

7.3 By Email

To unsubscribe from or manage any email type, email: legal@cruisealert.com

Please include your account email address in your message.

7.4 Important Note on Alert Emails

Unsubscribing from marketing emails does not cancel your price alerts. To stop receiving price alert emails, you must pause or delete your alerts in your account dashboard. This is by design — alert emails are a core part of the service you signed up for.

8. Email Deliverability and Service Provider

We use a third-party email delivery service to send emails from CruiseAlert. This provider processes your email address solely to deliver emails on our behalf and is contractually required to protect your data.

All emails are sent from the @cruisealert.com domain. Be cautious of emails claiming to be from CruiseAlert that come from different domains — they may be phishing attempts. Report suspicious emails to legal@cruisealert.com.

9. Contact

All email-related inquiries: legal@cruisealert.com Manage preferences: cruisealert.com/settings/notifications