How we research and fact-check

Last updated 2026-06-01

This page is the standard every page on BestCruiseDeals.us is held to. It exists so readers can judge our work against our own rules.

Experience requirements

Cruise line reviews are written or updated only by team members who have sailed that line, and destination guides only by writers who have cruised the region. Where we have not been, we say so rather than synthesising other people's reviews. Our reviewers' sailing histories are public on their profile pages.

Pricing methodology

We sample lead-in fares weekly across 40-plus departures spanning every line we cover.
Published prices state their sampling window and are re-verified at least every 90 days.
We quote per-person, double-occupancy, cruise-only fares unless stated otherwise, and we say what a price excludes.
We never quote brochure rates or savings percentages measured against them.

Independence

All sailings used for reviews are paid for by this site. We accept no free or discounted cruises, no press trips and no gifts above trivial value.
Cruise lines do not see content before publication and cannot request changes to scores or conclusions.
Affiliate relationships never influence scores, rankings or the order of recommendations. The commission a line pays has no representation in our review framework.

Scoring

Cruise lines are scored on six criteria: value, cabins, dining, entertainment, service and family friendliness, each assessed by our reviewers after sailing. The overall score is the average. Scores are editorial judgments, not user polls, and the structured data on review pages describes exactly the scores shown on the page.

Fact-checking and dates

Every page names its author and a separate fact-checker, and displays its publication, update and review dates. Fact-checkers verify prices against source documents, policies against cruise line terms, and operational claims against our reviewers' records.

Corrections

We correct errors quickly. Material corrections are noted on the affected page. Report errors to editors@bestcruisedeals.us; we respond to correction reports within five working days.

AI assistance

Drafting tools may assist with structure and consistency, but every factual claim originates from our reviewers' sailings, our fare index or a named source, and every page passes human fact-checking before publication. No page is published without a named human author and reviewer taking responsibility for it.