Cookie policy

How we use cookies

We keep cookies to a minimum. A small number are needed for the site to work, and one remembers which campaign or site brought you here, for 30 days, whether or not you accept optional cookies. The optional ones help us understand how people use the site, including recordings of visits, and let us measure whether our ads bring people here. Optional cookies are never set unless you accept them in the cookie notice.

Cookies we set

bcn_consent — remembers the choice you make in the cookie notice, so we don’t ask again on every visit. Set only when you choose Accept or Decline. Kept for 12 months.

bcn_anon_tab_id — kept in your browser’s session storage while you haven’t answered the cookie notice, so the pages you view in one tab count as one anonymous visit. It’s a random identifier with no personal details, stored with the time it was created. Removed when you close the tab, and as soon as you choose Accept or Decline. Never used on your account, inquiries, or bookings pages. Replaced after 24 hours.

bcn_vid — a random identifier set when you send an inquiry, so we can connect your inquiry to your account if you sign up later. It contains no personal details. Kept for 6 months.

bcn_ft — set when a campaign link or another site brings you here, whether or not you accept optional cookies. It holds only the name of that campaign or site, so an inquiry you send can be counted toward it. It contains no identifier and no personal details. Kept for 30 days.

bcn_ph_did — set only after you accept optional cookies, when you send an inquiry. It records the random analytics identifier your browser was given, so the pages you viewed beforehand can be connected to your account. It contains no personal details. Kept for 6 months.

Session cookies — set when you sign in, to keep you signed in securely. Removed when your session ends.

Names starting with bcn:itinerary-departures-expanded — kept in your browser’s session storage when you choose to show more departures on an itinerary page, whether or not you accept optional cookies, so the list is still open when you return to that page. It records only which page has its list open. It contains no identifier and no personal details. Removed when you close the tab.

bcn:inquiries-viewed — kept in your browser’s session storage when an operator opens an inquiry in the operator tools, so the inbox shows it as read when they go back to it. It holds only the internal references of the inquiries just opened, never what they say, and isn’t used to measure anything. Removed the next time the inbox loads, or when you close the tab.

bcn_ph_account_analytics — kept in your browser’s storage when an operator or BCN staff member opens the operator or admin tools, or when a traveler who said yes to product analytics on their account opens their inquiries, so we can measure how those pages are used. It records only that this measurement is on. Removed when you sign out.

Analytics storage (names starting with ph_) — set only after you accept optional cookies. It gives your browser a random identifier so we can tell visits apart. It never contains your name, email, or anything you typed.

_fbp and _fbc — set by Meta only after you accept optional cookies, so we can tell whether an ad on Facebook or Instagram led to your visit. Kept for up to 90 days.

Names starting with _gcl — set by Google only after you accept optional cookies, so we can tell whether a Google ad led to your visit. Kept for up to 90 days.

Names starting with _ga — set by Google Analytics only after you accept optional cookies. They give your browser a random identifier so we can tell visits apart. Kept for up to 2 years.

What we measure

With your consent, we record which pages you view and which features you use — for example, which cruises people compare before sending an inquiry. We use PostHog and Google Analytics to process this data. PostHog requests travel through our own domain. Google Analytics runs on our public pages only, never in the operator or admin tools or on your account pages. Its requests go to Google, which receives the public pages you view and the fact that an inquiry was sent. We don’t sell your data.

With your consent, we also record visits as they appeared on screen: the pages you saw, where you clicked, and how you scrolled. We use these recordings to find where the site is confusing. Anything you type into a field is hidden in your browser before the recording is sent, so we never receive it. Recordings cover our public pages and your own inquiries pages, where the text on the page is hidden too. If you said no to product analytics on your account, your inquiries pages are never recorded. The operator and admin tools are never recorded. PostHog processes the recordings through our own domain, and they’re deleted after 30 days.

With your consent, we also tell Meta and Google Ads when one of our ads brought someone to the site, and when a visit led to an inquiry. They receive the fact that it happened. They never receive your name, your email, or anything you typed.

Before you answer the cookie notice, we may measure browsing anonymously. To count the pages you view in one tab as one visit, we keep a single random identifier in that tab’s session storage. It contains no personal details, and we don’t use it to identify you. It’s removed when you close the tab, and is never used on your account, inquiries, or bookings pages. If you send an inquiry, the count of that inquiry carries the same identifier. If you decline, we remove it at once, and anonymous measurement keeps nothing on your device. It then continues without the identifier. If you accept, the pages you already viewed in that tab are counted as part of the same visit.

In the operator and admin tools, we measure how operators and BCN staff use them as part of running the service, whatever they chose in the cookie notice. This measurement is tied to the account, keeps nothing about the visit on the device beyond the one setting listed above, and never includes ad measurement. Every public page follows your cookie choice. A traveler account follows it too, unless you answer the separate product analytics question on your account: a yes measures your inquiries pages the same account-bound way, and a no means we won’t connect your activity to your account even if you accepted optional cookies. See Product analytics on your account in our Privacy Policy.

We measure how quickly pages load on every visit, with or without your consent. This records loading speed only. It sets nothing on your device and identifies no one.

Changing your choice

You can change or withdraw your choice at any time with the Cookie settings control below (it’s also in the footer of our public pages). Withdrawing consent stops analytics, recordings, and ad measurement immediately, and removes the cookies we can reach from your device. The operator and admin tools don’t show the cookie notice, because measurement there is part of running the service.