This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Voyages By Water ("Voyages By Water", "I", "me") collects through this website and while planning your travel, how it is used and shared, and the choices you have. Voyages By Water is the independent travel practice of Kathryn Barns, based in the Houston, Texas area.
Information I collect
Information you give me
- Newsletter and "The List" sign-ups: first name, last name and email address.
- Vacation and river cruise quizzes: your quiz answers, whether you are planning or exploring, and the name and email address you enter to receive your results.
- Consultation form: the details you choose to share about your trip, such as travelers, dates, destinations, budget, preferences and contact details. The form is provided by Tern, a travel-planning platform, and is submitted on Tern's website.
- Booking a call: your name, email address and the time you choose. Scheduling is provided by Nylas.
- Emails, calls and messages you send me.
Information needed to plan and book your trip
To make reservations, cruise lines, tour operators, hotels, airlines and other travel suppliers require information about every traveler. Depending on the trip, this can include full legal names as shown on travel documents, dates of birth, gender, citizenship, passport details, contact and emergency-contact details, loyalty program numbers, travel preferences and payment details. You may also choose to share health, mobility, accessibility or dietary needs so that suppliers can accommodate them. I only ask for what a booking requires, and I use these details only for your travel arrangements.
Information collected automatically
- Analytics: this website uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use it (pages visited, time on page, device and browser type, approximate location derived from your IP address and how you arrived at the site). Google Analytics uses cookies. See the Cookie Policy to turn it off.
- Server logs: the website host, Vercel, records basic technical information such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested, to keep the site secure and working.
- Embedded services: some pages load fonts (Adobe Fonts), code libraries (jsDelivr, cdnjs), itinerary maps (OpenFreeMap) and the booking calendar (Nylas) from other providers. When they load, those providers receive your IP address and browser information.
How I use your information
- To answer your questions and plan, book and manage your travel.
- To send you the newsletter, quiz results and travel ideas you asked for. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
- To improve this website and understand which content is useful.
- To meet legal, tax, accounting and supplier obligations, and to prevent fraud or misuse.
How information is shared
I do not sell your personal information, and I do not share it with third parties for their own advertising.
Information is shared only as needed:
- Travel suppliers (cruise lines, river cruise companies, tour operators, hotels, airlines, rail and ground transportation, travel insurance providers) to make and service your bookings. Once they receive your details, their own privacy policies apply. Suppliers may share traveler information with government authorities where the law requires it, for example the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (Secure Flight) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- Service providers that help me run this practice and website: email newsletter (Flodesk), consultation forms (Tern), scheduling (Nylas), website hosting (Vercel) and analytics (Google). They may use your information only to provide their service.
- The authorities when required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and property of travelers, Voyages By Water or others.
Because travel crosses borders, information needed for an international trip will be sent to suppliers in the countries you visit, which may have different data-protection laws.
Your choices and rights
- Marketing emails: use the unsubscribe link in any email, or write to me.
- Analytics: turn it off in Cookie Settings. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, Google Analytics is switched off automatically.
- Access, correction and deletion: you can ask what personal information I hold about you, ask me to correct it, or ask me to delete it. Depending on where you live (for example Texas, California, Colorado or Virginia), state law may give you additional rights. Some information has to be kept for a time for active bookings, legal, tax or supplier reasons; I will tell you if that applies.
- Do Not Track: browsers handle "Do Not Track" differently and there is no common standard, so this website responds to the Global Privacy Control signal instead, as described above.
To make a request, email VBWoffice@VoyagesByWater.com. I will respond within 45 days and may need to confirm your identity first. You will not be treated differently for using your rights.
Children
This website is not directed to children under 13, and I do not knowingly collect personal information from children through it. Details about children traveling with their family are provided by a parent or guardian and are used only for that trip.
How long information is kept
Newsletter details are kept until you unsubscribe. Trip and booking records are kept for as long as needed to provide your travel and to meet legal, tax and supplier requirements. Website analytics data is kept by Google Analytics for up to 14 months.
Security
I use reputable, secure service providers and limit access to your information. This website does not collect payment card numbers. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so please use secure channels when sharing sensitive documents and never send full card numbers by regular email.
Seller of travel registrations
California Seller of Travel No. 2145693-50 · Florida Seller of Travel No. ST42818 · Washington UBI No. 604686294. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your information: VBWoffice@VoyagesByWater.com.