Editorial Standards and Corrections Policy

Effective date: August 9, 2026
Last reviewed: September 8, 2026
Owner and editor: Ellie Simons, founder of CruisePorts.co

CruisePorts.co helps travelers plan practical days ashore with useful information about terminals, transportation, walkability, accessibility, neighborhoods, safety considerations, hotels, tours, and things to do. This policy explains how content is researched, written, reviewed, corrected, and monetized.

Editorial Independence

Editorial conclusions are made by Ellie Simons. Affiliate relationships, advertising, complimentary access, press trips, discounts, and other commercial relationships do not guarantee inclusion or favorable coverage. Material relationships connected to a specific article are disclosed on that article.

Experience and Research Labels

CruisePorts.co distinguishes among these forms of work:

  • First-hand reporting: Ellie Simons personally visited, sailed, stayed, traveled, photographed, or tested the material described.
  • Desk-researched guidance: information compiled from official and reputable sources without claiming a personal visit.
  • Updated or editorially reviewed: an existing page checked against current sources and revised where needed.

Articles should not imply personal experience that did not occur. When first-hand and desk research are combined, the distinction should be clear from the text.

Source Standards

Sources are prioritized in this order:

  1. Primary sources: port authorities, transit agencies, government immigration and customs pages, cruise-line advisories, official operators, schedules, direct interviews, and written confirmations.
  2. Strong secondary sources: established news organizations, academic or industry research, and reputable destination reporting.
  3. Community sources: forums, reviews, and social posts used as leads or traveler-experience context rather than sole authority for consequential facts.

Time-sensitive claims affecting safety, cost, entry, transport, or the ability to return to a ship are checked against a current primary source and, when reasonably available, a second independent source. When only one authoritative source exists, that limitation may be noted rather than padded with weaker citations.

Fact-Checking Workflow

  • Identify the terminal or tender point and distinguish it from the city or destination name.
  • Check transportation, walking routes, distances, operating hours, ticketing, and accessibility with current sources.
  • Date prices and identify the currency when a price is likely to change.
  • Link consequential claims to the most authoritative available source.
  • Check internal and external links before publication or material updates.
  • Review titles, descriptions, headings, images, alt text, and structured data for accuracy.

Updates and Recency

Review priority is risk-based rather than based solely on page age. Pages receiving substantial traffic and pages containing safety, immigration, terminal, transit, accessibility, or time-sensitive operational information are reviewed first. Other destination and hotel content is reviewed on a rolling basis as capacity and new information allow.

Immediate review triggers include terminal openings or closures, route changes, major fare or ticketing changes, entry-rule changes, disasters, government advisories, and credible reader corrections. A displayed publication or updated date reflects an editorial action; it should not be changed merely to make content appear fresh.

Corrections

Readers may report an error through the contact page or [email protected]. Reports involving safety, immigration, closed terminals, or return-to-ship logistics receive priority.

Small spelling, formatting, or clarity fixes may be corrected without a public note. A correction that materially changes a reader’s understanding should receive a visible correction or update note explaining what changed and when. Research records and internal change notes may also be retained for audit purposes.

Walkability and Distance Methodology

Distances are measured from a clearly identified terminal exit, tender landing, or other stated starting point to a defined destination such as an old town, beach, station, or attraction. When a port has multiple terminals, the applicable terminal or range should be stated.

When CruisePorts.co publishes a 0-to-10 walkability score, the intended weighting is:

  • Sidewalks and pedestrian continuity: 30%
  • Crossings and signals: 15%
  • Slope and elevation: 10%
  • Shade and shelter: 10%
  • Pedestrian safety and foot traffic: 15%
  • Useful attraction density within approximately 1 mile/1.6 km: 20%

The score is an editorial planning aid, not an accessibility certification or safety guarantee. Articles should separately describe steps, curb cuts, surfaces, steep grades, heat, traffic, lighting, and step-free alternatives when that information is available.

Missed-Port Percentages: Research and Sources

The “how often the call is missed” information in our guides is intended to help you plan for itinerary uncertainty. A documented historical rate and an editorial judgment are not the same thing, and neither guarantees what will happen on your sailing.

How to read existing percentages: Some guides show percentages without a linked call dataset, a defined reporting period, or the underlying counts. Unless that evidence is supplied for the individual port, treat the number as unverified, not as an official statistic or a measured probability for your cruise.

This methodology sets the evidence standard for publishing and reviewing those figures; linking to this policy does not supply missing data or retroactively validate a percentage.

Sources and what they establish

Call records: Dated port-authority schedules, actual-arrival records, cancellation notices, and written confirmations from ports or cruise operators are the preferred evidence. An official schedule, such as the St. John’s cruise schedule, identifies planned visits but is not, by itself, proof that every visit took place.

Operational context: Sailing-specific notices and sources such as Royal Caribbean’s travel updates and Viking’s current-sailing updates can document itinerary changes and their stated causes. Official weather and waterway information, including National Weather Service marine forecasts for U.S. waters, helps explain conditions but does not establish a cancellation percentage.

Supporting reports: Reputable reporting and first-hand traveler accounts can help identify incidents for verification, but forum polls and social posts are not a representative count of all scheduled calls. Ship-tracking records can help corroborate vessel movements; they do not alone prove whether passengers were able to go ashore.

These links illustrate source types, not a dataset behind every figure on this site. A numerical claim needs its own port-specific evidence and attribution.

How a historical percentage is calculated

Historical missed-call rate = confirmed missed calls divided by scheduled calls in the same documented group and period, multiplied by 100.

A publishable calculation must identify the port, exact reporting dates, ships or operators covered, source links, scheduled-call total, and confirmed missed-call total. Supporting research notes must retain the underlying records, schedule-capture dates, exclusions, and outcome classifications so the calculation can be checked.

Use dated schedules captured before the relevant changes, and reconcile each eligible visit as completed, missed, or unresolved. Do not calculate a complete historical rate from a list of reported cancellations alone, or silently treat unresolved calls as successful visits.

When quoting a port or operator’s published statistic, retain its definition, time period, and limitations rather than presenting it as our own calculation. A short observation window or one operator’s record must not be generalized to every season or cruise line.

What counts as a missed call

For our own calculations, the unit is one scheduled port visit on a voyage that actually sails, not one passenger, review, or day of an overnight stay. A completely omitted visit or a failed tender operation with no passenger landing counts as missed; a shorter visit, delayed arrival, alternative berth at the same port, or canceled excursion does not.

Advance itinerary removals must be recorded against the saved schedule baseline rather than deleted from the denominator. A visit made later on the same voyage is recorded as rescheduled, not counted again as a separate missed call.

Whole-cruise cancellations and homeport embarkation disruptions are reported separately from missed stops on operating itineraries. River-cruise ship swaps, replacement bus transfers, and omitted destinations also require separate definitions and must not be pooled into an ocean-port missed-call rate.

Uncertainty, missing data, and corrections

Historical frequency is not a forecast for a particular sailing, and no recorded misses in a limited sample does not establish zero risk. A sheltered harbor, a count of stormy days, or a collection of traveler reports cannot by itself establish a numerical missed-call rate.

When the records are incomplete, conflicting, or unavailable, our editorial standard is to omit the percentage and describe only supported disruption factors and practical planning implications. Qualitative labels such as “low” or “high” must not be treated as an undisclosed percentage scale.

Changed operations or new evidence should trigger a review of the affected figure, with material corrections handled under the corrections policy above. Readers can use our contact page to flag a percentage or share a dated port or cruise-line notice.

Hotels, Tours, and Commercial Recommendations

Hotel, tour, and product recommendations may consider location, port access, traveler fit, cancellation flexibility, accessibility information, reputation, value, and current availability. A recommendation is not a guarantee of price, availability, quality, or suitability. Affiliate commission is considered only after the editorial decision to include an option. The same method underpins our roundup of walkable cruise ports and the step-free assessments in our guide to wheelchair-friendly cruise ports.

AI Assistance

AI tools may assist with brainstorming, outlining, grammar, deduplication, data organization, or quality-control checks. Ellie Simons is responsible for the final editorial decisions and for reviewing factual claims before publication. AI output is not treated as a source. Material travel facts should be verified against appropriate external sources.

Originality, Quotations, and Images

  • Writing should be original and sources should be credited where appropriate.
  • Quotations use quotation marks and attribution; summaries are independently written.
  • Original photography is preferred. Licensed, commissioned, public-domain, or appropriately permitted media may also be used.
  • Images should have useful alt text when they convey information.
  • Edits should not deceptively remove conditions that materially affect a traveler’s understanding.

Accessibility and Inclusive Coverage

Accessibility information is included when it can be sourced responsibly, including information about steps, ramps, elevators, surfaces, distances, transportation, restrooms, heat, and shade. Accessibility needs vary, and readers should confirm critical arrangements directly with operators.

SEO and Structured Data

  • Titles and meta descriptions should accurately represent the visible page.
  • Headings should organize content for readers rather than repeat keywords mechanically.
  • Internal links should help readers continue planning without creating doorway or near-duplicate pages.
  • Structured data should match visible content and the correct page type. It is not added solely to pursue a rich result.
  • Author, organization, article, breadcrumb, and other markup should use consistent identities and URLs.
  • Publication and modification dates should reflect real editorial events.

Records and Policy Review

Source notes, correspondence, screenshots, and change records may be retained when useful for verification, corrections, legal compliance, or future updates. Retention depends on the importance and sensitivity of the material. This policy is reviewed when workflows materially change and otherwise periodically for accuracy.

Related Policies

Contact

Questions, corrections, and concerns: [email protected].