01 Editorial & Affiliate Independence
Seabound Journeys may earn a commission through affiliate relationships, described in full in our Affiliate Disclosure. Affiliate compensation is never a scoring input — a ship, venue, or policy is scored the same way regardless of any commercial relationship with the company behind it.
02 How We Research
Where possible, we prioritize primary sources: official cruise line deck plans, dining and entertainment listings, published fare and policy terms, insurer policy documents, and tour operators' own published itineraries and terms. We supplement primary sources with reputable secondary sources when official documentation doesn't cover a specific question, such as how a venue actually feels once you're aboard. We may also use firsthand travel experience to supplement documented research where appropriate.
03 Handling Conflicting Information
Cruise lines, insurers, and tour operators don't always publish perfectly consistent information across their own channels, and third-party sources sometimes disagree with official ones. When sources conflict, we generally give priority to the most current, most authoritative primary source available — for example, an official current deck plan over an older blog post. Where a genuine conflict can't be resolved with confidence, we say so directly in the content rather than pick one answer and present it as settled.
04 Editorial Scores vs. Fit Scores
Seabound Journeys publishes two different kinds of scores, and they answer different questions.
An editorial score (like a Seabound Dining Score) asks: “how strong is this, on its own terms?” A Fit score (like Dining Fit or Ship Fit) asks: “how well does this match what a specific traveler, with specific preferences, actually values?” A venue or ship can score well editorially and still come back as a poor Fit for you personally — and something with a modest editorial score can be an excellent Fit if it happens to emphasize exactly what you care about. Neither number is more “correct” than the other; they're answering different questions.
05 Keeping Content Current
Cruise pricing, itineraries, dining and entertainment lineups, and insurance terms all change, sometimes quickly. We date our content so you can judge how current a given page is. Even so, no publication schedule can guarantee a page reflects the exact offer available the moment you're reading it — always verify final details directly with the supplier before booking.
06 Corrections & Questions
We get things wrong sometimes — a menu changes, a deck plan is updated, or we simply make a mistake. If you spot an error, email us at hello@seaboundjourneys.com with the page and the specific issue, and we'll review it. For questions about affiliate relationships and compensation specifically, see our Affiliate Disclosure.