Cookie Policy
Most websites you visit will use cookies in order to improve your user experience by enabling that website to ‘remember’ you, either for the duration of your visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeat visits (using a ‘persistent cookie’).
Cookies are created when you visit a website or other service that uses cookies. Cookies are commonly used to help the user’s browsing experience and provide more information about the user’s experience and interests. This information is generally used to make content, services and advertising more relevant and useful during future visits.
What is in a cookie?
A cookie is a simple text file that is stored on your computer or mobile device by a website’s server and only that server will be able to retrieve or read the contents of that cookie. Each cookie is unique to your web browser. It will contain some anonymous information such as a unique identifier and the site name and some digits and numbers. It allows a website to remember things like your preferences or what’s in your shopping basket.
For more information see: www.allaboutcookies.org
Types of Cookies
- First Party Cookies - these are set by the website you are visiting and they can only be read by that site
- Third Party Cookies - these are set by a different organisation to the owner of the website you are visiting. For example, the website might use a third party analytics company who will set their own cookie to perform this service. The website you are visiting may also contain content embedded from, for example YouTube or Flickr, and these sites may set their own cookies.
- Session Cookies - these are stored only temporarily during a browsing session and are deleted from the user’s device when the browser is closed.
- Persistent Cookie - this type of cookie is saved on your computer for a fixed period (usually a year or longer) and is not deleted when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are used where we need to know who you are for more than one browsing session. For example, we use this type of cookie to store your preferences, so that they are remembered for the next visit.
- Strictly Necessary - the only cookies which are considered strictly necessary are those which are required for the key function of the website.
Cookies enable us to identify your device, or when you have logged in. We use cookies that are strictly necessary to enable you to move around the site or to provide certain basic features. We also use cookies to enhance the functionality and performance of the website to provide you with a better user experience.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
- PHPSESSID - a necessary PHP Session ID cookie
- mm_channel - this cookie relates to website caching and is necessary for site functionality
- AWSELB - this cookie is essential to help ensure that the website loads efficiently
- ASP.NET_SessionId - this allows you to start the checkout process, or log in to your account
- CookieDetection - this is a test cookie to ensure cookies are enabled before starting the booking process.
First Party Cookies
- has_seen_advert This cookie does not share information across external sites and is used only for internal advertising functionality
Third Party Cookies
YouTube
We use YouTube to provide video content via our website. YouTube uses the following cookies: APISID, HSID, LOGIN_INFO, PREF, VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE and use_hitbox
Google Analytics
Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics tool provided by Google Ireland Limited (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies to help the website analyse how users use the website. The information generated by the cookies about your use of the website and your current IP-address will be transmitted by your browser to and will be stored by Google on servers in the United States and other countries. Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate your use of the website, compile reports on website activity and provide us with other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
- _utma This cookie helps us determine the number of unique visitors to our website
- _utmz This cookie helps us determine the referral method for people visiting our website. This helps us to analyse the traffic arriving at our website and to determine which are the most popular routes (e.g. direct, search engine search, email link)
- _utmb We use this Google Analytics cookie to help us to record the length of individual sessions from our users on our website. Each time you move to a new page within our website within 30 minutes of arriving the cookie updates so that we know that you are still actively using our website within a single session
- _utmc Similar to _utmb, we use this Google Analytics cookie to help us record the length of individual sessions on our website
