What Schema.org type should you use for a cruise?

Question

After looking at the different schema types that are utilised by Google, I have been driven towards Event. However, this type appears to be incorrect.

Google says:

Don’t promote non-event products or services such as "Trip package: San Diego/LA, 7 nights" as events.

Warning: If your site violates one or more of these guidelines, then Google may take manual action against it. Once you have remedied the problem, you can submit your site for reconsideration.

This would suggest to me that it is extremely risky to try to mark-up a holiday as an Event as this is not what Google would consider an event.

I am inclined towards Product but wanted to check if anyone had more insight.

Answer 1

The reason Google is discouraging the use of Event for a generic trip package mention as listed above is, Events need to have specific properties, such as startDate, endDate, etc. If your cruise is an event that has these properties, such as set dates and times, and you can list them out, it's appropriate to mark them up as Events.

The trip package in the negative example is a Product that can be purchased at any time, for a timespan that the customer defines, so it is not an Event.

Check out this post concerning travel sites specifically:

http://ianditravelmedia.com/structured-mark-up-rich-snippets-uses-and-opportunities-for-travel-sites/

It sounds like Event should be fine for your case, provided that it runs on set dates and times and has a location.

Answer 2

If you create the markup for an event as a cruise, then you can refine this event using a top-level type such as TravelAction. You can set this type as embedded in main type Event. This way your event will have a travel signal. This can increase the semantic value of your data.