Terms and Conditions
BREXIT
When you book with The Cruise Line, your cruise holiday is fully-protected by ABTA and ATOL. For further information regarding travel in the EU, please visit: gov.uk/EUexit.
If you have any questions, please call us on 0800 008 6677.
AGENT HOLIDAY BOOKING CONDITIONS and PACKAGE (PRINCIPAL) BOOKING CONDITIONS
Agent Holiday Booking Conditions
1. CONTRACT: These are the terms on which we will make a booking for your travel or holiday requirements. When making your booking we will arrange for you to enter into a contract with the principal(s) or other supplier(s) (e.g. tour operator/airline/cruise company/accommodation company) named on your booking confirmation. We can book you a package holiday, in which case you will have one contract with the principal, or we can book the services that make up your holiday with different principals or suppliers, in which case you will have separate contracts with each of them. As your agent we accept no responsibility for the acts or omissions of the principal(s) or supplier(s) or for the services provided by them. The principal’s(s’) or supplier’s (s’) Terms & Conditions will apply to your booking and we advise you to read these carefully as they do contain important information about your booking. Please ask us for copies of these if you do not have them. Our Terms of Business are governed by English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you wish to do so. All travel arrangements which we provide or which are sold through us are not an offer by us to sell any travel arrangements, but an invitation to you to make an offer to the suppliers of the arrangements. We are free to accept that offer on behalf of those suppliers or to reject it.
2. BOOKING DETAILS: When a booking is made all details will be read back to you. Once you have confirmed these details we will proceed to confirm the booking with the principal(s) or supplier(s). Please check that all names, dates and timings are correct on receipt of all documents and advise us of any errors immediately. Any changes to these details will incur the charges stated below, or as notified to you at time of booking. Please ensure that the names given are the same as in the relevant passport. The booking information that you provide to us will be passed on only to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements or other persons necessary for the provision of your travel arrangements. The information may therefore be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary and religious requirements. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit checking companies. If you are travelling to the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection will receive this information for the purposes of preventing and combating terrorism and other transnational serious crimes. If you travel outside the European Economic Area, controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. Full details of our data protection policy are available upon request. We may also use the information you provide us with for marketing purposes and to advise you of new services, products, promotions, special offers and/or other information which we think will interest you. We may use your data for our business management and operation and for monitoring, marketing and customer care purposes in order to achieve our aim to provide you with the highest standard of service and choice.
3. PAYMENT: You will be required to pay a deposit or make full payment for your booking, as notified to you at the time of booking. Where you only pay a deposit you must pay the full balance by the balance due date notified to you. If full payment is not received by the balance due date, we will notify the principal(s) or supplier(s) who may cancel your booking and charge the cancellation fees set out in their Terms and Conditions. For the purposes of The Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752) (as in force from time to time) from 13 January 2018 where possible your credit card or debit card payment may be received and processed by the relevant principal or supplier (as applicable) and not by us. Where possible we may use your credit card or debit card details provided by you to pay the principal or supplier whose payment service provider will then process any monies received from you and by providing your payment details to us, you acknowledge and agree to this. It is our policy to use reasonable endeavours to ensure that, from 13 January 2018, you will not be liable for a surcharge for your use of a debit card or credit card when making payment for your booking.
4. CANCELLATION and AMENDMENTS BY YOU: Any cancellation or amendment request must be sent to us in writing and will not take effect until received by us. If you cancel or amend your booking the principal(s) or supplier(s) may charge the cancellation or amendment charge shown in their UK Terms and Conditions (which may differ from the terms on the website and may be 100% of the cost of the travel arrangements). Cancellation charges are based on the supplier’s price and not our discounted price. For details of cancellation charges on your booking please call The Cruise Line on 0800 008 6677.
5. CANCELLATION BY PRINCIPAL OR SUPPLIER: In the event that your holiday is cancelled or amended by the supplier, the compensation or refund offered may differ greatly and we would therefore refer you to the supplier’s own Terms & Conditions. The Cruise Line Ltd is committed to assisting you where possible in the unlikely event of cancellation by the supplier. We will ensure that any refunds due back to you in accordance with the supplier’s terms and conditions are made without undue delay from us.
6. INSURANCE: Many principals/suppliers require you to take out travel insurance as a condition of booking with them. In any event, we strongly advise that you take out a policy of insurance in order to cover you and your party against the cost of cancellation by you; the cost of assistance (including repatriation) in the event of accident or illness; loss of baggage and money; and other expenses.
7. FINANCIAL PROTECTION: All the package holidays we sell (whether these are provided by us in accordance with our Package Holiday Terms and Conditions, or provided by other tour operators in accordance with their terms and conditions) come with protection for your money, as set out in the terms and conditions applicable to those package holidays. Package holidays are protected by the package organiser and the confirmation documentation issued to you will confirm the protection in place from the relevant supplier.
8. DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS: All documents (e.g. invoices /tickets / ATOL certificates, if applicable) that require to be posted will be sent to you by First Class post. Alternatively, we may email these to you, as discussed at time of booking. Once documents leave our offices we will not be responsible for their loss unless such loss is due to our negligence. If tickets or other documents need to be reissued all costs must be paid by you. You can ask for delivery by other means and we will pass on any charges incurred for this.
9. PASSPORTS, VISAS AND HEALTH: Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. Neither we nor the principal(s) or supplier(s) accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. You should have at least 6 months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland). If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months needed. It is your responsibility to check with your own doctor regarding any health or immunisation requirements.
10. FINAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: Please ensure that all your travel, passport, visa and insurance documents are in order and that you arrive in plenty of time for checking in at the airport or your departure location. It may be necessary to reconfirm your flight with the airline prior to departure (if applicable). You should take a note of any reference number or contact name when reconfirming. If you fail to reconfirm you may be refused permission to board the aircraft and you are unlikely to receive any refund.
11. COMPLAINTS: Because the contract(s) for your travel arrangements is between you and the principal(s) or supplier(s), any queries or concerns relating to the travel arrangements should be addressed to them. If you have a problem whilst on holiday, this must be reported to the principal/supplier or their local supplier or agent immediately. If you fail to follow this procedure there will be less opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint. The amount of compensation you may be entitled to may be reduced or you may not receive any at all depending upon the circumstances. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at The Cruise Line, Cruise Line House, 109-111 High Street, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex BN6 9PU, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to The Cruise Line without delay. If the matter cannot be resolved and it involves us or another ABTA Member then it can be referred to the arbitration scheme arranged by ABTA, see www.abta.com. You can also access the European Commission Online Dispute (ODR) Resolution platform at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. This ODR platform is a means of registering your complaint with us; it will not determine how your complaint should be resolved
12. SERVICE CHARGES: In certain circumstances we apply a service charge for the services we provide. The charges are as follows:
- Cancellation or amendment = Principal’s charge
- Credit card charge (until 12th January 2018) = 2%
- Tickets despatched by courier = Cost of courier
For the purposes of The Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752) (as in force from time to time), and in accordance with Clause 3 of these booking conditions, from 13 January 2018, where possible your credit card or debit card payment shall be received and processed by the payment service provider of the relevant principal or supplier.
Package Holiday Booking Conditions
YOUR CONTRACT IS WITH THE CRUISE LINE LTD (company registration number 0275960 and whose address is Cruise Line House, 109-111 High Street, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex BN6 9PU) (“The Cruise Line”, “we”, “us”, “our”), a Member of ABTA.
1. Your holiday contract: When you make a booking with us you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our booking confirmation. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may, however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you wish to do so.
2. Booking Details: When a booking is made with us all booking details will be read back to you. Once you have confirmed these details we will proceed to confirm the booking. Please check that all names, dates and timings are correct on receipt of all documents and advise us of any errors immediately. Any changes to these details will incur charges. Please ensure that the names given are the same as in the relevant passport. The booking information that you provide to us will be passed on only to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements or other persons necessary for the provision of your travel arrangements. The information may therefore be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary and religious requirements. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit checking companies. If you are travelling to the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection will receive this information for the purposes of preventing and combating terrorism and other transnational serious crimes. If you travel outside the European Economic Area, controls on data protection may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. Full details of our data protection policy are available upon request.
We may also use the information you provide us with for marketing purposes and to advise you of new services, products, promotions, special offers and/or other information which we think will interest you. We may use your data for our business management and operation and for monitoring, marketing and customer care purposes in order to achieve our aim to provide you with the highest standard of service and choice.
3. Your financial protection: We provide full financial protection for our package holidays, including our own tailor-made packages. For bookings of other tour operator’s or provider’s holidays, packages or travel services, we act as agent and our Agent Holiday Booking Conditions will apply. 1. For flight based holidays this is through our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 5902. When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive package holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable for a refund of monies paid). If we are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme, as we are an ABTA member. 2. When you buy a package holiday that doesn’t include a flight, protection is provided by way of a bond held by ABTA. For further information please see www.abta.com
4. ABTA 1. We are a Member of ABTA, membership numbers W6493 and F9490. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of disputes arising out of this contract which is approved by The Chartered Trading Standards Institute. The scheme is arranged by ABTA and administered independently. It is a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you for costs. The upper limit on claims is £5,000 per person and £25,000 per booking. The scheme doesn’t apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. It can however deal with claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,500 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. Your request for arbitration must be received by ABTA within eighteen months of the date of return from holiday. For injury and illness claims, you can request the ABTA Conciliation Scheme and we have the option to agree to conciliation. Further information on the Code and ABTA’s assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com. You can also access the European Commission Online Dispute (ODR) Resolution platform at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. This ODR platform is a means of registering your complaint with us; it will not determine how your complaint should be resolved
5. Your Holiday Price: 1) We reserve the right to alter the advertised prices of any of our holidays prior to booking. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed. 2) When you make your booking you must pay a deposit (or the full amount, depending on the timing of your booking) which will be advised to you at the time of your booking confirmation. Please note payment is sometimes required in full for flights. The balance due date of the price of your travel arrangements will be shown on your booking confirmation. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid in time we shall retain your deposit. 3) Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your travel arrangements may incur a surcharge after you have booked. Surcharges will be applied in accordance with the Package Travel Regulations and ABTA’s Code of Conduct. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that. If the surcharges amount to more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges and non-refundable flights. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place. 4) For clients booking through a third party travel agent When you buy a flight-based holiday, all monies you pay to the travel agent are held by him on behalf and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times, for financial protection under our ATOL licence in accordance with Clause 3 above. This is subject to the agent’s obligation to pay it to us for so long as we do not fail. If we fail, any money held at that time by the agent, or subsequently accepted from you by him, is and continues to be held on behalf of and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust without any obligation to pay that money to us. When you buy a holiday not including a flight, all monies you pay to the travel agent are held by him on our behalf at all times. 5) For the purposes of The Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752) (as in force from time to time) from 13 January 2018 where possible your credit card or debit card payment may be received and processed by the relevant supplier (as applicable) and not by us. Where possible we may use your credit card or debit card payment details provided by you to pay the supplier whose payment service provider will then process any monies received from you and by providing your payment details to us, you acknowledge and agree to this. It is our policy to use reasonable endeavours to ensure that, from 13 January 2018, you will not be liable for a surcharge for your use of a debit card or credit card when making payment for your booking.
6. If You Change Your Booking: If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £50, and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Note: Certain travel arrangements (e.g. Airline Tickets or other pre-paid services) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
7. If You Cancel Your Holiday: You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking or your travel agent must be received at our offices. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay cancellation charges as follows, depending on how many days in prior to departure we receive your cancellation instructions in writing:
- Up to 120 days before departure = Loss of deposit PLUS full amount in respect of air fares
- 119 – 90 days before departure = 25% PLUS full amount in respect of air fares
- 89 – 75 days before departure = 50% PLUS full amount in respect of air fares
- 74 – 0 days before departure = 100%
8. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday: As we plan your holiday arrangements many months in advance we may occasionally have to make changes or cancel your booking and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 10 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure (as defined below) or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation as set out in this clause. Example of a minor change include alteration of your accommodation to another of the same standard.
If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before the start of your tour. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of force majeure, we will pay compensation as detailed below (based on the period before departure within which notice of the cancellation or major change is received by us or notified to you:
- More than 60 days = £0 per booking
- 59 – 30 days = £25 per booking
- 29 – 8 days = £35 per booking
- 7 – 0 days = £45 per booking
The compensation that we offer does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so.
* Force Majeure This means that we will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include (but are not limited to) war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or acts of God.
9. If You Have A Complaint: If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your cruise line or hotel) who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at The Cruise Line, Cruise Line House, 109-111 High Street, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex BN6 9PU, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to The Cruise Line without delay. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you are on your holiday and this may affect your rights under this contract and therefore forfeit any refunds or other sums which may otherwise be payable to you. Please also see clause 3 above on ABTA.
10. Our Liability to You: 1) If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of two times the cost of your travel arrangements. 2) Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to: (a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract and are available on request; and (b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions. You can ask for copies of the transport contractual terms, or the international conventions, from The Cruise Line. 3) Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details will be publicised at EU airports and available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted. NB this clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday (please also see Clause 13).
11. Prompt assistance whilst on your holiday: If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
12. Passport, Visa, Immigration and Health Requirements: Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. The Cruise Line will be happy to assist you in ensuring you fulfil passport and visa requirements. Please note if your passport is due to expire less than 6 months after your return from your holiday you will be required to renew it and provide updated details before you travel. It is your responsibility to check with your own doctor regarding any health or immunisation requirements.
13. Excursions: Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.
14. Entire agreement: The terms of these Booking Conditions and any documents or policies referred to herein shall govern the entire relationship between the parties to the exclusion of any other terms.
Refer A Friend Programme – John Lewis Gift Voucher
The Cruise Line’s Refer A Friend Programme is applicable on request when you recommend a friend or family member, and they make their first booking with us, and each booking totals more than £4000. Upon the friend of family member booking being confirmed, both lead bookers will receive a £100 John Lewis gift voucher. In all instances, the voucher cannot be exchanged and will be sent with the final booking documents.