Please read these conditions carefully before booking.
These Booking Conditions set out the terms on which you contract with us, Discover the World Ltd. For air-inclusive holidays you are protected by ATOL 2896 issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and for holidays not incorporating a flight you are protected by the Association of Independent Tour Operators Trust, number 1078. Additional protection is provided by our membership of The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) V2823.
All information provided in the brochure is, to the best of our knowledge or belief, correct at the time of publication. We will advise you of any changes that are fundamental to the contract or which we believe will affect your enjoyment of the holiday. Please advise us if there is any requirement, which you believe is fundamental to your holiday so that we can give you the latest information at time of booking.
1. Booking
You must complete and sign a booking form and send this to us with a deposit which is shown within these booking conditions as a percentage of the basic cost of the holiday per person. In the case of bookings made less than three months before departure, or within the final payment due date, we require payment in full. The person who signs the booking form accepts responsibility for the party, and in particular for payment for all the persons on the booking. You must be at least 18 years old to make a booking. Where a booking is made through a travel agent any money paid by you to the travel agent is held on our behalf. A contract is made when we accept your booking and send you our written confirmation and invoice. If we cannot accept the booking, any money paid will be promptly refunded. For some tickets arranged by us, including those for standard scheduled airline flights and for some other flights organised other than through our tour operators, then:
a) the booking conditions of the airline concerned will apply to the purchase of the tickets for such flights;
b) such airline terms and conditions will take effect over these terms of booking;
c) the price for such tickets must be paid at the same time that the flight is booked;
d) the price for such tickets is non-refundable; and
e) such tickets cannot be changed, returned or exchanged for other tickets.
2. Payment
We hold your deposit towards the full cost of the holiday. The balance must be received by us no later than three months prior to departure, or by the final payment due date shown within these booking conditions, as appropriate to your holiday. If you do not pay the full cost within the time specified we may cancel your holiday. Payment by Credit Card
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Switch or cheques. Credit card transactions will also incur an additional charge of 1.3% of the transaction (0.3% for debit cards), except for payment of deposits and insurance premiums, as long as the booking is made more than three months prior to departure or before the final payment due date.
3. Surcharges
a) The prices in this brochure are correct at the time of going to press.
b) We reserve the right to notify you of any increase in the brochure or advertised price before accepting your booking.
c) After a confirmation and invoice has been issued the price of your holiday is subject to change on the following items: currency changes, aircraft and vessel fuel costs, airport charges, landing and embarkation and transportation costs. In the case of such changes meaning an increase in the cost of your holiday, we will absorb any increase up to 2% of the holiday price, excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be added to the cost of your holiday. If any of these surcharges means paying more than 10% of the holiday price you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all money paid, except for any premium paid to us for holiday insurance, non refundable air tickets and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the date printed on the invoice.
d) We undertake not to make any changes to the cost of your holiday within 3 months of your date of departure.
e) Rates of exchange used for costing this brochure are £1 = US Dollar 2.05; EUR 1.44, NOK 11, CAD 1.98, ISK 124. Rates shown are those shown on the FT website on 24 October 2007.
4. Cancellation by you
If you fail to pay the full cost of the holiday within the specified time or if you cancel your holiday you will be liable to pay any losses that we have incurred in organising your holiday up to the point of cancellation, or in the case of failure to pay at the date that we deem your booking to have been cancelled. Should you wish to cancel your booking after it has been accepted you must send us written notice signed by the person who signed the booking form. You will be liable to pay cancellation charges calculated according to the date when we receive written notice of cancellation or the date upon which your cancellation is treated as occurring because of nonpayment. We reserve the right to make charges based on a proportion of the basic cost of the holiday as on our invoice. Please see table at below.
Insurance premiums paid are not refundable. If your cancellation falls within the provisions of your travel insurance policy you may be able to make a claim.
5. Cancellation by us
Occasionally we do have to cancel bookings, events or activities and we reserve the right to make these cancellations at any time up to two months before departure. Where cancellation occurs at any time because of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control (e.g. force majeure) or because of lack of numbers, prior to our two month deadline, no compensation will be paid and we shall have no further liability to you. If this occurs we will offer you the choice of an alternative holiday (if available), or a refund of all monies paid. If such cancellation occurs within two months of departure, we will refund the amount you have paid to us in full, or offer you the choice of an alternative holiday (if available) and we will also issue additional compensation per person as follows:
42-56 days before departure: £50
29-41 days before departure: £100
0-28 days before departure: £150
Force Majeure: These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences (suspected or otherwise to include action taken during terror alerts), natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions. This list is not exhaustive.
6. Refunds Policy
Refunds will be processed in the form of payment used at the time of booking. This will be made payable to the person who made the original payment. The time the refund takes will depend on the form of payment. We will refund all credit card payments, once approved within 48 hours.
7. Own Arrangements
We cannot be held liable or responsible for any elements of your holiday which are considered “own arrangements” and that are not included in our package. We recommend that sufficient insurance is therefore obtained.
8. Variation by you
Alterations to your booking are at our discretion and must be requested in writing by the person who signed the booking form together with an administration fee of £25 per person (Max: at any one time £100). Additional fees may be charged, depending on the cost and work caused to us of the requested change. If you are unable to travel for a good and unavoidable reason we may transfer your booking to another person provided that a request for such a transfer is made at least 30 days before departure and is accompanied by written proof of your reason for being unable to travel (such as a Doctor’s Certificate) together with all original travel documents which you may have received and the full name and address of the transferee. The transferee must fulfil any conditions that apply to the travel and all costs of the original booking and of the transfer and must be paid before the transfer is affected. The cost of the transfer will consist of both an administration charge of £50 and all costs, which our suppliers impose – for example scheduled airlines may require payment of 100% cancellation charges and the cost of a new ticket. In all cases, insurance premiums are not transferable.
9. Variation by us
Holidays to remote and in some cases underdeveloped parts of the world carry a risk that parts of the holiday will be subject to alterations beyond our control and at short notice. You accept that changes may occur. Where a major change is necessary we shall notify you as soon as possible and if the alteration is not acceptable to you we shall offer you an alternative holiday (if available) or where either the alteration or the alternative holiday (if available) is not acceptable to you for a good reason refund all monies. We reserve the right to use alternative airlines, local airports and local connecting transport and this will not constitute a major alteration. Compensation would not be made if circumstances beyond our control occur i.e. force majeure (see section 5 for definition) whilst on holiday with us. In the case of flight delay the policy of the individual airlines will apply.
10. Twin shares
Cruise passengers travelling on their own but not wishing to pay a single supplement can opt to share a twin or triple cabin with other same sex passengers (subject to availability at the time of booking) if permitted by the voyage operator. Should the voyage operator provide hotel accommodation as part of the voyage itinerary, then this will be on the same share basis as the cabin. If a booking is accepted on this basis but we are unable to accommodate you in a share cabin then a cabin with sole occupancy (or double occupancy for triple shares) will be offered instead, and no single supplement will be payable. For our land-based tours we are unable to guarantee a share basis and single supplements will apply, unless we are approached by other passengers who are willing to share in order to avoid a single supplement. Each land-based booking is therefore reviewed independently.
11. Health, visas and documents
a) You must ensure that all members of your party have a valid passport and visas, all inoculations and health certificates for all countries to be visited. Please consult your doctor well in advance of departure. Your passport must be valid for at least six months following your arrival at the foreign destination. b) We will offer reasonable assistance and advice to you in how to obtain such items, but we cannot in any circumstances be responsible if any member of the party is not permitted to enter any country. You should therefore make necessary arrangements well in advance of your departure date.
For Foreign Office advice contact
www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo or ABTA Information
Line Tel: 0901 201 5050 (there is a charge for this service).
12. Special circumstances
Our tours are not designed for party members to undertake special projects or research whether in connection with study, employment or otherwise. We cannot accept any liability for any losses or damages arising out of such use or planned use nor for any loss or damage that has special financial consequences. Please note if you do intend to use one of our tours for such purposes you should obtain adequate insurance in respect of it and any special equipment you decide to bring on such tours.
13. Guides and wildlife
We reserve the right to substitute any named guide, guest lecturer or other escort with an alternative qualified person. In addition it is not possible to guarantee sightings of wildlife.
14. Holiday participation
It is a condition of participation in one of our holidays that you agree to accept the authority and decisions of our employees, tour leaders and agents whilst on holiday with us. If in the opinion of such a person your health or conduct at any time, before or after departure, appears likely to endanger the safe, comfortable or happy progress of a holiday, you may be excluded from all or part of the tour, and any additional costs incurred by you as a result of such exclusion will be your responsibility. In the case of ill health we may make such arrangements as we see fit and recover any resulting costs from you.
15. Our responsibility
We accept liability for the proper performance of the holiday sold to you. We have taken reasonable care to ensure that our suppliers are reputable, safe and efficient businesses. We will monitor and control the performance of our suppliers and judge their performance against the standards and customs in the country where the services are provided. If our suppliers are able to exclude or limit liability by virtue of any international convention we will claim the benefit of that exclusion or limitation.
We cannot accept liability in the following circumstances:
a) if the failure or improper performance is your fault or the fault of any member of your party;
b) if the failure is the fault of someone else connected with the provision of events, travel or itinerary which you or third parties unconnected with us have arranged;
c) liability arising out of use of our services for special projects or research whether in connection with study, employment or otherwise;
d) liability for any loss or damage that has special financial consequences; or
e) any unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our reasonable control (terrorist activity or threat thereof).
Please note that in any event that any compensation is payable by us to you such compensation will not exceed twice the cost of your holiday. Nothing in this agreement shall exclude or limit in any way our liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents, contractors or suppliers.
16. Travel Delay
Should delays due to weather conditions disrupt your itinerary, additional costs may be incurred and these would be the responsibility of you, the client.
17. Air and sea carriers
The liabilities of air and sea carriers are governed by the Warsaw Convention, Hague Protocol or Athens Convention respectively. We rely on the terms and limitations contained in those conventions. Air and sea carriers produce Conditions of Carriage, which form part of your contract both with us and with the air and sea carrier, available from your travel agent or from us. You are bound by those conditions when booking your holiday. Strict obligations are outlined on your ticket or the Conditions of Carriage for making claims for missing or damaged baggage that must be followed.
18. Baggage
We strongly recommend that you obtain adequate insurance to cover your belongings and baggage whilst on holiday.
19. Insurance
It is a condition of booking with us that you obtain adequate travel insurance, which meets or exceeds the level of protection offered by the policy in our brochure or on our website. The cost of medical and other treatment overseas can be high and we will not be able to assist in meeting those costs.
20. Complaints
If you have any reason to be unhappy with any element of your holiday, we would ask you first to bring this to the attention of the person in charge of the relevant service, on the spot. If this is not possible please either contact our local representative or our UK office, using the number provided with your travel documents. It is essential that you do this to enable us to put matters right immediately where possible. Failure to do this may mean that any claim for compensation will be affected. Disputes with a value of less than £5,000 per person or £25,000 per booking form in connection with this contract may (if the client so wishes) be referred to arbitration under a special scheme devised by arrangement with ABTA, administered by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, or to AITO’s Independent Dispute Settlement Service. These schemes will not apply in respect of claims that are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness over £1,000. The application for arbitration must in normal circumstances be made within 9 months of the date of return from the holiday.
21. Data Protection
We will store and use the personal date supplied by you as part of your booking form [only] for the purposes of fulfilling the contract between us. We will never pass on your information to third parties, other than to fulfil the contract between us, without your written permission. We will also use the information to keep you informed of our services and any special offers or deals which we think may be of interest to you. Please inform us at the time of booking if you do not wish us to use your information in such ways.
These booking conditions are as per the Price Supplement:
Issue 1 published: October 2007
GMK – Grigory Mikheev; AMR – Aleksey Maryshev; MLT – Prof Multanovskiy; MOL – Prof Molchanov; AD – Antarctic Dream, SHO – Akademik Shokalskiy; ORL – M/V Orlova; KK – Kapitan Khlebnikov; YAM – Yamal; OCN – Ocean Nova; IOF – Akademik Ioffe; VAV – Akademik Vavilov; CLA – Clipper Adventurer; USH – Ushuaia
Should you wish to postpone your holiday at any stage, then we will be happy to review possibilities and advise you of any possible charges regarding changes accordingly.