Elite Cruising Holidays - Terms and Conditions
Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. "You" means all persons named on our booking forms, "we, us" means Echo Cruises Intl Limited. |
Your reservation
All charters detailed on our website and in literature are subject to availability.
When a gulet holiday is booked directly with us we will hold your booking for five working days within which time a deposit of 30% must be paid. Upon receipt of the deposit we will send an invoice detailing payment received and the date by which any further monies are due. Please check your invoice carefully (including the spelling of names and initials). Inaccuracies must be notified within 10 days. The deposit is part payment of the holiday and the balance must be paid before the date specified on the invoice, which is normally no later than 8 weeks before the departure date. Please note if we do not receive final payment by the date specified we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you and you will lose your deposit. The contract comes into existence on the date the invoice is sent to you. Please note that late payment may be considered as cancellation.
Our Responsibility
If any part of your gulet holiday arrangements is not provided as promised, due to the fault of our employees, agents or suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your gulet holiday. In all cases except personal injury, death or illness results, our maximum liability is limited to three times the holiday price paid to us (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges).
This clause is subject to force majeure and the other terms of these booking conditions.
We are not responsible for a failure to perform the contract or for the improper performance of the contract where this failure is due to:
a) your own acts or omissions or
b) those of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or
c) an event which either ourselves or the supplier of the service in question could not have foreseen or been avoided even with all due care.
Please ensure that you notify any claim in accordance with the complaint procedure set out below. Where any payment is made to you or any member of your party, that person must also assign to us or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party.
If you suffer personal injury or death by misadventure as a result of an activity which does not form part of the holiday arrangements nor an excursion sold through us we will not be liable to pay you compensation but will give you assistance if you are in difficulty and ask for help, provided we are advised of the incident within 90 days of its occurrence. This assistance may, subject to our discretion and prior approval, include financial assistance with legal expenses to enable you to take proceedings against any third party responsible. All assistance is provided subject to a maximum total cost to ourselves of £5,000 per booking form. In addition if you should be successful in obtaining a costs order against any third party or if you are unable to claim under any insurance policy you may have, we shall be entitled to recoup from you the costs actually incurred by us.
Price Promise
The price of your gulet holiday will remain the same regardless of what happens to the price of the pound. Once we send to you written confirmation of your holiday cost, subject to errors corrected, that is the price of your holiday. Please be advised that as party leader you have financial liability in the event of cancellation by party members, whether the individuals are known to you or not. However, we do reserve the right to pass on to our clients any surcharges at cost. 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 holiday arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your holiday due to contractual and other protection in place.
Changes or cancellation of your gulet holiday.
Echo Cruises makes arrangements for the holidays many months in advance and occasionally it may be necessary to make changes to those arrangements. We must reserve the right to change your holiday booking, or in extreme circumstances only, cancel your booking in its entirety.
If we cancel your gulet cruise.
If we are forced to cancel your arrangements we will inform you as soon as possible. We will offer you the choice of an alternative of at least comparable standard (if available) or a full refund of all monies paid to us in respect of your arrangements. We will not cancel your arrangements after the date specified on the final invoice for payment of the full balance unless that balance has not been paid by you or unless it is due to reasons beyond our control as detailed in the paragraph entitled Force Majeure‚ below.
If we are forced to cancel your holiday for any reason after the date on which final payment is due then in addition to the above options we will also pay compensation as detailed below.
These compensation payments will not be paid to you if the cancellation is due to reasons beyond our control and detailed in the paragraph entitled 'Force Majeure' below.
Force Majeure
Very rarely we may be forced by force majeure to terminate or change before or during your holiday. This is extremely unlikely but we regret that we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by circumstances amounting to force majeure. Force majeure means any event which we or the supplier of the services in question could not foresee or avoid. Such events may include but are not limited to war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial action, natural or nuclear activity, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.
If we change your arrangements
In the unlikely event of such changes arising we will endeavour to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible. Should a major change arise we will of course notify you immediately and you will have the choice of either:
a) accepting the changed arrangements
b) accepting an offer from us of an equivalent holiday on another date (subject to availability). If this is of an equivalent or higher price you will not have to pay more but if it is of a lower standard we will refund the difference in price.
c) cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.
In addition to this we will pay you (per person) compensation in accordance with the scale below:
More than 56 days - Nil
43 - 56 days - £5
29 - 42 days - £10
15 - 28 days - £15
0 - 14 days - £20
When the major change has been made as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control the consequences of which could not be avoided even with all due care we cannot offer any compensation.
If you cancel your arrangements
If you or any member of your party has to cancel the entire booking once it has been accepted by us, written notification must be sent to us by recorded delivery post and charges will be applied from the date the letter is received according to the scale below.
The charges are applied as a percentage of the holiday cost excluding amendment charges which are non refundable in the event of cancellation.
More than 56 days Deposit only
42-56 days 40%
29-42 days 50%
15-28 days 60%
7 -14 days 90%
Less than 7 days 100%
If you change your arrangements
If after the contract has been completed you want to change your holiday, we will do our best to meet your requirements where it is physically possible for us to do so. If we can make the required alteration e.g. date or duration, there will be an administration charge of £250.00 per change. Please note that if any such changes incur costs which exceed this amount, these charges will be passed on to you. Unfortunately, departure dates can only be amended within the same season, otherwise normal cancellation charges will apply. No charge will be made, however, for amendments which involve solely additional arrangements if extra clients are travelling on the same holiday. All amendments must be notified to us in writing. If the vessel booked changes, the holiday price will be recalculated on the basis of the new vessel up to final invoice date.
IMPORTANT NOTE
It is a condition of booking that you and every member of your party has adequate travel insurance. You are responsible for your insurance requirements and will be asked to provide details of your policy number and provider at the time of your booking. Your holiday insurance may be able to recover the cancellation charges, or any other losses. Please check your policy for details.
During your gulet holiday
Vessel and transport provided by use are for the sole use of passengers as shown on your booking confirmation. Sharing or subletting is strictly prohibited. You are responsible for any damage caused to the accommodation/vessel during your holiday, except by persons not known to you or us and unconnected with the contract between us. If you are responsible for any damage you must notify a member of Echo Cruises or its representatives immediately and all costs in this respect must be met by you and paid locally. Please note that any member of the Echo Cruises team has the right to remove anyone immediately whose behaviour affects or is disruptive of the enjoyment of the others on board.
Any problems …
We know that, despite all best efforts, problems can occur. In the first instance it is vital that you contact a member of Echo Cruises team to allow us to try and resolve the problem there and then. However, should you remain unsatisfied you should, upon your return, complete a Customer Report Form which must be signed by a member of Echo Cruises team and return this to our registered address within 14 days of your return.
Data Protection
Echo Cruises Intl Ltd ("Echo") is totally committed to the privacy of our customers. We will only use the information we collect about you lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
Echo will retain and use your personal information to provide you with the best personal service. We may supply you with details of future cruises and offers we think may be of interest to you. We will not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes without your express prior consent.
Please read the following policy to understand how we will treat your personal data.
When we collect data We can collect data on you from a variety of different sources.
- When you register or make an enquiry online with us
- When you speak to one of our Management team
- Via explicit data capture measures such as competitions or surveys
- Via implicit data capture measures such as studying the pages you read the most.
What we do with your personal information If you make a holiday enquiry or booking with us, to ensure your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements we need to use the information you provide such as name, address, nationality, any special needs / dietary requirements etc.
We take full responsibility for ensuring proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers for your travel arrangements such as airlines, transport companies etc. the information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs / immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
No variations to these conditions shall be valid unless agreed by us in writing.
It is agreed by all parties this contract is deemed to have been made at our administrative offices and disputes arising from the contract will be heard in the English courts, unless the customer chooses Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Additional Information
Your Responsibility
Check in for both outward and return flights is at least 2 hours prior to the departure times shown on the travel documents. The company can accept no responsibility for clients who arrive late for the check in and miss their flight nor can we accept responsibility for any loss by you of your holiday tickets, vouchers or coupons. You will need to inform Echo of your flight details for both outbound and inbound flights at a minimum of two weeks prior to you holiday. This is to secure your transfers between your vessel and the airport. You are responsible for any other transportation.
The contract of any client in breach of this clause will be terminated and neither we nor the providers of the service in question will have any further contractual obligations to you.
Payment
Payment is accepted by cheque, bank transfer or PayPal.
Passport Information
Non British passport holders must refer to the embassy of the countries they wish to visit to establish what (if any) visas they require. At the time of publishing the brochure, British passport holders are required to purchase a visa on arrival in Turkey at a cost of £10 payable by a £10 sterling (though not Scottish) banknote. In all cases passport holders should have a minimum of 3 months unexpired period left after departure date.
Holiday Participation
Please note we reserve the right to terminate without notice the holiday arrangements of any client who, in our absolute discretion, behaves in a way which is disruptive and affects the enjoyment of other holiday-makers, or in a way which threatens to cause or does cause distress, annoyance, damage, or danger to Echo staff, customers or to our suppliers. In the event of such termination no compensation will be paid and the client will be liable for any costs incurred as a result of their behaviour or of the termination of this contract. Airlines have the right to refuse to carry, at the absolute discretion of the captain, any passenger who they feel for whatever reason maybe disruptive to fellow passengers or airline staff.
VALIDITY
This website was published in September 2006 and prices within are valid from 1 December 2006.
