Booking Conditions
These Booking Conditions set out the terms on which you contract with us, New Horizon Expeditions Ltd. All information provided in brochures and on the website 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. In these booking conditions, ‘you' and ‘your' means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date). ‘We', ‘us' and ‘our' means New Horizon Expeditions Ltd. Except where otherwise stated, these booking conditions only apply to holiday arrangements which you book with us in Ireland and which we agree to make, provide or perform (as applicable) as part of our contract with you. All references in these booking conditions to ‘holiday', ‘booking', ‘contract' or ‘arrangements' mean such holiday arrangements unless otherwise stated.
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, or a specified amount. 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 makes the booking and signs the booking form (who must be at least 18 yrs of age) accepts responsibility for the party, and making all payments due to us. Where a booking is made through our authorised travel agents any money paid by you to the travel agent for our holiday arrangements 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:
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 full 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. You will be advised at the time of booking where this is the case.
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 treat your holiday as cancelled by you, in which case the cancellation charges shown in clause 4 will apply. Payment by Credit Card We accept Visa, Mastercard, and bank drafts or cheques. Credit card transactions will also incur an additional charge of 1.5 - 2% of the transaction.
3. Prices & Surcharges
a) The prices in brochure/website 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. 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.
d) We undertake not to make any changes to the cost of your holiday within 1 month of your date of departure.
e) Our US dollar based holidays are quoted in US dollars due to fluctuating exchange rates. We will confirm the conversion rate into € at the time of booking in order to calculate your deposit payment, and again when the final balance payment is due. You will pay at the current rate that applies at the time that each payment is made.
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 non-payment. We reserve the right to make charges based on a proportion of the basic cost of the holiday as on our invoice excluding those items referred to below. Please see table within our booking conditions, concerning deposits, payments and cancellation charges. Note non-refundable air tickets will be charged at 100% and the scale of charges will then apply to the remainder of the holiday cost. 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 which must be made direct to your insurance company.
5. Cancellation and variation by us
We start planning the holidays we offer many months in advance. Occasionally, we have to make changes to and correct errors in brochure/website and other details both before and after bookings have been confirmed and cancel confirmed bookings, events or activities. Holidays to remote and in some cases underdeveloped parts of the world carry the risk that parts of the holiday may be subject to alterations beyond our control, sometimes at short notice. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. However, we will only cancel your confirmed booking after the full payment due date where we are forced to do so as a result of "force majeure" or circumstances beyond our control (see clause 6). Please note, some of our holidays require a minimum number of participants to enable us to operate them. If the minimum number of bookings required for a particular holiday have not been received, we are entitled to cancel it providing we notify you of the cancellation prior to the full payment due date. Please note that in the event of cancellation of your holiday, we are not able to accept responsibility for costs of additional travel arrangements or other items purchased in association with the cancelled holiday, unless these were purchased through Discover the World. Most changes are minor. Minor changes include a change of airline, flight timing change of less than 12 hours, local airport and local connecting transport, change of accommodation to another of the same standard and changes to supplementary arrangements such as excursions or events. Occasionally, we have to make a significant change. If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of the following options:- (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements or purchasing an alternative holiday from us, of a similar standard to that originally booked, if available. If the cost of this alternative is less than your original holiday, we will refund the price difference. Should the alternative holiday be of a higher cost, then you must pay the difference or cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will receive a full and quick refund of all monies you have paid to us.
If we have to make a significant change or cancel we will, where compensation is due and appropriate, pay you the compensation set out below, subject to the following exceptions. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above mentioned choices can be accepted where (1) we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care or (2) we have to cancel because the minimum number of bookings necessary for us to operate your holiday has not been reached (see above). No compensation will be payable and the above options will not be available if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel (such as not receiving payment on time) or where a change is a minor one.
Period before departure when a significant change or cancellation is notified to you and compensation.
Prior to full payment due date: Nil
Full payment due date - 42 days to departure: €25
41-28 days to departure: €50
27-14 days before departure: €75
13-0 days before departure: €100
Very rarely, we may be forced by circumstances beyond our control (see clause 6) to change or terminate your holiday after departure but before the scheduled end of your time away. This is extremely unlikely but if this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any refunds from our suppliers), pay you any compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.
6. Circumstances beyond our control
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of circumstances beyond our control. In these booking conditions, ‘circumstances beyond our control' means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include actual or threatened war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity and its consequences (including suspected terrorist activity and all action taken during any "terror alert"), industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. This list is not exhaustive.
7. 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 endeavour to refund all credit card payments, once approved within 48 hours.
8. 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.
9. 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 €35 per person. 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, subject to the availability and agreement of our suppliers, transfer your booking to another person suggested by you 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 €75 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. Once cancelled, your holiday remains the property of New Horizon Expeditions.
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. If on the full payment due date or at the time of travel no twin share is available, then the single supplement will be payable. Each land-based booking is therefore reviewed independently.
11. Health, visas and documents
You must ensure that all members of your party have a valid passport and all required visas, all inoculations and health certificates for all countries to be visited. This is your responsibility and you must cover all costs for this. 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. We will offer reasonable assistance and advice to you in how to obtain such items, but we cannot in any circumstances be held responsible if any member of the party is not permitted to enter onto any transport or into any country.
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 make every effort to ensure that the services we have agreed to provide as part of our contract with you are delivered with reasonable skill and care. 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. Please note, it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. Subject to clause 17, we will accept responsibility if due to fault on our part, or that of our agents or suppliers, any part of your holiday arrangements booked before your departure from Ireland is not as described in the brochure, or not of a reasonable standard, or if you or any member of your party is killed or injured as a result of an activity forming part of those holiday arrangements. We do not accept responsibility if and to the extent of any failure of your holiday arrangements or death or injury: is not caused by any fault of ours or our agents or suppliers; is caused by you; is caused by somebody not connected with your holiday arrangements or is due to unforeseen circumstances which, even with all due care, we or our agents or suppliers could not have anticipated or avoided.
Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised by us and we have not agreed to arrange them as part of our contract. In addition, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description (1) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers or (3) arises out of use of our services for special projects or research whether in connection with study, employment or otherwise or (4) is connected with any business. For all claims which do not involve death or personal injury or loss / damage of / to personal possessions (see below), if we are found liable to you on any basis the maximum amount we will have to pay you is twice the amount paid for your holiday (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where we deem your holiday has failed in its entirety and you have not received any benefit at all from your holiday. Nothing in these booking conditions 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.
16. Travel delay
Should delays due to weather conditions disrupt your itinerary, additional costs may be incurred and these are the responsibility of you, the client. We regret that we are not in a position to offer you any material assistance in the event of delay at your outward or homeward point of departure. Any airline concerned may however provide refreshments etc. We cannot accept liability for any delay which is due to any of the reasons set out in clause 6 of these booking conditions (which includes the behaviour of any passenger(s) on the flight who, for example, fails to check in or board on time). Due to the nature of some of our holidays, we may recommend additional pre or post-tour nights at the destination to allow for delays due to ice, sea or weather conditions. Should you choose not to take this advice, then we cannot be held responsible for the consequences. We strongly recommend that you have adequate insurance provisions in place.
17. Air and sea carriers
The liabilities of air, sea and rail carriers are governed by the following: amended or unamended Warsaw Convention 1929 and the Montreal Convention 1999 for international travel by air; and/or for airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, the EC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No 889/2002 for national and international travel by air; and the Athens Convention 1974 for international travel by sea; the Berne Convention 1961 for rail travel; the Geneva Convention 1973 for travel by road. 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 the carrier or from us along with copies of applicable international conventions and regulations. 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. Where any claim or part of a claim against us(including those involving death or personal injury) concerns or is based on any travel arrangements (including the process of getting on and/or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea or rail carrier, the maximum amount of compensation we will have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to pay you for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier concerned would have to pay under the applicable international convention or regulation (see above). Please note: where a carrier or hotelier would not be obliged to make any payment to you under the applicable international convention or regulation in respect of a claim or part of a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to you for that claim or part of the claim. When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the carrier for the complaint or claim in question. In accordance with EU directive (EC) No 2111/2005 Article 9, we are required to bring to your attention the existence of a ‘Community List' which contains details of air carriers who are subject to an operating ban within the EU. This community list is available for inspection at http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/safety/flyw ell_en.htm. In accordance with EU regulations we are required to advise you of the actual carrier(s) (or, if the actual carrier(s) is not known, the likely carrier(s)) that will operate your flight(s) at the time of booking. Where we are only able to inform you of the likely carrier(s) at the time of booking, we shall inform you of the identity of the actual carrier(s) as soon as we become aware of this. Any change to the operating carrier(s) after your booking has been confirmed will be notified to you as soon as possible. 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 of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be 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 clauses 5 and 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted from this amount. We are not always in a position at the time of booking to confirm the flight timings which will be used in connection with your flight. The flight timings shown in our brochure, on our website and/or detailed on your confirmation document are for guidance only and are subject to alteration and confirmation. Flight timings are outside of our control. They are set by airlines and are subject to various factors including air traffic control restrictions, weather conditions, potential technical problems and the ability of passengers to check-in on time. Specific instructions relating to departure and travel arrangements will be sent with your air or other travel tickets approximately 2 weeks before departure. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt to ensure you have the correct flight times and name(s) as per your passport(s). It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been dispatched - we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.
Any change in the identity of the carrier, flight timings, and/or aircraft type and onboard services (if advised) will not entitle you to cancel or change to other arrangements without paying our normal charges except where specified in these conditions.
18. Insurance
It is a condition of booking with us that you obtain adequate travel insurance. The cost of medical and other treatment overseas can be high and we will not be able to assist in meeting those costs. We strongly recommend that you obtain adequate insurance to cover your belongings and baggage whilst on holiday.
19. Special Requests
If you have any special request, you must advise us at the time of booking. Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met.
20. Medical Conditions/Disabilities
If you or any member of your party has any medical condition or disability which may affect your holiday or has any special requirements as a result of any medical condition or disability (including any which affect the booking process), you must tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can assist you in considering the suitability of the arrangements and/or making the booking. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking and whenever any development of or change in the condition or disability occurs. You must also promptly advise us if any medical condition or disability which may affect your holiday develops after your booking has been confirmed.
21. 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/agent or our 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. If a problem remains unresolved during your holiday you should make a complaint in writing to New Horizon Expeditions within 28 days of the completion of your holiday.
22. 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.
DEPOSITS, PAYMENTS AND CANCELLATION CHARGES
Deposit due at time of booking is 30% of trip or voyage excluding flights. 100% of flight cost is payable at time of booking.
Final payment is due 90 days before departure.
Your holiday may be cancelled at any time by the person who signed the booking form giving us written notice directly. As we start incurring costs from the time that we confirm your booking and we may not be able to resell your space we will be entitled to apply a cancellation charge as follows:
Days prior to departure when written notification of cancellation is received by New Horizon Expeditions and % of total holiday price payable.
More than 90 days - €300*
60-90 days - 30% (Booking deposit)
49-60 days - 50%
29-48 days - 75%
15-28 days - 100%
* You will be refunded a New Horizon travel voucher to that value to be used on another date or trip.
