Commodore Motor Cruising: Charter Rates 2010

Insurance, terms and conditions - Important stuff

There is a legal document below but the salient points are as follows:

If you damage the boat badly in our view you instantly take it out of commission until it’s repaired. If the previous charterers do it then you could lose your holiday. Classic motor cruisers are not like buses; there isn’t another one along shortly. We would love to guarantee a similar boat being available but we cannot - please be clear about this.

You are insured for third party liability up to £5 million. The damage excess is £1,000.

The boat must be cleaned by you on its return unless you wish to pay for it to be done.

These are smart boats and the history of stag and hen parties does not blend well with this. Same-sex parties are fine as long as the average age is 40 or over.

Your Charter Booking Conditions

These Booking Conditions apply to any booking that you make with us and should therefore be read carefully. They contain some exclusions and limitations of liability. If any part of these Booking Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Booking Conditions will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable. All the holidays on this website or in this brochure are operated by Commodore Motor Cruising (hereinafter called ‘the Company’ or ‘we’) and are sold subject to the following conditions:

1. YOUR CONTRACT

Your contract is with Commodore Motor Cruising, Chantry House, Run Lane, Rockland St. Mary, Norfolk NR14 7EZ. When making your booking you guarantee that you have the authority to do so and accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract exists, when you confirm your holiday booking with payment. Once your reservation is confirmed we will send you a Booking Confirmation form. You should check the details of your confirmation carefully to ensure that it accurately reflects the booking you have requested and immediately inform us of any discrepancies. If the departure date of the holiday is less than 14 days from the date of issue of the Booking Confirmation Form this should be done within 24 hrs of that date. Otherwise we would expect a response and the Confirmation Form returned within 7 working days. You should also send us the outstanding information requested on the booking confirmation form by returning the completed form. This information forms part of the contract between us. This contract will be governed by English law and dealt with by English courts.

2. PAYING FOR YOUR HOLIDAY

A 25% deposit is payable at the time of booking.

The balance of the price of your holiday must be paid at least 60 days before your departure date. If the balance is not paid in time, we may cancel your booking and retain your deposit. Any payment made by credit card will be subject to a 2% surcharge (capped at £50 per transaction). This does not apply to bookings paid by cheque or debit card.

3. IF YOU CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR BOOKING

Cancellation Charges

Period before departure within which notice of cancellation or major changes is received by us.

Major alteration

+ 70 days

Deposit only

Maybe possible £20 admin charge

43 - 70 days

50% of total holiday cost

15 - 42 days

70% of total holiday cost

14 days and under

100% of total holiday cost*

* Please note that certain costs will be refunded should you cancel the entire holiday (i.e. craft Damage Waiver, before 100% cancellation is applied.

4. IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR BOOKING

If a boat is unservicable or has been damaged by a previous charterer and is in need of repair before it can be used again then we may have to cancel or reduce the time available for your charter whilst this work is undertaken.

If we are unable to provide the booked charter and have had to cancel it before the holiday is due to start, you can either:

(a) Accept our offer of a replacement charter

(b) Accept our offer of a replacement charter of lower quality (subject to availability) and we will refund the difference in cost.

(c) Accept a full refund of the money you have paid. If you accept a major change, or if we have to cancel your charter then in addition to any refund, we will pay you as a minimum, compensation in accordance with the amounts noted below. For children in respect of whom reduced rates have been charged, credit/compensation will be paid on a pro-rata basis of the adult rate. Children under two are not entitled to any compensation.

In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of Force Majeure, we will pay compensation as detailed below:

Period before departure within which a major change is notified to you.

Compensation per charter

More than 70 days

Nil

43 -70 days

£50

15 - 42 days

£100

14 days and under

£200

No compensation or refunds will be paid where the change or cancellation is due to Force Majeure. Force Majeure means unforeseeable and unusual circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised. Such circumstances or events include (but are not limited to) war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, unavoidable technical problems with transport, closure or congestion of airports and railway stations, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire and adverse weather conditions.

5. CHARTER TERMINATION AND INDEMNITY

You must accept responsibility for the proper conduct of yourself and any members of your party. Commodore Motor Cruising cannot be held responsible for under age consumption of alcohol. We reserve the right in our absolute discretion to terminate without further notice the holiday arrangements of any client who refuses to comply with the reasonable instructions or orders of the company staff, agent or other responsible person whose behaviour in their opinion is likely to cause distress, damage, danger or annoyance to other customers, staff, any third party or to property. Animals, restricted items and illegal goods will not be permitted on board. Upon such termination our responsibility for your holiday ceases and we shall not be liable for any extra costs incurred by you.

6. IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT

If you have a problem during your charter, please inform Commodore Motor Cruising immediately, who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 35 days of your return home by writing to us. It is strongly suggested that you communicate any problem to us 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 were on holiday and this will reduce your rights to compensation.

7. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

Our liability to you for any loss or damage which you may suffer is limited to three times the price of your holiday. This excludes personal injury resulting from the non-performance or improper performance of the services involved in the holiday, and is subject to the limitation of liability described below.

We accept responsibility for any death, bodily injury or illness caused to you as a result of the proven negligent acts and/or omissions of our employees, agents, suppliers and sub-contractors and their servants and/or agents while acting within the scope of, or in the course of, their employment. We also accept responsibility for any damage caused to you as a result of any failure to perform, or improper performance of the services we have agreed to provide to you, except where such failure or improper performance is not our fault or that of our suppliers because:

(a) such failure is attributable to you or a member of your party.

(b) such failure is attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services to be provided to you and is unforeseeable or unavoidable.

(d) or an event which could not be foreseen or prevented even with all due care.

Commodore Motor Cruising accepts no responsibility for the acts or omissions of its clients whether negligent or otherwise and shall not be held liable for any claims made against them (or as a result of their actions) either by other clients of Commodore Motor Cruising or third parties. Commodore Motor Cruising does not accept liability for losses that were actually unforeseeable to those involved at the time of booking, losses that were not caused by any breach on the part of Commodore Motor Cruising or its supplier and any business losses or similar to the client as a result of unforeseeable circumstances.

9. EQUIPMENT AND CRAFT INSURANCE COVER

Our equipment and craft are comprehensively insured. Our policy provides full cover for the equipment and craft and no less than £5m third party cover for your skipper and crew.

A refundable security deposit (refer to price grid for details) payable at the Commodore Motor Cruising base in equivalent currency, will be required to cover the excess for any damage incurred to the craft or damage to or loss of ancillary equipment such as dinghy tender, outboard engine, windsurfer, ocean kayak and GPS. However, should damage or loss to craft and equipment be caused as a result of not obeying Commodore Motor Cruising instructions, then he or she will be liable for the full amount of repair or replacement and any resulting costs. Adults will at all times be responsible for minors in their charge.

10. SAFETY

As with other activity based holidays, watersports activities contain an element of risk. It should be understood that participation in these activities is your decision and at your risk. The skipper of a boat has primary responsibility for the safety of the crew and craft at all times. Commodore Motor Cruising reserve the right not to hand over the vessel if, after inspection, it is of the opinion that the charterer is not, or may not be, competent to be in charge of the vessel. The skipper is responsible for assuring that he/she and the crew are competent to undertake the planned itinerary. The skipper must take note of safety information contained in any written material or delivered to the craft and in chart briefings and is responsible for briefing the crew on this, the craft and its systems. The skipper is responsible for checking the inventory and craft systems before the craft makes passage. Motor Cruisers may not be driven single handed and the second crew member should be fit and have at least a basic knowledge of the boat. In certain cruising areas, the second crew member must be over 18 years of age. Night sailing (except the UK) and partaking in any third party race is not permitted without written approval from Commodore Motor Cruising. In the interests of safety, Commodore Motor Cruising’s staff may order a change to your itinerary, decide whether or not conditions are safe to use a craft or make a passage and whether this should be under power or sail. Commodore Motor Cruising reserve the right to instruct the charterer not to take the craft out if Commodore Motor Cruising consider the weather conditions to be too dangerous. The charterer must return the craft to the home port on the date and by the time specified on the booking form but agree not to take the craft out in bad weather even if this may lead to the craft not being returned by the agreed date. If it becomes apparent that the charterer is unable to return the craft on the specified date then they should advise Commodore Motor Cruising accordingly but will still be subject to an additional charter fee for each day or part of day that the craft is overdue. Upon return of the craft the charterer shall hand the craft over to an authorised member of Commodore Motor Cruising staff but Commodore Motor Cruising cannot accept that the vessel is free from defects that may not be immediately apparent. Any damage, incident or defect must be reported to Commodore Motor Cruising’s authorised staff. In the event of any disagreement over damage or loss, the matter will be referred to a senior member of Commodore Motor Cruising staff. The charterer agrees not to carry crew other than those specified on the crew list, which must be submitted prior to the start of the charter.

14. PHOTOGRAPHY

An essential part of the success of our brochures is using photography that gives clients a true idea of the product, rather than using models. Photographers are occasionally in our cruising areas. If you have any strong objections to close up photography of yourself and your party, please indicate your feelings to the photographer at the time.

15. BROCHURE ACCURACY

The brochure is prepared from information gathered prior to publication. Every care is taken to ensure that this information is still correct at the time of going to press (February 2010) but it has to be remembered that facilities may be withdrawn from Commodore Motor Cruising and holiday particulars altered as a result.

16. DATA PROTECTION

The information you give us as part of your booking will never be made available to any other party other than government employees/agents with the power to demand and receive this information.

Drawn up with grateful thanks to the excellent Sunsail