*IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not pay you compensation in the following circumstances:

(a)   where we make a minor change; 

(b)   where we make a significant change or cancel your arrangements more than 75 days before departure;

(c)    where we make a significant change and you accept those changed arrangements or you accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements;

(d)   where we have to cancel your arrangements as a result of your failure to make full payment on time;

(e)   where the change or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you; 

(f)     where we are forced to cancel or change your arrangements due to Events Beyond our Control (see clause 10).

If we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the arrangements that you have booked with us after you have departed, we will, if possible, make alternative arrangements for you at no extra charge and where those alternative arrangements are of a lower standard, provide you with an appropriate price reduction.

10. Events Beyond our Control  

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by “Events Beyond our Control”. For the purposes of these Booking Conditions, Events Beyond our Control means any event beyond our or our supplier’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include warfare and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination or remain at the travel destination, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, labour strikes, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, epidemic or pandemic, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned’s control. 

Brexit Implications: please note that certain travel arrangements may be affected as a result of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. This could include an unavailability of access to certain ports etc. Please rest assured that this is something we will continue to monitor and will advise our guests as soon as possible if we become aware of any confirmed bookings that will be affected. However, since this is something which is completely unprecedented and outside our control, we would treat any such changes as Events Beyond our Control, and whilst we will endeavour to provide suitable alternative arrangements or refunds where possible, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation.  

11. Special Requests   

Any special requests must be advised to us at the time of booking e.g. diet, room location, room share, room type, a particular facility at a hotel etc. You should then confirm your requests in writing. Whilst every effort will be made by us to try and arrange your reasonable special requests, we cannot guarantee that they will be fulfilled.  The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed by us.  We do not accept bookings that are conditional upon any special request being met.                    

12. Disabilities and Medical Problems

We are not a specialist disabled tour company, but we will do our utmost to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your booking, please provide us with full details before you make your booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements. We may require you to produce a doctor’s certificate certifying that you are fit to participate. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details. For boat-based, overnight cruises the skipper may refuse to carry any passenger or luggage on any cruise for any cause relating to the safety of the vessel or any property or any other persons on board. In such circumstances the passenger will not be entitled to any compensation or payment whatsoever.

13. Children

No unaccompanied children under the age of eighteen (18) can join a tour or be carried on cruises. All minors under 18 years of age, no matter what their age, are wholly the responsibility of their parents/guardians at all times.

14. Complaints 

We make every effort to ensure that your tour arrangements run smoothly but if you do have a problem during your tour, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your hotelier) immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please contact explore@wild-discovery.com or phone the emergency contact number available provided on your final tour information. 

If the problem cannot be resolved and you wish to complain further, you must send formal written notice of your complaint to us at our office, ideally within 14 days of the end of your stay, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you. Failure to follow the procedure set out in this clause may affect ours and the applicable supplier’s ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract.

You can access the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) 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. Please Note: the ODR platform is unlikely to be available for use by UK consumers at such a point that the UK’s transition period, as part of its withdrawal as a member of the European Union, comes to an end.

15. Your Behaviour 

All our guests are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner and not to disrupt the enjoyment of others. If in our opinion or in the opinion of the tour leader, any hotel manager, company representative, or any other person in authority, your behaviour or that of any member of your party is causing or is likely to cause distress, danger or annoyance to any other guests or any third party, or damage to property, or to cause a delay or diversion to transportation, we reserve the right to terminate your booking with us immediately. In the event of such termination our liability to you and/or your party will cease and you and/or your party will be required to leave your accommodation or other arrangements immediately. We will have no further obligations to you and/or your party. No refunds for lost accommodation or any other arrangements will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of termination. You and/or your party may also be required to pay for loss and/or damage caused by your actions and we will hold you and each member of your party jointly and individually liable for any damage or losses caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to the hotel manager, company representative, tour leader or other supplier prior to departure. If you fail to make payment, you will be responsible for meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made against us as a result of your actions together with all costs we incur in pursuing any claim against you. 

We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us. 

15 (1)     Drugs and Illicit Material

No drugs, dangerous and/or illicit material or other unlawful goods are permitted to be carried on any tours or on board any cruise vessels and the guest(s)/passenger(s) will free and release Wild Discovery Ltd / Skipper from any liabilities or responsibility arising out of any breach of this condition. 

16. Our Responsibilities 

(1) We will accept responsibility for the arrangements we agree to provide or arrange for you as an “organiser” under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, as set out below and as such, we are responsible for the proper provision of all travel services included in your package, as set out in your confirmation invoice. Subject to these Booking Conditions, if we or our suppliers negligently perform or arrange those services and we don’t remedy or resolve your complaint within a reasonable period of time, and this has affected the enjoyment of your package tour you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or compensation or both. You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in this package. The level of any such price reduction or compensation will be calculated taking into consideration all relevant factors such as but not limited to: following the complaints procedure as described in these Booking Conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees’ or suppliers’ negligence affected the overall enjoyment of your tour.  Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us. 

(2) We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:

(a)   the acts and/or omissions of the person affected; or

(b)   the acts and/or omissions of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; or 

(c)   Events Beyond our Control (as defined in clause 10).

(3) We limit the amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause:

(a)   loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions and money: the maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is an amount equivalent to the excess on your insurance policy which applies to this type of loss per person in total because you are required to have adequate insurance in place to cover any losses of this kind.

(b)   Claims not falling under (a) above and which don’t involve injury, illness or death: the maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is up to three times the price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and you or your party has not received any benefit at all from your booking. 

(c)   Claims in respect of international travel by air, sea and rail, or any stay in a hotel: 

i)       The extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we were carriers under the appropriate Conventions, which include The Warsaw/Montreal Convention (international travel by air); The Athens Convention (with respect to sea travel); The Berne/Cotif Convention (with respect to rail travel) and The Paris Convention (with respect to hotel arrangements). You can ask for copies of these Conventions from our offices. Please contact us. In addition, you agree that the operating carrier or transport company's own 'Conditions of Carriage' will apply to you on that journey. When arranging transportation for you, we rely on the terms and conditions contained within these international conventions and those 'Conditions of Carriage'. You acknowledge that all of the terms and conditions contained in those 'Conditions of Carriage' form part of your contract with us, as well as with the transport company and that those 'Conditions of Carriage' shall be deemed to be included by reference into this contract. 

ii)      When making any payment, we are entitled to deduct any money which you have received or are entitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for the complaint or claim in question.

(4) It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to us and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these conditions. 

(5) Where any payment is made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or guardian if under 18 years) must also assign to us or our insurers any rights they may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. 

(6) Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description: 

(a)   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; 

(b)   relate to any business; 

(c)   indirect or consequential loss of any kind.

(7) We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised in our materials. For example any excursion you book whilst away, or any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you.  

(8) Where it is impossible for you to return to your departure point as per the agreed return date of your package, due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”, we shall provide you with any necessary accommodation (where possible, of a comparable standard) for a period not exceeding three nights per person. Please note that the 3 night cap does not apply to persons with reduced mobility, pregnant women or unaccompanied minors, nor to persons needing specific medical assistance, provided we have been notified of these particular needs at least 48 hours before the start of your tour. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” mean warfare, acts of terrorism, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely back to your departure point.

17. Excursions

Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on tour are not part of your contracted arrangements with 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.

18. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements & Health Formalities

It is your responsibility to check and fulfill the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. We can only provide general information about this. You must check requirements for your own specific circumstances with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates and your own doctor as applicable. Requirements do change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure as some visas may take several weeks for an application.

Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting. For further information contact the Passport Office on 0870 5210410 or visit https://www.gov.uk/browse/citizenship/passports.

Special conditions apply for travel to the USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check https://uk.usembassy.gov. For European tours you should obtain a completed and issued form EHIC prior to departure.  

Up to date travel advice can be obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visit https://www.gov.uk/travelaware

Non British passport holders, including other EU nationals, should obtain up to date advice on passport and visa requirements from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of your destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling.

We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. 

Please note: Tours to some countries require that your passport visa number is included in applications for entry requirements, such as to national parks or specific regions within that country, in which case we would require this information from you, several weeks or months before your departure date. Where this is applicable to your tour, you will be notified before making a booking and any applicable deadlines to provide such information to us, will be stated within your booking confirmation. 

19. Conditions of Suppliers

Many of the services which make up your tour are provided by independent suppliers.  Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions which will form part of your contract with us.  Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions.  Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from us or the supplier concerned.

20. Prompt Assistance

If, whilst you are on tour, you find yourself in difficulty for any reason, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is appropriate in the circumstances. In particular, we will provide you with appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance, and assistance with distance communications and finding alternative travel arrangements. Where you require assistance which is not owing to any failure by us, our employees or sub-contractors we will not be liable for the costs of any alternative travel arrangements or other such assistance you require. Any supplier or other transport supplier may however pay for or provide refreshments and/or appropriate accommodation and you should make a claim directly to them. Subject to the other terms of these Booking Conditions, we will not be liable for any costs, fees or charges you incur in the above circumstances, if you fail to obtain our prior authorisation before making your own travel arrangements. Furthermore, we reserve the right to charge you a fee for our assistance in the event that the difficulty is caused intentionally by you or a member of your party, or otherwise through your or your party’s negligence.  

21. Delays, Missed Transport Arrangements and other Travel Information

If you or any member of your party misses your transport arrangement, it is cancelled or you are subject to a delay of over 3 hours for any reason, you must contact us and the transport supplier concerned immediately. 

Although we do not offer flight-inclusive packages, we would like to notify you that under EU Law, you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from airlines 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. If the airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Civil Aviation Authority at www.caa.co.uk/passengers. Reimbursement in such cases is the responsibility of the airline. A delay or cancellation to any flight arrangements you may have does not automatically entitle you to cancel your tour.

We cannot accept liability for any delay which is due to any of the reasons set out in clause 10 of these Booking Conditions (which includes the behaviour of any passenger(s) on any flight you may have booked who, for example, fails to check in or board on time).  

Please note the existence of a “Community list” (available for inspection at https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/safety/air-ban_en) detailing air carriers that are subject to an operating ban with the EU Community. 

22. Foreign Office Advice

You are responsible for making yourself aware of Foreign Office advice in regard to the safety of the countries and areas in which you will be travelling and to make your decisions accordingly. Advice from the Foreign Office to avoid or leave a particular country may constitute Events Beyond our Control (see clause 10).

23. Other Important Details

Tour participants agree for their names to be published in our tour report, should it be written and published on our website. If a participant objects to this they must notify the leader in writing within two weeks of the tours completion.

Any photographs taken during the course of the tour shall be used on Wild Discovery’s website, social media platforms and/or other marketing or advertising materials. Any tour participants that do not wish to have any pictures of themselves published as such shall notify us at the time of booking. Please note, we are not responsible for other guests taking pictures of you.

No pets may be brought on any holidays.

Smoking is not allowed in any vehicle we use or when in close company with other members of the group, or in fire risk areas.