PROMETHEUS SAILING LIMITED – BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
APPLICABLE TO UK SAILING SCHOOL BOOKINGS ONLY
Please read these booking conditions carefully, they form an important part of the contract for your charter.
All sailing school products advertised in our brochures and on our website are operated by Prometheus Sailing Limited (Company Number: 13000262), trading as Sunsail UK (hereinafter called ‘the Company’, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’), of Port Solent Marina, Lock Approach, Portsmouth, PO64TJ, and are sold subject to the following conditions:
1. Insurance
Please Note: Adequate and valid travel insurance is compulsory for all customers and it is a condition of accepting your booking that you agree you will have obtained adequate and valid travel insurance. We recommend you take out insurance as soon as your booking is confirmed.
2. How to Book
2.1 To make a booking you can contact us in several ways; directly over the telephone, or via email. The person making the booking (the ‘lead name’) must be 18 years old or over and possess the legal capacity and authority to make the booking and accepts these booking conditions on behalf of everyone in their party. Whether you book alone or as a group, we will only deal with the lead name in all subsequent correspondence, including changes, amendments and cancellations.
The lead name is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the personal details or any other information supplied in respect of yourself and any other person travelling on the booking and for passing on any information regarding the booking or any changes made in relation thereto, to all persons travelling on such booking, including but not limited to information on schedule changes or copies of booking confirmations.
2.2 You will need to pay a deposit to us at the time of booking of 40% of the value of the booking. You may also be required to pay for any non-transferable and non-refundable items and any other applicable supplements due at the time of booking.
2.3 We will then invoice you for the remainder of the cost due before your booking is due to start, which you must pay not later than 70 days before departure. To pay your final balance, amend your booking or discuss any other aspect of your charter booked directly with us, call our sales team.
2.4 If you book less than 70 days before departure, full payment (less any payment which must be paid locally) must be made on booking by credit or debit card. If you do not pay the balance by the due date your booking will be cancelled, and you will forfeit your deposit plus any other relevant charges.
2.5 We do not accept payment by personal cheque, building society cheques or banker’s drafts.
2.6 If we accept your booking, we will issue a Booking Confirmation Invoice. A contract will exist between us from the date we issue the Booking Confirmation Invoice or if you book within 7 days of departure the contract will exist when we accept your full payment of the cost. When you receive the Booking Confirmation Invoice please check the details carefully.
2.7 Your personal safety is of paramount importance to us and therefore it is imperative that you advise us at the time of booking of any condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect your or other people’s enjoyment of the trip.
2.8 By making this booking you confirm that you and/or members of your crew/party are capable and competent to sail the yacht in the conditions and cruising area of charter in-line with port authority regulations advised at point of sale. As the Lead Name, you are responsible for ensuring you have the necessary documentation for the cruising area.
3. Prices and Surcharging
3.1 All guide prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to change any of those prices from time to time. Prices include a cost for fuel that was estimated at the date of this publication. Prices on our website are updated regularly. In the unlikely event of an administrative error leading to an incorrect price being displayed or quoted, we reserve the right to correct it. Offers are not combinable unless expressly stated and may be withdrawn at any time. All quotations are provisional until confirmed in writing on your Booking Confirmation Invoice. Before you make a booking, we will give you the up-to-date price of your chosen course, including the cost of any supplements, upgrades or additional facilities which you have requested. Prices quoted in this brochure are based on exchange rates published at the time of printing our brochures.
4. If You Change or Cancel Your Course
4.1 If, after our Booking Confirmation has been issued, you (i) make a change to your existing booking or (ii) or wish to change to another course or change the course start date, we will try to make the changes subject to availability, provided that notification is received in writing from the lead name. We will not charge you fees to amend your booking in the following circumstances:
- To correct an incorrect initial, first name, Surname or title
- To change your crew members (providing the lead name does not change) up to 70 days before departure
Should you wish to change any crew members within 70 days of departure, a change fee of £25 will be applied per change.
Should you wish to amend the course to an alternative date, outside of 70 days before the departure date, you will not be charged an administration change fee, but you will be charged the difference in the cost of the course.
Should you wish to change the course within 70 days of departure, this may be treated as a cancellation at our discretion. Regardless of this, if we do allow a change rather than treating as a cancellation, an administration fee of £50 will be applied in addition to any difference in the cost.
For any changes made within 14 days of departure then, in addition to the fees detailed above, you shall also forfeit any payments already made in respect of pre-purchased ancillary items (such as, for example, waterproof hire) and should you wish to acquire the same for your amended date you will have to re-purchase such items.
4.2 In addition to the above, any alteration, whether a change to an existing booking or a change to another course or departure date will also be subject to payment by you of any costs imposed by any of the suppliers providing the component parts of the booking. If the course to which you transfer is more expensive than the one you originally booked, a further deposit may also be payable. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company will not be responsible for any parts of your course booked independently by you.
4.3 Subject to section 4.4, where you are unable to travel you can transfer your booking to another person, providing the following conditions are met:
a) you must notify us in writing at least 7 days before departure and give us authority to make the transfer; and
b) your request is accompanied by all original travel documents which you have received and the full name and address of the person to whom you wish to transfer your booking (“transferee”); and
c) the transferee is acceptable to us, accepts the transfer and these Booking Conditions and fulfils any conditions that apply to the booking; and
d) the transferee confirms that they have their own travel insurance in place; and
e) payment is made by you of an administrative charge of a minimum of £35 per person plus payment of all costs charged or levied by those supplying your travel arrangements.
Both the transferor and transferee will be jointly and severally liable for payment of the course price and other associated expenses.
4.4 You, or any member of your party, may cancel your booking at any time providing that the cancellation is made by the lead name in writing. Notice of cancellation will be effective upon receipt by us of your written communication. As we start to incur costs from the time the contract is confirmed we will retain your deposit and in addition will apply other cancellation charges as shown below. These charges are based on how many days before your booked departure we received your cancellation notice. These charges are a percentage of the total cost of your booking, not including your insurance premium. If you want to cancel one or more passengers on the booking you will have to pay a proportion of the applicable cancellation charge based on the number of passengers you wish to cancel from the booking:
More than 69 days Loss of 40% deposit
55-69 days (inclusive) 60% of total course cost*
36-55 days (inclusive) 80% of total course cost*
0-35 days (inclusive) 100% of total course cost*
*We strongly recommend you to take out insurance that includes cover against irrecoverable cancellation costs.*
4.5 All communications relating to this contract (in particular any requests to cancel or amend your travel arrangements) must be from the Lead Name in writing and in English and sent by email to learn@prometheus-sailing.co.uk (please call also to ensure your email has been received) or sent by recorded delivery post to Prometheus Sailing Limited, Lock Approach, Port Solent Marina, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 4TJ
4.6 If for whatever reason a client decides to leave a course, at whatever stage, Prometheus will not be liable to pay any compensation or refund any portion of the course fees nor will any costs incurred in travel or accommodation be the responsibility of Prometheus.
5. If We Change or Cancel Your Course
5.1 We reserve the right to cancel your booking or change any of the facilities, services or prices described in our brochures or website. We will endeavour to advise you of any changes known at the time of booking.
5.2 We plan the arrangements for your course and associated arrangements many months in advance and may occasionally have to cancel your course or make changes, most of which are minor. A change of yacht, change or route within a cruising area or change of base where the cruising areas remains the same or similar will not be considered a major change. If a major change becomes necessary, we will advise you of the change as soon as reasonably possible. Whether a change is ‘major’ depends on the nature of the charter and may include: a significant change of destination, a change of yacht to one of significantly lower standard. These changes are only examples and there may be other significant changes which constitute major changes. When a major change occurs, you will have the choice of either:
(a) accepting the change, or
(b) accepting a replacement course from us of equivalent or similar standard and price (at the date of the change), if we are able to offer you one, or
(c) cancelling your course, in which case you shall receive a full refund of all monies paid.
5.3 We strongly recommend that you make no travel arrangements to your point of departure, make any connecting travel that is non-refundable or non-changeable or incurs penalties or incur any costs until such time as your travel itinerary has been confirmed on your departure documents. If you make such arrangements which you are then unable to use due to a change in your itinerary we shall not be liable to you for the cost of those arrangements.
5.4 Circumstances amounting to “force majeure” include any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not even with all due care, foresee or forestall such as (by way of example and not by way of limitation) war, threat of war, riots, civil disturbances, industrial disputes, actual or threatened terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disasters, fire, acts of God, unavoidable and unforeseeable technical problems with transport for reasons beyond our control or that of our suppliers, closed or congested airports or ports, hurricanes and other actual or potential adverse weather conditions, flood, epidemics, health risks or pandemics illness and any other similar events.
6. Our Liability, Conditions of Carriage and Limitations
6.1 Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your charter, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for example, safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout the transport and destinations that your trip may involve. The suppliers of the services and facilities included in your charter should comply with local standards where they are provided.
6.2 Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to the cost of your booking. Our liability in all cases will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to the contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions. You can ask for copies of the transport companies’ contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our offices at Prometheus Sailing Limited, Port Solent Marina, Lock Approach, Portsmouth, PO64TJ.
6.3 We shall have no liability where the cause of the failure to provide, or failure in, your charter or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on our part or that of our agents or suppliers, because it is either attributable to you, or attributable to someone unconnected with your charter and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or is attributable to our employees, agents, subcontractors and suppliers and their staff whilst acting outside the scope of their employment, or is due to information, however obtained, from outside sources such as independent third party websites, or is due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which neither we, nor our agents or suppliers could have foreseen or forestalled, or related to any consequential loss not directly connected to the contract with us.
6.4 The outline itineraries given for each charter must be taken as an indication of what should be accomplished, and not as a contractual obligation on our part. Changes in itinerary may be caused by political conditions, mechanical breakdown, weather, restrictions, sickness, or other unforeseeable circumstances. Pro rata refunds will be given for services not utilised wherever possible.
6.5 In the event medical care becomes necessary on your charter, you may be hours travel by water, or other non-vehicular transportation from any medical facility. You further acknowledge that an emergency evacuation may be unavailable, expensive and delayed at your vessel location, and that the medical facilities and attention available aboard the vessel are limited. Decisions are made by our staff based on a variety of perceptions and evaluations of the situation at hand. You understand and agree to abide by these decisions.
6.6 Please note that the timings of air, sea, road or rail departures are estimates only. These timings may be affected by operational difficulties, weather conditions or failure of passengers to check in on time.
7. Complaints
7.1 If you have a complaint about your sailing course whilst away, you must immediately notify your instructor and contact our Chief Instructor Karen Rawson on email ci@prometheus-sailing.co.uk if further action is required. If you are not happy with their action taken in response please follow this up within 10 days of your return from course by writing to Prometheus Sailing Limited, Lock Approach, Port Solent Marina, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 4TJ or by emailing us at learn@prometheus-sailing.co.uk giving your booking reference and all relevant information. We will acknowledge your written notification within 7 days and aim to provide a full response within 28 days. We can usually sort out any complaints you may have. If concerns or complaints are not raised immediately with your instructor, or the Chief Instructor, complaints must be made in writing to Prometheus Sailing within 10 days of the last day of your course.
8. Details of Insurance
8.1 Adequate and valid travel insurance is mandatory for all clients while on one of our charters. You are strongly advised to insure yourself against any possible risk that may occur and in particular to ensure that you have sufficient insurance in respect of dependent relatives and force majeure events.
9. Health Travel Documentation
We are able to advise on mandatory health requirements; however, we are not medical experts. It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain proper and detailed medical advice at least two months prior to travel for the latest health requirements, recommendations for your destination and any costs. You should check this information at least 2 months before departure and again within 14 days of travel. Where you do not do so and suffer personal injury or death as a result, we have no liability to you for any cost, loss or damage which you suffer nor will we refund you the cost of any unused portion of your travel arrangements. Clients with existing medical problems, pregnant women and anyone who has recently visited other countries should check requirements with their general practitioner.
Prometheus Sailing Limited 2024