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Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy

Basis of Rates: All prices are based on two persons sharing a cabin or hotel room, or a single where noted. All prices and fares are quoted in U.S. dollars. Rates and special pricing are subject to change without notice.

Costs Include: All accommodations aboard ships or in hotels per itinerary or similar, all meals aboard ship, meals on land as indicated, air transportation where indicated as included, shore excursions, sightseeing and entrance fees as indicated, special access permits, transfers to and from flights as indicated in itinerary, use of snorkeling equipment, use of kayaks (where available), gratuities as may be indicated, taxes and service charges, and services of  expedition staff. Aboard some ships, soft drinks, snorkel equipment and wet suits may incur charges.

Not Included: Air transportation (except where shown as included), extensions, passport, visa, immigration fees, scuba diving (where available), meals not indicated, gratuities unless included, baggage/accident/travel protection plan and insurance, items of a personal nature, such as alcoholic beverages, e-mail, and laundry. Surcharges imposed by third party vendors after initial booking may be added.

Airfare: For all programs, airfare to the originating point of the tour is an additional cost unless otherwise indicated. Sample airfares are based on current year’s fares and are subject to change. We will gladly assist in making your air arrangements. There may  be a $50 per person service fee that is paid to an air ticketing agency if you request Explor Cruises to handle your air arrangements. In any case, we must have your arrival and departure flight information in order to provide airport transfers.

Cruise Ticket Contract Terms: Each ship or yacht has their own terms and conditions, which will be provided upon request, or with documents.

Responsibility and Other Terms & Conditions: The tours will be carried out under the business management of WEST FAMILY TRAVELS, LLC, d/b/a EXPLOR CRUISES, 5314 187th Avenue KPN, Vaughn, WA  98394. Provisions of the contract between cruise operators and the traveler concerning, among other things, limitations on the company’s liability for loss of property, injury, illness, or death during the cruise or while otherwise traveling on arrangements made by the company shall be in accordance with the terms of the actual cruise passage documents when issued and delivered electronically to the guest. By acceptance of the electronic documents, the guest agrees to the terms thereof. EXPLOR CRUISES acts as agent for various principals and is no way to be considered as the principal or operator of airline services or other off-vessel services. EXPLOR CRUISES is not responsible for personal injuries, illness or death resulting from any peril of the seas or cause not within EXPLOR CRUISES sole and direct control, or not resulting from the sole and direct negligence of EXPLOR CRUISES. All claims against EXPLOR CRUISES must be in writing within 6 months from the day when the incident occurred. Written notice to EXPLOR CRUISES shall be given at the company’s address in Mercer Island, Washington. EXPLOR CRUISES may refuse to transport or may disembark any guest for, among other things, illness, disease, injury, mental problems, vulgar or improper conduct, illegal substance possession or abuse, refusal to obey regulations or for endangering self, other guests or the crew. Guest to bear all expenses. Each guest is responsible for arriving at the point of tour origin before departure with passage hire fully earned if the departure is missed, unless caused by the sole negligence of EXPLOR CRUISES.

Privacy Policy: For each visitor to www.explorcruises.com, our web server automatically recognizes and collects only the user’s domain name. Information such as e-mail address, postal information, travel preferences or phone numbers are only captured with your permission.

Your domain name may be captured with the sole purpose of aggregating information on what pages users access or visit. This information is used for internal review with the purpose of improving the content of our Web page and will not be used to contact users for marketing purposes or shared with other organizations for commercial purposes.

EXPLOR CRUISES may use cookies to store visitors preferences, record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit and record past activity at our site in order to provide better service during future visits to expeditions.com.

If you have provided us your email address and do not want to receive e-mail from us in the future, please let us know via e-mail, toll-free phone call or letter using the contact information at the top of this page or by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication.

If you supply us with your postal address on-line you may receive periodic mailings from us with information on new products and services or upcoming events. If you do not wish to receive such mailings, please let us know by via e-mail, toll-free phone call or letter using the contact information at the top of this page.

With respect to Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies.

From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future we will post the policy changes to our Web site to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our Web site periodically.

Customers may prevent their information from being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected via e-mail, toll-free phone call or letter using the contact information at the top of this page.

Upon request, we provide site visitors with access to contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number, email address) that we maintain about them, or a description of information that we maintain about them. Users can request this information or have this information corrected by contacting us via e-mail, toll-free phone call or fax listed on our contact page.

With respect to security: When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information such as financial or health information, we redirect visitors to a secure server. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may reach us via our contact page.

Deposits & Final Payment

Deposits: To reserve your place, a deposit is required and is payable by check, or by credit card. Reservations are not confirmed until a deposit is received. Amount of deposit varies from $1,000 to $2,000 per person by product and destination. BOOKING AGENT may not be changed after initial booking and payment of deposit.

Final Payment: Final payment is due 90 days prior to departure, or at time of booking if within 90-days (120 Days for some destinations such as Antarctica).

Unanticipated Costs and Additional Costs En Route

Unanticipated Costs: Itineraries and prices listed are current as of publication or posting date, and are subject to change. Under normal conditions the total exploration cost is guaranteed at the time of booking. However, the price that you pay is determined far in advance of initial departure on the basis of then-existing projections of fuel and other costs provided by third parties. In the event that we are advised by third party operators that current costs create an unsustainable financial model, including but not limited to increases in the price of fuel, currency fluctuations affecting our costs, increases in government taxes or levies, or increased security costs, we reserve the right to pass on those costs to cover such unexpected increases. We will always provide a transparent accounting of the reason for such an increase.

Additional Costs En Route: Inclement weather and other conditions beyond the control of EXPLOR CRUISES may prevent or delay travel. If, as a result, the traveler must book additional hotel accommodations or transportation, all added costs are the responsibilities of the traveler, not EXPLOR CRUISES. We will attempt to reschedule any of these arrangements subject to availability. If EXPLOR CRUISES cancels or omits a portion of the cruise or tour for reasons under its control, the traveler will receive a pro-rated refund for the portion of the cruise or tour canceled or omitted. EXPLOR CRUISES is not responsible for consequential damages due to schedule changes, whether or not under the company’s control.

Booking Cancellation Policy and Fees

Booking Cancellation Policy: Guests who must cancel their cruise for any reason, including medical or family reasons, are subject to the following cancellation fees.

Tour Omissions by Traveler: No refund is made for any tour, transfer, meal or accommodation which is voluntarily omitted by the traveler or is due to airline delays or other acts beyond the control of EXPLOR CRUISES.

Booking Incentives

Early Booking Discount: EXPLOR CRUISES occasionally offers Early Booking Discounts (EBDs). Our intent is to reward those who book early, which helps us and our vendors plan more efficiently.

Group Discounts: For your party of ten people or more, you may receive an additional 5% discount off the cost of your cruise tour with EXPLOR CRUISES. A deposit of 10% of the trip cost is required at the time of reservation, and an additional 25% is required 120 days in advance. Final payment is due 90 days in advance. Note: if taking advantage of this discount, a variation of the cancellation policy may apply. Please ask upon making your reservation.

Our Policy on Combining Offers: If the cruise tour with EXPLOR CRUISES that interests you qualifies for more than one savings opportunity (e.g. it is eligible for Explor Club, EBD and Group savings), we won’t make you choose between them. You may combine any of the applicable savings offers. Discounts will be applied sequentially, with smallest discount taken off first. (IE: Early Booking, then Explor Club discount).

Confirmation and Invoice

When you book and deposit a cruise tour with EXPLOR CRUISES you are sent a Confirmation outlining the tour’s start and end dates/times, all associated tour costs, monies applied, balance due, and additional information. Final tour documentation is sent after final payment is received, and will include additional information about clothing and packing, weather and more, along with a day-by-day itinerary of your journey.

Health and Disability Requirements

Guests should be in good physical health in order to be able to make the most of their Explor Cruises’ journey. Visiting different islands and ports often involves the use of small motorized Zodiacs, dinghies, or pangas, and there are some landings on beaches as well as wet and slippery rocks. The daily nature walks may include walking on irregular and elevated terrain. Boarding and disembarking the pangas occasionally requires some physical effort. If a passenger suffers from any medical condition, we advise him/her to consult a physician prior to booking the cruise. Guests must notify us in writing at the time of booking of any physical or mental illness, disability or other conditions for which special accommodations or the use of a wheelchair is necessary or contemplated. Also, we must be notified of any medical treatment that may render the guest unfit for travel or constitute a risk or danger to the guest or anyone else onboard. Guests needing any form of assistance and those who are physically disabled must be accompanied by someone who will take full responsibility for any needed assistance during the cruise and in the event of an emergency. We reserve the right to refuse passage to anyone who, in our sole opinion, may affect the health, safety or enjoyment of other guests. Guests requiring a wheelchair must provide their own collapsible wheelchair. Be aware that ports of call, shore excursions, docks, gangways and other ship requirements may preclude a wheelchair guest from leaving the vessel; this decision will be made by the ship’s Captain and is binding. Also, there may be certain physical conditions, including raised doorway thresholds from 2 to 16 inches, narrow and steep stairways and passageways within the vessels that may limit or prevent the accessibility of wheelchair guests to some areas. Due to the limitations of vessel facilities, bookings cannot be accepted for women who will be 30 weeks or more pregnant at the conclusion of travel. Women in their third trimester (greater than 24 weeks, but less than 30 weeks) must submit a letter from their physician granting permission to travel by cruise ship (and for air travel, if applicable).

Travel Documentation

Documents, including any needed vouchers for prepaid services, air tickets (if applicable) and the day-to-day itinerary will be provided approximately three to four weeks prior to departure. Reservations must be paid in full before documents will be mailed. Please note that late final payments may delay your receipt of electronic documents.

Passports: All international (including Canada and Mexico) tours and cruises require a valid passport. Your passport must be valid for 6 months from the end date of the tour. For information on how to obtain a U.S. passport, visit the U.S. State Department’s passport web site at Travel.State.gov.

Brazil Visas: Brazil  has reciprocal Visa requirements. For US citizens, we recommend Travel Visa Pro.   Please click here to visit their website.

Identification and Immigration: Clients are advised to travel with valid passports, including children and infants. If traveling when both parents are not present, the traveling parent may be required to provide a notarized statement from the other parent allowing the child to travel out of the country. Failure to provide such evidence may prevent entry into that country. Past felony convictions may disqualify individuals from entry into foreign countries.  It is the client’s sole responsibility to ensure the immigration eligibility of all traveling party members for any foreign countries included in this itinerary. In addition, the US department of Homeland Security and US Department of State recommend that US travelers, leaving the country, research the entry documents required for their destination country prior to departure. The entrance requirements for specific countries can be found at www.travel.state.gov.

Changes By EXPLOR CRUISES

EXPLOR CRUISES reserves the right to make changes in the published itineraries as necessary for the safety of the passengers and crew, to meet schedules, and for other reasons, and to substitute vessels or hotels of similar or superior quality to those featured in this web site.

Links to Sites of Other Parties

The Content contained on this Site may include links to other sites. The other sites may not be under the control of EXPLOR CRUISES and EXPLOR CRUISES is not responsible for the information or content contained on any web site not owned by EXPLOR CRUISES. EXPLOR CRUISES has included the links as a convenience to you. EXPLOR CRUISES does not endorse, sponsor or approve any other site, or product or service offered by any other site, for which it has provided a link.

WEST FAMILY TRAVELS, LLC, d/b/a EXPLOR CRUISES, may amend these terms and conditions at any time. All amended terms and conditions shall automatically be effective upon being posted to this website.