Terms and Conditions
When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept the following terms and conditions:
Deposits
We require a non-refundable per person deposit to confirm your booking on a tour. The deposit amount required is specified in the tour information. We use this deposit to pay for tour accommodation, and other land arrangements that we make on your behalf. For tours where we need to make substantial payments in advance.
Final payment
We require final payment within 75 days of departure. When a tour requires substantial payments to be made in advance, full payment may be due earlier than 75 days prior to departure; this due date will be noted in the tour information.
Please note that a surcharge may apply to payments made by credit card.
Failure to make your final payment by the due date may result in the cancellation of your booking and the loss of your deposit.
Cancellation by you
If you decide to cancel your booking on a tour, the following charges will apply from the day we receive written notification:
· More than 18 weeks before the tour commences: forfeit of all deposits paid
· More than 5 weeks before the tour commences: 100% of the total amount due for the tour
Cancellation by us
Oltremare reserves the right to cancel a tour at its discretion. Should it do so, you will receive a refund of the full tour cost (minus credit card fees), unless the tour has been cancelled because of Force Majeure (see Force Majeure clause below). You will not receive other compensation in the event of cancellation by Oltremare; refund of monies paid for tour costs will be the full extent of our liability.
Force Majeure
Force Majeure includes any event which Oltremare or its suppliers and providers could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. This may include advice against travel from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, epidemics and pandemics, health risks, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, or adverse weather conditions, technical or maintenance problems with transport.
If a Force Majeure event requires Oltremare to cancel a tour, we will contact suppliers to cancel arrangements and refund to you as much of the tour cost as possible (minus credit card fees), based on the funds that we have been able to recover. Many payments made to suppliers are non-refundable, including accommodation, deposits and payments for performance tickets, and suppliers use discretion as to what they return.
If a Force Majeure event occurs during a tour, which results in services or facilities becoming unavailable, and there is no alternative arrangement of similar monetary value available, we will substitute the best available alternative and refund to you any savings made or charge you for additional costs incurred.
Changes to tour prices
The tour prices we quote in our itineraries, brochures, advertising and/or on our website are based on foreign exchange and third-party supplier rates at the time of publication. Once we have received your final payment for a tour, all prices will be fixed. We will do our best to ensure that the tour cost does not change before receipt of your final payment. If there are significant changes to these rates, the number of tour participants, a mistake in the advertised tour price, or for any other reason, we reserve the right to vary the tour price. You will be informed at the earliest opportunity in the event of a price variation and will have the option of accepting the amended prices or withdrawing from the tour and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.
Credits and refunds
Where a tour is cancelled by Oltremare other than due to a Force Majeure event, we will endeavour to provide a cash refund of the full tour cost but, depending on specific circumstances outside our control, we may offer you any credit or refund in the form of a substitution of a similar tour at a late date or, where no suitable tour is available, a credit voucher for a tour with Oltremare at a later date.
Credit voucher and refund amounts exclude costs incurred by us and are limited to the amount we can recover from third party suppliers. They are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. As we will process refunds once we receive funds from third party suppliers, you acknowledge that your refund may be made by more than one payment.
The refund of any monies paid for the tour cost in the event of a tour cancellation will be the full extent of our liability.
Unused portions of the tour
Please note that refunds will not be made for an unused portion of the tour, such as accommodation, entry fees, transfers, or meals.
Travel insurance
It is a requirement of participation in an Oltremare international tour that you are in possession of valid comprehensive travel insurance. You are required to provide evidence of comprehensive travel insurance at the time of your final payment for a tour, or your booking may be cancelled and your deposit forfeited.
Passport, visa and vaccinations
A valid passport is required for all international travel, and it is your responsibility to ensure that you possess a passport valid for 6 months after the date of your return to your country of origin. You are responsible for obtaining all necessary visas, vaccinations and preventative medicines required for the tour, unless otherwise specifically stated. Oltremare will endeavour to provide you with information on passport, visa and vaccination requirements in good faith, but assume no responsibility.
COVID-19 prevention and management
Oltremare is committed to minimising the risk of transmission of COVID-19 among its groups and effectively managing any outbreak that occurs on tour. All travellers are subject to the regulations in place in the destination country at the time of their travel.
Additionally, Oltremare requires any traveller with COVID-19-like symptoms to inform the tour leader immediately and to undertake a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). If a RAT cannot be taken immediately, the participant must isolate from the group until a test can be taken and the result known. Following a positive test, the traveller must follow all local regulations in relation to testing and isolation, and any reasonable instruction given by the tour leader, including but not limited to isolating from the group, withdrawing from group activities and wearing a mask. Following a positive RAT result by a group member, all group members must comply with reasonable instructions given by the tour leader, including but not limited to mask-wearing, maintaining physical distance and undertaking a RAT.
Failure to comply with any of these conditions and the tour leader’s reasonable directions may result in a participant’s removal from the tour for some or all its duration, with no refund or compensation for unused portions of the tour or additional travel expenses.
Participation in a tour
Most of our tours require a moderate level of fitness. For the benefit of the overall group, we will require you to declare in writing at the time of booking that you are fit to participate in your chosen tour according to the level of fitness required for that tour.
Moderate
For the benefit of the group, all members of the tour must be able to:
· undertake walking tours of 1-2 hours in duration, including taking stairs and walking on uneven surfaces
· stand for long periods in museums and other sites
· embark/disembark coaches, trains, boats and other methods of transportation without assistance
Illness or disability
If you have an illness or disability or are undergoing treatment for any physical or medical condition, you must disclose the true nature of the condition at the time of booking and make provisions for any medication or other treatment which may be required during the tour. Failure to make such a disclosure will constitute a breach of these booking terms and conditions and will result in your exclusion from the tour, in which case all monies paid will be forfeited.
Your consumer rights
Nothing in these terms and conditions is intended to limit, exclude, or modify the guarantees implied by statute that cannot be limited, excluded or modified under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CAA) or any equivalent applicable under state or territory law. If any guarantees are implied by law that cannot be excluded, then to the extent permitted by law, our liability for such guarantees is limited, at our option, to:
i) in the case of goods, the replacement of goods, or the supply of equivalent goods, or the payment of the costs of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent goods; and
ii) in the case of services, the supply of services again, or the payment of the cost of having the services supplied again.
To the extent permitted by law, Oltremare is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, cost, damage, liability or expense.
We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions from time to time, without notice. The terms and conditions apply as at the date of your initial booking.