EEA Consumer Booking Conditions
Last Updated 1 July 2018
1. Your Relationship With Us and the Applicability of these Booking Conditions
These consumer booking conditions ('the Booking Conditions') apply to bookings made by consumers within the European Economic Area ('EEA'). If you are not making your booking from within the EEA, these Booking Conditions will not apply to your booking. Your booking will be subject to our Rest of World (Outside EEA) booking conditions, which can be found here.
If you made your booking by telephone, fax or post and had not seen these Booking Conditions when you made your booking and you are not happy to proceed with the booking now that you have seen them, please return all documentation to us or to your travel agent within 7 days of receiving these Booking Conditions. Your booking will be cancelled and your monies will be returned in full, provided you have not commenced your travel. This clause does not apply if your booking was made within 56 days of travel.
Overview of the terms and conditions which apply to your booking
These Booking Conditions, together with the Holiday and Flight Information (below), any applicable conditions, bye-laws, international conventions or conditions of carriage of applicable Carriers (including VSOE, E&OE, MHCL, CO, GSWRC, Perurail and ILRT (all as defined below) and national and local railway bodies (where applicable referred to herein as ‘the Carrier’)), any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking and any other terms we may agree with you from time to time, form the basis of your contract with Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Limited (‘VSOE’, 'we', 'us' or 'our').
Please read these Booking Conditions carefully before booking with us as (subject to any amendments which we may from time to time agree with you) they set out your and our respective rights and obligations. If there is anything within these Booking Conditions that you do not understand, then please contact us at the details given in clause 19 below to discuss what this means for you. If you do not agree to these Booking Conditions you must not book with us.
These Booking Conditions also apply where bookings are made via a travel agent or associate company of VSOE where they act as our authorised agent.
In the event of any inconsistency between these Booking Conditions and any applicable third party conditions and/or International Conventions etc, these Booking Conditions shall, to the extent permitted by law, prevail.
For certain types of group bookings for 12 or more persons we may agree in writing particular terms varying these Booking Conditions.
These Booking Conditions also apply to gratuitous carriage provided by us on one of our trains/boats except to the extent that we have otherwise provided by contract.
We do not own or provide all of the services, facilities or travel arrangements included in your booking. Some of these are provided by third parties (e.g. airlines or other companies within the same group as VSOE) whom we arrange to provide the services, facilities or travel arrangements included in your booking (the 'Travel Providers').
Bookings for EEA Package Holiday
In these Booking Conditions, an ‘EEA Package Holiday ’ shall mean the same as a 'package' is defined in the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (the 'Package Travel Regulations’). VSOE sells some arrangements which comprise EEA Package Holidays, for which it is the organiser, and some arrangements which are not. As some of the terms in these Booking Conditions apply only to EEA Package Holidays, we explain in the following paragraphs what is an EEA Package Holiday.
What is an EEA Package Holiday?
In general, an EEA Package Holiday will exist if you are resident within the EEA and purchase a combination of at least two of the following travel services in a single booking with us, where the arrangement covers a period of more than 24 hours or includes overnight accommodation: (a) transport; (b) accommodation; (c) hire of motor vehicles; or (d) other tourist services.
If you buy a combination which includes 'other tourist services' and only one of (a), (b) or (c) above, then this will only be an EEA Package Holiday if the 'other tourist services':
(i) are not intrinsic to (a), (b) or (c) above;
(ii) are not purchased after the start of performance of (a), (b) or (c) above; and
(iii) either account for a significant proportion of the value of the EEA Package Holiday (at least 25% of the value of the EEA Package Holiday), or otherwise represent an essential feature of the EEA Holiday Package.
Which of VSOE's arrangements comprise EEA Package Holidays?
The following arrangements, whether sold on their own or in combination with other travel services, are examples of some of the EEA Package Holidays we sell.
Travel services operated by the following Carriers:
We will apply any monies you have already paid to us towards settling any cancellation charge(s) (and to the extent your payments exceed the sum due, we will refund the balance).
No refunds will be given for passengers not travelling or for unused services.
In addition to the cancellation rights set out above, you shall have the right to cancel your EEA Package Holiday before the start of the booking without paying any cancellation charge in the event of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and we have confirmed to you that they will significantly affect the performance of the EEA Package Holiday or the carriage of passengers to the destination. If you cancel in this circumstance, we shall provide you with a full refund of any payments made in relation to your booking but you will not be entitled to compensation or any of the rights set out in clause 12 below.
9. If We Change or Cancel Your Booking Before Departure
As the arrangements which make up your booking are planned many months in advance, from time to time we may need to make a change to your booking. We reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes are minor changes, however, occasionally we have to notify customers of a 'Major Change' that we are constrained to make to the main characteristic of the booking, or where we cannot fulfil any of your special requirements which we have accepted.
For the purpose of these Booking Conditions, the following shall be considered to be ‘Major Changes’ before departure:
a. a change of departure date, departure point or destination (except a change of departure point or destination within a 50 mile radius of the originally intended departure point or destination); or
b. a change of either confirmed departure time (i.e. the departure time displayed on the travel document) or confirmed arrival time by more than 12 hours (5 hours in the case of day trips); or
c. in the case of cruises, the applicable boat (or suitable alternative boat) not being available; or
d. in the case of carriage by train, the applicable train (or suitable alternative train) not being available; or
e. cancellation of the entire booking.
Any change which is not a Major Change, including the following non-exhaustive list of examples, shall constitute a 'Minor Change'. ‘Minor Changes’ include (i) any change to the route and/or stopping points (unless the change amounts to a circumstance within (a) – (e) above, (ii) a substitution of diesel or electric traction in the case of advertised steam haulage journeys, (iii) non-availability of particular dishes or ingredients, or (iv) substituted excursions (for example because a particular attraction is closed). Please note that a change of flight time of less than 12 hours, a change of airline or aircraft (if originally identified) or a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard usually also qualify as Minor Changes.
In the unlikely event that we have to make a Major Change to your booking, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible. You will then have the option to:
a. accept the proposed change. If this results in a booking of lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with clause 12 below;
b. reject the proposed change and terminate your booking with a full refund; or
c. reject the proposed change, terminate your booking and take an alternative one if we decide to offer this. If you decide to take an alternative booking, we will inform you of its impact on the price of your booking. If the alternative booking is of a lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with clause 12 below.
We will give you a reasonable period of time to make your decision, which will usually be 7 days from notification of the price increase. If we do not hear from you within this timeframe, we shall send a reminder to you, following which we shall be entitled to terminate the booking and provide you with a refund.
If you decide to reject the proposed change and terminate your booking with a full refund, you may also be entitled to compensation in accordance with clause 12 below.
We may not give you any of the above options in the event that a change to the booking is a Minor Change.
On rare occasions, we may have to cancel your booking and we reserve the right to do so. If we have to do so, we will notify you as soon as possible. We will also offer you an alternative booking if we are able to do, and inform you of its impact on the price of your booking. If the alternative booking is of a lower quality or cost, you may be entitled to a price reduction in accordance with clause 12 below. If we cannot offer you an alternative, or even if you just prefer, we will provide you with a full refund of any payments made for the booking.
You may be entitled to compensation as a result of our cancellation of your booking in accordance with clause 12 below except where we are prevented from providing the booking because of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances and we notify you of the cancellation without undue delay before the start of your booking, or where the minimum number of persons enrolled for the trip is less than the minimum number informed to you upon booking and we cancel within the time limits set out to you upon booking.
Our offer of any of the above shall constitute your sole remedy against us in respect of a Major Change (including without limitation, cancellation) before departure.
In particular please note that subject to these Booking Conditions and any applicable International Conventions, to the extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for (a) missed connections or (b) any loss or damage caused to you and/or your luggage by the cancellation, non-arrival, lateness, delay or change to your trip or any other service or for any loss or damage consequential upon such cancellation, non-arrival, lateness or delay. A change in departure time will only be compensated once (i.e. we shall not be liable to compensate you separately for late departure and late arrival of the same leg).
Please note: where services with a higher price than the original services contracted for are offered by us and accepted by you, the difference in price will be deducted from any compensation payable to you.
We will not pay you compensation and the options set out above will not be available if we make any change or cancel as a result of your failure to make full payment on time or where the change(s) or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you.
10. Resolving Disputes
If anything is not to your satisfaction during your holiday please immediately inform us via the details set out below:
Belmond UK Reservations Centre
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Ltd.
1st Floor, Shackleton House
4 Battle Bridge Lane London SE1 2HP
e-mail: reservations.uk@belmond.com
tel: 0845 077 2222
Please also inform the relevant Travel Provider (e.g. the Train/Cruise manager), who will also endeavour to resolve your problem.
If you suffer any loss or damage to your luggage please inform us or the relevant Carrier within 72 hours.
It is important you advise us as well as the Travel Provider so we can both help to put things right without delay. We believe it is better for everyone to resolve problems that arise during your holiday promptly so that you can enjoy your holiday.
You can also access the European Commission Online Dispute (ODR) Resolution 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 that a failure to advise of problems whilst on holiday, as described above, deprives both us and the Travel Providers of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst on holiday and this may affect your rights under this contract including reducing any compensation due, potentially to zero.
However, if your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to us using the details set out below:
Customer Services
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Ltd,
1st Floor, Shackleton House,
4 Battle Bridge Lane, London SE1 2HP.
Please give us your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. Failure to do so will affect our ability to investigate your complaint, and could affect your rights under these Booking Conditions.
11. Our Responsibilities for the Performance of your Booking
Your agreement with us is an agreement for services. Where we provide the services, facilities or travel arrangements which make up your booking, we have a legal duty to use reasonable skill and care in providing them to you. Where we have arranged for the Travel Providers to provide the services, facilities or travel arrangements which make up your booking, we have a legal duty to use reasonable skill and care in making the arrangements for the Travel Providers to provide the services, facilities or travel arrangements to you.
We also have a liability to you for the performance of the travel services included in an EEA Package Holiday booking with us, irrespective of the fact that such travel services are to be performed by the Travel Providers. Our obligations in relation to EEA Package Holidays we organise are set out below.
You must tell us immediately of any failure to perform or improper performance ('Failure') of your EEA Package Holiday. This will give us the opportunity to resolve the Failure whilst you are on your holiday. If we refuse to do so, or if you need the Failure resolved immediately, then you may resolve the Failure yourself and request reimbursement of reasonable expenses from us. However, these rights will not arise if remedying the Failure is impossible or entails disproportionate costs. In that case, your only right will be to seek a price reduction or compensation in accordance with paragraph 12.
If a significant proportion of the travel services included in your EEA Package Holiday cannot be provided as agreed in the booking, we shall offer, at no extra cost to you, suitable alternative arrangements for the continuation of the EEA Package Holiday. The alternative arrangements shall, where possible, be of equivalent or higher quality than those specified in your booking. Where they are of lower quality you will be entitled to a price reduction as described in paragraph 12 below. You may only reject the alternative arrangements we offer to you if they are not comparable to what was agreed in the booking or if the price reduction is inadequate. If you do reject the alternative arrangements, or if we are not able to offer them, then you may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation in accordance with paragraph 12.
If a Failure substantially affects the performance of the EEA Package Holiday, and we have failed to remedy it within a reasonable period of time, you may decide to continue with your EEA Package Holiday or terminate your booking without paying a termination fee. If you decide to terminate, then if your EEA Package Holiday included carriage to the destination, we shall also repatriate you with equivalent transport without undue delay back to your place of departure and at no extra cost to you. You may, where appropriate, be entitled to a price reduction and/or compensation in accordance with paragraph 12.
If we are unable to ensure your return to your place of departure as agreed in your EEA Package Holiday because of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances, we shall bear the cost of necessary accommodation, if possible of equivalent category, for a period not exceeding three nights per passenger. This limitation shall not apply to persons with reduced mobility and any person accompanying them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, as well as persons in need of specific medical assistance, provided that we had been notified of their particular needs at least 48 hours before the start of the EEA Package Holiday.
If a longer period of accommodation than that referred to above is provided for in European Union passenger rights legislation (as described in the Package Travel Regulations) concerning your mode of return transport, or such legislation does not allow the transport provider to limit its obligations as described above in the event of Unavoidable or Extraordinary Circumstances, then the limits set out in such legislation will apply instead.
12. Price Reduction and Compensation for Damages
You will be entitled to an appropriate price reduction for any period during which there is a Failure of a travel service included in your booking, unless this Failure is attributable to you.
You shall be entitled to receive appropriate compensation from us for any damage you sustain as a result of a Failure of a travel service included in your booking except where the Failure is:
a. attributable to you;
b. attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services included in the booking and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or
c. due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances.
We shall not be liable to pay compensation to you in connection with your booking where there are international conventions which limit the extent or the conditions under which compensation would have to be paid by us or one of our Travel Providers. These same limitations will apply to us and in an identical manner as if such limitations applied directly to us. The extent of our liability will in all cases be limited as if we (being our parent company, Belmond Ltd. and all companies where it owns from time to time at least 25% of those companies in aggregate) were Carriers under the appropriate International Conventions. These international conventions include (but are not limited to) the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air (and all earlier related conventions), the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail (Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) of 9 May 1980), the Geneva Convention in respect of travel by road and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation. We shall have the full benefit of any limitation of compensation which is contained in these conventions and any other international conventions which govern the travel arrangements which make up the booking. Please ask us for copies of these international conventions if you would like to see them.
You can ask for copies of these Conventions from our offices. In addition, you agree that any applicable 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 relevant reference into our contract with you.
Our liability to you in connection with your booking shall be limited to the following maximum amounts, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we or our Travel Providers have caused such damage intentionally or with negligence. The limitations are: (a) EEA Package Holiday s, three times the cost of the booking; (b) luggage claims, $2,500; (c) all other claims, one and a half times the cost of the booking. These maximums will only be payable when every aspect of your booking has gone wrong (or all luggage is lost) and you have not received any benefit from your booking. Any sums received by you from the Travel Provider(s) will be deducted from any sum paid to you as compensation by us.
If you are granted compensation or a price reduction by another party in relation to the same Failure which you claim compensation or a price reduction from us, then we may deduct the compensation or price reduction you receive from the other party from that which is payable by us.
Except as set out above, we accept no liability for any claims, losses, expenses, damages or liability for your EEA Package Holiday, except in cases involving death, injury or illness where we have caused such damage with negligence.
Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description which, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur, unless you provided the relevant information to us during your booking and prior to our accepting your booking (by way of non-exhaustive examples, if you fail to notify us of a food allergy or medical condition or if you are likely to incur any business losses).
We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement with you or where they are not advertised in our brochure or on our website. For example, any excursion you book (other than with us) while on the trip, any service or facility which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you (see more on 'Locally Booked Excursions' below in clause 14), any doctor, dentist or other medical attendant called to attend to you during the trip and any services, products or transportation not provided by us.
It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to us and our Travel Provider(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out at clause 10 ('Resolving Disputes') in these Booking Conditions.
Where any payment is made, the person(s) receiving it (and their parent or legal 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 us and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.
13. Prompt Assistance during your trip
We shall provide you with appropriate assistance without undue delay if you are in difficulty, in particular by providing appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance; and by helping you make distance communications and helping you find alternative travel arrangements. Typically, we do not charge for this assistance, although we do reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for such assistance if the difficulty has been caused intentionally by you or through your negligence.
If you are in difficulty during your trip with us and you need our assistance, please contact us at any of our reservations offices or via emergency duty number for the train or cruise you are travelling on, each as set out below:
Belmond Reservations Offices:
UK Reservations Office
Tel: +44 (0)845 077 2222
e-mail: reservations.uk@belmond.com
Singapore Reservations Office
Tel: +65 6395 2678
e-mail: reservations.singapore@belmond.com
USA Reservations Office
Tel (toll-free): +1 800 524 2420
Tel: +1 843 937 9068
e-mail: reservations.us@belmond.com
Trains:
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express: +39 335 756 5967
Belmond British Pullman: +44 (0)7557 759 197
Belmond Royal Scotsman: +44 (0)7799 647626
Belmond Grand Hibernian: +353 873622388
Eastern & Oriental Express:
Singapore: Tel +65 8139 6008
Bangkok: Tel +66 81 825 6804
Belmond Andean Explorer and Perurail:
+51 084 581400
+51 1 981285777
Cruises:
Belmond Afloat in France: +33 649 424 291
Belmond Road to Mandalay:
Tel (Mobile):+95 9 502 7304
Tel (Office): +95 (0)1 230 2101
14. Locally Booked Excursions
It may be possible for you to book a local excursion during your holiday, such as a local tour, experience, concert, activity, sports or adventure experience (a 'Locally Booked Excursion'). These will be bookable and payable by you locally. You will be entering into a contract directly with the excursion provider and so they will not form a part of your booking with us. They will be provided by third parties over whom we have no control or relationship with. We do not have any responsibility for their provision, nor do we accept any liability if you suffer loss or damage whilst on a Locally Booked Excursion.
15. Your Financial Protection
We provide full financial protection for our EEA Package Holidays which include a flight and ATOL protected flight only sales by way of our Air Travel Organiser's Licence number 3141 issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Gatwick Airport South, West Sussex, RH6 0YR, UK, telephone +44 (0)333 103 6350, email claims@caa.co.uk.
When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive Package Holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.
We, or the Travel Providers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the Travel Provider are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).
If we, or the Travel Providers identified on your ATOL Certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons for insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be reassigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.
When you buy an EEA Package Holiday that does not include a flight, protection is provided by way of a bond held by ABTA – The Travel Association, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ, www.abta.co.uk.
Bookings which do not include a flight or are otherwise not an EEA Package Holiday are not protected by these arrangements.
16. Conditions of Travel Providers and carriage.
a. Some of the services which make up your trip are provided by independent Travel Providers. Those Travel Providers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions which will form part of our contract with you. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the Travel provider’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 Travel Provider concerned.
b. Each of VSOE, E&OE, MHCL, CO, ILRT, GSWRC and Perurail have their own conditions of carriage which are applicable to this contract where services are provided by them and which are obtainable from us or from their respective web sites.
17. Your Obligations
a. Travel Documents. You must be in possession of a valid travel document before boarding the applicable train/boat. Travel documents are only valid for the dates and for use only between the points of departure and destination (or stopover, see (c) below) shown on the travel document and by the route or routes shown on the travel document. Travel documents are not transferable (other than as expressly permitted by these Booking Conditions). Travel documents bearing unauthorised alterations are not valid for travel. Travel documents remain our property and if you fail in any material respect to comply with any condition (including but not limited to these Booking Conditions) governing its use, your travel document may be withdrawn or invalidated by our staff or agents and you may be required to pay the full fare. There may be an administration charge for replacing any lost or damaged travel documents.
b. Boarding, alighting or changing Trains/Boats.
When boarding, alighting or changing trains/boats during your journey you should make sure that:
(i) you board the correct train/boat;
(ii) if appropriate, you travel in the correct part of the train/boat;
(iii) you alight from the train/boat at the correct destination, including any destination where you need to change onto another train/boat/means of transport;
(iv) you keep your possessions with you at all times (other than luggage which has been checked–in with us (see (h) below);
(v) you check-in as we advise and are ready to board the train/boat (having loaded all luggage to be deposited with us) at or before the time shown on your travel document;
(vi) promptly following arrival at any destination, you alight the train/boat and (if applicable) remove all luggage.
If you require assistance to board/alight a train/boat, you must please advise us not less than one week before departure so that arrangements can be made (please also see (e) below).
We will not delay departures or otherwise make provision for late boarding and we will not be responsible for any loss or delay to your journey arising from any failure by you to comply with any of (i – vi) above.
If you miss the train/boat, or are refused boarding, you will be treated as if you had cancelled without notice (and the cancellation charges at clause 8 will apply).
c. Stopovers.
If you make a break in carriage other than as permitted you shall not be entitled to onward carriage or to a refund or any other compensation from us.
d. Special Diets.
Please notify us (not less than 14 days prior to departure) of any dietary requirements. It may not always be possible to offer you an alternative meal, but, provided we have been notified of your requirements, we will use reasonable endeavours to notify you of any meals you should avoid.
e. Disabilities and Medical Conditions.
If you or any member of your party has any medical condition or disability which may affect your trip, please provide us with full details before we confirm your booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to appropriately 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.
If your fitness to travel may be in doubt as a result of recent illness, surgery, injury, medical treatment or an existing medical condition which may require treatment or assistance on board (including but not limited to additional oxygen, wheelchairs, assistance to use the bathrooms, assistance to get in or out of bed, medication administered via a needle other than well-managed diabetes) you must (i) provide us with an up-to-date certificate from your doctor no later than 5 days prior to departure certifying that you are fit to travel and (ii) be accompanied by another passenger who is able to provide you with all the appropriate assistance you may need (our staff cannot provide such assistance). We may refuse you carriage (and no refund or compensation shall be paid to you) if you have not provided the applicable certificate and/or are not accompanied by a suitable passenger.
f. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements and Health Formalities.
It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the passport, visa, health (including vaccinations) and immigration requirements applicable to your itinerary. Please note that we can provide general information about the passport and visa requirements for your trip, but your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant embassies and/or consulates. Any information supplied by us on these or related matters (such as climate, when to travel, clothing, baggage, personal items etc.) is given as general guidance and in good faith but we do not accept liability for any decisions made on the basis of the information supplied.
The passport, visa and health requirements at the time of booking can be viewed on the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office website (www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice). It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all members of your party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents, and in compliance with any other immigration requirements, before you travel. If you or any member of your party is not a British Citizen or holds a non-British Passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the embassy or consulate of the country(ies) you are travelling to or through. Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least six months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the countries you are visiting. For further information for UK nationals, contact the Identity and Passport Service, on 0300 222 0000, visit www.direct.gov.uk or email info@passport.gov.uk.
Neither we, nor the Travel Providers, accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. Please ensure that all your travel, passport, visa and insurance documents are in order and that you arrive in plenty of time for checking in at the airport. It may be necessary to reconfirm your flight with the airline prior to departure.
If you are a national of an EU country and your trip includes a trip to another EU country you are advised to obtain a European Health Insurance Card (‘EHIC’) prior to departure.
You agree to reimburse us on demand 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.
We shall have the right to inspect your passport, visas and travel documents/permissions to travel to ensure that you fulfil all entry requirements for any country in or through which your trip is to take place. If you are unable to fulfil any such requirements then we shall have the right to refuse you carriage and you will not be entitled to any refund in respect of any unused services.
g. Behaviour.
It is important that you behave responsibly and with consideration for others during your booking. All passengers travelling with us are expected to be appropriately dressed (as advised in the Passenger Travel Information sent with your travel documents), to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner, and not to disrupt the enjoyment of other passengers. Accordingly, to the extent that we, or one of our Travel Providers, believe that your actions could or have caused disruption or annoyance, or a risk of safety, or damage to property, to us, our Travel Providers or other customers, or if it is believed that you are not fit to travel, then we may cancel your booking without further liability to you. In these circumstances, the provisions of clause 9 shall not apply. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to us or the applicable Travel Provider prior to your ejection from the service in question. In the event that your behaviour (or any articles carried by you) causes loss or damage to any person or property for which we are liable, you agree to compensate us for such loss and damage, together with any legal costs which we may incur in pursuing this claim against you. We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other passengers or individuals who have no connection with your arrangements with us.
h. Luggage on Trains and Boats.
Your luggage must not contain any items which in our opinion are dangerous, illegal, liable to harm or annoy other passengers or otherwise unsuitable. Animals and livestock will not be carried, except guide-dogs in certain restricted circumstances (please ask at the time of booking).
Luggage deposited with us for carriage must not contain (and we shall have no liability for) any fragile or perishable articles, cash money, jewellery, precious metals or other valuables (including but not limited to bearer securities, business documents, trade secrets or samples).
We will accept the carriage of your luggage subject to any applicable laws, regulations, and conditions of carriage and subject to: (i) the luggage not being excessively heavy, bulky, dangerous, inadequately packed, in a defective state or otherwise unsuitable for carriage; (ii) luggage being correctly labelled with your name, destination address and cabin/seat/berth number; (iii) you accompanying your luggage onto the boat or train.
Unless we otherwise agree in advance, luggage allowances per passenger are as follows:
- Eastern & Oriental-Express Ltd. (‘E&OE’) for travel on the Eastern & Oriental Express;
- Myanmar Hotels and Cruises Ltd (‘MHCL’) for travel on Belmond Road to Mandalay;
- Croisieres Orex SAS (‘CO’) for travel on Belmond Afloat in France;
- The Great Scottish & Western Railway Company Ltd. (‘GSWRC’) for travel on Belmond Royal Scotsman;
- Ireland Luxury Rail Tours Limited (‘ILRT’) for travel on Belmond Grand Hibernian; and
- PeruRail SA for travel on Belmond Andean Explorer, Belmond Hiram Bingham, PeruRail Vistadome, Perurail Expedition, Perurail Titicaca and Perurail Sacred Valley trains (“PeruRail”).
- day trips on the Belmond British Pullman; and
- any other train journeys (whether booked on their own or with other travel services) which last for less than 24 hours and which are not booked alongside overnight accommodation.
| Written notice (cancelling a confirmed booking) received before scheduled departure date | Cancellation Fee (expressed as a % of total cost payable for the trip by the person(s) cancelling) | Amendment Fee for each change (% of total cost payable by the person(s) amending) |
| 56 days or more | 15% | One free, then 10% |
| 55-21 days | 30% | 20% |
| 20-3 days | 70% | 60% |
| 2 days | 100% | 100% |
- Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Eastern & Oriental Express, Belmond Grand Hibernian and Belmond Andean Explorer – one suitable piece of hand luggage, one suit carrier or overnight bag (to be stored in the cabin) and one suitcase to be check-in for storage in the baggage car;
- Belmond Royal Scotsman – one suitable piece of hand luggage and one suitcase (suitcase to be stored in the cabin);
- Belmond British Pullman (UK Day Trips), Perurail Vistadome, Belmond Hiram Bingham, Perurail Expedition, Perurail Titicaca and Perurail Sacred Valley trains – one suitable piece of hand luggage;
- Belmond Road to Mandalay and Belmond Afloat in France – one suitable piece of hand luggage and two suitcases (suitcases to be stored in the cabin).