Cruises - Azores Cruise Club

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A-Z Guide
We worked out the price of your holiday in this brochure using the following exchange rates.
These were quoted in the Financial Times Guide to World Currencies on 06/03/2012...
Europe (Euro) 1.1999
United States (Dollar) 1.5738
What’s Included The basic cost of your holiday includes the following…
n Return flight from the UK
n Air Passenger Duty at the standard economy rate - £12 per person for short haul,
£60 for mid haul and £75 for long haul. Charges may change.
n Transfers between the airport and your accommodation or cruise ship. This is usually by coach.
n Car hire on selected holidays – check when you book
n The accommodation and meals as advertised or confirmed on your invoice
n Luggage allowance as confirmed on your ticket
n Aviation insurance and security charge
n Estimated fuel costs
n All obligatory hotel service charges and taxes
n VAT on all holidays to EC countries
n Port taxes
n Tips onboard our ships
What’s Not Included The basic cost doesn’t include the following…
n Additional flight charges, such as taxes and regional supplements
n Additional Air Passenger Duty – there’s a difference between standard and premium
cabin charges. A higher rate is charged by the government for passengers travelling in
premium cabins. The additional charge is currently double the standard air passenger duty,
but charges may change.
n In-flight meals unless we say otherwise
n Seats together on the plane unless we say otherwise
n Fuel supplements where applicable
n Excursions and shore excursions
n Holiday insurance
n Additional charges for particular room types, meals or under-occupancy in apartments.
For details, see the price panel for your accommodation or ask your Holiday Advisor.
n Excess luggage and the transport of any sporting equipment
n Deposits requested on arrival by some apartment or villa owners
n Any local taxes, levies or similar that local authorities abroad expect you to pay yourselves.
n Cruise cabin supplements – see Cabin Supplements for details
n See Late Bookings for more details
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Rollaway Beds
These are only suitable for 16s and under but can be used to accommodate adults on our
cruise ships. If your room or cabin has a rollaway bed set up, the floor space may be limited.
Room Upgrades
If you arrange a different room type with the hotel when you arrive, this won’t be included in
your contract with us.
See Cabins for cabin upgrades.
S
Safety
Overseas’ safety standards are generally lower than ours in the UK. We take reasonable care to
make sure only reputable businesses provide the services that make up our holidays, and we
expect them to provide those services in line with local standards.
Safety Drills Onboard
All our ships comply with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea – SOLAS.
It’s a legal requirement for you to attend our safety and lifeboat drill.
Sailing Times
The sailing times for our cruise holidays are correct when we publish them, but they may change.
We’ll let you know as soon as we’re aware. See Itineraries for more details.
Sea The Stars (An Audience With)
See Guest Speakers.
Sea Views
If you book a room with a sea view, it may be partly blocked by trees or smaller buildings,
or across a road, but you’ll still be able to see the sea. If we describe a room as a Limited
Sea View, this will generally mean that your view of the sea will be to the side rather than
directly in front of you. There may also be more obstructions like trees between your room
and the sea than with a Sea View room. On our cruise ships meanwhile the view from some
cabins may be obstructed.
See Cabins for more details.
Seats With Extra Space
These are either close to emergency exit doors or behind a dividing wall. Emergency exit
seats are only available to passengers who are able-bodied and a suitable size. Our cabin
crew or check-in staff must believe you have the strength and mobility to open this exit
door in the case of emergency. Also, it’s a Civil Aviation Authority rule that only those
aged 14 and over can use these seats.
Select Your Seat
If you pay extra to reserve seats together, you’ll get to choose your seat numbers for free on
most Thomson Airways flights up to three days before your flight. Bear in mind, if you’re on an
A la Carte holiday, you won’t need to pay any extra to reserve seats as long as you’ve booked
at least 14 days before you travel. Once you’ve chosen your seat, you won’t be able to change
it. That said, in some circumstances, we may have to change your seat. This would only be for
operational, safety or security reasons. If we do have to change your seat, we’ll try to keep it
as close to what you booked as possible. Seats together may be across an aisle or behind each
other. A similar position means the same type of seat - window, aisle etc - as your original
selected seats. A refund will only be offered if we can’t seat your group together and in a similar
position to your original request. In such cases, we ask that you keep a copy of your confirmation
documents and boarding cards.
If you choose the Select Your Seat option but then don’t go on to select your seat numbers,
we’ll still try and seat your group together. If you’re not flying with Thomson Airways, we’ll do
our best to keep your party together but we can’t guarantee it. Our Select Your Seat Service
is provided using the Civil Aviation Authority guidelines, so we have to comply with certain
requirements before we can allocate seats near the exit.
Ship Maintenance
Ongoing maintenance may happen while you’re onboard one of our cruise ships.
We’ll do our best to keep noise to a minimum.
Single Cabins
These usually only have a single bed and tend to be smaller than other cabins. We do
have twin berths available if you’d like more space but you’ll need to pay a supplement.
Single Rooms
Single rooms and twin-bedded rooms for sole occupancy are available in most hotels,
but demand always exceeds availability. Single rooms are generally smaller, may not have
the best locations or the same amenities. If you’re booking a double room just for yourself,
you’ll usually be asked to pay a supplement. This also applies to self–catering accommodation,
where, for example, three people choose a property for four. Our prices reflect the costs of
the rooms contracted to us.
Smoking
All our flights are non-smoking. In our hotels, there are usually designated areas.
And on our cruise ships, you can smoke on your balcony if you have one and in designated
areas on deck. Check the individual descriptions for details.
Spa
Spas in our hotels and on our cruise ships aren’t included in the price of your holiday unless
we say otherwise. In Spain and the Canary Islands, by law only over-16s can use the facilities.
Special Assistance
If you use a wheelchair or can’t walk more than 500 metres without help, you’ll need to
book airport assistance with our Customer Welfare team. You need to do this at least
14 days before you leave. You’ll find their contact details at the end of this guide. If you
don’t book ahead, you’re likely to face long delays at the airport as those who’ve booked
will always take priority.
If you’ve got any medical or dietary needs, the team will do their best to help. If you aren’t
mobile enough to use our coach transfers, we can arrange a taxi transfer if you tell us in
advance but you’ll need to pay for this. We can also tell you which properties have things
like ramps and specially adapted rooms. If you’re planning a cruise and have a disability or
you’re having any treatment, you must let us know when you book. Reason being, if you’re
in a wheelchair or tend to have trouble getting around, it may be difficult for you to move
around the ship and get ashore using gangplanks. Also, you must travel with an able-bodied
companion who can help you.
Also, it’s really important you let us know of any mobility issues before you book so we can
tell you which cabin would be best. You’ll need to pay £39 to book your cabin but it means
you’ll be in the best possible spot for you.
Our ships have medical centres, but they’re not designed to deal with existing conditions.
Unfortunately we have no facilities on board for the hard of hearing or the blind. If you do
have a sensory impairment, you need to have someone travelling with you who doesn’t.
See Wheelchairs for important details.
Special Offers
Our offers are only available on the holidays and dates we advertise and are subject to
availability.
Special Requests
We’ll always do our best to help however we can, but we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to meet
your needs every time. These special requests aren’t covered by Our Agreement With You
so from a legal point of view, they’re not part of your holiday contract.
Stage School
Our Stage School will take place on all our ships. It’ll offer acting, dancing and singing lessons
for up to 20 children aged 5 to 16. Workshops will be run by our onboard show team in three
2 hour sessions over 3 days, culminating in a performance. From Summer 2013 it’ll be
available for 9 to 16 years only, and will run as three 90-minute sessions over 3 days.
The cost is £35. Our Stage School will not be available on our Adults-only cruises.
Supplements
On Your Flight
We base the price of your holiday on departures with no additional flight costs. We show
these departures as £0 supplement in our flight tables. If you decide to fly from a different
airport, on certain days or at certain times, you may have to pay the supplement shown.
Some holidays are only available on flights with extra charges. This is either because the
accommodation is only available on certain flight days or because onward travel arrangements
are only available at certain times. There’s a charge for under-twos to cover taxes and
charges the airline has to pay. Just so you’re aware, we can’t predict the tax increase that
other governments might impose. As these haven’t been decided, we can’t include them in
your holiday price. If there are changes to travel taxes and costs, unfortunately you may
need to pay extra.
At Your Accommodation
See Prices.
On Your Cruise
See Cabin Supplements.
Swimming Pools
It’s unlikely your pool will have a lifeguard. An adult must always accompany children in
the pool. This includes children’s pools and surrounding areas. Pools may be closed in early
or late season, so April, early May and October, or in particularly bad weather. Also, pools
won’t be heated unless we say otherwise in the property description. If your pool has a
waterslide, there may be height or age restrictions. If you’re on one of our ships, swimming
pools will be filled as long as the sea water is considered safe for you to swim in. Having
said that, we may occasionally need to close the pools for other reasons. For example, if the
weather’s particularly bad.
T
Taxes
You may need to pay a tourist tax either at the airport or at your hotel. This won’t apply
if you’re on one of our cruise holidays – unless you’re combining your itinerary with a hotel
stay, for example in the Dominican Republic. Taxes change regularly so check before you go.
See Prices for more details.
Thomson Gold
Thomson Gold is designed with couples in mind so we don’t accept bookings for children
under 16 here in the UK. We can’t guarantee a completely child-free environment though as
hoteliers may accept bookings from other countries on rare occasions.
Please see Adult Properties for more details.
Please bear in mind the full Thomson Gold programme won’t start until the first arrival on
or after 1st May, and entertainment at the end of the season may change.
See Dance Fever and Dance Hotels for more details.