Ideal Cruising is a trading name of Lowcostholidays Ltd, which is part of the Lowcosttravelgroup registered in England no 4371920. We are a member of ABTA with membership number L8075. we hold an ATOL license ourselves, our ATOL number is 6516. As such we are bonded according to ABTA’s rules and abide by ABTA’s code of conduct. ABTA protection applies to services provided by the Lowcostholidays Ltd t/a Ideal Cruising but does not apply to services featured on this website that are provided by a company that is not a member of ABTA. All holidays listed on this website are based on maximum occupancy and subject to availability at the time of booking. Should the holiday you have requested not be available our travel consultant will offer you an alternative. All prices are updated on a daily basis and are subject to change. Tour operators reserve the right to withdraw special offers without notice therefore the final costing can only be guaranteed at time of booking. Credit card charge + Booking fees may apply. Not all holidays featured on this website or sold by Ideal Cruising are protected by the ATOL scheme. Please ask us to confirm what protection applies to your booking.
1.1. With Lowcostholidays you have the option to book an ATOL protected holiday or separate components. For example, you may just want to book the flight or your cruise. The terms set out in these booking conditions could vary depending on which combination of products and services you decide to book. We have summarised the various options available to you below.
This option allows you to select and assemble the individual travel products which are made available to you by various third party suppliers. You are free to add or remove travel products and will only be charged for what you book. For example, you may wish to purchase flights, cruise, car rental, or transfer services as separate products. There will be various resulting legal contracts between you and the different third party providers of the products you have selected. Since you create your own travel arrangements by adding each component separately to create your own bespoke booking, this is not a package and therefore you are not protected under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (the "Package Travel Regulations"); your booking may not benefit from ATOL protection either. Until a component has been confirmed by the individual supplier, no contract has been formed.
This product allows you to choose from a broad range of charter flights to a variety of destinations around the world. When you book your flight through us, we act as agent for the charter flight provider (who holds an ATOL). The resulting legal contract will be between you and the charter flight provider. Please refer to clause 5 below for further details about your financial protection.
This product allows you to make a booking with a low cost flight provider. When you book your flight with us, we will act as your agent and will make the booking on your behalf. The resulting legal contract will be between you and the flight provider. Please note that when you book direct with the flight provider your booking won’t usually be ATOL protected. However, you have the option of taking out our airline failure insurance which we offer as a standard extra on every booking. Please refer to clause 5 below for further details about your financial protection.
This product provides you with the option of a combination of Cruises and flights at an inclusive price. If you decide to choose this option, the legal contract will be between us and you. Your selected package holiday will be protected under the Package Travel Regulations. Lowcostholidays holds and ATOL (number 6516). Please see below at clause 5 for more details about your financial protection.
1.6. Please note that some clauses below apply to all four of the options described above. However, other clauses dealing with issues such as your financial protection and administration fees differ according to the travel product that you have booked. We have tried to make these booking conditions as user friendly as possible.
2.1. The person making your booking (the "Lead Contact") must be UK resident and at least 18 years of age, and must be authorised to make the booking on behalf of all members of your party. We and any of the suppliers on whose half we act reserve the right to cancel your booking if you are not over 18 and a UK resident and we will charge you 100% cancellation fee. When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of all members of your party the terms of these booking conditions which are governed by English law, and the jurisdiction of the English courts. The Lead Contact is also responsible for making all payments due to us either as principal or as agent for any third party suppliers. In addition, all passengers on the booking must be UK residents.
2.2. You may place your offer to make a booking by:
2.2.1. visiting www.idealcruising.com (the "Website"), after creating your personal account, following the process for making a booking on the Website and clicking on the appropriate confirmation button. Please note that it is important that you check the information that you enter and correct any errors before making your booking. Also note that some or all elements of your cruise may not be fully confirmed at the time of reservation due to the part-manual process involved. Rest assured we will be back in touch with 48 hours to confirm your booking fully. If you have any queries during this time please call our customer services on 0845 296 1320 quoting your reference number; or
2.2.2. telephoning us on 0845 296 1340 and talking to a member of our cruise specialist team.
2.3. We may or may not accept your offer to make a booking at our discretion.
2.4. On receipt of your payment, we will process your booking. Where any payment you make is not authorised you will be returned to the previous page on the Website and we shall not be obliged to arrange for the travel products which are the subject of your booking to be provided to you.
2.5. A legally binding contract will be created between you and the third party provider of the travel product(s) you have booked or between you and us (if you have booked an ATOL protected holiday as described in clause 1.5 above) as soon as we issue the confirmation invoice.
We are a member of ABTA, membership number L8075. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you an arbitration scheme for the resolution of disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract. Further information on the Code and arbitration can be found on ABTA’s website www.abta.com. The arbitration scheme is arranged by ABTA and administered independently by IDRS, part of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. It provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on you in respect of costs. Full details will be provided on request or can be obtained from the ABTA website. The scheme does not apply to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person. There is also a limit of £25,000 per booking form. Neither does it apply to claims which are solely in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. However, the scheme can deal with compensation claims which include an element of minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1,000 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. The application for arbitration and Statement of Claim must be received by IDRS within nine months of the date of return from the holiday. For injury and illness claims, you may like to use the ABTA/Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Mediation Procedure. This is a voluntary scheme and requires us to agree for mediation to go ahead. The aim is to help you resolve your dispute in a quick and cost effective way. You can obtain details on request or from www.abta.com.
4.1. We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the travel products shown in our brochure or on the Website. You will be advised of the current price of the travel product that you wish to book before your booking is confirmed.
4.2. When you make your booking you must pay a variable deposit per person which will be notified to you at the time of booking. The time limit in which you have to pay is variable and will be notified to you at the time of booking.
4.3. Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. For ATOL protected holidays only, there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice. Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
Where you have booked individual travel components, charter flights and/or low cost/no frills/schedule flights.
4.4 It is important to note that all bookings you make with third party suppliers (e.g. transfer, airport car parking and low cost flight providers) will be subject to the third party supplier booking conditions. Any payments you make for these products usually need to be paid in full at the time of booking and will be non-refundable.
5.1. Where you choose to book individual travel components, the third party suppliers providing the products may or may not provide financial security for the monies that you pay. It is important that you carefully read all third party supplier booking conditions before making your booking to check this point in particular. We offer supplier failure insurance as standard for each booking. Our supplier protection covers you for your individual holiday components in the event that one of our suppliers of one or more of your holiday components is unable to fulfill a specific component of your booking. You will receive a full refund for that specific component only in the event that any of these suppliers is unable to provide your flight, cruise or transfer component.
5.2. Where you make a booking for a charter flight only, you should benefit from financial protection under the charter flight provider’s ATOL.
5.3. Please note that where you make a booking for a low cost flight (where payment is made directly to the airline), you are unlikely to benefit from ATOL protection. We would advise you to consider purchasing supplier failure insurance in this instance which we offer as a standard extra on every booking.
5.4. The Package Travel Regulations require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for some holidays booked from our brochures and the Website and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. For what is deemed as an air travel package only (for the avoidance of doubt, this excludes low cost/no frills/schedule flights), we provide this security by way of an ATOL (number 6516) administered by the Civil Aviation Authority.
5.5. If you book arrangements other than a package holiday from one of our brochures or the Website, the financial protection referred to above does not apply and we would advise you to consider purchasing “supplier failure” insurance which we offer as a standard extra for each booking.
5.6. When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package from us you will receive a confirmation invoice from us confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 6516. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.
If, after our sales documentation has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or cruise, we will try to arrange for these changes to be actioned but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking/the Lead Contact. You will be asked to pay an administration fee of £20 per person in addition to any costs incurred in making the amendment from your supplier/s. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.
Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the booking. In some cases, any changes made may mean you having to pay for the cancelled arrangements and purchasing new ones at full cost.
7.1 Where you have booked an ATOL protected holiday
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Cancellations must be notified to us in writing by the lead name of the booking via fax, letter or e-mail (customerservices@idealcruising.com). In addition to the cancellation charge applied by your supplier, Ideal Cruising reserves the right to charge £50.00 per person cancellation fee.
7.2 Where you have booked individual travel components, charter flights, and/or lowcost/no frills/schedule flights
You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices.
Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay the applicable cancellation charges up to the maximum shown in the table below.
Period before departure within which written notification is received at our offices
Amount of cancellation charges shown as percentage of the booking price*
More than 98 Days Loss of deposit
57 – 98 Days 30% or deposit if greater
29 – 56 Days 50%
22 – 28 Days 75%
8 – 21 Days 90%
7 Days or less 100%
Note: If the reason for cancellation is covered under the terms of an insurance policy, you may be able to redeem these charges. The full insurance premium, if purchased through ourselves, is retained in the event of cancellation.
*Bookings that include Budget/ Low cost or Schedule Flights and/or cruise may incur different cancellation charges.
8.1. Where you have booked an ATOL protected holiday with us, it is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of a Force Majeure Event or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation as set out in this clause.
8.2. In accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. We do this by stating the carriers used on your booking documentation. Any changes to the actual airline after you have received your tickets will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding gate. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor changes include alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of cruise to another of the same standard.
8.3. If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of a Force Majeure Event, compensation as detailed below will be paid:
|
Period before scheduled date of departure within which notice of Cancellation or major change is received by us or notified to you |
If we make a major change to travel product: |
If we cancel your travel product: |
|
|
More than 70 days |
Deposit only (if you have paid a deposit) |
Deposit only (if you have paid a deposit) |
|
|
69 - 43 days inclusive |
£10 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
£10 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
|
|
29 - 42 days inclusive |
£20 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
£20 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
|
|
0 - 28 days inclusive |
£40 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
£40 (in addition to any deposit paid) |
If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g. your cruise line) immediately. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at Ideal Cruising LTD, Admiral House, 193-199 London Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3JS, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services in question without delay and complete a report form whilst in resort. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were in resort and this may affect your rights under this contract.
Since your booking is a contract between you and the third party supplier, they will have sole discretion in deciding how to deal with your complaint. Please refer to the booking conditions of the third party supplier for further details.
10.1. We have a duty to select providers of the travel products using reasonable skill and care. We have no liability to you for the actual provision of the travel products that you have booked unless we are in fact the principal supplier of the services where you have booked an ATOL protected holiday or where it is proved that we have breached our duty to use reasonable care in selecting the third party supplier and you have incurred loss or damage as a result.
10.2. We, and each of our group companies, officers and employees exclude all liability and responsibility for any amount or kind of loss or damage that may result to you or a third party (including any direct, indirect, punitive or consequential loss or damages, or any loss of income, profits, goodwill, data, contracts, or loss or damages arising from or connected in any way to business interruption, loss of opportunity, loss of anticipated savings, wasted management or office time and whether in tort (including negligence), contract or otherwise, even if forseeable) in connection with your booking, all of the travel products available in our brochure and on our Website, your use of the Website and/or our services.
10.3. We exclude all representations and warranties relating to the travel products that you have booked through us to the fullest extent permitted by law.
10.4. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of twice the value of your booking. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of cruise, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.
10.5. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However, reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost. If your airline does not comply with these rules you should complain to the Air Transport Users' Council on 020 7240 6061 www.auc.org.uk.
Where you have booked an ATOL protected holiday and the travel services are not performed or are improperly performed and you suffer injury or other material loss as a result, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances. Our emergency telephone number can be found on the Website. Where you have booked individual travel components, it is the responsibility of the third party supplier to provide you with prompt assistance. Please refer to the relevant supplier booking conditions for further details.
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. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements..
Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your holiday provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.
We consider travel insurance to be essential and strongly advise you to arrange for appropriate travel insurance (including “supplier failure” insurance) to cover you for a comprehensive range of events including cancellation, baggage loss, accidents and health issues whilst you are away. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs. We strongly advise you to read the policy details carefully and to take them with you on your holiday.
If any provision or part of a provision, of these booking conditions is found by any court or authority of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, otherwise invalid or unenforceable, such provision or part-provision will be struck out of these booking conditions and the remainder of these booking conditions will apply as if the offending provision or part-provision had never been agreed.
You may not transfer any of your rights or obligations under these booking conditions without our prior written consent. We may transfer any of our rights or obligations under these terms and conditions without your prior written consent.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and security. All personal data that we collect from you will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We can provide a copy of our Privacy Policy upon request or alternatively please refer to the Website.
We shall not be in breach of these booking conditions, nor liable for any failure or delay in performance of any of our obligations under these booking conditions arising from acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond our reasonable control ("Force Majeure Event"), including but not limited to any of the following:
a) acts of God, flood, earthquake, avalanche or any other natural disaster;
b) epidemic or pandemic;
c) war, threat of war, breaking off of diplomatic relations or similar actions;
d) terrorist attack, civil war, civil commotion or riots;
e) fire or explosion;
f) extreme adverse weather conditions;
g) any labour dispute, including but not limited to strikes and industrial action;
h) unavoidable technical problems with transport;
i) non-performance by third party suppliers or sub-contractors; or
j) collapse of building structures or vehicles.
19.1 These booking conditions and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them (including all non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
19.2 Subject to clause 3 (ABTA), disputes or claims arising out of or in connection with these booking conditions (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
This receipt is issued by Ideal Cruising who act as retail agents on behalf of the supplier with whom your booking has been made. Your reservation is subject to the supplier’s terms and conditions, and you are bound by these conditions, a copy can be made available on request.
Please note that balances of payments due must be received by Ideal Cruising no later than 14 weeks prior to departure. With World Voyages or Sectors thereof, balances will be required no later than 18 weeks prior to departure. Other operators may enforce similar payment terms. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee of £15.00 where payments are received after this time. We also reserve the right to levy a handling charge of 2.99% (4% on AMEX cards) of the transaction value where payments are made by credit card. There is no charge for Debit Cards
PLEASE NOTE: - Failure to pay the balance by the due date shall entitle Ideal Cruising to cancel your booking and retain any moneys paid by way of a cancellation charge.
If you need to amend your booking in any way, we will do our best to make these changes for you, but it may not be possible depending on the Terms and Conditions of your supplier. Any amendment must be requested by the person who made the original booking (i.e. the ‘lead name’ on the booking.) by calling our Customer Services Department on 0845 296 1320. Ideal Cruising reserves the right to make an amendment charge of £20 per person in addition to any costs incurred in making the amendment from your supplier/s.
Note: - Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the booking. In some cases, any changes made may mean you having to pay for the cancelled arrangements and purchasing new ones at full cost
You or any member of your party may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification must be received from the person who made the original booking (i.e. the ‘lead name’ on the booking) by either post, email or fax. In addition to the cancellation charge applied by your supplier, Ideal Cruising reserves the right to charge £50.00 per person cancellation fee
We recommend that all passengers take out adequate travel insurance. It is a condition of booking with most tour operators that adequate cover is arranged and some airlines or tour operators may deny you from travelling if proof of insurance can not be provided.
Flight times shown are provisional and may be subject to change, as per supplier/airline booking conditions.
We recommend you reconfirm your return flight times 48 hours prior to departure of the homebound journey, as per the supplier/airlines instructions as change to flight times may be made during your holiday.
Cruise itineraries are subject to change as per the supplier booking conditions.
Tickets or vouchers are generally issued by the supplier between 10 – 14 days prior to travel, however they do reserve the right to issue documents on departure at the airport/port. Please contact us 1 week prior to departure if your travel documents have not been received.
We hope your travel arrangements run as smoothly as possible and that you will enjoy your holiday. However, if you have a complaint while on your holiday, you must report it immediately to the supplier’s representative. If the problem can not be resolved, you should make a written complaint to the supplier’s representative and also report the matter in writing to Ideal Cruising within 28 days of returning to the UK so that we can take this up with the supplier.
All passengers must have a 10 year British Citizen passport. You should note that some countries require your passport to remain valid for a minimum period after the return to the UK (usually 6 months). If your passport is in its final year of validity, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting, otherwise travel may be denied. As it is not possible to claim against your travel insurance should travel be refused under these circumstances, we suggest you allow plenty of time to make these checks.
All British passport holders travelling to the USA under the Visa Waiver Programme will need their own machine-readable passport with effect from 26th October 2004. For further information from the US Embassy, please visit www.usembassy.org.uk. You will also be required to obtain an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) which can be done by visiting https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov.
Please be aware that customers are responsible for any Visa or inoculation requirements for their destination. For any advice on Visa requirements, please contact the Embassy of the country you are visiting. For any travel advice, please visit www.direct.gov.uk. You can also obtain up to date travel advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office via their website www.fco.gov.uk.
Please note that any requests added to your booking are not guaranteed.
We take full responsibility for ensuring proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information relevant to suppliers of your travel arrangements, such as tour operators, airlines, hotels, transport companies, information providers etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit card checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
We may also contact you from time to time with details of any special offers that we may have available. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive these.