EMAIL CONFIRMATIONS
If you have not recieved a confirmation for your cruise, please check spam in your emails and/or contact us to check the status, as sometimes emails can go to spam.
If We have confirmed your order and you havent recieved the email, but havent gotten in touch either, we do not assume any responsibility for the email not being recieved. And we cannot provide you with a refund should you not show up for your cruise, under the assumption that it is not confirmed.
POLICY COVID 19
We ask that if you have any symptoms of sickness of cold, or flu that you please wear a mask onboard.
If you are very unwell or have covid 19, please get in touch with us so we can reschedule your trip.
The skipper/crew may wear a mask during busy sailings, or in instances where close contact with passengers is more likely, for the safety of themselves and passengers.
If you are a vulnerable person and would like a special sailing, this might be possible by contacting us.
CANCELLATION PERIOD -
Cancellations or changes by phone call within business hours (8:30am-6:00pm daily) within 24 hours of tour departure time.
Or by way of electronic message such as email or text message, within 36 hours of tour departure time.
For cancellations made within the cancellation period, a refund may be given, less any administration or bank payment charges, if applicable. Usually this is approximately 3% for each.
In the unlikely event that we need to cancel your service, you will be fully refunded.
Special Cruises These are special one off, or prearranged cruises and tours that are not on our regular schedule, but are offered on specific dates or times as part of a festival or as a one off each school holidays, or similar.
Cancellation period is by phone call during business hours (8:30am-6:00pm daily) within 48 hours of tour departure time. Or by written, electronic message, within 72 hours of tour departure time. Outside of these you may not be refunded on your cancellation.
This is because we hire subcontractors and experts to join us and have prearraged other things to be able to run the event. We may not be able to fill your seats with short notice cancellations. You may gift your tickets or on sell to someone else.
Refunds or credits are the discretion of the owner, outside of what is mentioned above.
Cruise Ship Passengers and last minute cruise ship visit cancellations.
Wildlife cruise only
If your cruise ship has decided not to dock at Port Chalmers and you have booked with us privately, we will do our best to assist you with your cancellation.
If you have told us prior to your arrival (through notes or in your booking, or a message) which ship you are on, it is easier for us to be able to resell your seat on the cruise, which increases your chance of a full refund. If you get in touch with us as soon as you know your ship has decided to cancel, this assists us further.
If you do not contact us (by email) at all within 24 hours after your cruise was meant to have taken place, we may close the booking without refund.
We still stand by our usual cancellation policy, however we empathize and understand that a last minute ship cancellation is out of your control and in most instances we will refund you, minus credit card and booking fees (typically 3% of each).
However, because we must meet minimum numbers to sail and your cancellation may affect the viability of the cruise sailing and we may have only fallen below that with your cancellation, there may be instances where a refund may not be possible , or you may be partly refunded. This may also be the case if we have turned away other passengers to accept your booking, and if we can not fill your seats before sailing time. Please rest assured we will do our best to look after you. Please see our reviews on Trip Advisor to see where this has happened and we have assisted.
For harbour ferry, refunds are less likely. However please get in touch , as above so we can try to help you.
Unexpected cancellation of a 'confirmed cruise'.
In the event your cruise has been confirmed by us, and then we later receive significant cancellations for other passengers, which results in bringing us below minimum numbers to sail, we may need to advise and also cancel remaining passengers. In this unlikely event you will be fully refunded.
PENDING SUPPLIER EMAILS AND CHARGING
If you have booked online and we cannot confirm your booking, we will offer you the choice of either a full refund or credit to use another time instead.
Bookings made online are charged at time of bookings, as the reservation system platform we use automatically does this. If the trip doesnt sail, you will be fully refunded including any credit card and booking fees you have paid. If you would not like to be charged at the time of booking the online booking system, please feel free to book through, email, text, or phone call.
Most bookings online start by reading PENDING SUPPLIER. We either manually confirm the booking, or if we cannot run the sailing, we will offer you the above options.
Any credit that might be applied in special circumstances, will be at the discretion of the owner.
Credit card charges are typically 3% and are unavoidable when paying by credit card, sorry.
Booking fees should be expected to be approx 3%, however we do our best to be kind and will try to make these as little as possible when we are able to (the Rezdy reservation system automatically applies these, but sometimes we can manually try to get those down a little.)
DAMAGE OR LOSS
We will not be held responsible or liable for any damage or loss to your person or property while using our services. This includes bags, personal belongings, bikes, or person.
In the event of damage or loss of client's personal equipment, insurance claims will need to be made through the client's personal or travel insurance.
ADULTS BINOCULARS
If blue 'adults binoculars' are loaned to children without the skippers permission and are damaged, you may be charged a replacement cost.
There are childrens binoculars available onboard. If these become damaged by children, there is no damage charge.
If the skipper has asked that the straps are around your neck (part of cruise briefing) and the binoculars are damaged while they werent, you may be charged for replacement costs.
BICYCLES
We do not typically carry bicycles that weigh more than 25 kgs.
If you have a bicycle that weights more than this, we may refuse to carry it. Our equipment and personnel are not designed for heavier weights than this.Your bike may be weighed on arrival, prior to loading.
Please remove bags when you arrive. It is not always necessary to remove electric bicycle batteries, however the skipper may request this.
Please do not stand on the boat or attempt to help when the skipper is loading bicycles, unless asked. The skipper will request this verbally and with signage. (The weight change on the vessel or grabbing or moving your bike unexpectedly can put the skipper off balance when loading bikes.)
If you have not advised us prior, we may refuse to carry your bike if it weighs more than 25ks or has wheels more than 100mm wide. This is because carrying bikes that exceed these specifications means we will need to limit the number of other bikes and passengers we can carry. As well as compromising the safety of our staff when loading.
In this event you will NOT be eligible for a refund.
Please ensure you have checked the weight and measurements of your bike if you are unsure, to avoid problems when arriving for the ferry.
SPECIALS/VOUCHERS
Any specials, discounts or use of vouchers or concessions must be requested at the time of booking to be eligible.
If you have booked with the intention of using a voucher and do not produce or mention the voucher until boarding time, we will probably need to refuse its use.
PHOTOS
Photographs/videos are sometimes taken during a tour that might be used in social media or advertising. Please let us know in your booking notes or when talking to us, if you would like to be excluded from that. We do our best to ask for permission again in person, if we are taking footage for this purpose.
PRICE CHANGES
Due to continuing rising costs of fuel and supplies, our advertising material may be out of date when you receive it.
If you have a voucher that is for a particular product and is in date, we can still honour this, though minimum cost must still be met to run the cruise (this is usually met by meeting minimum numbers of other passengers).
If a voucher has been a donation from Port To Port, or is a purchased voucher which is being honoured but is out of date, then you may need to pay the balance to top it up to meet the new pricing.
If you have a voucher that is a '2 for 1' type and is out of date, we may still accept the voucher as being for the value paid, but not for the free person.
Please check the website for current prices and times and contact us if you have any questions.
EMERGENCY AND RESCUE
In the event the vessel gets called to assist in an emergency during your cruise or ferry crossing, we may need to abandon the cruise plans and aid another vessel or person.
In the unlikely event this happens, we may not be able to offer you a refund, unless the cruise is a complete loss and/or we do not get to the intended destination, or within reasonable time.
We will do our best to be fair and offer refunds where possible and practical But there may be cases where this may not be possible.
DEPARTURE TIMES
Please be 5 minutes early at your departure point so you do not miss the ferry/cruise.
The boat often arrives right on time. So please dont panic if you dont see it one minute before tour start time!
Tickets are not refundable if the boat leaves without you because you are late or have shown up at the wrong location. Maps and information of departure address are sent by email. Please allow extra time to get to the departure address incase of roadworks.
Please also use a reputable online map system to find us. We have found the Apple Maps are not very reliable! Google maps seem to be better. Or check your email confirmation for a map which is often attached to your booking.
DISCOUNTS AND PROMO CODES FOR WILDLIFE AND FERRY
Discounts are only available for the regular ferry and wildlife cruises, on full fares.
Discounts do not apply to special or one off cruises. If a promo code is used and 'accepted' online for special cruises online, the extra will be charged manually after booking has taken place. You will be advised and a receipt will be sent to you.
CHILDREN'S AGES
Ferry-
Infants 0-2 years
Children 3-15 years
Adults 16 years and up
Wildlife Cruises-
Infant 0-4 years
Child 5-15 years
Adults 16 years and up.
Prices are different because we choose to limit the numbers of passengers on the wildlife cruise to provide comfort for passengers. So we can charge less for infants as we can choose how many people we take and therefore the infant may not always be taking up a 'paying seat', so we can make the seat a little cheaper for you.
But on the ferry we load the boat according to survey maximum numbers and the infant will be taking a 'paying seat', so we still charge a childs price, except for babies under 2 years of age, as a good will gesture.
On some special cruises we may specify different ages to what are listed above as 'children' on that particular sailing. This is because we may include things like treats and lollies. In which case we may only choose to charge the extra to cover those costs for those, on tickets where the person is at the age that they are able to eat or recieve the treats or lollies.
We dont process any bookings that are of a lesser value than one adult, one way, ferry fare. If a child is booked online and it is under the minimum charge, we will advise you and will need to charge the minimum amount to proceed with the booking.
So if a child is travelling alone, one way, they will be charged an adults fare.
This is so we can meet administration and other costs.
-These Cancellation Policies and Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notice.