Terms and conditions
The terms and conditions below apply to the Weddings at Sea Programme in addition to the Booking Conditions, found in the P&O Cruises brochure, which apply to your cruise. In the event of conflict between the two sets, these terms and conditions will prevail over the Booking Conditions. Please ensure that you have read and understood these Terms & Conditions prior to making a booking.
1. DEFINITIONS
In this Contract and unless the context requires otherwise, defined terms are the same as in the Booking Conditions unless a different meaning is given to the defined term here: "Booking Form" means the form which must be completed by Passengers wishing to purchase the Weddings at Sea Package; "Contract" means the contract made between P&O Cruises and the Passengers relating to the provision of wedding services; "Optional Extras" means optional goods and services additional to those included in the Weddings at Sea Package; "Passengers" means the persons named in the Booking Form; and "the Weddings at Sea Package" means the wedding goods and services, as described in this booklet, to be provided by P&O Cruises for the set fee including the organisation of a wedding ceremony.
2. THE CONTRACT
Passengers must read this wedding booklet in conjunction with the relevant P&O Cruises brochure for full details of the cruise.
Passengers are advised to read the section on Legal Requirements before making a booking.
P&O Cruises is unable to accept bookings for weddings within three months of departure of the relevant cruise.
The Weddings at Sea Package is subject to availability and Passengers must check whether there is availability to provide the Weddings at Sea Package on the cruise in question with P&O Cruises prior to booking. Optional Extras are subject to availability and may usually be booked from approximately three months before departure date. Wedding dates may be provisionally reserved for up to 14 days during which time the Booking Form must be completed and sent back to P&O Cruises. Following receipt of a completed Booking Form, P&O Cruises will contact the Passenger in order to arrange payment of a deposit of 25 per cent of the price of the Weddings at Sea Package. No Contract is formed until payment of the deposit is received by P&O Cruises.
Both parties must speak and understand English.
The ceremony may be performed by the Staff Captain, instead of the Captain, if the Staff Captain is in command of the vessel at the time of the ceremony.
Passengers will be jointly liable for the cost of any booking made.
3. LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
The P&O Cruises Weddings at Sea ceremony is a civil service conducted under Bermudian law. The wedding banns are published in two newspapers in Bermuda.
Bermudian law marriages are recognised as valid in the UK provided that:
- the ceremony is conducted on the high seas
- Passengers have complied with all formalities that Bermudian law prescribes and
- both Passengers comply with the requirements of the law of the country in which they are domiciled relating to the capacity of a person to marry.
P&O Cruises have set out below the requirements to be satisfied in order for the wedding to be in accordance with Bermudian law, but it is the sole responsibility of each of the Passengers to ensure they comply with the requirements of the law of their country of domicile if the marriage is to be recognised as valid in the UK.
Bermudian Law
Bermudian law says that the following requirements must be fulfilled by passengers wishing to be married at sea:
- the parties must not be within prohibited degrees of relationship (i.e. they must not be too closely related by birth or marriage)
- the parties must both be over 16 years of age
- if either party is under 18 years of age, the consent of a parent or guardian is required. The consent will have to be formalised by a notary public. Passengers should take independent advice in this respect and will be personally responsible for ensuring that a notarised consent is available in good time
- neither party is suffering from a mental disorder as defined under the Mental Health Act 1968
- neither party must knowingly and wilfully agree to the marriage without the required notice being given of the marriage or without the necessary licence
- neither party may be married to another person at the time of the marriage ceremony
- the marriage must be contracted before a Marriage Officer (the Captain or Staff Captain)
- the parties must not be of the same sex.
Validity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Your marriage will be recognised as valid in England, Wales and Northern Ireland so long as all the above formalities have been complied with and provided that both passengers comply with certain other requirements of the law of the country in which they are domiciled.
Passengers who are domiciled in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for example, have to comply with certain rules to enable them to be married, including but not limited to the following:
- the parties must be respectively male and female
- the parties must not be within prohibited degrees of relationship (i.e. they must not be too closely related by birth or marriage)
- the parties must both be a minimum of 16 years of age
- if either party is under 18 years of age the consent of a parent or guardian will be required
- each party must be capable of giving valid consent to the marriage (consent can be invalidated by, for example, the giving of a false name, address or description, duress, insanity or intoxication of either party to the marriage)
- neither party must be married to another person at the time of the marriage ceremony or have registered a Civil Partnership which has not been dissolved.
Validity in Scotland
The rules in relation to the validity of a marriage under Scottish law are the same as for England, Wales and Northern Ireland subject to the following:
- there is no need for the consent of a parent or a guardian where either party is above the age of 16 but below the age of 18 years
- the prohibited degrees of relationship are slightly different to those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Scottish passengers should seek separate advice in this area, where appropriate.
Domicile
For these reasons it is essential that you take independent legal advice on the law of the country of domicile of each of you before the booking is made to ensure that your marriage will be in compliance with your applicable law.
In general terms, a person's domicile will be the place where the person is resident if he or she lives there with the intention of making it his or her permanent home. Please note, however, that it is possible to be resident in one country but domiciled in another. If you are domiciled outside the UK and want your marriage to be recognised in the UK, you must also comply with the UK requirements set out above.
P&O Cruises accepts no liability whatsoever for any failure of the marriage to be valid as a result of one or both of the Passengers' failure to ensure their compliance with the law of the country in which they are domiciled.
4. PRICES
Please note that the prices for the Weddings at Sea Package and Optional Extras in the current price list are correct at the time of going to press and are intended to be applicable for cruises departing up until the date specified in that price list. However, we reserve the right to change prices advertised without notice. You can find our latest prices on our website at www.pocruises.co.uk/weddings or call us for details. Once you have booked your Weddings at Sea Package and any Optional Extras, the price of these will not change.
5. PAYMENT
Payment is due in respect of the balance of the Weddings at Sea Package and the wedding licence fees four months prior to departure of the cruise. Failure to pay the balance of the Weddings at Sea Package and wedding licence fees by the due date shall entitle P&O Cruises to cancel the booking for the Weddings at Sea Package and retain the 25 per cent deposit by way of a cancellation charge.
Payment for most Optional Extras booked in advance is due at the time of booking the Optional Extras, and no later than 56 days before departure. Failure to pay for Optional Extras by the due date shall entitle P&O Cruises to cancel the Optional Extras. Please note that the fee for the wedding licence is non-refundable unless the wedding is cancelled by P&O Cruises due to P&O Cruises' fault.
Failure to pay any other amount by the due date shall entitle P&O Cruises to cancel the booking and to retain an amount by way of a cancellation charge as set out in clause 7.
6. CHANGES TO THE WEDDING BY THE PASSENGER
Subject always to availability and to payment of any expenses incurred by P&O Cruises as a result, a Passenger may change the date of the wedding up to 56 days before the cruise departure date, so long as the request is for a change of date on the same cruise and either the licence issued by the Registry General of Bermuda is valid for that date or a new licence can be obtained. Please note that the licence is valid for three months only from the date of issue.
Any requests for a change of the wedding to a different cruise will be considered if received more than four months before the cruise departure date, but the request will be subject to availability and to payment of both an administration charge of £100 and any expenses (such as a charge for a new licence, should one be necessary) incurred by P&O Cruises as a result. Cancellation charges may also be payable for the cruise under the Booking Conditions.
After Optional Extras have been booked, P&O Cruises will try to accommodate any request for changes, but such changes are always at P&O Cruises' discretion and are subject to an administration charge of £20 plus any expenses incurred.
7. CANCELLATION OF THE WEDDING BY THE PASSENGER
The Passenger may cancel the Contract at any time by giving notice in writing to Wedding Planners, P&O Cruises, Richmond House, Terminus Terrace, Southampton SO14 3PN, but in that event P&O Cruises shall be entitled to levy a cancellation charge as a percentage of the price of the Weddings at Sea Package, as appropriate, in accordance with the following scales:
| Period within which notice of cancellation of wedding is received by P&O Cruises | Cancellation charges (percentage of price of Weddings at Sea Package paid) |
|---|---|
| From the date of booking of wedding up until and including 120 days before departure | Deposit |
| 119 to 90 days before departure | 45% Of Weddings at Sea Package |
| 89 to 60 days before departure | 65% Of Weddings at Sea Package |
| 59 to 30 days before departure | 90% Of Weddings at Sea Package |
| 29 to 0 days before departure or post-departure. For fly-cruises, departure day is the date of the flight departure. | 100% Of Weddings at Sea Package |
Please note that the costs to P&O Cruises of cancellation of any Optional Extras booked by the Passenger will be payable in addition to the amounts set out above.
Cancellation of the Contract does not automatically cancel the cruise contract between P&O Cruises and the Passenger. Please see the Booking Conditions for details of cancellation charges applicable in the event that the Passenger wishes to cancel the cruise.
8. CHANGES TO THE WEDDING BY P&O CRUISES
P&O Cruises reserves the right to alter the time or the day upon which the wedding is to take place on the cruise or to alter wedding arrangements should it become necessary on operational, commercial or other grounds.
9. CANCELLATION OF THE WEDDING BY P&O CRUISES
Whilst P&O Cruises will do its best not to cancel the wedding after a booking has been made, it shall nevertheless be entitled at any time to cancel the Contract where this reasonably becomes necessary on operational, commercial or other grounds.
P&O Cruises will inform the Passengers of any such cancellation as quickly as possible and will make a refund of monies received under the Contract.
If the wedding is cancelled and the reason for the cancellation is not due to force majeure (as defined in the Booking Conditions) or the Passengers' breach of the Contract, compensation will also be payable in accordance with the table below.
| Period of notification of cancellation of wedding given by P&0 Cruises | Compensation per Weddings at Sea Package |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 120 days before departure | 5% credit and £1000 |
| 119 to 90 days before departure | 10% credit and £1000 |
| 89 to 60 days before departure | 15% credit and £1000 |
| 59 to 30 days before departure | 20% credit and £1000 |
| 29 to 0 days before departure | 30% credit and £1000 |
| Post-departure | 50% credit and £1000 |
The value of any credit (which can be used to pay for weddings at sea or cruises) will be calculated by reference to the price paid for the Weddings at Sea Package and may only be used for another booking with P&O Cruises. Any such new booking must be made by no later than 31 December of the year after the date of the original cruise. P&O Cruises will also be entitled to cancel the Contract if it has not been possible to obtain a valid licence from the Registry General of Bermuda for the wedding date. If the failure to obtain a valid licence is due to the fault or delay of the Registry General of Bermuda and there is no fault or delay on the part of the Passenger, P&O Cruises will make a refund of monies received under the Contract. P&O Cruises will have no further liability.
A caveat may be recorded against an application for a licence where the Registry General of Bermuda receives a written notice from a person stating his name, that the marriage is forbidden and the grounds as to why the marriage should not take place. Passengers will be responsible for liaising with the Registry General of Bermuda at the Passengers' cost to ensure that any caveat is removed before the marriage can go ahead. P&O Cruises reserves the right to cancel the wedding where, for these reasons, the licence cannot be obtained in time. Cancellation charges for the Contract will then apply.
10. INSURANCE & LIABILITY
P&O Cruises recommends that Passengers take out suitable wedding insurance to cover circumstances which may mean they are unable to get married. Please note that the P&O Cruises' travel insurance will not cover Passengers for the costs of a cancelled wedding.
For claims not involving personal injury or death due to P&O Cruises' negligence, P&O Cruises' liability for improper performance of the Contract shall be limited to a maximum of twice the price which Passengers affected paid for the Weddings at Sea Package and Optional Extras.
11. DOCUMENTATION
Please note that it is Passengers' responsibility to:
- Produce all personal documentation needed for the wedding to take place (e.g. valid passport and where appropriate, copy of decree of divorce or death certificate);
- Check that documentation issued by or on behalf of P&O Cruises correctly records their personal details. P&O Cruises cannot accept liability for problems caused as a result of inaccuracy (or inconsistency when compared to documents such as the Passenger's passport) of personal details on the wedding licence and/or other documentation. Please be aware that such problems can mean the wedding has to be cancelled; and
- Obtain and pay for any documentation required to facilitate the marriage, whether such documentation is required at any time by P&O Cruises or the Registry General of Bermuda. Any liaison with the Registry General of Bermuda in relation to the marriage which becomes necessary as a result of a requirement for additional documentation must be undertaken by the Passenger, unless P&O Cruises agrees otherwise.
- Obtain and pay for any documentation required to facilitate the marriage to be translated in to English where necessary and by an approved translator. Please contact our wedding planners for a list of approved translators.
12. JURISDICTION
This contract shall be governed by English law and any dispute arising under it shall be determined by the competent court in England and Wales.