General Conditions for the Transport of Passengers
The General Information and the latest edition of the Grandi Navi Veloci Information Catalogue constitute an integral part of the General Conditions for the Transport of Passengers.
The term “Passenger” refers to any person transported by the carrier by virtue of their possession of a ticket of passage, issued by the latter and/or its authorised agencies. The term “carrier” and/or “Company” refers to Grandi Navi Veloci S.p.A. The object of the contract is the provision of transport as governed by Article 396 and following of the (Italian) Code of Navigation. The carrier shall undertake to transport the passenger and passenger-accompanied vehicle(s), in compliance with the following conditions, which the passenger shall undertake to read and comply with in full before purchasing and/or booking the ticket for travel.
Art. 1. VALIDITY: Tickets of passage are personal, non-transferable and valid only for the journey specified on the ticket itself. Passengers are required to keep their contract/ticket with all due care in order to be able to prove their right to travel, and show it to any of the ship’s officers or Company officials who may request it. Any passenger not in possession of a ticket must immediately notify the Captain and/or Purser to this effect, failing which, he shall be required to pay double the price of passage to the port of destination, without prejudice to compensation for the resulting damages.
Art. 2. PRICE OF PASSAGE: The price indicated in the ticket of passage is that of the carrier’s fare in force at the time of issue of the ticket. Except where shown otherwise, the price shown on the ticket of passage does not include the provision of meals on-board, the cost of which must be sustained by the passenger. Meals can be taken at the restaurant and/or self-service cafeteria. Taxes and duties in respect of embarkation and disembarkation, stamp duty, etc., where payable, shall be sustained by the passenger as summarised in the General Information and in the latest edition of the Grandi Navi Veloci Information Catalogue and on the company’s internet site: www.gnv.it. Issue fees shall also be due for each ticket issued, and the amounts applied are as follows: when issued by means of the Web Site, Euro 2, by means of the Contact Centre, Euro 4 and Euro 4 when issued by the GNV Ticket Office
Art. 3. MISSED DEPARTURES: The time established for boarding, unless changed in writing, is two hours before the ship’s scheduled departure time for passengers travelling with their vehicles, three hours for non-Schengen Pact departures and for those Camping on Board, and one hour before the scheduled departure time for passengers without vehicles. Passengers who fail to arrive by the stipulated boarding time, or who, in any case, fail to board the ship foreseen and indicated on the boarding pass, shall not be entitled to any reimbursement of the price paid, either whole or partial, and, indeed, shall undertake to complete payment of the price of passage should they not have already paid the same in full
Art. 4. WITHDRAWAL AND REFUND:In the event of withdrawal from the contract, which passengers must notify to the Company directly or through their travel agency, within the time limits defined below and further to application of the following penalties: from the time of booking until 20 days before departure: 20%; from 19 days to 4 days before departure: 25%; from 3 days to 2 hours before departure: 50%. The aforementioned penalties shall apply to the total fares for the passengers, vehicles booked and relative supplements and taxes. The date and time of cancellation must be noted on the ticket by the Company or travel agency that issued the ticket. Deadlines are calculated with effect from the day after the date of cancellation and include the date of departure. No reimbursement shall be payable to passengers who withdraw/cancel less than two hours before the scheduled departure time, or who fail to arrive by the established boarding time, without having given prior notice to the Company of the existence of one of the circumstances foreseen in Art. 400 of the (Italian) Code of Navigation, or who give notice of partial cancellations only at the time of check-in for boarding. In the event of cancellation of a ticket, which has already been modified, the highest penalty, calculated on the basis of the date on which the modifications were made, shall be applied. Bookings made for special offer tickets shall not be reimbursed, not even partially. Passengers are recommended to underwrite an insurance policy to cover the aforementioned penalties due to cancellation.
Art. 5. CHANGES: In the case of any ticket changes, a fixed fee shall be payable, equivalent to Euro 25.00 (twenty-five), or the amount that has been established and published beforehand. The special offer tickets sold do not contemplate reimbursement, in the case of a variation in accommodation that costs less. All tickets of passage issued at particular and/or special conditions, where the terms and conditions have not been specifically indicated in the respective brochures, cannot be changed. Any change in an issued ticket shall not give rise to reimbursement, whilst payment of the difference between the ticket, object of variation, if the change leads to a higher category and/or price, shall be due.
Art. 6. EARLIER/DELAYED DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS – DEPARTURE CANCELLATION – ITINERARY CHANGES: Passengers shall undertake to ascertain, before departure, that no changes have been made to the time and ship indicated on the ticket of passage. In the cases foreseen in the (Italian) Code of Navigation and in the event of objective necessity and/or force majeure, the Company shall be entitled to cancel the announced departure, and add or omit stopovers; to start the sailing from a different port from the one indicated, to divert the ship to another line, and to advance or delay the date of departure. Should a departure be delayed by more than 12 hours compared to the stated time, passengers shall be entitled to terminate the contract and obtain reimbursement of the unused passage, net of the agency commission. In the cases foreseen in the (Italian) Code of Navigation and in the event of objective necessity and/or force majeure, the Captain shall be fully entitled to proceed without pilot, to tow and assist other ships in any circumstances and to deviate from the ordinary route in any direction, for any distance and for any purpose attributable to his duties as Captain, as foreseen in the (Italian) Code of Navigation and in International Conventions, and thus to call at, both before and after departure, any port or ports, whether or not the latter are set forth in the ship’s itinerary, even if beyond or in the opposite direction to the usual route, sailing both backwards and forwards, in any order and for any purpose, whether once or repeatedly, and to transfer the passenger and his vehicle to any other ship or means of transport, whether or not the latter belongs to the Company, bound for the port of destination. The arrival time, whether specified on the ticket or indicated by the Company or its representatives, is purely a guideline, and the carrier accepts no responsibility for possible delays due to fortuitous events or force majeure; specifically, the carrier accepts no responsibility for losses incurred by the passenger as a result of the delay or cancellation of the sailing, if said delay or cancellation is attributable to a fortuitous event, force majeure, adverse weather or sea conditions, strikes and technical faults, constituting force majeure or other causes not attributable to the Company and, in any case, in compliance with the provision contained in Articles 402, 403, 404 and 408 of the (Italian) Code of Navigation.
Art. 7. EMBARKATION AND DISEMBARKATION OF VEHICLES: Vehicles shall be called to embark in the order given by the Ship’s Captain and/or his auxiliaries and representatives. The operations relating to the embarkation of vehicles, including parking them in the assigned place on board (all vehicles must be parked in gear and with the hand brake on), disembarkation and the possible transfer of the vehicle from the parking place to the ship and/or possible transfer of the vehicle from the ship to the parking place shall always be undertaken by and at the passenger’s exclusive risk and liability, except in the event of a proven defect in the state of the ship/parking places. Passengers shall also be held exclusively liable for any damages caused to their vehicle and to the goods or luggage contained therein, and for any injuries to themselves and to the persons in the vehicle. Passengers shall also be held liable for any damages caused to third parties, their vehicles, goods and luggage (except as stipulated in Art. 412 of the (Italian) Code of Navigation). The vehicle, including trailer and/or caravan if applicable, and all its contents, shall be accepted by the carrier as a single unit of cargo without declaration of value. Therefore, the carrier’s eventual liability for the loss and/or damage to the vehicle cannot exceed the limit stated in Art. 423 of the (Italian) Code of Navigation, except in the event of liability due to malice or serious negligence. Passengers intending to declare the value of their accompanying vehicle must formalise the declaration in writing before booking; the cost of transport of the vehicle shall then be calculated on the basis of its declared value.
Art. 8. PASSENGER CONDUCT: Passengers shall undertake to comply with the provisions of Italian and foreign law, the Company’s regulations governing the contract of passage published on the www.gnv.it site and available, in any case, at authorised sales outlets, and all orders given by the ship’s Captain. Furthermore, the passengers shall also be held directly liable by the Company for all contraventions, nuisance, fines and costs which, as a result of the conduct of the former, may be imposed upon the Company by the port, customs, health and/or any other authorities in any country. It has also hereby been agreed that minors must be supervised by their parents and/or appointed persons, and may not move around the ship unaccompanied. In the event of an emergency, passengers must place themselves at the disposal of the Captain and Officers and must carry out the orders and instructions given to them in a disciplined manner. Before boarding, passengers must have their documents checked, at their own initiative, expense and liability, with the relevant Police Authorities, for the purpose of ascertaining that said documents are valid for entry into the country of disembarkation. The Company shall not reimburse passengers who are not authorised by border police to board or disembark as a result of failure to show a document valid for cross-border travel; the Company shall also be entitled to make a claim against the passenger in respect of any costs and/or sanctions that may be incurred by it as a result of the aforementioned circumstances.
Art. 9. PASSENGER HEALTH: The Captain shall be entitled to refuse passage to anyone who, in the Company’s opinion, is not in a suitable physical or psychological state to travel, or who may pose a risk to other passengers as a result of illness, infirmity, or the abuse of drugs, alcohol or hallucinogens. In all the above cases, the passenger shall not be entitled to compensation for losses but shall be held responsible for damage caused to the ship, its fittings or equipment, and injury to third parties or damage to their property. Acceptance of the passenger on-board by the Company shall not constitute waiver of any of its rights to act subsequently in response to any reservations regarding the condition of the passenger, regardless of whether this was known by the Company at the time of boarding the ship and/or departure.
Art.10. PREGNANT WOMEN: In the case of pregnancy without complications, the passenger in question must carry a medical certificate authorising her to travel by sea, independently of how many months she is pregnant. Once six months of pregnancy have elapsed, the passenger must undertake to complete a document holding the Company harmless care off the Port Ticket Office. The Captain’s unquestionable judgement, in any case, being understood, as referred to in Art. 9 foregoing hereto.
Art. 11. EXPLOSIVE, INFLAMMABLE AND DANGEROUS MATERIALS: It is strictly forbidden for passengers to include any industrial residues or explosive and/or inflammable substances or other materials that might pose, in any way whatsoever, a threat to the safety of the ship, its cargo, other passengers or crew members in their luggage or among the property kept in their vehicles. In the event of any proven breach of this regulation, the Captain shall be entitled to confiscate or destroy the substances in question without the passenger being entitled to claim any indemnity. The passenger shall also be held liable for the consequences incurred by breaching this regulation
Art. 12. WEAPONS: On boarding, passengers shall undertake to hand over all firearms and/or non-firearm weapons in their possession, to the Captain’s safekeeping. Non-compliance with the above shall result in confiscation of the weapons and referral of the case to the competent Judicial Authorities.
Art. 13. LUGGAGE: Luggage not handed over to the carrier must only contain the passenger’s personal effects. All valuables, jewellery, cash, traveller’s cheques, etc. can be deposited in the appropriate safe deposit boxes on-board or, in the absence thereof, placed in a closed and sealed envelope and handed over to the Purser, who shall issue a receipt for the envelope without checking its contents. Should it be ascertained that luggage not handed over to the carrier contains objects not for personal use, the passenger must pay triple the fare for transporting the objects as well as compensation for damages. It has, in any case, been agreed that any luggage and objects not handed over to the carrier, shall lead to the latter’s liability being limited to the maximum figure appearing on any written declaration of value issued by the passenger, provided that the latter has paid the higher freight charges. Otherwise, the limit defined in Art. 412 of the (Italian) Code of Navigation shall apply.
Art. 14. LOSS AND/OR DAMAGE TO LUGGAGE, PERSONAL EFFECTS OR VEHICLE: The loss and/or damage to luggage, other personal effects or the passenger’s vehicle must be reported by the passenger to the ship’s officers or the Company’s agents and/or officers in the port of disembarkation - at the risk of forfeiture - at the time the items are returned, if the loss and/or damage is apparent or within three days of the items being returned in the case of non-apparent loss or damage. In the case of luggage and objects not handed over by the passenger to the carrier, the latter accepts no liability for the loss and/or damage, unless the passenger can prove that the latter was caused by factors attributable to the carrier. In any case, the carrier shall accept no liability whatsoever for loss and/or damage caused by acts of vandalism committed by third.
Art. 15. ANIMALS:Transportation of small pets (cats, dogs, etc.) with passengers is permitted, on vessels that can provide the appropriate accommodation, as long as the animals travel with a certificate of good health and that the respective ticket of passage has been purchased. Pets, when accepted by the Company, must travel in a cabin that has foreseen this access possibility and in the external areas that have been set aside for them. They must be kept on a lead and wear a muzzle if they tend to bite.
Passengers are strictly forbidden from keeping dogs in their cabin, if the latter have not been fitted out as above, and in public recreation areas. Access to the cabin, where foreseen, is strictly limited to two animals per accommodation unit. If there are more than two, they must be accommodated in the vessel’s kennels or cattery. Furthermore, a dog cannot be left alone in a cabin, but must always be kept in his owner’s custody, in such a way as to avoid damage or disturbance to passengers travelling in adjacent cabins. In any case, each dog accommodated on board in a cabin shall have the possibility of being accommodated in the kennels on board. By way of a partial waiver to the above, access to the ship’s facilities on-board is permitted for guide dogs accompanying blind passengers and dogs on operational duty for the Civil Defence service, if accompanied by appropriate certification. Passengers shall be held liable for any damage to property or injuries to third parties caused by their animals. The carrier shall accept no liability for the possible confiscation or destruction of animals by the health authorities at the port of embarkation/disembarkation, as well as injuries to the animals further to their escaping, loss or death during transport, embarkation or disembarkation, except in the case of any proven malice and/or negligence attributable to the carrier. Passengers shall, in any case, behave suitably and diligently, at all times, in order to avoid and/or prevent such problems arising .
Art. 16. ACCOMMODATION: Passengers shall occupy the place indicated in the ticket or, failing that, the place indicated by the Captain or Purser. In the event of objective necessity, the Company shall be entitled to assign the passenger to a different place. Should the assigned place be in a higher category, the difference in fare shall not be requested; should it, however, be in a lower category, the additional amount paid by the passenger shall be reimbursed, without prejudice to the passenger’s entitlement to terminate the contract pursuant to the law.
The services commonly defined as being “accessory” (Animation, Baby Club, Discotheque, Cinema, Piano Bar, Swimming Pool and Solarium), even if free-of-charge, shall not be considered as being part of the Contract of Transport purchased by the Client.
Art. 17. PASSENGER INFORMATION: All passengers due to board must give the Company any information relating to their need for particular treatment and/or assistance in the event of an emergency. Passengers requiring assistance with boarding (persons with motor difficulties, etc.) must arrive for boarding well in advance, indicating their needs to the quayside and/or on-board personnel. When booking, passengers must also provide their personal details, i.e.: surname, name or initial letter thereof, sex, age, category (infant, child, adult). On international routes and non-Schengen Pact destinations (e.g. Barcelona, Malta, Tunis and Tangiers), the passenger must also provide his date and place of birth, nationality and a document (e.g. an Identity Card or Passport).
Each passenger, who is the effective holder of a ticket, shall undertake to provide any changes to his personal details, if they are different from the ones indicated on booking compared to the details valid when boarding. Personal data shall be collected pursuant to the (Italian) Decree Law No. 251, dated 13.10.1999, implementing the EEC Directive 98/41, dated, 18.06.1998, the legislation governing the application of the ISPS anti-terrorism code, as well as in compliance with the (Italian) Legislative Decree No. 196/2003.
Art.18. APPLICABLE LAW AND COMPETENT COURT: The contract of transport for passengers, their luggage and vehicles shall be governed by the (Italian) Code of Navigation and interpreted in compliance with Italian law. In the event of any dispute arising out of the interpretation and/or execution of the contract of transport, the sole competent court shall be, at the plaintiff’s discretion, the place where the defendant has his residence or registered offices. In the case of passengers resident in Italy and who can be defined as consumers, pursuant to the Italian legislation in force, the sole, competent court shall be the court in the place of residence or elected domicile of the passenger, in case of point.
