Severe Weather Credit
Master Liveaboards Trip Interruption Policy
For your peace of mind
The Master Liveaboards team has been operating vessels all around the world since 2006. During this time we have come to learn that even the most docile of destinations can be at the mercy of the weather from time to time. We also appreciate that our guests can spend a long time looking forward to their dream diving cruise, only to have Mother Nature disrupt things.
For this reason we want to provide you extra peace of mind with our Severe Weather Credit program that compensates guests who lose days of diving on our vessels as a result of named weather disturbances.
The idea is simple. If you are aboard one of our fleet vessels and we are unable to provide diving operations due to a named storm1, or the vessel is forbidden from open sea by local authorities, we will provide you with credit based on the amount of diving that you miss because of that storm.
If you are unlucky enough to have your entire cruise cancelled in advance due to concerns over a storm’s predicted path, we will provide you with a credit equal to the value of the amount paid for the cruise only portion of the booking. Credits can be used against a cruise in the same destination departing up to two years after the original cruise departure2.
While we have created this program to provide our guests with some peace of mind, it should be stressed clearly that it is not a replacement for travel insurance. This program only relates to the cruise portion of your holiday. For this reason we always require in our terms that our guests have, not only dive insurance, but trip cancellation and/or interruption insurance. One such company that has programs dedicated specifically for liveaboard diving is Dive Assure, and you can read more about their programs here.
What Happens If My Cruise Is Interrupted?
What If Disruptive Weather Is Not A Named Storm?
In the event that the the Captain feels that it is generally unsafe to be in open sea, then the priority will be to either return to port immediately, or ensure that guests are able to return to the planned port of disembarkation while the vessel is secured away from this port. Safety of everyone onboard will always take priority.
Each situation is different, however, this may entail waiting out weather in a safe haven or, if the cruise is close to disembarkation, removing guests and transporting them to the disembarkation point.
Where possible, Master Liveaboards will aim to provide alternatives to diving if the boat is waiting in port for poor weather to clear, though this is not always possible4. If disembarking guests early due to bad weather, Master Liveaboards will cover the costs of returning clients to the disembarkation point.
The Small Print
1. The relevant naming authorities affiliated to the World Meteorological Organisation must name weather disturbances that affect cruise operations. Weather disturbances that do not meet the requirements to be designated a named storm by the relevant authority do not qualify for automatic credit.
2. The value of the credit will be based on the gross value paid of the cruise only portion of your invoice and does not include incidental travel pre and post cruise. As noted, this is not a replacement for travel insurance as we cannot stress strongly enough that you should still take travel insurance at the point of purchasing your cruise.
3. Credit cannot be transferred or exchanged for cash and must be used in the original location of the affected booking.
4. In all cases, Master Liveaboards will always aim to assist in local logistics where possible, however, we always encourage our clients who have booked through agencies to contact them for assistance where possible. For unnamed storms. extra costs such as accommodation, meals, and further transport will not be covered by Master Liveaboards.
5. Severe Weather Credit is for days lost on cruises only. Should you not be able to reach a destination due to travel problems, storm or not, and the cruise goes ahead (or could have in the event of guests being there) without issue, credit will not be issued.
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