Charter terms and conditions.

Who you are booking with

Your contract is with French Riviera Boats Limited, a private limited company registered under number company number and country of registration. Its full details are in the legal notice. In these terms, “we” and “us” mean French Riviera Boats Limited, and “you” means the person who makes the booking.

We arrange your charter and take your payment. The boat, its captain and its crew are provided by the boat’s operator. Where we do not operate a boat ourselves, we act as its operator’s booking agent, and these terms apply between you, us and the operator.

When you tick the box and book, you accept these terms for yourself and for everyone in your party, and you agree to make sure they follow them.

Booking and paying

Choosing a day on the site holds it for fifteen minutes while you decide, and nothing is owed for the hold. Your booking is confirmed when your payment goes through and we send you a confirmation by email.

You can pay the deposit shown when you book, or the whole charter. If you pay a deposit, the balance is due seven days before the charter, or before you sail if you book less than seven days ahead. If the balance is not paid when it is due, we may treat the booking as cancelled by you.

Prices are in euros and include any VAT due. The charter price covers the boat, your captain and crew, and the equipment listed for the boat. Fuel is not included: it is charged at cost for the route you take, and agreed with the crew before you sail. Food, drink beyond what is already aboard, transfers and any other extras are quoted separately and agreed before the day.

Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or keep your full card number.

Changing the date

You can move your charter to another available date free of charge up to fourteen days before it. Closer to the day we will always try to move it, but we cannot promise to.

If you cancel

To cancel, write to us at hello@frenchrivieraboats.com. Moving the date is often the better answer, and costs nothing up to fourteen days before. What is refunded depends on how much notice you give:

• More than seven days before the charter: everything you have paid, except the deposit.
• Seven days or less before the charter, or if nobody arrives on the day: nothing. The full charter price is due.

Right of withdrawal

A charter is a leisure service provided on a date agreed when you book, so the fourteen-day right of withdrawal for contracts made at a distance does not apply to it (French Consumer Code, article L221-28). The cancellation terms above apply instead.

Weather, safety and the captain

The captain is in command of the boat at all times. Their decisions on safety, the route, where to anchor, swimming and the use of water toys are final.

If the captain decides before you sail that the weather or the sea would make the day unsafe, you choose: another date, or a full refund of everything you have paid. The captain makes that call as early as they can, not on the quay.

If a day has to be cut short once under way, for weather or for safety, we will agree a fair outcome with you, such as a partial refund or time on another day.

The day runs to the times you booked. If you arrive late, it still ends at the booked time.

If the boat cannot sail

If the boat cannot sail because of a breakdown or anything else on our side, we will offer you a comparable boat, another date, or a full refund of everything you have paid.

Aboard

Everyone aboard follows the crew’s instructions, including about safety, shoes, smoking, and food and drink near the upholstery.

• The number of guests can never exceed the limit shown for the boat. It is a legal limit, and the captain will not sail over it.
• Tell us when you book if anyone in your party is a child, cannot swim, is pregnant or has a medical condition the crew should know about. Children are supervised by an adult from your party at all times.
• Swimming, snorkelling and water toys are only for when and where the captain allows, and for guests who can use them safely.
• Illegal substances are not allowed aboard. The captain may refuse to take anyone who is drunk, and may end the charter early, without a refund, if anyone’s behaviour puts people or the boat at risk or breaks the law.
• Your belongings are your responsibility. We are not liable for their loss or damage unless it is caused by us or the crew.

Damage and breakages

While you and your party are aboard, you are responsible for the boat, its fittings and equipment, and its water toys.

If anyone in your party loses or damages any of them through carelessness, misuse, not following the crew’s instructions, or on purpose, you are liable for the reasonable cost of repairing, cleaning or replacing what was lost or damaged. That includes, for example:

• Stains or burns on upholstery, cushions or teak, from red wine, self-tanning products, cigarettes or heeled shoes.
• Snorkelling gear, seabobs or other water toys lost overboard or broken.
• Fittings or equipment broken through misuse.
• Cleaning beyond the ordinary tidy at the end of a charter day.

If something is damaged

You are not liable for ordinary wear and tear, for mechanical failure, or for damage caused by the captain or crew.

The crew will show you any damage before you leave the boat. We will then send you photographs and a written estimate or invoice within fourteen days of the charter, payable within fourteen days of receiving it. If you disagree with it, tell us in writing and we will go through it with you.

You answer for your whole party: a claim is made to you, as the person who booked.

Our responsibility to you

Every boat is operated with the licences and insurance that French law requires for carrying passengers.

We are not responsible for delays or cancellations caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as a port or the authorities closing the water, beyond what these terms already give you: another date, or a refund.

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that the law does not allow us to limit, and nothing in them takes away your rights as a consumer.

Your details

We use the details you give us to arrange and run your charter. The privacy policy explains how.

Complaints and disputes

If something is not right on the day, tell the captain, so it can be put right there and then. Otherwise, write to us at hello@frenchrivieraboats.com.

These terms are governed by French law. If a dispute ever reaches a court, you keep the right to bring it before the courts where you live.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Your booking is governed by the version you accepted when you booked, and the date at the top of this page shows which version is current.