Cancellation Policy
Cancellation policy, Changes & Refunds – If you cancel
You may cancel the tour or any part of it at any stage subject to the conditions below.
You must notify us by email to reservations@shoreexcursionscenter.com. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect when it is received by us at our main office during our business hours which are 11 am – 07 pm (GMT+3) Monday to Friday.
Since we incur costs in cancelling your arrangements, you will not be entitled to any refund of the cost of your arrangements unless you notify us of your intention to cancel at least 2 weeks prior to your tour date. If the cancellation notice has been received prior to 2 weeks, a full refund will be given. If the cancellation notice is received less than 2 weeks prior to departure, the following cancellation terms will apply:
General Tours Cancellation
Cancellations made with at least 14 days advance notice = no cancellation fee, less any credit card fees associated with your payment processing (usually up to 3,5 %).
Cancellations made between 8 to 13 days before the scheduled departure of your tour with us will require a a 50 percent cancellation fee plus any credit card fees associated with your payment processing (usually up to 3,5 %).
In cases involving cancellations made within 7 days of the scheduled departure of your Shore Excursions Center tour, there will be a 100 percent cancellation fee.
Customized tours Cancellation
All customized tours are subject to the General Tours Cancellation policy unless stated otherwise in the Important Information section of the selected customized tour, plus there is an additional $25 per person non-refundable penalty for cancellations made at any time after the booking has been confirmed and the credit card charged.
In cases where the tour has been confirmed, but the credit card had not yet been charged, there will not be a $25 per person penalty fee imposed.
Theater Tickets, Show Tickets, Special Arrangements Cancellation
Unfortunately, no refunds are provided for theater tickets, show tickets and special arrangements once the order has been purchased for you. Cancellation at any time will result in a charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges. Shore Excursions Center will issue you a corresponding letter for your insurance company.
Late arrival & No Show
No refunds will be made to any customer who fails to show up for a tour departure at the designated time and place, or who leaves, or otherwise does not use all of the services scheduled to be provided by an excursion.
Most tours will operate in a variety of weather conditions, and no refunds will be made to any customer who chooses not to participate in a departing tour due to weather conditions. Members of any excursion who elect to leave the designated tour transportation must provide their own transportation at their own expense back to the landing place of the vessel.
Waiting time for Private tours, excursions and arrangements
In case a client does not arrive by an appointed time to the place where services start to be granted:
- an order for private transfer will be held for 1 hour starting from the appointed time, then it will be cancelled automatically.
- an order for a private tour arrangements in all countries except Russia and other additional services will be cancelled after 1 hour.
- an order for private Visa-free shore tour in Saint Petersburg will be cancelled after 2 hours.
Waiting time for Join-in shore excursions
In case a client does not arrive by an appointed time to the place where services start to be granted:
- an order for a Join-in Visa-free shore tour in Saint Petersburg will be cancelled after 2 hours.
- waiting time for any Join-in Baltic Shore Excursions is ONLY 15 minutes! After that, the group will depart and your tour will be cancelled.
If for some reason you are being late – please try to inform us in advance by calling any of the emergency numbers.
Tour changes policy
Please be aware that all changes of the tour starting time can (and must!) be made no later that 24 hours prior to the beginning of the tour.
We are happy to change the starting location to suit you arrival schedule if needed.
All changes made within last 24-hour limit will result in a 50 USD administrative fee and might result in either tour duration reduction or additional charges for the extra time (guide/driver services).
Please also be aware that popular museums in Europe, Scandinavia, Baltics and Russia do not allow changes to the pre-booked tour times due to the large number of visitors.
Museums in Russia LAST-MINUTE cancellation and changes policy for all private tours (less than 9 days):
Catherine's Palace in Pushkin - non-refundable, no changes allowed
Hermitage, Yusupov's palace, Grand Palace in Peterhoff - refundable only 9+ days before the tour, no changes allowed
All other museums - fully refundable, any changes allowed.
Cancellation policy & Refunds – If we change or cancel
It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your arrangements, but occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you or your travel agent of them at the earliest possible date.
Occasionally we may have to make a major change to your confirmed arrangements. Examples of a “major change” would be a significant change to your itinerary, missing out one or more destination entirely, or where a cruise ship arrives late at the destination where your arrangements are to take place and consequently you are unable to join the arrangements for all or a significant proportion of it. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it.
If we have to make a major change or cancel, we will tell you or your travel agent as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before the arrangements are due to commence, we will offer you the choice of
- (for major changes) accepting the changed arrangements
- having a refund of all monies paid or
- accepting an offer of alternative arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).
You must notify us of your choice within 7 days of our offer. If you fail to do so we will assume that you have chosen to accept the change or alternative arrangements. The above sets out the maximum extent of our liability for changes and cancellations and we regret we cannot meet any expenses or losses you may incur as a result of change or cancellation.
