By participating in a tour with Daniel’s Discovery Tours, you agree, understand, and acknowledge the following procedures, terms, and conditions.
WHEN WILL I RECIEVE MY FINAL TOUR DOCUMENTS?
You will receive a detailed “Tour Guide” two weeks prior to the tour departure date by email.
WHERE DO TOURS DEPART FROM?
Unless otherwise indicated, all motorcoach tours depart from the Daniel’s Discovery Tours Depot located at the Howard Brothers Complex, 4336 Cornelia Highway, Lula, Georgia 30554 located 10 miles north of Gainesville, Georgia on Hwy 365 between Mile Marker 31 and 32. We have a large parking lot at our facility where you can park your vehicle for the duration of your trip. The parking lot is locked each evening. Our Tour Depot is only staffed when there is a tour departure/arrival. Daniel’s Discovery Tours is not responsible for any damage occurring to vehicles in the parking lot.
LUGGAGE
Checked Luggage – Each person is allowed one (1) checked bag. This bag will be placed under the motorcoach. On the morning of departure, you will be given a Daniel’s Discovery Tours (DDT) luggage tag at check-in, and you will need to put it on the top handle of your checked luggage before it is loaded on the coach. Daniel’s Discovery Tours is not responsible or liable for damaged luggage or its contents.
Carry-on Luggage – You may also bring a purse and/or a small carry-on bag. There is limited space inside the coach for carry-ons. If you are not going to need the bag while traveling you may place the bag in a designated storage bay under the coach and you will be responsible for handling that bag throughout the tour. You will not put a Discovery Tours tag on carry-ons, but make sure you identify your carry-on with your name on it so it is not confused with other traveler’s bags.
TOUR INCLUSIONS
Your tour package includes the over-the-road transportation, hotel accommodations (based on double occupancy), the planned attractions, and the meals that are outlined as “included” in your final tour documents. A gratuity for your motorcoach driver and your Daniel’s Tour Manager is NOT included, but it is customary and at your discretion. Customary industry standard gratuities are $4 per person/ per day for your Driver, and $4 per person/per day for your Tour Manager. Each traveler, including those traveling at the “single” rate, are entitled to ONE single seat on the motorcoach. Those traveling at the “double” rate can expect either 1 or 2 beds in a room. Those traveling at the “triple” and/or “quad” rate can expect two beds in a room; many hotels do not allow roll-away beds, so two beds is generally the maximum allowed. We make every effort to accommodate room configuration requests, but requests are based on availability at the properties we use. Room configuration requests should be made at least 4 weeks in advance of the tour date. Tour inclusions can change without notice due to situations beyond our control; we reserve the right to replace inclusions of similar value if this occurs. Our motorcoach tours are designed with senior adults in mind, children must be over the age of 13 to participate in published tours.
FLY/DRIVE TOURS
Fly/Drive Tours require participants to navigate large airports where walking may be extensive between airport gates, to/from baggage handling areas, and to airport entrances and exits. Wheelchair assistance is available inside airports, let us know by the final payment date or as soon as you have the need if you would like for us to set up wheelchair assistance to help you navigate airports. Let us know by the final payment date if you will be traveling with any assistive devices such as a mobility scooter so we can make arrangements with the airline. Participants are responsible for assuring their luggage and contents meet the regulations of the airline. Participants are required to check-in their own luggage at the airport and pay all airline luggage fees. We suggest you pack light and use wheeled luggage for easier handling in airports. Flight schedules may require early and/or late departures and arrivals. Group Airline Tickets are “Economy” Class seats, those seats are not upgradeable, and airlines control all seat assignments. If you want a seat upgrade, you can contact our office about securing your own Airline Ticket and lining up your own Airport Transportation to the Gateway Hotel to meet a Fly/Drive Tour.
WHAT IS THE PAYMENT PROCESS?
Deposits are due within 10 days of making a reservation and can be made by check, cash or credit card. Final Payment is due 45 days prior to the trip departure date and is due by check or cash. Final payments made by credit card will be accessed a credit card convenience fee. Fly Out Tours, tours offered in affiliation with third parties and cruises have different payment and cancellation terms than a Daniel’s Discovery Tour motorcoach tour, call us about the payment terms that apply to your tour.
CANCELLATIONS
In general, for multi-day Daniel’s Discovery Tours Motorcoach Tours, deposits are refundable up to 45 days prior to departure. Cancellations between 31-45 days receive a refund less the deposit. No refunds for cancellations within 30 days of departure. Daniel’s provides Cancellation Waiver that may be purchased by the final payment date. A traveler who purchases Cancellation Waiver will receive reimbursement of trip payments for cancellations due to sickness, injury or death of the traveler, a close family member or the traveling companion staying in the same room. Sickness or injury must be of a disabling nature as to reasonably cause a trip to be cancelled. A Doctor may be required to sign a statement for cancellations due to the onset of sickness. For trips that are interrupted due to the unforeseen events as described above, reimbursement for the unused portion of the trip will be made. There is no reimbursement for expenses incurred by the traveler as a result of trip interruption. There is no Medical Expense Benefit. If traveling outside of the U.S., check your personal health insurance policy for coverage of medical services incurred outside of the U.S.A. Ask us about Trip Cancellation Insurance that includes a Medical Expense Benefit that can be purchased separately. Fly/Drive Tours, Cruises, and Tours offered in conjunction with third-party providers have separate cancellation policies and have separate insurance policies available for purchase. It is the responsibility of the Traveler to fully investigate and understand the Cancellation and Refund Policy of their particular tour. Contact our office for more information about the Cancellation Policy, Cancellation Waiver and/or Cancellation Insurance that pertains to your trip. Cancellation Waiver and Cancellation Insurance fees are non-refundable. No refunds are given on Day Trips.
SNACKS & DRINKS
You are welcome to eat on the coach; however, we must all help keep our coach clean. Trash bags are available on the coach, please use them to deposit your trash. Discovery Tours provides bottled water, a variety of soft drinks, and snacks at stops. At Discovery Tours, these items are complimentary & included in your tour.
CELL PHONE AND MOBILE DEVICE COURTESY
While on tour we ask our travelers to be courteous in their use of cell phones, and while on the coach limit calls to urgent or emergency calls only. Place your ringer on silent or “low” while traveling on the motorcoach so as to not disturb others. When we have a step-on guide or when we are watching a DVD or while your Tour Host or driver are giving instructions please do not talk on your phone or to others around you. Please limit casual conversations to our rest stops. If you listen to a podcast or watch a show on your mobile device while on the coach, you must use earphones that connect to your device so other travelers are not disturbed.
SEAT ROTATION
To be fair to every traveler we will rotate seats during the tour. Your tour host will explain the procedure on the first day of the tour. You may choose to opt out of the rotation by selecting a seat toward the back of the coach. The front seats are reserved for the Tour Managers.
MEALS
Meals included on your tour are listed in the Tour Guide. On a Discovery Tour some meals are included that are unique to the area and contribute to the total tour experience, and some meals are included for convenience and to help the tour stay on schedule. We will make some meal stops where you will be “on your own” to pay for your meal. When a meal is considered “included” that means the meal gratuity is also included.
MOTORCOACH RESTROOM FACILITIES
Discovery Tours schedules frequent stops during motorcoach travel, approximately every 2 hours. Our modern motorcoach is restroom equipped and we make every effort to keep it clean and odor free. We ask you to help us with that by using the coach restroom only for those emergency times between stops.
SMOKING/STRONG PERFUME
A Discovery Tour is a smoke free environment. We ask smokers to never smoke on the coach or in the hotel room. (Unless you have been assigned a SMOKING room.) If you smoke in a non-smoking room the hotel can impose fines. Any fines and cleaning fees will be passed along to the traveler. Also, we ask smokers to be courteous and not smoke at or near the entrance of the coach. The coach is a “closed environment,” and often strong perfume can make fellow travelers uncomfortable. We encourage everyone to be fresh and clean, but please refrain from strong perfumes and colognes.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ASSISTANCE
Our tours are designed with senior adults in mind; however, moderate walking can be expected on all tours. For your own pleasure, a person planning to travel by motorcoach should be in reasonably good health. It is the policy of Daniel’s Discovery Tours to comply with the Americans with Disability Act. We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate the special needs of travelers. Persons requiring any form of personal assistance beyond entering and exiting the motorcoach should be accompanied by a companion (paying passenger) who will be responsible for providing such assistance. DDT and its staff are unable to provide designated individual personal assistance to travelers with special needs for walking or other routine personal activities. Notify us of any disability requiring special attention or any dietary restrictions, handicapped accessible room needs, or if accommodations are required on the coach for assistive devices (such as oxygen, wheelchairs or scooters) at the time of final payment. We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate assistive devices as space on the motorcoach allows. We will extend requests to third-party providers to accommodate special needs. Moderate walking can be expected on ALL tours at times to reach attractions or restaurants. Travelers are not permitted to stay on the motorcoach when it is to be parked and locked for any length of time, so passengers must be prepared to disembark from the coach at stops. Some tours require extensive walking and climbing stairs due to the nature of the area being toured. We suggest you contact our office if you are concerned about the amount of walking on a tour and we will be glad to provide more specific details about the physical activity involved on a particular tour.
SERVICE DOGS
Even though dogs can be considered part of the family, only service animals are allowed on a Daniel’s Discovery Tour. Service animals are defined by the ADA as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. A doctor’s letter does not qualify an animal as a service animal. We may ask you if the dog is a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.
The service animal is the owner’s responsibility and must be under control using a leash or harness at all times. The service animal cannot obstruct passageways, or use a seat, it is required to travel in the owner’s assigned space, such as in their lap or at their feet. We reserve the right to remove the service animal from the tour if it is aggressive or poses a threat to the health of other passengers or personnel. Any damage or clean up required is the responsibility of the owner of the service animal. Please advise Daniel’s Discovery Tours at the time of booking of any individual(s) with a disability that may require specific assistance so we can best assist those needs. It is the policy of Daniel’s Discovery Tours to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
PROPER IDENTIFICATION
Travelers should carry proper I.D. at all times when traveling. Passports are required for travel outside of the U.S. Obtaining a valid Passport and/or additional required travel documents is the responsibility of the traveler. There are no refunds and tours will not deviate due to a traveler’s invalid or improper Passport or travel documentation or in the event the traveler is not authorized or permitted to enter a country on the tour itinerary. There are no tour refunds due to a traveler’s inability to obtain required travel documents timely.
HEALTH AND OTHER HAZARDS
You agree that it is your personal decision to travel, and you are doing so with full knowledge that risks can be associated with travel. We assume no responsibility for and shall not be liable for risks that arise from unsafe conditions or health hazards. We have no special knowledge of dangers or risks during travel or at destinations.
PROHIBITED ITEMS
Possession of weapons of any type is not permitted on a Daniel’s Discovery Tour. Firearms, explosives, fireworks, and illegal substances are not permitted in baggage or on the traveler. DDT travels through different states on many tours and individual weapons permits may not be transferrable between those states. LEAVE POCKETKNIVES AT HOME, YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO A SECURITY CHECK AT ENTRY TO SOME VENUES.
RESPONSIBILITY
As a Tour Operator, Daniel’s Discovery Tours (DDT) contracts through independent third-party travel suppliers including, but not limited to, those that provide transportation, attractions, venues, restaurants, and hotel suppliers, etc. Daniel’s Discovery Tours does not maintain control over the travel suppliers it contracts and assumes no responsibility for and cannot be held liable for any personal injury, death, property damage or other loss, accident, delay, inconvenience, or irregularity which may be occasioned by reason of (1) any wrongful, negligent, willful or unauthorized acts or omissions on the part of any of the suppliers or other employees or agents, (2) any defect in or failure of any vehicle, equipment, or instrument owned, operated or otherwise used by any of these suppliers, or (3) any wrongful, willful or negligent act or omission on the part of any other party. Without limiting the foregoing, Daniel’s Discovery Tours accepts no responsibility for any risk or resulting injury, criminal activity, kidnapping & ransom, weather or other acts of God, accidents, disease, epidemics, pandemics, or the threat thereof, illness, the provision of inappropriate or no medical attention or access to appropriate medical attention, the demands of indoor or outdoor activities, strikes, political or civil unrest, overbooking, structural or other defective conditions in hotels or other lodging facilities, acts of terrorism or the threat thereof, insurrection or revolt, contracted illnesses, high altitude sickness, water levels rising or dropping that restrict passage by vessels, cancelled or delayed flights or other transportation delays, lost luggage, or attack by wild animals when visiting destinations where they are present. Daniel’s Discovery Tours has no special knowledge of dangers that exist at destinations it visits or at any event beyond its direct control.
Group travel requires that each traveler take responsibility for conducting themselves in a manner that is not offensive or disruptive to other travelers. Daniel’s Discovery Tours reserves the right to ask any participant to leave the tour at their own expense if we determine the Traveler(s) is offensive or disruptive in the group setting.
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF TRAVEL SUPPLIERS
We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of travel suppliers or their failure to adhere to their own schedules, provide services or refunds, financial default, or failure to honor future trip credits. We have no special knowledge regarding the financial condition of travel suppliers.
RELEASE
You assume all of the risks and dangers of participating in a tour initiated by Daniel’s Discovery Tour, and you expressly agree to forever release, discharge and hold Daniel’s Discovery Tours, and its agents, employees, officers, directors, associates, affiliated companies, guides, group leaders, and subcontractors harmless against any and all liability, actions, causes of actions, suits, claims, and demands of any and every kind and nature whatsoever which you now have or which may hereafter arise out of or in connection with these risks and dangers. You agree to present any claims against us within 30 days after your tour ends and to file suit within one year of the incident, and you acknowledge that this expressly limits the applicable statute of limitations to one year. You agree that the courts in Rabun County, Georgia will be the exclusive jurisdiction for all claims brought by you or us, and you hereby submit to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.