Terms & Conditions

1 Bookings & confirmation

Your booking is confirmed once payment has been successfully verified. Bookings under R1000 may be paid online through PayFast, and payment is verified automatically through PayFast. Bookings of R1000 or more must be paid by ABSA EFT and are verified manually by our admin team — EFT payments can take up to 24 hours to confirm. Tickets are only provided or released after payment is verified — a booking is not treated as fully confirmed, and no QR tickets exist for it, until then. While you complete a PayFast payment your seats are temporarily held; if payment is not completed, the hold is released and the seats become available again. EFT bookings stay reserved while awaiting verification.

Once payment is verified, an electronic QR ticket is issued for every guest in a single PDF. Each guest must present their own QR code at boarding. Children are regarded as guests under the age of 18 and count towards the guest total. Availability is checked before the booking is accepted.

Private events still require tickets. Even if you book the whole yacht for a private event, every guest must still have a ticket or be included on the private-event guest list, and each guest must be issued or linked to a valid private-event ticket for boarding and check-in (see section 4).

You must be 18 or older to make a booking and are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide, including guest numbers and contact details.

2 Fixed one-hour cruise times

Every Versace Yacht cruise lasts exactly one hour, with a 30-minute turnaround between sailings. Cruises depart every day at 08:00, 09:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00, 15:30 and 17:00 (Africa/Johannesburg time); the last cruise returns at 18:00. The end time of each cruise is always exactly one hour after its start time. Start and end times are fixed for online bookings and cannot be changed during the online process — custom durations are not available.

Each cruise carries up to 67 guests in total, including skipper, crew and safety equipment. A cruise that has reached capacity shows as “Fully booked”, and a slot reserved for a private event shows as “Private event” — neither can be reserved online.

3 Pricing & payment

Every one-hour shared cruise is priced per person: R160 per adult and R80 per child (children are guests under 18 — exactly half the adult rate). The total price of a shared-cruise booking is always (adults × R160) + (children × R80); prices are never entered manually and no deposit is charged. All amounts are in South African Rand (ZAR) and include applicable taxes unless stated.

How you pay

• Bookings under R1000 may be paid online through PayFast. Payment is verified automatically through PayFast and your QR tickets are released the moment it confirms.
• Bookings of R1000 or more must be paid by ABSA EFT. Please use your booking reference as the payment reference. EFT payments can take up to 24 hours to confirm. Your booking is only confirmed and tickets are only released after payment has been verified by admin.
• Tickets are only released after payment is verified — automatically by PayFast for PayFast payments, and manually by our admin team for ABSA EFT payments.
• The ABSA banking details are shown at checkout after you complete your booking (and email address) and are also available on your booking status page.

Private events are priced separately (see section 4) and are paid by ABSA EFT using your booking reference; any add-ons selected during booking retain the prices shown.

4 Private events

A private event reserves the entire yacht exclusively: either one cruise slot (1 hour) or two consecutive slots (2 hours on the water, spanning the turnaround between them). A private event can only be booked into slots that are completely free — a slot with any existing guest booking cannot be taken as an event, and a 2-hour event additionally requires the following slot to be completely free.

Once a private event is confirmed, the reserved slot(s) are closed: no seat bookings can be made into them. Private events may include an occasion, special requests, event notes and optional add-ons.

Private events still require a guest list and tickets. Booking the whole yacht does not remove the ticket requirement: every private-event guest must appear on the event guest list and must be issued or linked to a valid private-event ticket (their own QR code) for boarding and check-in. The guest list can be finalised with our events team after booking, and the signature private-event tickets are released once the event payment has been confirmed.

Event payment is made by ABSA EFT using your booking reference as the payment reference. EFT payments can take up to 24 hours to confirm, and the event's tickets are only released after the payment has been verified by admin.

5 Changes & cancellations

By you

Cancellation and amendment terms are confirmed in writing when your charter is booked. Requests to change a date are subject to availability. Late cancellations and no-shows may forfeit some or all of the charter fee.

By us

In the rare event we must cancel for operational reasons within our control, you will be offered an alternative date or a refund of amounts paid for the affected charter.

6 Weather & sea conditions

Safety comes first. If the skipper or harbour authority determines that weather or sea conditions are unsafe, a charter may be shortened, delayed, re-routed or rescheduled. Where a sailing cannot proceed for safety reasons, we will offer a mutually agreeable alternative date or a refund for the affected charter. Decisions about safety are at the absolute discretion of the skipper.

7 Guest conduct & safety

• The skipper has full authority over the vessel; their safety instructions must be followed at all times.
• The lead guest is responsible for the conduct of their party and for any loss or damage they cause.
• Guests must not exceed the confirmed passenger number, bring prohibited or dangerous items aboard, or behave in a manner that endangers themselves or others.
• We may refuse boarding to, or remove, any guest who is intoxicated, abusive or unsafe, without refund.

8 Liability

Guests participate in the charter at their own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Xclusive Yachts is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss or damage arising from a guest's failure to follow safety instructions. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Our total liability for any charter shall not exceed the charter fee paid.

9 Privacy

We handle your personal information in line with our Privacy Policy and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). By submitting a booking you consent to being contacted about that booking.

10 Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and any disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the South African courts. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full effect.