THIS IS AN IMPORTANT AND LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY.
The Terms of Use set forth herein (the 'Terms') govern your access to and use of various websites, mobile application(s), kiosks and other digital platforms (together, the 'Digital Platforms') owned, operated, licensed or controlled by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., its subsidiaries, affiliates or joint ventures ('we', 'us', 'our' or the 'Company').
Supplemental terms of sale and terms of use (the 'Supplemental Terms') may apply to certain events, programmes, activities or promotions, and such Supplemental Terms may be disclosed to you separately. Any Supplemental Terms and conditions are in addition to these Terms and, in the event of a conflict, prevail over these terms.
BY CLICKING 'I ACCEPT', DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING OR OTHERWISE ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING all applicable laws and regulations (including export and re-export control laws), and the PRIVACY POLICY (TOGETHER, THE 'TERMS').
If you do not agree to the Terms, then you do not have our permission to use the Digital Platforms.
We reserve the right, at our discretion, to add, modify or delete any part of these Terms at any time. Please check these Terms periodically for changes. If you have provided us with your email address, we will notify you of any changes that are materially adverse to you by email. We may also notify you of non-material changes at our sole discretion. If you do not accept the updated Terms, you must contact us within 30-day of the notice of the change to close your account. Your keeping your account open or other continued use of the Digital Platforms constitutes your acceptance of the update. In addition, we may, at our sole discretion, require you to accept the updated Terms expressly in order to continue to use the Digital Platforms.
1. General Terms
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, are the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between you and the Company regarding your use of the Digital Platforms. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms at any time without notice or consent. The failure to require performance of any provision will not affect our right to require performance at any other time after that, nor will a waiver by us of any breach or default of these Terms, or any provision of these Terms, be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. Use of section headers in these Terms is for convenience only and will not have any impact on the interpretation of any provision. Throughout these Terms the use of the word 'including' means 'including but not limited to'. If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.
2. User Accounts and Registration
In order to use most aspects of the Digital Platforms, you must register for and maintain an active personal user account ('Account'). You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to obtain an Account. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18, you represent and warrant that you possess the legal consent of your parent or guardian to access and use the Digital Platforms.
Account registration requires you to submit to Company certain personal information, such as your name, address, mobile phone number and date of birth, among others. You agree to maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information in your Account. Your failure to maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date Account information, may result in your inability to access or use the Digital Platforms.
It is a condition of your use of the Digital Platforms that you provide user account registration details on behalf of yourself, and not others. Although you may assist others in creating their own accounts, you may not impersonate others on the Digital Platforms.
You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your Account, and you agree to maintain the security and secrecy of your Account username and password at all times. Unless otherwise permitted by the Company in writing, you may only possess one Account. You may not assign or otherwise transfer your Account to any other person or entity.
3. Mobile Network
When you access the Digital Platforms through a mobile network, your network or roaming provider’s messaging, data and other rates and fees will apply. Downloading, installing or using certain Digital Platforms may be prohibited or restricted by your network provider and not all Digital Platforms may work with your network provider or device.
4. Changes to the Digital Platforms
We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the Digital Platforms and any material we provide on the Digital Platforms, at our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if, for any reason, all or any part of Digital Platforms is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Digital Platforms, or all Digital Platforms, to users, including registered users.
You are responsible for making all the arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Digital Platforms (including but not limited to obtaining any necessary hardware and operating system software, or any Internet connectivity that may be required to access the Digital Platforms).
5. Location-based Services
Some of the features of the Digital Platforms may enable the Company to access your location in order to tailor your experience with the Digital Platform(s) based on your location ('Location-based Services'). In order to use certain Location-based Services, you must enable certain features of your hardware (e.g. your mobile phone), which enable the Company to identify your location through a variety of means, which may include IP address, mobile-phone tower location, geo-fencing technology or detection by physical on-location Wi-Fi or Bluetooth sensors, as available. If you choose to disable any Location-based Services on your device, you may not be able to utilise certain features of the Digital Platforms. By enabling Location-based Services, you agree and acknowledge that: (i) device data we collect from you is directly relevant to your use of the Digital Platforms; (ii) we may provide Location-based Services related to and based on your then-current location; and (iii) we may use any such information collected in connection with provision of the Digital Platforms.
6. Guest to Guest Chat
Our Digital Platforms may make available to you, at no charge, a guest-to-guest chat functionality that will enable you to stay connected with friends and family while sailing (the 'Chat'). Please note G2G Chat functionality is available only while you are onboard one of our vessels, and only when you are connected to our Royal Wi-Fi.
Importantly, you will only be able to use G2G Chat to stay connected with others in your reservation and/or stateroom. We may, in later releases, provide with you the ability to stay connected with other guests onboard that are not in your travelling party.
We will only retain G2G Chat history for the duration of your voyage and we will purge all chat history once your voyage ends. Our Privacy Policy, and other applicable laws (including but not limited to the United States’ Stored Communications Act and the CLOUD Act) may apply with regard to the privacy of the content included in your G2G Chat communications.
You agree that you will not use G2G Chat to submit any material that you know to be false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening or invasive of another guest’s privacy. You agree not to use G2G Chat to transmit any content intended to incite or provoke violence.
To the extent you use G2G Chat to upload, submit, store, send or receive content, you retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content.
When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our G2G Chat, you give us a worldwide licence to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (i.e. adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works within our service), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. You represent and warrant that you have the necessary rights to grant us a licence for any content that you submit to G2G Chat.
The rights you grant in this licence are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting and improving our Digital Platforms.
7. Grant to You of a Limited Licence
The Digital Platforms and their entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof), are owned by the Company, its licensors or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
Unless otherwise expressly noted, nothing that you read or see on any Company Digital Platforms may be copied or used except as provided in these Terms and Conditions of Use or with the prior written approval of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on our Digital Platforms, except as follows:
· Your computer hardware or mobile device may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials;
· You may store files that are automatically cached by your web browser for display enhancement purposes;
· You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages of the Digital Platforms for your own personal, non-commercial use and not for further reproduction, publication or distribution; and
· You may download a single copy of any mobile application provided by the Company to your mobile device solely for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user licence agreement for any such application(s).
This grant of permission is not a transfer of title, and under this permission you may not:
· Modify copies of any materials from the Digital Platforms;
· Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from the accompanying text;
· Use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);
· Remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or
· Transfer the materials to another person or 'mirror' the materials on any other server.
If you print, copy, modify, download or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Digital Platforms in breach of the Terms of Use, your right to use the Digital Platforms will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title or interest in or to the Digital Platforms or any content on the Digital Platforms is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by the Company. Any use of the Digital Platforms not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.
We make no warranties or representations to you that your use of any materials displayed on a Company Digital Platforms will not infringe the rights of third parties.
8. Digital Key
On some of our vessels, you may be able to use our mobile application to open doors that you would otherwise access with a regular key (the 'Digital Key'). For example, you may be able to use a Digital Key to open the door to your stateroom, a lounge, the gym or certain other parts of the vessels. You will need to opt-in to use this Digital Key functionality on our mobile applications. You may use a standard key with (or in place of) your Digital Key.
As long as you comply with these Terms, we will provide you with a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable and non-transferable licence to use the Digital Key provided to you. You use of Digital Key is limited to your guest account. You may use your digital key on any mobile device, as long as you are logged in to our mobile application using your guest account. You may use the Digital Key to unlock only those doors we authorise you to access. Your access privileges are to be determined by us, at our sole discretion and may be suspended, revoked or terminated at any time with or without notice to you.
Your use of the Digital Key is further conditioned on your agreement to maintain your mobile phone or device (and the Digital Key thereon) secured and its contents confidential. You further agree that you will not allow a third party or another person to use your Digital Key.
9. Open-Source Software
The Digital Platforms may include or incorporate third-party software components that are generally available free of charge under licences granting recipients broad rights to copy, modify and distribute such components ('Open-Source Components'). Although the Digital Platforms are provided to you subject to these Terms, nothing in these Terms prevents, restricts or is intended to prevent or restrict you from obtaining such Open Source Components under the applicable third-party licences or to limit your use of such Open-Source Components thereunder.
10. Term, Termination of this Agreement
a. Term: These Terms are effective beginning when you accept the Terms or download, install, access or use the Digital Platforms, and ending when terminated as set for in Section 11.b.
b. Termination: If you violate any provision of these Terms, your account and these Terms automatically terminate. In addition, the Company may, at its sole discretion, terminate these Terms or your account on the Digital Platforms, or suspend or terminate your access to the Digital Platforms at any time for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. You may terminate these Terms at any time by contacting the customer service call centre. If you terminate these Terms, the Company reserves the right to terminate your account.
c. Effect of Termination: Upon termination of these Terms: (i) your licence rights will terminate and you must immediately cease all use of the Digital Platforms; and (ii) you will no longer have access to your account.
11. Feedback
If you choose to provide input and suggestions regarding problems with or proposed modifications or improvements to the Digital Platforms (“Feedback”), then you hereby grant the Company an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free right to exploit the Feedback in any manner and for any purpose, including to improve the Digital Platforms and create other products and services.
12. Copyrights
Unless otherwise expressly noted, all materials, including images, illustrations, designs, icons and photographs appearing anywhere on the Digital Platforms are protected by worldwide copyright laws and treaty provisions.
None of the materials may be copied, reproduced, displayed, modified, published, uploaded, posted, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means other than as described in the Linking Policy section or with the Company’s prior written permission. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Any unauthorised use of the materials appearing on the Digital Platforms may violate copyright, trademark and other applicable laws and could result in criminal or civil penalties.
United States Government licence rights, if any, in the materials appearing on the Digital Platforms are limited to those mandatory rights identified in ARS 252.227-7015(b) and all other applicable laws and regulations. All other use is prohibited without the prior written approval of the Company. Use of any of the materials appearing on the Digital Platforms by the Government constitutes acknowledgment and acceptance of the Company's proprietary rights in the materials.
13. Trademarks
The Company’s name(s), the Company’s logo(s) and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are trademarks of the Company or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on this Digital Platforms are the trademarks of their respective owners.
No licence or right is granted by implication, estoppel or any other means to use any Trademark appearing on the Digital Platforms.
Any use of the Company’s Trademark or linking the Digital Platforms must follow the terms set out in the Linking Policy section. If you are unsure whether a trademark, service mark, logo or graphic is the property of the Company, or if you have any questions about the use of the Company’s Trademarks, please contact us. The Company aggressively enforces its intellectual property rights and will actively seek the recovery of any fees, costs and damages it may incur preventing the misuse or misappropriation of its intellectual property.
14. Linking Policy Generally
You may link to any part of the Digital Platforms, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part without our express written consent.
If the Digital Platforms contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party Digital Platforms linked to this Digital Platforms, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such Digital Platforms.
15. Linking Policy for Travel Agents
The Company encourages links to its Digital Platforms by bona fide travel agents. Any such links to Digital Platforms must comply this Linking Policy.
Unless the Company provides the travel agent with prior authorisation, in writing, any link to Digital Platforms must use or include a Company trademark. The Company grants travel agents a limited licence to use these logos for the specific purpose of creating and use such a link, but this limited licence does not transfer title in any trademark(s). The Company trademark(s) may only be used as an active link to the appropriate Digital Platforms.
Travel agents may not use the Company trademark(s) to imply that any portion of the Company has sponsored or endorsed a travel agent Digital Platforms without receiving the prior written permission of the Company.
Further, travel agents may not alter Company trademark(s) in any way, including proportions or colours, and may not animate or morph the Company trademark(s) to change their appearance.
Travel agents may also not use the Company trademark(s) on any Digital Platforms which, at the Company's sole discretion, disparages the Company or its affiliates, or their respective products or services.
Company trademark(s) may only be used on Digital Platforms which, at the Company's sole discretion, make accurate references to the Company and its products and/or services. The Company trademark(s) must be placed on the same page as the reference to the Company and as close to any such reference as feasible.
Any link to a Company Digital Platforms must only be to that site's home page. No 'deep linking' to other pages on a Company Digital Platforms is permitted without the Company's prior written consent.
The Company may, at its sole discretion, terminate a travel agent’s right to use Company trademark(s) at any time. The Company may take action against any use of the Company trademark(s) that does not conform to these policies or that infringes any right held by the Company and will actively seek the recovery of any costs it may incur preventing any such misuse or damages that may result from such misuse.
16. Other Prohibited Uses
You may use the Digital Platforms only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Digital Platforms:
• In any way that violates any applicable US federal, state, local or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
• For the purpose of exploiting, harming or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information or otherwise.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material without our prior written consent, including any 'junk mail', 'chain letter' or 'spam' or any other similar solicitation.
• To impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company, a Company employee, another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using email addresses or screen names associated with any of the foregoing).
• To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Digital Platforms, or which, as determined by us, may harm the Company or users of the Digital Platforms or expose them to liability.
Additionally, you agree not to:
• Use the Digital Platforms in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Digital Platforms, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Digital Platforms.
• Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the Digital Platforms for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Digital Platforms.
• Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Digital Platforms or for any other unauthorised purpose without our prior written consent.
• Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Digital Platforms.
• Introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any parts of the Digital Platforms, the server on which the Digital Platforms are stored, or any server, computer or database connected to the Digital Platforms.
• Attack the Digital Platforms via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
• Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Digital Platforms.
17. Reliance on Information Posted
The information presented on or through the Digital Platforms is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Digital Platforms, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
We may update the content on this Digital Platforms from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material on the Digital Platforms may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.
18. Purchases
All purchases through the Digital Platforms or other transactions for the sale of goods, or services or information formed through the Digital Platforms or as a result of visits made by you may be governed by separate terms of sale and terms of use. Separate terms may be provided through the Digital Platforms, onboard our vessels, or via a separate channel (i.e. a port agent, prior to boarding).
We reserve the right to refuse or cancel any order prior to delivery. Some situations that may result in your order being cancelled include system or typographical errors, inaccuracies in product or pricing information or product availability, fairness among customers where supplies are limited, or problems identified by our credit or fraud departments. We also may require additional verification or information before accepting an order. We will contact you if any portion of your order is cancelled or if additional information is required to accept your order.
When you provide payment information in connection with a purchase on the Digital Platforms, you represent and warrant that the information is accurate, that you are authorised to use the payment method provided, and that you will notify us of changes to the payment information.
We may revise the pricing for products and services we offer. When you place your order, we may estimate the tax and include that estimate in the total for your convenience. The actual tax amount that will be applied to your order and charged to your payment method may differ from the estimate provided.
19. Onboard Expense Account and Credit Card Charges
We require credit card information in order to set up an expense account for sailing guests (the 'Onboard Expense Account'). You may set up an Onboard Expense Account for you, your travelling party; or you may set up an Onboard Expense Account for sailing guest(s) even though you may not be part of a voyage.
More than one guest may use the same Onboard Expense Account. For example, you and all others in your stateroom may charge onboard purchases to the same Onboard Expense Account. By including other guests in your Onboard Expense Account, you (a) authorise them to sign on behalf of the Onboard Expense Account and (b) authorise their purchases to be charged to your Onboard Expense Account and the credit card associated with it.
Prior to sailing, your Onboard Expense Account and the credit card associated with your Onboard Expense Account will not reflect any charges or authorisations.
By providing us credit card account information you certify you are the named cardholder and you authorise us to charge the credit card account you provide for any outstanding balance on the Onboard Expense Account prior to the end of your voyage. You further agree to be personally liable for any outstanding balance disputed by the credit card issuer.
Alternatively, in the event that you are not the named cardholder, you certify you (a) are an adult with full legal authority to enter into a contract on behalf of the named cardholder, and (b) have received authorisation from the named cardholder for us to charge the credit card account you provide for any outstanding balance on the Onboard Expense Account prior to the end of your voyage. You further affirm that the named cardholder has had an opportunity to read these Terms, and that they understand and accept all these Terms. You further agree to be personally liable for any outstanding balance disputed by the named cardholder.
20. Vessel Operator
Sailings may be operated by the Company, or its affiliates. See your passenger ticket contract for the identity of the specific operator/carrier for your sailing.
21. Non-refundable Deposit Programme
A booking made under the non-refundable deposit cruise fare rate (an 'NRD Booking') requires the payment of a non-refundable deposit at the time of booking. The deposit is not refundable at any time after it has been paid. Payment of the full non-refundable deposit and the full name for each guest is required at the time of booking. Deposits made toward Guarantees and Grand Suites and higher categories are non-refundable and subject to NRD Booking terms.
Each time the guest changes the ship or sail date of an NRD Booking prior to the final payment due date, payments made towards the NRD Booking will be applied to the balance of the modified booking and a $100 USD per person service fee will be charged to the modified booking.
This offer is available exclusively to residents of United States and Canada. Prices are subject to availability, subject to change without notice, capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. The Company reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice.
22. Disclaimers; No Warranties
The Company has used reasonable efforts in collecting, preparing and providing quality information and material, but does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or currency of the information contained in or linked to the Digital Platforms. We assume no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of any Company Digital Platforms. The Company is not responsible for pricing, typographical or other errors and reserves the right to cancel without liability any bookings made at erroneous rates.
While the Company may make changes to the information in Digital Platforms or to any Company service or product at any time without notice, the Company makes no commitment to update the information on the Digital Platforms.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE AND ALL MATERIALS AND CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' AND ON AN 'AS AVAILABLE' BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, COMPANY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE SERVICE AND ALL MATERIALS AND CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, INCLUDING: (I) ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT OR NON-INFRINGEMENT; AND (II) ANY WARRANTY ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE OR ANY PORTION OF OR THE SERVICE, OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT OFFERED THROUGH THE SERVICE, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR FREE OF ERRORS, VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, AND DO NOT WARRANT THAT ANY OF THOSE ISSUES WILL BE CORRECTED.
THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE DIGITAL PLATFORMS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY COMPANY DIGITAL PLATFORMS OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKES THE DIGITAL PLATFORMS AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM THE SERVICE OR COMPANY ENTITIES OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY REGARDING ANY OF THE COMPANY ENTITIES OR THE SERVICE THAT IS NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO THE SERVICE AND YOUR DEALING WITH ANY OTHER SERVICE USER. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU USE THE SERVICE, AND ACCESS, DOWNLOAD OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN MATERIALS OR CONTENT THROUGH THE SERVICE AND ANY ASSOCIATED SITES OR SERVICES, AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND THAT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY (INCLUDING YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR MOBILE DEVICE(S) USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE), OR THE LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF THE MATERIALS OR CONTENT.
Applicable law may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you.
This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behaviour, negligence or under any other cause of action.
23. Limitation on Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY ENTITIES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSS) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF, OR YOUR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE, THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS OR CONTENT ON THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT ANY Company ENTITY HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE COMPANY ENTITIES TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF OR ANY INABILITY TO USE ANY PORTION OF THE SERVICE OR OTHERWISE UNDER THESE TERMS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, IS LIMITED TO US $100.
EACH PROVISION OF THESE TERMS THAT PROVIDES FOR A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES, OR EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES IS INTENDED TO AND DOES ALLOCATE THE RISKS BETWEEN THE PARTIES UNDER THESE TERMS. THIS ALLOCATION IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES. EACH OF THESE PROVISIONS IS SEVERABLE AND INDEPENDENT OF ALL OTHER PROVISIONS OF THESE TERMS. THE LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION WILL APPLY EVEN IF ANY LIMITED REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.
24. Indemnification
You are responsible for your use of the Digital Platforms, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you will defend and indemnify the Company and its officers, directors, employees, consultants, affiliates, subsidiaries and agents (together, the 'Company Entities') from and against every claim, liability, damage, loss and expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs ('Claims') brought by a third party arising out of or connected with: (a) your use of, or misuse of, the Digital Platforms not in compliance with these Terms; (b) your violation of any portion of these Terms, any representation, warranty or agreement referenced in these Terms, or any applicable law or regulation; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property right or publicity, confidentiality, other property or privacy right; or (d) any dispute or issue between you and any third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you (without limiting your indemnification obligations with respect to that matter), and in that case, you agree to cooperate with our defence of those Claims.
25. Governing Law
All matters relating to the Digital Platforms and these Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Florida or any other jurisdiction).
26. Forum Selection
Unless you and the Company agree otherwise, to the greatest extent permitted by US law, the state and federal courts in Florida will have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes (except for disputes brought in small claims court) that are not subject to arbitration or over any action involving the applicability or enforceability of the arbitration provision or any of its parts. You and the Company consent to the jurisdiction of those courts and waive any objections as to personal jurisdiction or venue in those courts, as well as any right to seek to transfer or change venue to another court.
27. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
Please read this arbitration provision carefully. It affects your and our rights if there is a dispute. It requires you and us to resolve most disputes in arbitration after first trying to work it out between you and us. Arbitration is less formal than a lawsuit in court and uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury. Discovery is more limited in arbitration than in court. Arbitrators can award the same individualised remedies that a court can award. And their rulings are legally binding, subject to very limited review by courts. Arbitration will take place on an individual basis. Class and representative proceedings are not allowed, and you and we cannot seek, and arbitrators cannot award, relief on behalf of others.
(a) Claims Subject to Arbitration: Except as specified in paragraph (b) below, any dispute or claim between you and us must be arbitrated. This agreement to arbitrate is intended to be broadly interpreted. It includes, but is not limited to:
· claims arising out of or relating to the Terms, the Digital Platform, purchases of goods or services, or any other aspect of the relationship between you and us, whether based in contract, tort, fraud, misrepresentation or any other statutory or common-law legal theory;
· claims that arose before this or any prior agreement between you and us (including, but not limited to, claims relating to advertising or disclosures for any of our products or services);
· claims for mental or emotional distress or injury not arising out of bodily injury;
· claims relating to the retention, protection, use or transfer of information about you or any of your accounts for any of our products or services;
· claims relating to communications with you, regardless of sender, concerning any of our products or services, including emails and automatically dialled calls and text messages; and
· claims that may arise after the termination of this Agreement.
In this arbitration provision only, references to 'we', 'us' and 'our' include our past, present and future parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, joint venturers, as well as our and each of those entities' agents, employees, predecessors, successors and assigns. In this arbitration provision only, references to 'you' and 'your' include all authorised or unauthorised users or beneficiaries of your account or use of the Digital Platforms, as well as your and each of those person's assignees, heirs, trustees, agents or other representatives. This arbitration agreement does not preclude you or us from bringing issues to the attention of US federal, state or local agencies. Such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against you or us on the other's behalf. By agreeing to arbitrate, you and we each waive the right to sue in court, to trial by jury, or to participate in a class or representative action. This agreement evidences a transaction in interstate commerce, and thus the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration provision. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of the Terms or any other contract between you and us.
(b) Claims Not Subject to Arbitration: You and we agree that the following disputes or claims cannot be arbitrated:
· claims arising from bodily injury or death;
· claims arising from alleged infringement of intellectual property rights;
· claims seeking only individualised relief asserted by you or us in small claims court, as long as the action remains in that court and is not removed or appealed to a court of general jurisdiction, in which case either party may elect arbitration;
· disputes over the scope and enforceability of this arbitration provision, whether a dispute or claim can or must be brought in arbitration, or whether paragraphs (d), (g), or (h) of this arbitration provision have been violated.
These exclusions from arbitration are intended to be interpreted narrowly.
(c) Pre-Arbitration Notice of Disputes and Informal Resolution: Before either you or we commence arbitration, the claimant must first send to the other a written Notice of Dispute ('Notice'). The Notice to us should be sent by US mail or a professional courier service to: Legal Department, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, Florida 33132 USA ('Notice Address'). The Notice to you will be sent to your address on file with your account or, if we do not. The Notice must include: (a) the claimant's name, mailing address, email address and phone number; (b) the account user name; (c) a description of the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (d) the specific relief sought. The Notice must be personally signed by you (if you are the claimant) or by our business representative (if we are the claimant). To safeguard your account, please be advised that we cannot disclose information about your account to anyone but you, unless you have provided us with signed, written permission to do so. Accordingly, if you have retained a lawyer to submit your Notice, please also provide signed written authorisation for us to discuss your account and share your account records with your lawyer.
After the Notice containing all of the information above is received, within 60 days, either party may request an individualised discussion (by telephone or videoconference) regarding settlement ('Informal Settlement Conference'). You and we must work together in good faith to select a mutually agreeable time during business hours for the Informal Settlement Conference (which can be after the 60-day period). You and our business representative must both personally participate in the Informal Settlement Conference, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Your and our lawyers (if any) also can participate.
Any applicable statute of limitations or contractual limitations periods will be tolled during the Informal Resolution Period, which is the period between the date that a fully complete Notice is received by the other party and the later of (i) 60 days later or (ii) the date an Informal Settlement Conference is completed, if timely requested.
(d) Commencing Arbitration: An arbitration proceeding cannot be commenced until after the Informal Resolution Period has ended. A court will have authority to enforce this paragraph (d), including the power to enjoin the filing or prosecution of arbitrations without first providing a fully complete Notice and participating in a timely requested Informal Settlement Conference. The court also may enjoin the assessment or collection of arbitration fees incurred as a result of such arbitrations. Furthermore, unless prohibited by applicable law, the arbitration provider shall not accept nor administer any arbitration unless the claimant has complied with the Notice and Informal Settlement Conference requirements of paragraph (c).
(e) Arbitration Procedure and Minimum Recovery: The arbitration will be governed by the Consumer Arbitration Rules ('AAA Rules') of the American Arbitration Association ('AAA'), as modified by this arbitration provision, and will be administered by the AAA. (If the AAA is unavailable or unwilling to administer arbitrations consistent with this arbitration provision, another arbitration provider shall be selected by the parties or by the court.) The AAA Rules are available online at www.adr.org or by writing to the Notice Address. As in court, you and we agree that any counsel representing someone in arbitration certifies that they will comply with the requirements of US Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b), including a certification that the claim or the relief sought is neither frivolous nor brought for an improper purpose. The arbitrator is authorised to impose any sanctions available under that rule, the AAA Rules, or applicable US federal or state law against all appropriate represented parties and counsel. The arbitrator may consider rulings in arbitrations involving different customers, but an arbitrator’s ruling is not binding in proceedings involving different customers. Except as provided in paragraph (g) below, the arbitrator shall apply the same substantive law that a court would apply and can award the same individualised remedies (including punitive and statutory damages and statutory lawyer's fees and costs) that a court could award under applicable law. Unless you and we agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county of your residence. The arbitrator may also conduct hearings telephonically, by videoconference, or decide matters based on papers submitted by the parties. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.
During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you are entitled. If you have complied with the requirements of this paragraph and the arbitrator awards you an amount of money that exceeds the value of our last written settlement to you before the appointment of the arbitrator, then we will pay you US $5,000 in lieu of any smaller award (the 'Minimum Recovery'). In determining whether you are entitled to the Minimum Recovery, the arbitrator shall not consider amounts offered or awarded for lawyers' fees or costs. Any disputes as to recovery of the Minimum Recovery shall be resolved by the arbitrator, and must be raised within 14 days of the arbitrator's ruling on the merits.
(f) Arbitration Fees: We will pay all AAA filing, administration, case-management, hearing and arbitrator fees ('AAA Fees') if we initiate an arbitration. If you initiate arbitration of claims valued at US $10,000 or less, we will pay all AAA Fees, so long as you have fully complied with the Notice and Informal Settlement Conference requirements in paragraph (c). In such cases, we will pay the filing fee directly to the AAA upon receiving a written request at the Notice Address that you have commenced arbitration or, if the AAA makes you pay the filing fee, we will send that amount to the AAA and request that the AAA reimburse you. If, however, the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief you seek is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all such fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. In such case, you agree to reimburse us for all monies previously disbursed that are otherwise your obligation to pay under the AAA Rules.
(g) Requirement of Individual Arbitration: The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favour of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim. YOU AND WE AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR OUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and we agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of more than one person and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative, class, or private attorney general proceeding. If, after exhaustion of all appeals, any of these prohibitions on non-individualised declaratory or injunctive relief; class, representative, and private attorney general proceedings; and consolidation are found to be unenforceable with respect to a particular claim or with respect to a particular request for relief (such as a request for injunctive relief), then that claim or request for relief shall be severed and decided by a court after all other claims and requests for relief are arbitrated.
(h) Coordinated Arbitrations: If 25 or more claimants submit Notices or seek to file arbitrations raising similar claims and are represented by the same or coordinated counsel (whether such cases are pursued simultaneously or not), all the cases must be resolved in staged proceedings. You agree to this process even though it may delay the arbitration of your claim. In the first stage, we and claimants’ counsel will each select up to 25 cases (50 cases total) to be filed in arbitration and resolved individually by different arbitrators. If feasible, the arbitrators will be from the respective claimants’ home states. In the meantime, no other cases may be filed or proceed in arbitration, and the AAA must not assess or demand payment of fees for the remaining cases or administer or accept them.
The arbitrators are encouraged to resolve the cases within 120 days of appointment or as swiftly as possible thereafter, consistent with fairness to the parties. After the first stage is completed, the parties must engage in a single mediation of all remaining cases, and we will pay the mediation fee. If the parties cannot agree how to resolve the remaining cases after mediation, they will repeat the process of selecting and filing up to 50 cases to be resolved individually by different arbitrators, followed by mediation.
If any claims remain after the second stage, the process will be repeated until all claims are resolved, with four differences. First, a total of 100 cases may be filed in the third and later stages. Second, the cases will be randomly selected. Third, arbitrators who decided cases in the first two stages may be appointed in later stages if different arbitrators are not available. Fourth, mediation is optional at the election of counsel for the claimants.
Between stages, counsel will meet and confer regarding ways to improve the efficiency of the staged proceedings, including whether to increase the number of cases filed in each stage. Either party may also negotiate with AAA regarding the amount or timing of AAA fees.
If this paragraph applies to a Notice, the Informal Resolution Period for the claims and relief set forth in that Notice will be extended (including the tolling of any applicable statute of limitations or contractual limitations period for the claims and requested relief) until that Notice is selected for a staged proceeding, withdrawn, or otherwise resolved. A court will have the authority to enforce this paragraph, including by enjoining the mass filing, the prosecution or administration of arbitrations, or the assessment or collection of AAA fees.
This paragraph and each of its requirements are intended to be severable from the rest of this arbitration provision. If, after exhaustion of all appeals, a court decides that the staging process in this paragraph is not enforceable, then the cases may be filed in arbitration and the payment of AAA filing, administration, case-management, hearing and arbitrator fees will be assessed as the arbitrations advance and arbitrators are appointed rather than when the arbitrations are initiated.
(i) Future Changes to Arbitration Provision: Notwithstanding any provision in the Terms to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make any future change to this arbitration provision (other than a change to the Notice Address), you may reject that change by sending us written notice within 30 days of the first notice of the change to the Notice Address provided above. To be effective, your rejection must include your name, postal address, email address, phone number, account user name (if any) and a statement personally signed by you that you wish to reject the change to the arbitration provision. By rejecting that future change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any dispute or claim between you and us in accordance with the language of this provision, as amended by any changes that you did not timely reject.
28. Limitation on Time to File Claims
ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE DIGITAL PLATFORMS MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES, OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.
29. Notice to California Residents
If you are a California resident, under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S-202, Sacramento, California 95834 USA, or by telephone on +1 (800) 952-5210 in order to resolve a complaint regarding the Digital Platforms or the Company or to receive further information regarding use of the Digital Platforms.
30. Consent to Electronic Communications
By using the Digital Platforms, you consent to receiving certain electronic communications from us as further described in our Privacy Policy. Please read our Privacy Policy to learn more about our electronic communications practices. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures, or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that those communications be in writing.
31. Notice Regarding Google, Inc. or Microsoft Corporation
If you access the Digital Platforms using an Android or Microsoft Windows-powered device, Google, Inc. or Microsoft Corporation, respectively, shall be a third-party beneficiary to this contract. However, these third-party beneficiaries are not a party to this contract and are not responsible for the provision or support of the Digital Platforms. You agree that your access to the Digital Platforms using these devices also shall be subject to the usage terms set forth in the applicable third-party beneficiary’s terms of service.
32. Notice Regarding PTC, Inc.
Certain of our Digital Platforms may use software owned or developed by PTC, Inc. ('PTC' and the 'PTC Software'). By using our Digital Platforms containing said software, you:
a. Consent to the collection, storage and use by PTC and its affiliates and service providers of Statistics and, if applicable, camera views from the PTC Software and the of statistics (and camera views if applicable) between PTC and its affiliates and service
providers (which may be in the United States or in other countries), in each case for the purposes of (a) providing the software, (b) facilitating the provision of new products, updates, enhancements and other services,
(c) improving the PTC Software, and other products, services and technologies and (c) providing
new products, services or technologies to customers of PTC or its affiliates;
b. Are advised of the hazards of using a camera-based application while walking, or otherwise by being distracted or disorientated from real-world situations;
c. Except as expressly authorised by this Agreement, you may not directly or through any third party or device
(a) use, display, reproduce, modify or create derivative works of the PTC Software; (b) distribute the PTC Software to a third party, in whole or in part; (c) attempt to derive the source code of the PTC Software; (d) use the PTC Software to develop or to modify products that are intended for commercial distribution by third parties;
(e) register any trademark, service mark, trade name, copyright or company name which is identical or confusingly similar to PTC’s or is a translation into other languages; (f) incorporate PTC’s logo or any other PTC trademark into product names, service names, company names, domain names or any other similar designations; (g) alter, obscure or delete any copyright notices and trademarks in the PTC Software; or (h) distribute, market, sublicense or resell the PTC Software on a standalone basis for standalone use.
33. Notice Regarding Apple, Inc.
This Section only applies to the extent you are using our mobile application(s) on an iOS device. You acknowledge that these Terms are between you and Company only, not with Apple Inc. ('Apple'), and Apple is not responsible for the Digital Platforms and the content thereof. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the Digital Platforms. In the event of any failure of the Digital Platforms to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund any applicable purchase price for the mobile application to you; and, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the Digital Platforms. Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the Digital Platforms or your possession and/or use of the Digital Platforms, including: (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the Digital Platforms fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection or similar legislation. Apple is not responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of any third-party claim that the Digital Platforms and/or your possession and use of the Digital Platforms infringe third party's intellectual property rights. You agree to comply with any applicable third-party terms when using the Digital Platforms. Apple and Apple's subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary of these Terms. You hereby represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a US Government embargo, or that has been designated by the US Government as a 'terrorist supporting' country; and (ii) you are not listed on any US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
34. Waiver and Severability
No waiver of by the Company of any term or condition set forth in these Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of the Company to assert a right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.
35. Entire Agreement
The Terms of Use constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and the Company with respect to the Digital Platforms and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Digital Platforms.