Terms and Conditions

1. Definitions

2. What Elite Business Cruises Does

Elite Business Cruises creates and operates premium platforms for qualified nonprofits and companies.

For qualified nonprofits, the platform may combine present-day fundraising, supporter engagement, premium experiences, event programming, sponsorship, and a pathway toward long-term institutional strength.

For companies, services may include consulting, incentive design, personalized communication strategy, recognition systems, performance programs, recruiting support, retention strategy, events, and cruise-based experiences.

The scope of any specific relationship is determined by the applicable written agreement. Nothing on the website requires Elite Business Cruises to accept an organization, approve a participant, reserve inventory, provide a guarantee, or enter into an engagement.

3. Controlling Agreements and Order of Priority

Different documents may apply to different parts of a relationship. Unless a more specific agreement states otherwise, the following order generally applies:

1. A signed agreement between Elite Business Cruises and an organization;
2. Specific checkout terms or a participant agreement accepted for a purchase;
3. Applicable cruise-line or supplier terms for the services controlled by that provider;
4. These Terms;
5. General website descriptions and marketing materials.

A specific agreement controls only within its proper subject. For example, cruise-line terms control vessel and passenger-carriage matters, while Elite Business Cruises terms control its private programming, event access, participant purchase policy, and event-layer responsibilities.

4. Eligibility, Legal Capacity, and Authority

You may use the website and enter into a transaction only if you are legally capable of doing so. A person acting for an organization represents that the person has authority to submit information, approve terms, authorize payment, provide participant information, and bind the organization when applicable.

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information. Elite Business Cruises may reject, suspend, or cancel an inquiry, registration, purchase, or account if information is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, unauthorized, or reasonably appears fraudulent.

Participation may also be subject to age restrictions, cruise-line eligibility rules, identification requirements, health and safety rules, governmental restrictions, and event-specific qualifications.

5. Organizational Responsibilities

An organization working with Elite Business Cruises remains responsible for the responsibilities assigned to it in the applicable agreement, including accurate disclosure, internal approvals, legal review, brand approvals, leadership participation, authorized communications, and coordination with its own employees, advisers, sponsors, donors, or supporters.

Depending on the relationship, an organization may also be responsible for:

• providing accurate institutional and participant information;
• identifying authorized decision-makers;
• disclosing existing sponsorship agreements, exclusivities, category restrictions, event rights, and rights of first refusal;
• obtaining internal legal, financial, tax, employment, donor, or governance approvals;
• using only approved descriptions of the program and guarantee;
• cooperating with required communications and deadlines;
• protecting confidential information;
• avoiding unauthorized promises to purchasers or participants; and
• routing participant questions through the designated Elite Business Cruises service process.

Unless a written agreement expressly states otherwise, the organization does not have authority to alter participant purchase terms, approve refunds, authorize transfers, permit resale, promise credits, or create financial remedies on behalf of Elite Business Cruises.

6. Qualified Nonprofit Economic Guarantee

A qualified nonprofit may receive a guaranteed economic return only when that guarantee is expressly established in a separate written agreement executed by Elite Business Cruises and the nonprofit.

The existence, amount, timing, conditions, scope, and administration of a nonprofit guarantee are governed exclusively by that written agreement.

General website language does not independently create a guarantee, establish an amount, approve an organization, or replace the applicable written agreement.

The guarantee is an economic commitment. It is not a guarantee that:

• a particular number of people will purchase or attend;
• every supporter will respond favorably;
• every donor relationship will improve;
• a particular sponsorship amount will be generated;
• a specific emotional or reputational outcome will occur; or
• a regulated long-term financial product will produce a particular result.

Elite Business Cruises does not provide legal, tax, accounting, investment-product, insurance-product, or regulatory-compliance advice. Any regulated financial or insurance component must be documented and controlled by the appropriate qualified provider and evaluated by the nonprofit with its own advisers.

7. Participant Purchases Are Final and Binding

Personal inability to attend does not ordinarily create a right to a refund, credit, transfer, substitution, resale, replacement, future-event value, or other financial remedy.

Personal circumstances include, without limitation:

• schedule conflicts;
• employment changes;
• relationship or family changes;
• illness or injury;
• financial hardship;
• failure to obtain travel documents;
• transportation problems;
• missed flights or missed embarkation;
• fear of travel;
• dissatisfaction with changes permitted under these Terms;
• denial of boarding caused by participant ineligibility; or
• any other participant-specific reason.

Elite Business Cruises commits resources and makes economic decisions based on completed purchases. The purchaser assumes personal attendance risk rather than shifting that risk back to Elite Business Cruises or the participating nonprofit.

The participating nonprofit does not control the participant refund policy and should not be contacted or pressured for an exception.

8. No Unauthorized Transfers, Substitutions, Assignment, or Resale

Event Inventory is issued for approved purchasers and identified participants within a curated, limited-capacity environment. It is not an unrestricted public resale product.

You may not, without express written authorization from Elite Business Cruises:

• sell or advertise Event Inventory for resale;
• transfer Event Inventory to another person;
• substitute a different participant;
• assign a purchase to another organization;
• broker or distribute inventory independently;
• split connected inventory to avoid event rules;
• use multiple identities or accounts to avoid purchase limits; or
• attempt any other circumvention of participant controls.

A company, sponsor, donor, or other approved group purchaser does not become an independent ticket broker. Group inventory may be assigned only within the approved structure and remains subject to participant identification, payment, finality, no-resale, and no-unauthorized-substitution requirements.

Elite Business Cruises may cancel affected Event Inventory and connected inventory without refund when an unauthorized resale, transfer, assignment, substitution, or circumvention is attempted.

An unauthorized secondary purchaser receives no rights against Elite Business Cruises.

9. Identity, Payment, Participant, and Fraud Verification

Elite Business Cruises and its service providers may verify:

• the purchaser’s identity;
• the paying party;
• the payment method and billing information;
• the named participant;
• passenger information;
• government-issued identification;
• the individuals assigned to associated or connected inventory; and
• compliance with purchase and participation limits.

Elite Business Cruises may suspend, review, decline, or cancel a transaction when there is suspected fraud, unauthorized payment, false identity, mismatched purchaser and participant information, repeated failed payments, duplicate accounts, unusual purchasing patterns, suspected resale, or an attempt to avoid event controls.

A payment authorization or temporary payment approval does not make a transaction valid if the transaction remains under review.

False, misleading, incomplete, or inconsistent information may result in denied access or cancellation without refund, subject to applicable law and the controlling payment terms.

10. Payment Disputes and Chargebacks

A purchaser may not use a chargeback or payment dispute to obtain a refund that is prohibited by accepted purchase terms.

Elite Business Cruises may contest a chargeback when:

• the purchaser authorized the transaction;
• the applicable terms were accepted or disclosed;
• Event Inventory was delivered, reserved, or remained available;
• the complaint arises from personal cancellation, nonattendance, dissatisfaction, or a prohibited transfer request; or
• the payment dispute otherwise conflicts with the controlling agreement.

Elite Business Cruises may preserve and provide transaction records, term-acceptance records, confirmations, communications, participant records, service history, access records, and other relevant evidence to payment processors, financial institutions, insurers, counsel, or authorities.

Nothing in this section limits a purchaser’s lawful rights concerning genuinely unauthorized payment or rights that cannot legally be waived.

11. Pricing, Payment, Taxes, and Inventory

Prices, organizational payments, participant prices, sponsorship fees, deposits, due dates, taxes, processing fees, government charges, supplier charges, and other amounts are governed by the applicable proposal, agreement, invoice, checkout page, or purchase terms.

Unless expressly stated otherwise:

• participant purchases must be paid in full;
• no payment plan is available;
• inventory is not reserved until payment and required information are accepted;
• inventory remains subject to availability;
• an abandoned or incomplete checkout does not reserve inventory;
• failed or reversed payment may result in cancellation; and
• the purchaser is responsible for accurate billing information and authorized use of the payment method.

Ticket prices for a launched nonprofit event will not be reduced after launch under the governing nonprofit model. Elite Business Cruises may offer different inventory categories, packages, occupancy structures, benefits, or later-added options that are not identical to earlier inventory.

Elite Business Cruises may correct an obvious pricing, description, inventory, or technical error. When permitted by law, Elite Business Cruises may cancel an affected transaction and return the amount actually collected rather than provide incorrectly described or incorrectly priced inventory.

12. Cruise-Line and Supplier Authority

Cruise lines and other Suppliers are independent parties. Their services are governed by their own contracts, terms, conditions, passenger rules, schedules, fees, safety requirements, and operational decisions.

The Cruise Line controls matters involving the vessel and maritime operation, including:

• vessel operation;
• navigation;
• shipboard safety and security;
• medical and public-health procedures;
• boarding and denial of boarding;
• passenger conduct enforcement;
• cabins and ordinary ship services;
• dining operations;
• itinerary and port decisions;
• weather-related decisions;
• ship schedules;
• maritime emergencies; and
• other matters reserved to the carrier.

Elite Business Cruises controls its own event layer, subject to Cruise Line and Supplier authority. This may include private programming, credentials, event access, sponsor activation, institutional programming, speaker scheduling, private activities, participant communications, and other Elite Business Cruises-controlled features.

Elite Business Cruises cannot override a Cruise Line’s lawful safety, security, vessel, itinerary, passenger, or maritime decision.

Supplier personnel, travel coordinators, nonprofit employees, sales partners, or Cruise Line personnel do not have authority to alter Elite Business Cruises purchase terms or promise a refund, credit, transfer, substitution, resale approval, future-event value, or special financial remedy unless Elite Business Cruises has expressly granted that authority in writing.

13. Changes, Substitutions, Disruptions, and Force Majeure

Travel and live events involve circumstances that may change before or during performance. Elite Business Cruises may modify its programming, schedule, location, speaker lineup, activity, access structure, format, or other event-layer feature when reasonably necessary.

Cruise Lines and Suppliers may change or cancel itineraries, ports, arrival or departure times, vessels, cabins, transportation, venues, services, or operating procedures under their own authority.

A change does not automatically mean that the Event has failed or that a refund, credit, transfer, replacement sailing, rescheduled event, or other remedy is owed.

A major disruption may include:

• Cruise Line cancellation;
• inability to sail;
• government action;
• war, terrorism, civil disorder, or security threat;
• epidemic, pandemic, or public-health restriction;
• severe weather or natural disaster;
• labor disruption;
• transportation interruption;
• Supplier failure;
• cybersecurity or technology failure;
• utility interruption; or
• another event outside reasonable control.

The response to a major disruption will depend on the applicable agreements, Cruise Line and Supplier terms, insurance, available alternatives, recoverable funds, practical availability, and the actual circumstances.

Available options may or may not include modification, substitution, rescheduling, replacement capacity, or another operational response. No universal remedy is promised in advance.

Nothing in this section eliminates any right or remedy that applicable law prohibits the parties from waiving.

14. Travel Documents, Transportation, and Traveler Responsibilities

Each Participant is responsible for reviewing and satisfying all travel requirements, including:

• passport validity;
• visa and immigration requirements;
• government-issued identification;
• citizenship and residency requirements;
• health and vaccination documentation when applicable;
• age and guardian requirements;
• criminal-history or entry restrictions;
• airline and transportation arrangements;
• arrival before required embarkation deadlines; and
• all Cruise Line passenger-information deadlines.

Unless expressly included in writing, the Participant is responsible for transportation to and from the port, airfare, hotels, meals outside included services, baggage charges, parking, documentation costs, medical expenses, personal purchases, gratuities, excursions, and other incidental expenses.

Elite Business Cruises is not responsible for loss arising from invalid or missing documents, missed transportation, late arrival, denial of entry, denial of boarding, customs or immigration decisions, or Participant ineligibility.

15. Health, Safety, Medical Needs, and Accessibility

Participants are responsible for determining whether they are medically and physically able to travel and participate.

Medical, dietary, mobility, disability-related, accessibility, or other accommodation needs should be disclosed as early as possible through the designated process.

Elite Business Cruises may coordinate requests with the applicable Supplier but does not control the accessibility of every vessel, cabin, port, tender, excursion, venue, transportation provider, or activity.

Elite Business Cruises does not guarantee that every accommodation request can be fulfilled or that every component of an Event is appropriate for every Participant.

Participants must follow lawful health, safety, security, and conduct instructions issued by the Cruise Line, Elite Business Cruises, Suppliers, governmental authorities, or emergency personnel.

16. Optional Third-Party Travel Insurance

Optional third-party travel insurance may be available or recommended. Unless expressly stated in writing, insurance is not included in a purchase.

Elite Business Cruises is not an insurer, insurance producer, claims administrator, or guarantor of coverage.

The insurer and policy control:

• coverage;
• eligibility;
• exclusions;
• documentation requirements;
• claim interpretation;
• claim approval or denial; and
• benefit payment.

A Participant should review any policy carefully and direct coverage questions to the insurer or an appropriately licensed insurance professional.

17. Sponsors, Institutional Rights, and Event-Created Inventory

Elite Business Cruises retains ownership and strategic control of sponsorship inventory created by its Event platform unless a specific written agreement states otherwise.

A nonprofit or other institution must disclose existing sponsorship agreements, category exclusivities, protected rights, event restrictions, and rights of first refusal that may affect the Event.

Event-created sponsorship rights are not automatically the same as broader institutional, campus, stadium, arena, game-day, media, team, facility, or year-round rights.

A sponsor receives only the rights expressly granted in its applicable written agreement. No sponsor receives ownership, exclusivity, access, data, hospitality, inventory, renewal rights, or institutional rights by implication.

Revenue sharing, split sponsorship ownership, or transfer of the Elite Business Cruises sponsorship portfolio is not created by website language, informal discussion, or institutional participation.

18. Data, Privacy, Communications, and Technology

Elite Business Cruises may collect and process personal, organizational, transactional, participant, travel, event, payment, communication, and technical information as described in its Privacy Policy and applicable notices.

Information may be used as reasonably necessary to:

• respond to inquiries;
• evaluate organizational fit;
• create and administer agreements;
• process and verify transactions;
• register Participants;
• coordinate with Cruise Lines and Suppliers;
• deliver event access and programming;
• provide operational and safety communications;
• prevent fraud and unauthorized resale;
• support customer service;
• maintain records;
• protect legal rights;
• reconcile sponsorship and Event obligations; and
• comply with law.

Transactional and operational communications are part of the service and may be sent when reasonably necessary to administer an inquiry, purchase, registration, or Event.

Consent to optional future marketing should be obtained and managed separately where required by law. A person may opt out of optional marketing without preventing communications needed to administer an active transaction or Event.

The website may use cookies, analytics, pixels, customer-relationship-management tools, scheduling tools, embedded services, payment technology, and similar systems as described in the Privacy Policy and any applicable consent interface.

No internet transmission, database, or technology system can be guaranteed completely secure or continuously available.

19. Testimonials, Feedback, Media, and User Submissions

You represent that information, feedback, text, photographs, recordings, testimonials, logos, documents, or other material you submit is accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you have authority to provide it.

Submitting an inquiry, operational document, participant record, or private communication does not by itself grant Elite Business Cruises an unrestricted right to publish it publicly.

Public use of an organization’s name, logo, testimonial, identifiable image, or protected brand material is subject to:

• the applicable written agreement;
• any event-specific consent or release;
• brand-approval requirements;
• applicable law; and
• the rights of other parties appearing in the material.

General feedback and suggestions that do not contain confidential information or protected personal content may be used to improve Elite Business Cruises services without compensation or ownership being transferred to the person providing the feedback.

Event photography or recording rules may be provided separately. Participants must comply with restricted-area, speaker, performance, privacy, Cruise Line, and institutional rules.

20. Intellectual Property and Limited Website License

The Elite Business Cruises website, brand, logos, copy, designs, graphics, videos, frameworks, processes, methodologies, forms, presentations, event concepts, program structures, operating materials, downloads, and other content are owned by or licensed to Elite Business Cruises unless expressly stated otherwise.

Subject to these Terms, Elite Business Cruises grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the website and review materials for lawful personal, institutional, or internal business evaluation.

Without prior written permission, you may not:

• copy or republish substantial website content;
• sell, sublicense, or commercially distribute materials;
• create derivative commercial products;
• remove ownership or attribution notices;
• use Elite Business Cruises branding to imply authorization;
• copy internal methods for a competing service;
• scrape, harvest, or systematically extract content or data; or
• use materials in a misleading, unlawful, or infringing manner.

No license is granted to an organization’s trademarks, donor data, supporter lists, sponsor rights, or other third-party property.

21. Prohibited Uses and Conduct

You may not:

• use the website, platform, or Event for an unlawful purpose;
• misrepresent identity, authority, eligibility, affiliation, payment authorization, or Participant information;
• interfere with website, payment, registration, security, or Event systems;
• attempt unauthorized access to accounts, systems, communications, or data;
• upload malicious code or conduct automated abuse;
• harass, threaten, discriminate against, or endanger another person;
• violate Cruise Line, Supplier, venue, safety, or conduct rules;
• record or distribute restricted programming without authorization;
• infringe intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, contractual, or other rights;
• make unauthorized promises on behalf of Elite Business Cruises;
• misuse institutional, participant, donor, sponsor, or transactional data;
• engage in unauthorized resale, substitution, transfer, or ticket brokering;
• circumvent purchase or inventory limits; or
• use Elite Business Cruises materials to deceive others or compete unfairly.

Elite Business Cruises may restrict access, remove a Participant, suspend a transaction, cancel affected inventory, terminate a relationship, preserve evidence, or refer conduct to the appropriate authority when reasonably necessary.

22. Informational Content and Disclaimer of Warranties

Website content is provided for general informational, educational, and marketing purposes. It is not legal, tax, accounting, employment, investment, securities, insurance, medical, mental-health, accessibility, or regulatory-compliance advice.

You should consult your own qualified advisers regarding matters requiring professional judgment.

Except for an express written nonprofit economic guarantee or another express warranty contained in a controlling signed agreement, Elite Business Cruises does not guarantee a particular:

• revenue result;
• fundraising result;
• sales result;
• recruiting or retention result;
• participant count;
• sponsorship result;
• cultural or emotional response;
• business performance improvement;
• donor response;
• investment or long-term financial result; or
• future renewal or repeat event.

Testimonials, case examples, projections, illustrations, and descriptions of potential outcomes do not promise that another organization or Participant will receive the same result.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the website and general website content are provided “as is” and “as available,” without implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, uninterrupted availability, or error-free operation.

23. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Elite Business Cruises LLC and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, agents, and authorized representatives will not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost opportunity, lost goodwill, business interruption, or loss of data, arising from or relating to:

• the website or website content;
• an inquiry or unaccepted proposal;
• a Participant’s personal cancellation or nonattendance;
• a prohibited transfer or resale;
• a Cruise Line or Supplier act or omission;
• a vessel, itinerary, port, transportation, weather, safety, medical, or maritime matter;
• the conduct of another Participant, organization, sponsor, or third party;
• loss caused by inaccurate or unauthorized information provided by the claimant;
• a disruption outside reasonable control; or
• use of or inability to use a website, platform, program, or Event.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Elite Business Cruises LLC’s aggregate liability to a claimant arising from the specific transaction or service giving rise to the claim will not exceed the amount actually paid directly to Elite Business Cruises LLC by that claimant for that specific transaction or service.

The preceding cap does not alter a qualified nonprofit’s rights under an express written economic guarantee. Rights and obligations under that guarantee are governed by the applicable signed nonprofit agreement.

A Cruise Line or Supplier may have separate limitations of liability contained in its own governing terms.

24. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Elite Business Cruises LLC and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, agents, and authorized representatives from claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising from or relating to:

• your material breach of these Terms or another applicable agreement;
• your unlawful or unauthorized conduct;
• information or content you provide without authority;
• your infringement of another party’s rights;
• your unauthorized promises or representations;
• your employment, compensation, incentive, donor, sponsorship, fundraising, tax, or internal-governance decisions;
• your unauthorized resale, transfer, substitution, or distribution of Event Inventory;
• your misuse of participant, donor, sponsor, institutional, or transactional data; or
• claims brought by a person whose participation, purchase, or information you controlled or submitted without proper authority.

Elite Business Cruises may control the defense of a matter subject to indemnification, and the indemnifying party must reasonably cooperate. No settlement imposing an admission, obligation, or nonmonetary requirement on Elite Business Cruises may be entered without Elite Business Cruises’ written consent.

25. Informal Resolution, Governing Law, and Venue

Before filing a lawsuit concerning these Terms, the parties should attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute through written notice and reasonable discussion for at least thirty days, unless immediate injunctive or emergency relief is reasonably necessary.

A dispute notice should identify:

• the person or organization raising the dispute;
• the relevant transaction, Event, or agreement;
• the material facts;
• the relief requested; and
• supporting documentation reasonably available.

These Terms and disputes arising from them are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without applying rules that would require another jurisdiction’s law, except where federal or maritime law necessarily controls.

Subject to any controlling written agreement and any jurisdiction that cannot lawfully be waived, the parties consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in:

• the state courts located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; or
• the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania when federal subject-matter jurisdiction exists.

Each party waives an objection based solely on inconvenient forum or lack of personal jurisdiction in those courts, to the extent that waiver is enforceable.

26. General Terms

Electronic Communications and Acceptance

You consent to receive records and communications electronically when you interact electronically with Elite Business Cruises. Electronic acceptance, checkbox acceptance, digital signatures, payment authorization, and similar actions may evidence agreement to applicable terms.

Termination and Suspension

Elite Business Cruises may suspend or terminate website access, an account, a registration, a transaction, or a relationship when reasonably necessary because of nonpayment, fraud, safety concerns, unlawful activity, material breach, misuse, unauthorized resale, operational risk, or legal requirements.

Survival

Provisions that logically should continue after termination or completion will survive, including payment obligations, final-sale terms, transfer restrictions, intellectual-property provisions, data and record rights, disclaimers, liability limitations, indemnification, dispute provisions, and confidentiality obligations.

Assignment

You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without prior written consent from Elite Business Cruises. Elite Business Cruises may assign these Terms as part of a merger, reorganization, financing, asset transfer, business transfer, or transfer to an affiliate or successor, subject to applicable law and controlling agreements.

No Partnership, Agency, or Third-Party Beneficiary

These Terms do not create a partnership, joint venture, employment relationship, fiduciary relationship, franchise, or general agency relationship. No person receives third-party-beneficiary rights unless a controlling written agreement expressly provides otherwise.

Severability

If a provision is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted, and the remaining provisions will remain effective.

No Waiver

Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. A waiver is effective only when made in writing by an authorized representative and applies only to the specific circumstance identified.

Headings

Headings are provided for convenience and do not limit the meaning of these Terms.

Entire Agreement

These Terms, the Privacy Policy, accepted purchase terms, and any applicable signed agreement constitute the agreement governing their respective subjects and replace prior statements concerning those same subjects.

Changes to These Terms

Elite Business Cruises may update these Terms by posting a revised version and updating the “Last updated” date.

Changes apply prospectively unless otherwise stated or legally permitted. A transaction completed under separately accepted purchase terms remains governed by the terms applicable to that transaction, except where a lawful amendment or controlling agreement provides otherwise.