Booking a voyage
Guide to booking a voyage on board Prolific
1. Look at the voyage programme, which will list all our voyages with start and finish dates, times and places, and the price for each trip. Don’t forget to check whether there are any age restrictions on the dates you are interested in – a few voyages have a minimum age of 15 or 16, such as Tall Ship Race events, and some are for over 18’s only.
2. Each voyage is listed with two prices. Crew members aged 11-25 on normal voyages are eligible for our Standard Crew Price, which is 50% of the cost of the voyage. OYT South’s fundraising covers the rest of the cost. For adult voyages and some special voyages, the price may be closer to the true cost – contact the office for information.
3. When you have chosen a suitable voyage, contact the office by telephone on 02392 602278 or email office@oytsouth.org to confirm that spaces are still available, and to reserve a berth on your chosen voyage. It is always worth doing this: even though we try to keep availability up to date on our website, it’s possible that someone has called up and taken the places on that trip since the last update. You can also ask if there is any other relevant information about your chosen trip. For example, if you are aged 22, you might prefer not to book on a voyage where everyone else is 12 – and vice versa.
If you have a physical or learning difficulty, medical condition or other special needs, you should certainly discuss it with the office before booking.
Once you have agreed that your chosen voyage is suitable, you will be asked to fill in a booking form.
4) Booking forms
In order to complete a booking form, you will need your voyage number (e.g. P23-19) and the start date of the voyage. These can be found on the voyage programme.
If you are booking as an individual and paying for your own place, use this Individual (P) Booking Form. This will ask you to pay either a 25% deposit or the full price, and at the end of the form you will be taken to the checkout and asked to pay by card or PayPal. Please contact us if you have any problem with this. Please don’t send in a form without discussing with us first whether there is a suitable place for you and whether your chosen voyage is actually right for you in terms of the ages and abilities of others who may be booked on it!
If you are booking as part of an organised group (e.g. with a school, youth club or charity), and your group organiser is organising payment for the whole group, please use this (NP) Booking Form.
If you are booking as an individual but not paying for your place, or not paying full price (for example if you have been awarded some funding), please contact us and we will arrange a booking form for your specific circumstances.
If you are not sure which form to use, or you have any problems or queries, please let us know!
Please do not pay for a voyage or complete a form until you have checked that there is a suitable place on your chosen voyage! Please email us first or call 02392 602278 so we can hold a place while you complete your form – even if there is a space advertised on the website, we may be just in the process of selling it to someone else!
If you have reserved a voyage but have not paid a deposit or agreed bursary funding with us, we will continue to advertise the voyage but if anyone else enquires about that place, we will make a final check with you before selling it. Only payment of a deposit secures your place.
Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before returning the booking form.
5) When a booking form is received with a deposit or full payment, you will be sent a printed copy of our Crew Handbook, which will have a lot more information about what to expect when you join the boat.
6) if you only paid a 25% deposit when you booked, you will be asked to pay the balance of the voyage fee 60 days before the start of the voyage.
7) A short while before the voyage starts, you will be sent joining instructions telling you where the boat will be and reminding you what time you need to arrive. You will also be sent a list of things to bring.