Terms and Conditions for visitors

• ARTICLE 1.1: ‘The museum’ and the Maritime Museum Rotterdam are the organisation that manages and operates the museum complex, including but not limited to the management, curators, hosts/hostesses and other museum officials authorised to act on behalf of this organisation.
• ARTICLE 1.2: ‘The museum complex’ is all the spaces (with and without structures) falling under the legal or management authority of the management of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, including but not limited to exhibition rooms, auditoria and meeting rooms, hospitality catering and retail spaces, outdoor spaces and repository.
• ARTICLE 1.3: ‘Visitor’ is anyone who in any way, directly or indirectly, concludes an agreement with the Maritime Museum Rotterdam with the aim of entering the museum complex and/or visiting an exhibition or attending an activity organised by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 1.4: Any agreement between the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and a visitor is governed by these General Terms and Conditions for Visitors. They also apply to special activities outside regular opening hours and/or aimed at visitors other than the regular visitor, as in the case of room hire, hospitality catering, etc.
• ARTICLE 1.5: ‘Force majeure’ is any unforeseeable situation that impedes the performance of the agreement by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam such that, temporarily or permanently, the performance of the agreement becomes impossible or problematic.

• ARTICLE 2.1: All quotations and notices given or information otherwise provided by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam are not without obligation. The Maritime Museum Rotterdam accepts liability for any errors made by the museum itself in quotations and notices given or information otherwise provided to the visitor. This liability only applies to the museum’s own information material available in the museum at the time of the claim or recently distributed by or on behalf of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is not liable for errors attributable to intent, fault or negligence of third parties.
• ARTICLE 2.2: The visitor is at all times obliged to show his or her admission ticket and any card or voucher giving entitlement to a discount on the admission price on demand to officials recognisable as such, including but not limited to hosts/hostesses.
• ARTICLE 2.3: The potential visitor is not entitled to obtain a refund of the admission price or any other payment in the event of loss or theft of the admission ticket before entering the museum complex. If a potential visitor fails to use the pre-purchased admission ticket, this is for the visitor’s own account and risk; this is also the case if the admission ticket is only valid for a particular time and/or date. Once obtained, an admission ticket cannot be exchanged. Nor can the admission price be refunded. The admission price paid may however be refunded if circumstances outside the control of its purchaser make the museum visit impossible, but only at the discretion of the management.
• ARTICLE 2.4: The potential visitor may be denied access to the museum complex if it becomes apparent that the admission ticket, the discount card or the voucher has not been obtained from the Maritime Museum Rotterdam or a body declared authorised for this purpose by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 2.5: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam will only refund the admission price actually paid by the visitor if the visitor has to exit the museum complex early because of an unannounced drill as part of company emergency response (Section 23 of the Dutch Working Conditions Act) and also in the case of an actual emergency involving whole or partial evacuation of the museum complex.

• ARTICLE 3.1: During his or her stay in the museum complex the visitor must act in accordance with public order, public morals and the rules of decency applying in respect of the nature of the activity visited. The visitor is also required to immediately follow the directions and instructions given by officials of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam who are recognisable as such, including but not limited to hosts/hostesses. If in the reasonable opinion of a duly authorised official of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, who must be recognisable as such, the visitor in any way acts contrary to standards, directions or instructions, the visitor may be denied further access to the museum complex with no entitlement to reimbursement of the costs of the admission ticket or any other costs incurred.
• ARTICLE 3.2: Parents or supervisors of children are at all times responsible and accountable for the behaviour of the children they bring with them. Teachers and supervisors of groups are responsible and accountable for the behaviour of members of groups they are supervising; they must supervise the groups during the visit to the exhibitions and follow the instructions of the guide and/or the hosts/hostesses present. Children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult supervisor, who is responsible for the behaviour of the group members. Because of their functional responsibility hosts/hostesses cannot perform any supervisory tasks and cannot therefore be held to account for any form of supervision of groups. The visually impaired are permitted to take a guidance stick recognisable as such and/or recognisable guide dog with them once they have shown the dog’s training certificate on request at the cash desk. This applies likewise to disabled persons with an assistance dog. The dog must be kept on a lead at all times.

ARTICLE 3.3:

The visitor is not permitted to do the following in the museum complex:

• a- to offer goods of any kind to third parties for sale or provide them free of charge;
• b- to block the path of other visitors intentionally and for a long time or block their view of exhibited objects;
• c- to cause other visitors a nuisance, including but not limited to the use of mobile phones, audio players or other sources of noise nuisance; the use of such equipment may however be explicitly permitted by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam in specific spaces;
• d- to take animals or domestic pets with them, unless they are explicitly permitted in specific spaces or if they are guide dogs and they are accompanying a visitor with an identification pass;
• e- to smoke in any spaces;f- to take food and drink with them in any spaces of the museum complex, unless consent is expressly given for this;
• g- to take with them what are, in the opinion of an official of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam recognisable as such, hazardous objects or substances, including but not limited to walking sticks, umbrellas or large bags; such items must be left in a place to be indicated by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam;
• h- to use wheelchairs, prams and buggies in confined spaces to be so indicated by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam;
• i- to touch exhibited objects and exhibition material such as display cases, lighting, partitions, etc, unless this is expressly and explicitly permitted. Parents or supervisors of children must be strict about ensuring that exhibited objects are not touched by the children they have brought with them. Small children must be held by the hand or be carried in a buggy. Likewise teachers and supervisors of groups must ensure that the group members they are supervising do not touch the exhibited objects.
• ARTICLE 3.4: In special cases in which the general safety of individuals or the collection reasonably requires, an executive officer of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, who must be recognisable as such, may ask to inspect the (hand) luggage the visitor is carrying. If this is deemed necessary, specially trained staff may also ask the visitor to submit to a security search when entering or exiting the museum complex.
• ARTICLE 3.5: The visitor is not permitted to make photographic, video and film recordings using lamps, flash equipment and stands except with the prior consent in writing of the management of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. Also prohibited, except with the prior consent in writing of the management of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, is publishing or reproducing these photographic, video and film recordings, in any way and with any medium, including electronic media.
• ARTICLE 3.6: Such a visitor must be advised of the decision to deny access immediately with reasons, if possible in writing. The museum may permanently or for a particular period deny access to the museum complex to a visitor who has intentionally damaged an object or in some other way justified fear of damage in the course of one or more previous visits to a Dutch museum complex; the museum may in any event subject this visitor to the measures referred to in Article 3.4 of these Terms and Conditions for Visitors on all of his or her visits.
• ARTICLE 3.7: The museum uses CCTV for your own safety and the safety of our staff and our museum collection. These images will be made available to the police for follow-up action in criminal cases.

• ARTICLE 4.1: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam will do everything it can to allow your visit to the museum complex or the exhibitions and activities organised by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam to proceed in accordance with the published offer; this includes the obligation to inform the public as best it can about wholesale, partial or early closure of the museum complex and/or exhibitions organised by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. The Maritime Museum Rotterdam will also notify the potential public of maintenance work, structural alterations and the furnishing or refurbishment of spaces that cause nuisance. Under no circumstances may the visitor derive any right to compensation from this.

Claims may not be made in relation to the following complaints and circumstances that cannot be avoided by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, which will therefore never result in any obligation on the museum to compensate the visitor:

• a- complaints relating to objects from the permanent collection of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam not being visible;
• b- complaints relating to the partial closure of the museum complex, including but not limited to partial closure as a consequence of the construction or dismantling of exhibitions;
• c- complaints and circumstances relating to nuisance or inconvenience caused by other visitors, including but not limited to noise nuisance, inappropriate behaviour, theft and wilful damage;
• d- complaints and circumstances relating to nuisance or inconvenience caused by maintenance work, including but not limited to a structural alteration or the furnishing or refurbishment of spaces;
• e- complaints and circumstances relating to nuisance or inconvenience caused by the failure of facilities in the museum complex to work properly.
• ARTICLE 4.3: Complaints about and requests for refunds in respect of the agreement between the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and the visitor must reach the Maritime Museum Rotterdam in writing within six weeks of the visit having taken place. Complaints and requests for refunds submitted after this deadline will not be accepted. A complaints form is available with these Terms and Conditions for Visitors.
• ARTICLE 4.4: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam will investigate the complaint and respond to it in writing within 30 days of receipt. If the investigation has not been completed by this time, the complainant will be notified and will also be advised of when it is likely to be completed.
• ARTICLE 4.5: The visitor may submit complaints, claims and suggestions for improvement in writing by completing a form obtainable from the museum complex or the website of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.

• ARTICLE 5.1: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is not liable for any loss or damage arising from quotations, notices or other forms of information provided to the visitor by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and/or third parties, except if and in so far as this loss or damage is the direct consequence of intent or gross negligence of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and/or its staff.
• ARTICLE 5.2: The visitor’s stay in the museum complex is for his or her own account and risk. The museum is only liable for property damage and/or consequential damage suffered by the visitor or injury inflicted on the visitor that is the direct and exclusive consequence of intent or gross negligence by the museum, on the understanding that only that damage for which the museum is insured or should have been insured in accordance with the requirements of reasonableness and fairness is eligible for compensation.
• ARTICLE 5.3: Under no circumstances whatsoever is the Maritime Museum Rotterdam liable to pay a higher amount in compensation than: a- the admission price actually paid or, if this is more, b- the amount paid to the Maritime Museum Rotterdam for the damage by the insurer of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, or c- the compensation for the damage obtained from another third party.
• ARTICLE 5.4: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is not liable for damage caused to the visitor’s vehicles, except if and in so far as this damage has arisen on or in the museum complex and this damage is the direct consequence of intent or gross negligence of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and/or its staff.
• ARTICLE 5.5: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is not liable for any direct or indirect damage arising as a direct or indirect consequence of any defect, any trait or any situation on or in any immovable property of which the Maritime Museum Rotterdam is holder, leaseholder or lessee, tenant or owner or that is otherwise at the disposal of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, except if and in so far as this damage is the direct consequence of intent or gross negligence of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam and/or its staff.
• ARTICLE 5.6: If the Maritime Museum Rotterdam takes receipt of goods or if goods are in any way deposited, stored and/or left by anyone without the Maritime Museum Rotterdam stipulating any fee for this, the Maritime Museum Rotterdam is not liable for damage to or in connection with goods however arising, unless the Maritime Museum Rotterdam has deliberately inflicted damage or the damage is the consequence of gross negligence of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 5.7: The total liability of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam for attributable failure in the fulfilment of the visit agreement is limited to compensation of direct damage and will on no account be more than the arrangement for compensation set out under 5.3.
• ARTICLE 5.8: In case of damage due to death or physical injury, the total liability of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam will on no account be more than the arrangement for compensation set out under 5.3.
• ARTICLE 5.9: Liability of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam for indirect damage, including consequential damage, lost profits or pay, lost savings, etc, is excluded.
• ARTICLE 5.10: The maximum amounts referred to in Article 5.3 will not apply if and in so far as the damage is the consequence of intent or gross negligence of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam or one of its officials.

• ARTICLE 6.1: Any unforeseeable situation that impedes the performance of the agreement by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam such that, temporarily or permanently, the performance of the agreement becomes impossible or problematic counts as force majeure for the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, which means that any breach it causes cannot be attributed to the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 6.2: Such circumstances include circumstances affecting persons and/or services and/or institutions the Maritime Museum Rotterdam uses in the performance of the visit agreement, and also everything that counts as force majeure, suspensive conditions or conditions subsequent for the above, and also attributable failure of the above.

Lost property

• ARTICLE 7.1: Property found by the visitor in the museum complex may be handed in at the cash desk.
• ARTICLE 7.2: The Maritime Museum Rotterdam will make every effort to discover the rightful owner of the lost property and to this end will maintain regular contact with the local police. Lost property that has not been claimed by the owner will be transferred to the local police after six months’ storage by the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 7.3: If the owner of lost property makes contact, he or she will have the choice of collecting the property him or herself or having it delivered cash on delivery. In both cases the owner must provide proper proof of identity.

Governing law

• ARTICLE 8.1: The applicability of the Terms and Conditions for Visitors does not affect the applicability of any other contractual or non-contractual terms and conditions and/or regulations of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• ARTICLE 9.1: These Terms and Conditions for Visitors and the agreement between the visitor and the Maritime Museum Rotterdam are governed by Dutch law.
• ARTICLE 9.2: All disputes arising from the agreement between the visitor and the Maritime Museum Rotterdam will be submitted exclusively to the competent court in Rotterdam for adjudication.