samshltn

Do NCL ships have Wave phones?

I suspect this has been dealt with.../quote]

 

I certainly hope so. BMWMan, you sound like you know what you're talking about. What would you do in the following hypothetical situation:

 

You've bought the cruise in the UK.

The cruise is from Southampton to Hamburg.

The cruise line has told you there's no VAT to pay.

The cruise line presents you with a bill for VAT at the end of your cruise.

(For the purposes of this exercise, please assume that, like me, you are an incredibly stingy and argumentative individual who would fight a tramp for a pound coin and then argue with him about how many sides it had.)

VAT WILL I repeat will or at least should be charged.

 

I absolutely agree with you. Death and taxes are unavoidable. HM Revenue & Customs will very definitely be getting VAT on the drinks I consume whilst within the confines of the UK Territorial Sea.

 

And I'm very happy that NCL have decided to put in writing the fact that they're going to be absorbing that cost into my cruise fare rather than passing it on to me.

Doesnt it also depend on where you made your booking

 

Well there'll still be tax to pay, regardless of where you made your booking and where you're from, etc. If you've got a deal with the cruise line that they're going to cover your tax, then that's between the guest and the cruise line. In this instance, it looks as though I've somehow got a deal with NCL that they're going to cover my tax.

...many ports do have additional sales tax...

 

This is absolutely true. In fact this specific cruise is within the EU, and every EU member state is required to collect sales tax.

 

However, NCL seem to be saying that they will not be passing that tax on to their guests.

port tax though if drinking when docked. :-)

 

NCL have just written to tell me that they don't pass this tax on to the customer any more (in the UK at least). Here's what they said:

 

"Good afternoon,

 

Trust this email finds you well,

 

No VAT charged on sales of food and beverage or specialty restaurant cover charges

 

Best regards,

 

EU Guest Services"

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my LG-H815 using Forums mobile app

Oh I'm quite sure it's incorrect, Froggit. There are three contact centres that reply to NCL Europe emails: Southampton, Frankfurt, and Malta. This one looks like it has been written by Malta, which is generally a surefire sign that its factually bollocks.

 

However, if NCL have written to sat that they're going to be absorbing the VAT, then NCL are going to be absorbing the VAT.

 

Sent from my LG-H815 using Forums mobile app

Well... The query I sent was "When sailing from Southampton on the Jade, 2 June, will VAT be charged on drinks served whilst in port and in Southampton Water?".

 

Sent from my LG-H815 using Forums mobile app

Update: NCL have replied to my query. Here's what they said (verbatim):

 

"Good afternoon,

 

Trust this email finds you well,

 

No VAT charged on sales of food and beverage or specialty restaurant cover charges

 

Best regards,

 

EU Guest Services"

 

So that's great news! No tax at all!!

The Platinum specialty restaurants...

 

The Premium All Inclusive concept doesn't include specialty restaurants. That continues to be a perk of Platinum.

I think they shut the site down so they could process that one dude's eDocs...

 

You could be right. I called them, they fixed the problem, I downloaded them.... and then the site collapsed, exhausted!

wonky stuff on NCL's site

 

Yup. I've been quoted prices in USD and charged in GBP. I've made reservations and had them mysteriously cancelled. I've been double charged. There is conflicting contradictory information on different parts of the site. Their IT is a mess.

...Some surprising responses here from some posters who have complained before about non-eligible cruisers getting benefits they don't deserve...

 

Great observation. This is a conflict I have within myself as well. I want my crew and me to get the best possible experience. But at the same time when I'm boarding an aircraft and some oik from Economy gets in front of me, I'll be the first to have them removed. I think the key here is

...Common Courtesy...

....If we would be delaying other Golds (or - worse - Platinum and above), then we all take our rightful places in the 'First Timers' queue.

 

The number of times I've seen that Disney-style queue move faster than the Platinum and Suites lines... we might just do that anyway!

Yeah problems here in the UK too.

So, Latitude perks will mean next to nothing if they go all inclusive.

 

Which Latitude perks, specifically, are also benefits of All Inclusive?

Don't ask the minimum wage greeter to adjudicate NCL corporate policies.

 

I think we have a winner.

The plan isn't available for North Americans.

 

If an American wanted to get the UK deal, how would NCL stop them? I'm British myself, and when the US offering is more attractive I book through the American site, or call the Miami office. When the UK one is more attractive I book through the European offices.

...the safest options...

I agree, from an 'avoidance of the embarrassment of getting turned away' point of view.

 

...I am sure that you will be accommodated if all of your party is

right there and together.

Another key point. I think being all present and correct with documents in hands (instead of bags!) and being polite and friendly works wonders!

 

... I would not want to inconvenience other latitude members.

Me neither - there are enough 'entitled' passengers who think they own the ship without me and my friends joining in!

 

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your opinions.

... varying mileage ...

 

I'm getting way off topic here, but I've found the relevant Excise Notice for ships in UK territorial waters. The limit is '12 nautical miles to seaward from the baseline.'

 

However, it may be different in other countries. 12.... 14.... I don't really care.

 

But I'm still wondering: How do they charge 20% of something I haven't paid?!

Obviously they have their act together on a lot of things...

 

Ok yes, fair point. There are a lot of things that they do really well. Their pricing is attractive. The crew are great. Latitudes is like crack to me. The fluctuating prices across differing markets and exchange rates means I can get play the system and get erroneously low fares. A lot of it is actually perfect from my point of view!

 

But their IT is a disaster. I've had show and dining reservations cancelled, and had to pay again to get them back again. The website sometimes quotes you in dollars and then charges you in pounds. My onboard account often tries to double charge me for things I've paid for months before the cruise. Earlier this week, one of my upcoming cruises got completely cancelled by accident and I had to jump through hoops to rebook it. Our contact at NCL told me that, internally, their IT is a running joke.

 

And in this day and age, IT is everything.

 

P.S. Right now, 'My NCL' is down on the UK site! ("UH-OH.

LOOKS LIKE OUR SITE NEEDED

TO TAKE A SHORT VACATION.

500 - Internal Server Error

 

Please check back to ncl.com momentarily or call

0333 2412319 to start planning the perfect vacation.

 

Norwegian Cruise Line")

Two of those are completely within your control....

 

That's exactly the problem. If think I've done everything that's 'completely within my control', and I don't get the expected result, it makes me whether I've done one of the things 'completely within my control' wrongly, or whether it's NCL that's dropped the ball!

 

(Spoiler Alert - if a ball get's dropped, it's usually NCL)

... Why does it matter...

 

Because there are four criteria for issuing the eDocs:

 

Online Check-In is complete.

The booking is paid in full.

Air arrangements finalised.

Inside n days before sailing.

 

If we're inside 'n' days before sailing, and I can't get my eDocs, it makes me which of the other requirements I haven't satisfied!!

My husband and I are Gold, all four of our parents are not. When we cruise with them, we've always taken the whole group to the Gold check-in and asked the staff 'can we all come through together?'. The staff have always treated it like a silly question: "Of course you can!"

 

Next month we're travelling with four friends - also non-latitudes. What should we do? Send them to the regular line and we go off without them?

 

Opinions please....

...the tax on AI drinks is charged at the appropriate rate for 14 nautical miles within said port...

 

Ah so it's 14 nautical miles? That's interesting. Do you have a source for that please?

 

Whether VAT will apply on drinks consumed under a promo UBP or purchased UBP, or part of the new UK AI scheme......who knows.

 

Ok, thanks for clearing that up.

You sound like you know what you're talking about. (

Cruise fare is NOT Zero rated but VAT is operated on the TOMS( tour operators margin scheme).

)

Teach me more about VAT on TOMS please?

 

Also... You say

The VAT applies to the price paid for services on board.

 

So if I don't pay for any services on board, how is the VAT calculated?