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Celebrity and Global Blue. Don't do it.


Mr. Click
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Just returned from 10 nights in the Eastern Med on the Reflection. I had a ton of of non-refundable OBC so I bought myself a GoPro.  The tricky part, all of our ports were EU countries so the ship had to collect the 22% VAT on all purchases but they said "we have partnered with Global Blue to make it easy to get your VAT refund".  Well, I should have looked closer. I paid about $81 in VAT and got about $47 back at the airport in Rome.  That is a great partnership for Celebrity and Global Blue, not so great for those of us who travel....

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Since you provided no further details as to the reason for the reduced refund, I presume there was/is a better way to recoup the full amount of VAT paid anywhere while sailing in the EU?

 

You could not change the method while at the airport in order to receive the full value of VAT paid?

 

bon voyage

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At least you got some back.  When we did the same in 2017, my husband bought a cable at the I store and was told it wasn't eligible for refund.

 

That said, we bought stuff at the end of the cruise to use the OBC.  By the time we got the VAT back it was less than 50% of the VAT we paid.  I thought maybe it was because we actually exited the EU in London, and the conversion from Euros to Pounds to Dollars lost some value.

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They put out a lot of hype about Global Blue, told us to just fill out this form and come back the next night to pick up the final form that they would fill out.  I knew they would take a cut but hey, I am on a cruise, it is free money anyway and I had a show to go to or maybe it was the Elite cocktail hour....so I said sure.  Yes, I should have asked more questions but I feel that Celebrity should have been more up front on the fees.  Now I just want others to be aware.  

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I would happily take 50% back.  Trying to recover VAT at the airports is next to impossible, first find the office, second hope someone is there, oops someone is there but long line and he is taking his sweet time looking at paperwork, need to get heading to the gate.

 

At least 10 times we have tried to recover VAT got the paperwork submitted twice but never received and refund.  We don’t buy enough on the ship (maybe $20 a cruise-we eat, drink & tip away the OBC) to worry about a VAT refund.

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Unfortunately that's the global blue (and other similar operators) model.

 

They do falsely advertise, e.g. calling themselves "Tax free for travellers" when they're not. But it doesn't sound like the celebrity offering is more costly than using them anywhere else, such as merchants on land.

 

But yes, you pay heavily for the privilege of them being a middleman.

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You NEVER get back the full amount of VAT whether you are on a land trip or a cruise.  There are processing fees, taxes etc and sometimes it is hardly worth going to the bother of filling out the form, producing receipts etc.  I do hope you enjoy your Go Pro.

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6 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Just returned from 10 nights in the Eastern Med on the Reflection. I had a ton of of non-refundable OBC so I bought myself a GoPro.  The tricky part, all of our ports were EU countries so the ship had to collect the 22% VAT on all purchases but they said "we have partnered with Global Blue to make it easy to get your VAT refund".  Well, I should have looked closer. I paid about $81 in VAT and got about $47 back at the airport in Rome.  That is a great partnership for Celebrity and Global Blue, not so great for those of us who travel....

This is why I am no longer willing to take such a cruise - will only take one that has at least one non-EU port.

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5 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

This is why I am no longer willing to take such a cruise - will only take one that has at least one non-EU port.

Another mistake I made...who knew Malta was an EU port..but the itinerary was really great so we went with it.  We had a great trip but spent a lot of time making lemonade out of lemons.  

 

jelayne, Global Blue, Customs and other "processors" are all right there in the same place at FCO.  Global Blue had the longest, slowest line.  

 

 

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I bought an iPad in UK after mine was stolen.  I claimed the VAT refund at the airport on the way home, no additional company involved, just showed the receipt and proved I was taking the iPad out of the country.  By the time they had taken off the processing fee, I received a refund of just over half as much as I expected.  I reckoned it was better than nothing, and it brought the price down to about the same as I would have paid at home.  

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1 hour ago, ORV said:

I hope all that lemonade didn't sour you on cruising. 

Not at all.  Cuba in January, Alaska with the whole family in 2020 for our 50th are already booked.  Stuff happens, weather gets bad, it is all part of life.  It is up to me to make the most of each situation.  We traveled all the way to China to see the Great Wall, all 8000 km of it but the day we went it was raining and foggy and visability was only about 100 yards so I made cool pictures of the Wall in the fog.  

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