VAT on Mediterranean cruises?

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I was talking to a TA last night and asked about the VAT charged in Europe on drinks.  She seemed quite knowledgeable and has been working in the industry for a while.  She said there's a difference between pre-purchasing a drink package (which Free at Sea would qualify because it's applied to your cruise before you board).  And, buying drinks a la carte once on board, which is subject to the taxes.

 

It's an accounting process given drinks under the drink packages are not considered  "point of sale" since the sale was made when you booked your fare.

 

Packages or drinks sold once you're on board ARE a point of sale item(s) and subject to the taxes.

 

Free at Sea is a pre-board item.  Any taxes or fees broken out are simply line items of the package.  Anyone buying a package or drinks on board in parts of Europe (subject to local regulations) either have the fees/taxes baked into the cost, with no breakout.  Or, in NCL's case, those line items are shown separately.  Whether they can or can't break out those line items is a matter of debate.  But, since not everyone has Free at Sea, it gets jumbled.

 

This extends to any gift shop or other store purchases....all point of sale items.

 

This makes total sense.  

 

 

I don't know whether this is meant to be true only in Europe. But this certainly is not true in the US. I've been on cruises where I was charged tax on free at sea drinks. 

[graphicguy]

59 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

I don't know whether this is meant to be true only in Europe. But this certainly is not true in the US. I've been on cruises where I was charged tax on free at sea drinks. 

Europe!

 

In the States, there are some ports where this is common (NYC comes to mind).

 

I’ve sailed Celebrity in the past, also.  Their fares are almost always significantly higher than NCL’s whether you pre-book the “all included” fare or decline it.   Inference being they bake in the taxes, fees, etc into the fare.  NCL breaks out those taxes and fees as line items.

[luv2kroooz]

3 hours ago, Norwayfan1 said:

Yes, it made no sense to me that NCL were charging Spanish tax for a full three days on the notional price of drinks covered by the pre-paid drinks package, on Norwegian Star last autumn. We had done a similar cruise with Celebrity just a few weeks earlier, when the only Celebrity fare available was 'Always Included' (ie drinks package part of the cruise fare). No such taxes were collected then; both cruises sailed from Southampton. I do think that was probably an error on NCL's part (and maybe still is). 

Oh it definitely still is. They collected well over $80 in taxes from us last month in each of our 4 Spanish ports even though we had free at sea. We inquired onboard and the wholly uninformed guest services representative assured us the tax was required to be collected. We asked to see a receipt that showed the tax assessment but that request was refused.

[Norwayfan1]

9 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

Oh it definitely still is. They collected well over $80 in taxes from us last month in each of our 4 Spanish ports even though we had free at sea. We inquired onboard and the wholly uninformed guest services representative assured us the tax was required to be collected. We asked to see a receipt that showed the tax assessment but that request was refused.

I'm pretty sure I read on another thread (unfortunately I can't find it now!), that someone challenged this with NCL after their cruise and NCL replied that, as they had pre-bought a drinks package, they had been wrongly charged Spanish tax. If that's the case, it is hard to understand why this practice is continuing.

[UCLAman]

On 6/5/2023 at 5:25 AM, zelliott said:

I’ve seen a few of these topics, but I haven’t seen anyone mention VAT for the entire cruise when departing from Portugal but remaining in the EU. I’m guessing that means it doesn’t happen, but if anyone happens to have first-hand experience, I’d be glad to know what it is!

I hope this is the case! We embark on the Getaway next Thursday (June 15) and end in Rome. We also have the drink package, so I cant imagine that they would tack on some cost at the end of the cruise. I certainly hope not. I feel like this should have been something that was pointed out prior to booking the cruise.

[zelliott]

6 minutes ago, UCLAman said:

I hope this is the case! We embark on the Getaway next Thursday (June 15) and end in Rome. We also have the drink package, so I cant imagine that they would tack on some cost at the end of the cruise. I certainly hope not. I feel like this should have been something that was pointed out prior to booking the cruise.

Enjoy your trip! It'd be great if you could let us know what ends up happening with cruise-long or port specific VAT after you return. My trip overlaps with your itinerary quite a bit, so it would be very helpful to know what to expect from a recent, first-hand account.

[Asawi]

26 minutes ago, UCLAman said:

I hope this is the case! We embark on the Getaway next Thursday (June 15) and end in Rome. We also have the drink package, so I cant imagine that they would tack on some cost at the end of the cruise. I certainly hope not. I feel like this should have been something that was pointed out prior to booking the cruise.

My daughter gets on that ship when it's turning around. It would be great if you could let us know the situation!

[CruiseMH]

I will be on an Italy,Greece and Malta Cruise in November on the Breakaway and i pre-bought the drink package(free at sea).

I definitely know that there is no VAT or any other additional tax applicable in this case.

And if they dare to charge it to me i will be at the guest services and discuss it with them.If they refuse it`s gonna be a lawsuit.

It might sound hard but i don`t like being fooled.

I will of course enjoy my cruise anyway for sure. 😉

 

 

[UCLAman]

37 minutes ago, zelliott said:

Enjoy your trip! It'd be great if you could let us know what ends up happening with cruise-long or port specific VAT after you return. My trip overlaps with your itinerary quite a bit, so it would be very helpful to know what to expect from a recent, first-hand account.

 

18 minutes ago, Asawi said:

My daughter gets on that ship when it's turning around. It would be great if you could let us know the situation!

Yes, for sure, just remind me! Or perhaps if I see or hear something while on board, I will post!

[WexIrl]

1 hour ago, UCLAman said:

I hope this is the case! We embark on the Getaway next Thursday (June 15) and end in Rome. We also have the drink package, so I cant imagine that they would tack on some cost at the end of the cruise. I certainly hope not. I feel like this should have been something that was pointed out prior to booking the cruise.

Let us know how you get on please.

We are boarding the Getaway on 24th June and I would be interested to know, thanks.

Enjoy your cruise!

[NeverNCLagain]

I am on the NCL Epic now on a 10 day Med cruise, and despite having purchased the Premium Plus Package that covers all beverages long before we boarded, we are still charged VAT on EVERY drink transaction at port AND at sea, including water, coffee, etc.  Day 3 of the cruise and it’s an average of $90/day as I am paying for several people. The finance staff on the ship said there is no way to not pay it.  Needless to say, this will be my last cruise with NCL as the taxes will end up being almost $1000.  This was an unplanned expense and I am extremely upset. 

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, NeverNCLagain said:

I am on the NCL Epic now on a 10 day Med cruise, and despite having purchased the Premium Plus Package that covers all beverages long before we boarded, we are still charged VAT on EVERY drink transaction at port AND at sea, including water, coffee, etc.  Day 3 of the cruise and it’s an average of $90/day as I am paying for several people. The finance staff on the ship said there is no way to not pay it.  Needless to say, this will be my last cruise with NCL as the taxes will end up being almost $1000.  This was an unplanned expense and I am extremely upset. 

Yes, as discussed earlier in this thread, NCL have been charging the VAT on free at sea drinks in various European ports, and on the whole cruise where you don’t leave the EU, although it isn’t clear whether the embarkation port matters there.

 

Where did you embark? If it was Barcelona then I would expect your experience. If it was Rome then it would suggest a new development.

[steamboats]

@graphicguy that´s totally correct. When I buy a package online ahead of my cruise I don´t have to pay any taxes as I´m charged via Miami (and I don´t have to pay any additional US taxes as I´m from Europe and I get Euro pricing). When I buy the package onboard in Barcelona I have to pay the additional Spanish VAT. Same when I pay per drink on an EU cruise. That´s what all other US cruise lines are doing on EU cruises. But actually EU law also requires that all fees/taxes are already included in the marked prices. Therefore nowhere in the EU any taxes are added to the marked price - only on cruise ships in the Med...

 

Neither MSC, Costa, AIDA or TUI Cruises (all Europe based cruise lines with AIDA and Costa being subsidiaries of Carnival Corp) do charge EU VAT on their Med cruises. They might add a service charge (MSC does). But that´s it.

 

steamboats

[Asawi]

On 6/7/2023 at 10:21 PM, UCLAman said:

 

Yes, for sure, just remind me! Or perhaps if I see or hear something while on board, I will post!

Reminding you! (And hoping you had a wonderful time!)

[Asawi]

When VAT is added, does it show up realtively right away (same/next day) on the onboard account? My daughter boarded the Getaway i Rome yesterday and they have not been given any info about VAT (that she has noticed anyway), and her account shows 0. 

[steamboats]

2 hours ago, Asawi said:

When VAT is added, does it show up realtively right away (same/next day) on the onboard account? My daughter boarded the Getaway i Rome yesterday and they have not been given any info about VAT (that she has noticed anyway), and her account shows 0. 

 

It is immediately added to all purchases. If they charge the VAT it´s mentioned in the daily. It´s basically a problem with cruises out of a Spanish port. For Italy it´s a bit inconsistant. We had to pay the Italian VAT on Oceania Vista in May out of Civitavecchia (and back). Read that NCL does not charge it out of Civitavecchia.

 

steamboats

[NeverNCLagain]

On 6/24/2023 at 11:59 PM, KeithJenner said:

Yes, as discussed earlier in this thread, NCL have been charging the VAT on free at sea drinks in various European ports, and on the whole cruise where you don’t leave the EU, although it isn’t clear whether the embarkation port matters there.

 

Where did you embark? If it was Barcelona then I would expect your experience. If it was Rome then it would suggest a new development.

Embarked in Barcelona and I purchased the premium plus package months ago.  The comment later about NCL not charging if you bought the package in advance is false.  They charge for every beverage transaction although no real “transaction” has occurred at the point of sale.  

[podgeandrodge]

So I am just back from Breakaway leaving from Civitavecchia.  No VAT charged at all.   Could it be as simple as, on an EU only cruise,  "if you leave from Barcelona you get charged VAT for whole cruise" but "if you leave from Civitavecchia you pay nothing" - seriously something to bear in mind when picking a cruise in future if it is that simple.

 

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

So I am just back from Breakaway leaving from Civitavecchia.  No VAT charged at all.   Could it be as simple as, on an EU only cruise,  "if you leave from Barcelona you get charged VAT for whole cruise" but "if you leave from Civitavecchia you pay nothing" - seriously something to bear in mind when picking a cruise in future if it is that simple.

 

Yes, it looks like that is exactly what it is.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, podgeandrodge said:

So I am just back from Breakaway leaving from Civitavecchia.  No VAT charged at all.   Could it be as simple as, on an EU only cruise,  "if you leave from Barcelona you get charged VAT for whole cruise" but "if you leave from Civitavecchia you pay nothing" - seriously something to bear in mind when picking a cruise in future if it is that simple.

 

Could be, but does that make sense? Both Spain and Italy are EU countries, why should the application of the VAT tax be different?

[Asawi]

19 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Could be, but does that make sense? Both Spain and Italy are EU countries, why should the application of the VAT tax be different?

It makes absolutely no sense at all! Daughter had a theory that maybe Spain wants less tourists and Italy wants more. Doesn't make much sense either since many cruises visit both countries. Maybe it's just a random roll of the dice...

Edited June 26, 2023 by Asawi

[podgeandrodge]

22 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Could be, but does that make sense? Both Spain and Italy are EU countries, why should the application of the VAT tax be different?

Must be down to individual countries implementation of VAT. Having said that, it also seems to differ between cruise lines!

[insidecabin]

34 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Could be, but does that make sense? Both Spain and Italy are EU countries, why should the application of the VAT tax be different?

When this started many years ago it was known as the Spanish tax, exclusive to Spain

 

UK had different rules when it joined the EU to protect the ferry industry.

 

2 hours ago, podgeandrodge said:

So I am just back from Breakaway leaving from Civitavecchia.  No VAT charged at all.   Could it be as simple as, on an EU only cruise,  "if you leave from Barcelona you get charged VAT for whole cruise" but "if you leave from Civitavecchia you pay nothing" - seriously something to bear in mind when picking a cruise in future if it is that simple.

 

 

As for a Rome V Barcelona

remember cruise lines like MSC embark in both on the same cruises

 

The Epic also embarks both ports  1/2 the ship paying tax the other 1/2 not?

 

[ontheweb]

18 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

Must be down to individual countries implementation of VAT. Having said that, it also seems to differ between cruise lines!

 

Again makes not sense, if it is the law in any country why would it be enforced on some cruise lines and not others?

[ontheweb]

3 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

When this started many years ago it was known as the Spanish tax, exclusive to Spain

 

UK had different rules when it joined the EU to protect the ferry industry.

 

 

As for a Rome V Barcelona

remember cruise lines like MSC embark in both on the same cruises

 

The Epic also embarks both ports  1/2 the ship paying tax the other 1/2 not?

 

When we sailed the Western Mediterranean on the Epic it actually embarked from 3 different ports, the two you mentioned and one in France, IIRC Marseilles.