VAT on Mediterranean cruises?

[cruiseny4life]

Hi there - we are also cruising from Barcelona, on a Transatlantic to NYC in November. Here is a copy of the letter many folks on our cruise received. We have not yet received it though.

 

My translation is that when we are in Barcelona, sailing in Spanish waters, and at our port stop in Cartagena, VAT will be applied on specialty dining (regardless of package or a la carte payment) and on any drink purchase (inclusive of the Unlimited Open Bar). Once we leave Spanish waters on day two, we will no longer be charted the VAT. 

 

Does anyone else have an interpretation of this that is different?

 

[hawkeyetlse]

1 hour ago, Rotie said:

I asked now and they confirmed that the credit is the compensation for the VAT

It's strange that they would do that (give people a blanket refund) and not explain it. We also had unexplained credits on my last cruise, but there was no VAT issue on that sailing and people were told it was an adjustment of port fees (which I also found surprisingly out of character for NCL).

 

Anyway, people who had less than $40 in taxes will be happy and I suppose anyone who drinks more than that can ask for an additional refund.

[di T]

2 hours ago, cybergremlin said:

I was on the epic 21/7 - 30/7, starting in Barcelona and staying in the EU and was charged for each drink, out bar bill was $103.95 for the 9 days

we also received an onboard credit but it was for $14.80 X2, this was the same for everyone within our group (10 people) I didn’t query this as you all know the lines for guest services 😁

So were you charged on every drink even if not in Spanish waters? Was this with the free at sea? Thanks,Dianne

[di T]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hi there - we are also cruising from Barcelona, on a Transatlantic to NYC in November. Here is a copy of the letter many folks on our cruise received. We have not yet received it though.

 

My translation is that when we are in Barcelona, sailing in Spanish waters, and at our port stop in Cartagena, VAT will be applied on specialty dining (regardless of package or a la carte payment) and on any drink purchase (inclusive of the Unlimited Open Bar). Once we leave Spanish waters on day two, we will no longer be charted the VAT. 

 

Does anyone else have an interpretation of this that is different?

 

This is the same email I received over the weekend!

[DCGuy64]

Following... This *seems* to be a Spain-only issue. Our cruise in the Mediterranean doesn't go there, only Greece, Italy, and Malta. At least it's good they're crediting people back the VAT.

[schmoopie17]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hi there - we are also cruising from Barcelona, on a Transatlantic to NYC in November. Here is a copy of the letter many folks on our cruise received. We have not yet received it though.

 

My translation is that when we are in Barcelona, sailing in Spanish waters, and at our port stop in Cartagena, VAT will be applied on specialty dining (regardless of package or a la carte payment) and on any drink purchase (inclusive of the Unlimited Open Bar). Once we leave Spanish waters on day two, we will no longer be charted the VAT. 

 

Does anyone else have an interpretation of this that is different?

 

On our TA last November from Rome to NY, we had four stops in Spanish ports. Signs were up in the bars during every Spain port stop saying the additional tax would be charged on drinks...regardless of whether or not you had the drink package. However, we didn't do any specialty restaurants in Spain ports, so can't comment on taxes on those. 

 

Taxes weren't charged in any other port (or at sea, obviously).

 

Still makes no sense how Spain can charge taxes on something we purchased long before ever embarking on the ship.

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

On our TA last November from Rome to NY, we had four stops in Spanish ports. Signs were up in the bars during every Spain port stop saying the additional tax would be charged on drinks...regardless of whether or not you had the drink package. However, we didn't do any specialty restaurants in Spain ports, so can't comment on taxes on those. 

 

Taxes weren't charged in any other port (or at sea, obviously).

 

Still makes no sense how Spain can charge taxes on something we purchased long before ever embarking on the ship.

This is great! I love that you had experience with this VAT issue. Obviously, it's a little weird, but hey it's better than what I considered the worst case (paying VAT the entire trip as I've heard has happened to others). All of our specialty dining is scheduled for non-Spanish port/waters days as we prefer sea days for our specialty dining. As for drinks, well we can tolerate spending a few bucks each day on taxes. I guess it's good I'm not upgrading to Premium Plus for drink cost! Hah!

 

Anyway, really appreciate you chiming in and letting me know your experience. Thank you!!

[cybergremlin]

2 hours ago, di T said:

So were you charged on every drink even if not in Spanish waters? Was this with the free at sea? Thanks,Dianne

Each and every drink throughout the cruise, we had stops in Palma and Ibiza along with starting and ending in Barcelona, rest of the stops was in France and Italy 

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

Still makes no sense how Spain can charge taxes on something we purchased long before ever embarking on the ship.

I think it's because the drinks package is considered a form of payment in this case. Let's say you go to a bar on the ship and you order a martini. Normally you'd give the bartender your cruise card and the drink is charged to your onboard account. Hypothetically, if they took cash or credit cards, those would be your method of payment. In the case of the unlimited beverage package, you did pay for the package ahead of time, but each drink has to be "rung up" each time. So when you're in a port where the local government is charging tax, even though the beverage package takes care of the drink itself, you're still obligated to pay the tax. That's how I believe it works.

[cybergremlin]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Following... This *seems* to be a Spain-only issue. Our cruise in the Mediterranean doesn't go there, only Greece, Italy, and Malta. At least it's good they're crediting people back the VAT.

I also got charged in Italy, France and during day at sea, it could be down to embarkation port 

[di T]

1 hour ago, cybergremlin said:

Each and every drink throughout the cruise, we had stops in Palma and Ibiza along with starting and ending in Barcelona, rest of the stops was in France and Italy 

 

1 hour ago, cybergremlin said:

I also got charged in Italy, France and during day at sea, it could be down to embarkation port 

Thanks for the feed back, we are on Celebrity Reflection soon b2b from Barcelona I will post the experience 

[graphicguy]

Hmmmm...sailing out of Marseille in October.  No letter sent to me.  Maybe because we're embarking in France?  I have FAS, too.  So, maybe that's the difference.  

 

That said, we're making a stop in Barcelona.  It does seem to be a Spain thing, however.

[slakko]

Has anyone had a good answer from NCL as to how this works in conjunction with jurisdictions where you pay a charge, including VAT, for the FAS? Surely those people are being charged VAT in 2 jurisdictions for the one service?

[Rotie]

A small update from the Getaway: we are sailing between Bilbao and La Coruna and we have just had dinner at Cagney's: no VAT charges for food, only for the wine bottle (FAS+)

[Odin's Raven]

We are sailing out of Portugal and have received a notice that we will be charged Tax on top of our FAS package. I feel we are being charged twice ,once when we booked are FAS package and again two weeks before our cruise 

[Odin's Raven]

1 minute ago, Rotie said:

A small update from the Getaway: we are sailing between Bilbao and La Coruna and we have just had dinner at Cagney's: no VAT charges for food, only for the wine bottle (FAS+)

Have you been charged VAT on drinks in the bars 

[JeanKC]

3 minutes ago, Odin's Raven said:

We are sailing out of Portugal and have received a notice that we will be charged Tax on top of our FAS package. I feel we are being charged twice ,once when we booked are FAS package and again two weeks before our cruise 

We're also sailing out of Portugal and leave on Saturday. We haven't received any notification. 

[Rotie]

3 minutes ago, Odin's Raven said:

Have you been charged VAT on drinks in the bars 

Yes, we had a few glasses before dinner and they were all taxed

[Odin's Raven]

18 minutes ago, Rotie said:

Yes, we had a few glasses before dinner and they were all taxed

Thanks for the info. Even if your drink was under €15 you still have to pay the VAT?

[Rotie]

7 minutes ago, Odin's Raven said:

Thanks for the info. Even if your drink was under €15 you still have to pay the VAT?

Yes, you have. Also the coffe at Starbucks has been taxed 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Rotie

[cruiseny4life]

19 hours ago, Rotie said:

Yes, we had a few glasses before dinner and they were all taxed

 

19 hours ago, Rotie said:

Yes, you have. Also the coffe at Starbucks has been taxed 

Is this tax happening only while you're in port or is it happening while you're at sea, in international waters? 

[Rotie]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

Is this tax happening only while you're in port or is it happening while you're at sea, in international waters? 

Only in port and in territorial home waters 

[cruiseny4life]

16 minutes ago, Rotie said:

Only in port and in territorial home waters 

Many thanks!!!