SouthamptonCruiseFan

euguestservices@ncl.com Good luck. They seem to have a set of standard replies!!

Currently in the process hence my post. Just getting fobbed off at the moment. As someone else said how can there be a tax on something with zero monetary value. I have one other guest on the same cruise as us who says guest services took the charges off!

Can you let me know how and when you were told this and if you have it in writing please! Would dearly love a copy if you do!!

We met with Tony on a previous cruise. Waste of time, just said rules came from Miami and onboard they couldn't do anything different. He said let me get you a drink though. Thought it might be a premium one, but no, just the not-so-great wine we were already entitled to in our drinks package!! Were we supposed to thank him??

Not entirely true. In late 2022 they fined MSC for not replying to complaints within 28 days. If enough people complain they will take action. But you need to complain to NCL first befire ABTA will accept the complaint.

You have to give the retailer, NCL, time to respond once you get home and email them your complaint, and you have ti have complained on board too. They have to respond within 28 days but are normally quicker as they have number of standard replies - all of which translate to: thank you for choosing NCL, we sincerely appreciate your business, now go away. Then you can go through ABTA's complaints procedure. Regarding the travel agent it will depend of they are acting as an agent for NCL or as a principle. Would normally be the former, if not your complaint would be against the travel agency. You can also go through trading standards as perhaps "open bar" is a misleading advertising slogan? That can be done through the CAB. Maybe Trading Standards in Southampton might be interested?? If you booked in the UK your booking is with a UK company, not simply Miami. They are supposed to follow UK regs.

NCL say the UK alcohol serving issue has been resolved apparently. However they have resolved it by putting new wording on the sign. Not a lie now as the say you "may" be served. However you may not. And you WILL not if you are currently on board. Obviously NCL HQ explained "you may now serve alcohol" to the ship differently to how everyone else would interpret that.

Like the UK head office maybe, in Southampton, just over a mile from the port. Perhaps they could send someone down from UK "customer services" based there to meet the passenger disembarking. Wouldn't hold my breath.

So Dawn is heading out of UK waters tomorrow, going to Stockholm, Sweden, instead or Stornaway, Scotland. Bizarre, but changes the dynamics of the duty free rules!

Thread started:

Have heard that some people have successfully claimed this back. Becoming more of an issue so intrigued. Please advise of you've been refunded, with the approx date amd country.

They are now charging additional taxes / surcharges in more and more places on both drinks purchased AND those consumed if you have the drinks package.

So, the entitled journey just means they can 'load' duty free goods onto the ship. So if they a stop on the cruise outside the UK, in Ireland for example, they have an entitled journey. However this just means they can load it onto the ship without paying the duty up front, they still have to pay the duty on goods consumed per the rules. If the cruise was ONLY to UK ports they would have to pay the duty up front and then could claim back for anything not sold on that cruise. Regarding the nonsense on being a tender port in Scotland: "For the purposes of ships stores, HMRC consider a ship has arrived at a port once it arrives alongside the berth or where the vessel remains at anchor." NCL seem to be making this up as they go along!! Also, the port agent would arrange much of this and the same port and NCL uses the same port agent as MSC who have no such issues! Go figure.

Not a problem. NCL's prices are way above the minimum pricing levels!!

Okay, sorry but long post here but bear with me if you can. Cruise lines, ferry companies and ships stock up with alcohol from "bonded" warehouses here in Southampton to supply on board to their passengers and crew. The booze, and other goods, in these warehouse are stored securely "duty-free". The duties are DEFERRED until they are consumed. If they are consumed outside the UK, no duties or taxes are payable in the UK. If they are consumed in the UK you pay up - afterwards, having accounted for where the supplies took place. You have to be approved to get supplies from a bonded warehouse in the first place as in doing so you effectively agreeing to pay the duties at a later date IF the goods are consumed in the UK. The duties are paid on what the consumer pays (so the duties on the $6 dollar bottle of wine they put on board are payable based on the "retail" of $10 a glass even when supplied as part of a drinks package). So, if NCL stocked up in the UK they did so from a bonded warehouse. If they didn't they wouldn't have any drink left on board anyway!! None of this has changed from past years, the rates may have changed but not the rules. The only problem here is that NCL's model has changed. NCL reserve the right to add a surharge/tax so passengers cover these "local taxes" and are doing so in many locations to get extra cash in. However in the UK the retail price of alcohol is displayed including taxes and duties. They cannot apply their business model here in the UK. Breaking news is that "normal service is being resumed apparently"! Still to be verified though. The only way this has been achieved is that NCL have accepted that in order to do business in the UK they have to pay these duties. If this is true it demonstrates that they were lying last week as the restrictions have not changed! I find it very surprising that NCL didn't see this coming, particularly bearing in mind that NCL's UK office is in Southampton, but the thing I find most worrying is that when they got to Belfast they didn't know what country they were in. I hope HMRC don't accept ignorance as an excuse for this and fine them as well as charging the appropriate taxes. Sadly NCL is being run by a team of accountants in Florida now who send the instructions to the ship without any thought or consideration for the effect on the passengers. I have one more cruise booked with NCL, but I really cannot see that I will be booking another one, which is such a pity as their on board experience has normally been great.