graphicguy

Yeah.......but it's........well......you know.......HAL! 🙂

Looking very forward to this....

Similar…except on a cruise, there is the fare, port fees, etc. But, some of the fees, taxes, etc. change depending on each country and port, which have different rules. In this case, Spain has changed their VAT rules. So if you booked before the rules changed in Spain on how they collect VAT, the changes may not be affected to your purchases. To my knowledge, no one has been charged extra because of the VAT rule changes. So far, it is a moot point and a lot of hand wringing for no reason!

I'm not sure about the laws in Spain, or the legality of any particular establishment, but the places I bought something, or the restaurants I ate/drank at, had a VAT shown on the receipt. I bought jewelry, food, drink, and mementos....all those stores showed a VAT on the receipt. They had a total, but the VAT was also clearly shown. Not sure why that's illegal, but OK. It's Spain. I adhere to what they charged as I'm their guest. Very similar to U.S., but we just call ours "sales tax"....

Amen to that. The incessant whining is tiresome and makes me want to book another NCL cruise just to see how much more whining ensues. If you don't want to cruise NCL anymore, no issue. But, the constant barrage of whining about mainly silly things (hashborwns? really?) just tires me out.

I wish I would have thought to ask the Capt during the M&G the rule changes Spain had implemented regarding the VAT and cruise ships when I was sailing in the Mediterranean. But, he said it was causing confusion and changes in the way the cruise lines had to charge guests. He made it a point that NCL was being up front with the VAT charges and their implementations in Spain, particularly. There was chatter for a while that NCL may find other ports in the Mediterranean as a result of Spain's VAT implementations. And, like @Asawi, I saw the signs about the VAT on my cruise, too. The VAT was charged, and then removed on my cruise. As @KeithJenner point out, the verbiage regarding charges on drink and food menus have been there for many years. That's not a new phenomina. From others I've spoken to, regardless of cruise line, it's an issue that all the cruise lines sailing in Spain (and France?) are implementing in different ways and still struggling with. I don't think Spain (in particular) is doing themselves any favors with this change in policy and helter skelter implementation. And, it seems to be a "Spain issue" specifically.

Funny about ironing/surf board! I DO NOT miss wearing suits, dress shirts and ties to work every day My dryer has a “steam function” should help me with wrinkled clothes. The issue is packing them in my roll board, which gets rolled, tossed, in and out of storage bins, etc. That causes wrinkles! Ergo….

Receipt with VAT.. Receipts for drinks while in Spanish probably show up on daily charges you can view on the TV in your cabin. Outside of Spanish ports and waters, the VAT won’t be charged. Not sure what Spain did, but when I was on the Epic last October in Barcelona, the Capt said Spain had changed some rule recently forcing them to charge the VAT. Signs announcing that were at all bars. Talking to others in port on a HAL ship next to us said the fares jumped about 2 weeks before their cruise that matched the VAT on the drink packages!

I use a TA all the time and also got my Shareholder OBC. Used only on NCL, though

Generally speaking, ship spas (any ship, any line) have lots of hard surfaces that sounds bounce around in, amplifying them. Further, the water features can and do add to the sounds. Add in inconsiderate cruisers and things can get a bit noisy! What can NCL do? I dunno? If they try to police guests, which they are reluctant to do for obvious reasons, they risk customer service blow back. If they don’t, you have what was described earlier. Personally, I go to the spa to use the water features and steam/sauna rooms. If I want peace and quiet, I go to the loungers usually on the very top decks where there are rarely any guests!

Good point. I used a liner (based on your recommendation) when I sailed the Epic in the Mediterranean last year. I had to. Otherwise, the bag would have ripped top to bottom, side-to-side. For those who aren't familiar, the bags they use for laundry have to be the lightest, thinnest, least durable material they could possibly get away with. Calling it a laundry bag does a disservice to all bags, everywhere, used for whatever reason. It's even thinner than those brown lunch bags my Mother used to make me put my sandwiches in to take to school.

Ain't that the truth! I know I have one. Can't remember the last time I used it, or where I put it after I used it. I know it's not in the laundry room, nor in my bedroom walk in. Maybe it's in the basement? In a box of forgotten toys? 😉 I am. Putter, 9 iron, sand wedge. 2 and 3 wood. What else do you need? LOL!

I will walk up to a SDR and see if they can seat me within 15-20 minutes with no reservation. If they can't, I just mosey on to another SDR, until I find one that can. I don't make it past the 2nd one, usually. If they're all full (which hasn't happened, yet), then I'll go to the MDR, who always has space available. I'm low stress. Can't find a bartender who isn't busy? Go to the next bar. Can't find a restaurant who can seat me, go to the next restaurant. It's a cruise. I don't stress about much of anything.

Thinking she was "too modest" to have anyone see her stuffing her "bloomers" in the bag?

Love your pics. Brings back a lot of happy memories.

Just realized this a.m., I need to get my iron out. And, I don't know where it is...... Or, I could just pack these the way they are and use a little Downy Wrinkle Away (or whatever they call it) once I get on board..... Or, not really care that everything is wrinkled and have people think....,"oh look, they took his iron away as a prohibited item..."

Oh…they WILL KNOW where we are. We’ll post about it far and wide!!!!

We violently agree. State and Municipal taxes in the U.S. are similar to the VAT. They are part of the price charged but are listed on receipts as separate line items. NCL is doing the same with the VAT….paint it as a separate line item when in Spain! Some cruise lines are burying it into their fares without showing the VAT as receipts normally will!

Wished I kept my receipts from Spain and Italy when I was there in October. They CLEARLY showed the VAT on the receipts. When I was flying home to the U.S. I showed all the receipts with the VAT shown at customs to get the VAT refunded (which was a monumental hassle).

Got my laundry done yesterday. Will start packing in the next couple of days. Was going to post a picture, but how boring is it to see some clothes hanging in a closet? LOL! You'll have to settle on a vid of this nice lady filling up the NCL laundry bag without ripping it, which is no mean feat.

Thanks everyone. Y'all are kind. Made it through the weekend without "gettin' killed or caught"! My friends took me to a bar that purports to have the biggest selection of bourbons in the world. This is probably 1/10th of what they had....

All of us? Sailing together? Same Ship? Live posts from all of us? All the time?

Now schmoopie.....!!!!! LOL! They did have the VAT signs up on my Mediterranean cruise last October. But, we had only 2 Spanish ports....Barcelona and Majorca. The stores I visited while in port also had the additional VAT signs up. Matter of fact, they did what NCL did...they showed the price of the item and then the additional VAT that would be added to the charges.

OK...let me clarify. So, you're saying NCL should let you know that Spain charges a VAT? I've seen signs on NCL ships stating as much warning of the charge prior to purchasing drinks. Did they not have those signs at the bars on your cruise?