Payment of Ulitate Beverage Package without TAX

[Silverhairedbee]

My wife and I have cruised several times on the Norwegian Spirit. More By luck than judgement we were advised to buy the Ultimate Beverage Package once out of port where taxes would then NOT be applied. My question is does this apply to the Norwegian Jade who we plan to travel on in February.

 

Thank you kindly in advance.

[cliffy97]

Based on my experience, VAT is charged until you leave EU waters for all purchases on board. So to get around this on our upcoming Spirit Cruise we prepaid the UBP :-) Also I think I read you save $5 pppd by pre booking.

 

YMMV,

 

Cliffy97

[fabnfortysomething]

based on past experience you can sign up at desk in atrium and so can benefit straight away but the charge isn't put onto your account until out of port and well out to sea so avoids tax

 

makes sense for ship to do it that way but when you sign up ask specifically if that is what the individual ship policy is

Edited December 27, 2014 by fabnfortysomething

[Silverhairedbee]

Thank you for your reply. That is what I was trying to find out. Does the Jade allow you to pay for the Beverage package tax free once out of local waters.

[time2cruise1]

Thank you for your reply. That is what I was trying to find out. Does the Jade allow you to pay for the Beverage package tax free once out of local waters.

 

As posted above your best bet is to prepay before the cruise. No tax and $5 less per person per day then onboard.

[Xmansmom]

From what I've heard the Jade doesn't leave EU waters so you will not avoid the VAT if you purchase on the ship only if you prepay

Edited December 27, 2014 by Xmansmom

[Silverhairedbee]

As posted above your best bet is to prepay before the cruise. No tax and $5 less per person per day then onboard.

 

Having paid out of port twice on the Spirit it is certainly cheaper than paying in advance in the UK. I don't know if that is because of paying UK taxes or not.

 

This was after coming out of Barcelona.

[Silverhairedbee]

From what I've heard the Jade doesn't leave EU waters so you will not avoid the VAT if you purchase on the ship only if you prepay

 

That is my concern, which is why I am trying to find out in advance. I think the ship has to be around 15miles out before being able to waive taxes.

 

Has any one ever done this on the Jade on its Eastern Europe itinery.

[AKR2011]

You do have to be out of American waters to avoid tax. I hadn't noticed that until my last cruise. I looked at my receipts and saw that when I bought the soda package and a couple drinks prior to the boat leaving, there was tax on both. However, all my beverages after that just had gratuity, no tax. However, as it has been posted already, if you want to Ultimate Beverage Package, it's $5 less per day if you book it before your cruise verses on the ship. The soda package is the same, and I think Corks and Caps is the same too.

[mypleasure]

It looks like you are doing Eastern Med with a stop outside the EU which makes things easier as the Western Med out of Rome lost it's foreign port earlier this year.

 

An easy way to tell if the ship is far enough out is to take a stroll along where the desk is (Deck 7 I think) and see if the ships are open. You can also check the casino to see if they have opened and the machines and tables are allowing play (the casino is always open but not always allowing play to take place) as none of these things happen until the bridge notifies that they have passed the magic point at sea that says International waters.

 

If this was me I would log into myncl and pre book and pre pay it. They give a discount (small) but no VAT is payable and the sticker should be on your card when you get it. You could also either call your travel agent or ncl office that you booked through and get them to add it for you.

 

As fabnfortysomething said, you can wait and ask what the policy is once onboard regarding the timing of the charges being made to your account and hope it will be later rather than sooner.

[Xmansmom]

Check out the first post in this review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2059296 .

It is a review for the Epic on a similar type of route. It talks about buying the package ahead of time to avoid the VAT

[cage keeper]

How about out of NY city? This is what I am trying to figure out. If we buy the package now we save the 5$ but will probably pay tax? Not sure if we will be charged tax if we wait until on board. We have $214.00 OBC that I could use for the package but would I need to wait until we board to use this?

 

Joni

[cliffy97]

How about out of NY city? This is what I am trying to figure out. If we buy the package now we save the 5$ but will probably pay tax?

Joni

 

AFAIK you do not pay tax on any of the prepaid items, the only time any tax is charged if you purchase onboard and the port requires taxes to be charged.

 

:-)

[cage keeper]

AFAIK you do not pay tax on any of the prepaid items, the only time any tax is charged if you purchase onboard and the port requires taxes to be charged.

 

:-)

 

Thank you. I will probably pay now and use OBC for dining.

 

Joni