Closed Loop EU Cruise

[little britain]

Think of this. VAT is a tax, nothing more or less. When you buy an item, you pay the tax. If you buy the cruise, booze, zoom, and gifts prior the cruise, you did not buy it in the EU, so not tax.

 

What gets most confusing is that on land you pay the taxes, but they are included on the price tag you see. But on the ship, it is added after the price tag.

 

That is because the VAT varies, it may or may not be charged.

 

Exactly the same as buying something in the USA. The tag says $10 but when you get to the till it is actually $10.87.

 

In England/Europe the tags are printed to include the tax/VAT of the country....... but as the ship sometimes does/sometimes doesn't have to imcur VAT/Tax their tags are done the USA way. It depends on itinerary if VAT/Tax is charged. Spain and Italy impose a VAT/Tax on items bought on board a cruise ship.

 

If your cruise visits one country that is not in the EU this then means that there is no VAT/Tax for the entire cruise. Which is why it is best to pick a cruise going to Gibraltar or Montenegro. Your bar bill is cheaper LOL!

[steamboats]

For the Harmony they definitely did charge the VAT for online purchases. And it was the same for the Symphony (it´s just that you can hardly realize that as it´s already included in the price shown online).

 

 

Other services do have a VAT too like Spa or internet packages!

 

 

Spain charges VAT as soon as you get into Spanish waters (3 miles zone) even when your cruise includes a non-EU port.

 

 

steamboats

[nlcentralchmps03]

Stupid question, I’m sure, but does this also apply to a Norwegian Fjord cruise that departs Denmark and only calls in Norwegian ports?

 

Edit: I’m pretty sure the answer to this is no.

[steamboats]

Stupid question, I’m sure, but does this also apply to a Norwegian Fjord cruise that departs Denmark and only calls in Norwegian ports?

 

Edit: I’m pretty sure the answer to this is no.

 

The answer is "no" as Norway is not part of the EU.

 

steamboats

[Bobal]

The answer to the original question is YES they will charge the VAT on pre-purchases

 

This was our experience when we sailed with our sons and wanted to pre-purchase 2 drinks packages. The RC system does not have the ability to discriminate between drinks packages for under 21s in the regions where this is allowed (eg in Europe). We therefore purchased one package for our son who was then over 21 before the cruise, thinking that it would be cheaper (i.e. minus VAT) which some posters on these boards had led us to believe. We purchased the other package for our other son who was then 20 and paid exactly the same price. The pre-purchased package had been loaded with Spanish VAT