Tax on food and beverage while in USA port with bev package?

[njhorseman]

23 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

We went on the Edge and not a penny was charged, nor were any of the other people we talked to.

 

While it may not be much, just think 2 drinks per person before the ship leaves to international waters and if the tax is $1 per drink, that’s $8,000 (based on 4,000 passengers) that NCL is taking out of our pockets. That’s per week. 52 weeks per year and that number grows to $416,000 per ship. So easily there’s a couple million dollars per year that NCL charges us for where other cruise lines just eat it up.

 

 Making an assumption that every passenger has two drinks before reaching international water is a gross overestimate, but even if it were true, the cruise lines' management isn't stupid.  No business "eats" that much money. If they don't charge the tax separately they just build it in to their a la carte beverage prices or elsewhere in their fare and fee structure so it's invisible. Someone on the ship is going to pay for the tax one way or the other, not the cruise line. in fact it's considerably more equitable to only charge the tax to those consuming the drinks rather than  spreading the cost to everyone.

Edited April 16, 2019 by njhorseman

[njhorseman]

18 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Is this a new troll or an old troll with a new creative name?   Hmmmmmm.

New or old, hardly matters, does it. Just joined cruise critic minutes ago and of course immediately jumps on a thread where you just know the bottom feeders will congregate. Biggest giveaway is that their second post, which responds correctly to another poster's question actually also answers their first post, so in one minute's time they went from pretending to not know anything to magically having the right answer. They're not even clever enough to hide their trolling for a minute.

Edited April 16, 2019 by njhorseman

[DaCruiseBug]

35 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

 Making an assumption that every passenger has two drinks before reaching international water is a gross overestimate, but even if it were true, the cruise lines' management isn't stupid.  No business "eats" that much money. If they don't charge the tax separately they just build it in to their a la carte beverage prices or elsewhere in their fare and fee structure so it's invisible. Someone on the ship is going to pay for the tax one way or the other, not the cruise line. in fact it's considerably more equitable to only charge the tax to those consuming the drinks rather than  spreading the cost to everyone.

 

I didn't say every passenger has 2 drinks. A ship like the Escape has a capacity of almost 4,300 at double occupancy so i've already excluded about 7% of the passengers. Also, while there are some that don't have a drink before the ship reaches international waters there are also many that have 3-4-5-6 drinks before that time. Considering the cost of drinks on NCL and the fact that the beverage package is one of the perks you can pay for you'd come to a rather obvious conclusion that NCL has the highest percentage of passengers with a UBP and also some of the highest consumption of alcohol.

 

Also, some business do eat the cost...just like MSC and Celebrity. It doesn't mean they charge you more elsewhere. As a matter of fact, outside of a few instances you'll find NCL to be more expensive then other cruiselines. If you look at the financials you'll also see that NCL has a higher margin on their earnings. So yes, NCL just sucks more out of its passengers then other cruise lines. It's pretty obvious. NCL is also the ONLY cruise lines that charges a "service fee" on a beverage package when included as part of the fare. 

 

NCL is a for profit business as are other cruise lines, I just think that there's a fine line between running a good business and taking care of your customers and trying to squeeze out every possible penny out of your passengers by having fees on top of fees on top of fees. That's why NCL usually ends up being more expensive then both MSC and Celebrity.

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled NCL cheerleaders program...

[willsears94]

If service charges and taxes bother you, vote with your money. 

 

Personally, I have only 1 of 3 future cruises booked with NCL. 

[slugg]

15 minutes ago, willsears94 said:

If service charges and taxes bother you, vote with your money. 

Is it possible to get just a PARTIAL refund of mandatory gratuities, or do you only have the option for a full refund?

[caligirl1960]

1 hour ago, CruisingNole said:

Every other cruiseline "absorbs" the taxes and do not charge passengers.

 

But of course, NCL does charge the passengers...

That is not correct, I was charged tax on Carnival last June. 

[WendyVF]

I know I have been charged on Carnival since the inception of their drink packages.  Prior to drink packages, we were also charged sales tax when in U S ports.  

[willsears94]

1 hour ago, slugg said:

Is it possible to get just a PARTIAL refund of mandatory gratuities, or do you only have the option for a full refund?

Yes; feel free to remove the DSC, but I would not as it could potentially (although not likely) affect crew pay. 

 

I, personally, now only sail cruises with included gratuities included as a promo or in the fare as to clear my conscience.

 

Providing gratuity that is not already included is quite old-fashioned... it's 2019, no need for corporations to not include this (Virgin and Celebrity are leading the way in changing this). 

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

I didn't say every passenger has 2 drinks. A ship like the Escape has a capacity of almost 4,300 at double occupancy so i've already excluded about 7% of the passengers. Also, while there are some that don't have a drink before the ship reaches international waters there are also many that have 3-4-5-6 drinks before that time. Considering the cost of drinks on NCL and the fact that the beverage package is one of the perks you can pay for you'd come to a rather obvious conclusion that NCL has the highest percentage of passengers with a UBP and also some of the highest consumption of alcohol.

 

Also, some business do eat the cost...just like MSC and Celebrity. It doesn't mean they charge you more elsewhere. As a matter of fact, outside of a few instances you'll find NCL to be more expensive then other cruiselines. If you look at the financials you'll also see that NCL has a higher margin on their earnings. So yes, NCL just sucks more out of its passengers then other cruise lines. It's pretty obvious. NCL is also the ONLY cruise lines that charges a "service fee" on a beverage package when included as part of the fare. 

 

NCL is a for profit business as are other cruise lines, I just think that there's a fine line between running a good business and taking care of your customers and trying to squeeze out every possible penny out of your passengers by having fees on top of fees on top of fees. That's why NCL usually ends up being more expensive then both MSC and Celebrity.

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled NCL cheerleaders program...

Wow, you've excluded 7% of the passengers. How generous. That doesn't even come close to reaching the percentage not having the drink package, between those under 21, those who book a "sailaway" rate that doesn't include promos, and those eligible for promos who don't take the drink package because they don't drink enough to warrant paying the 20% gratuity/service charge on the full retail price of the package.  we don't because we rarely drink so it makes more sense to pay for drinks individually.

 

The hotel director on my most recent cruise was asked about what percentage of passengers had the drink package, and while I don't remember the exact number, it was less than 50%...somewhere in the mid 40's as I recall.

 

Further NCL is not the only cruise line charging sales tax while in port. It took me about two minutes to find confirmation that Carnival and Princess do, and I didn't even bother to search beyond that.

 

So, don't worry about the facts. Fell free to just make things up to support your fallacious arguments.

[DaCruiseBug]

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Wow, you've excluded 7% of the passengers. How generous. That doesn't even come close to reaching the percentage not having the drink package, between those under 21, those who book a "sailaway" rate that doesn't include promos, and those eligible for promos who don't take the drink package because they don't drink enough to warrant paying the 20% gratuity/service charge on the full retail price of the package.  we don't because we rarely drink so it makes more sense to pay for drinks individually.

 

The hotel director on my most recent cruise was asked about what percentage of passengers had the drink package, and while I don't remember the exact number, it was less than 50%...somewhere in the mid 40's as I recall.

 

Further NCL is not the only cruise line charging sales tax while in port. It took me about two minutes to find confirmation that Carnival and Princess do, and I didn't even bother to search beyond that.

 

So, don't worry about the facts. Fell free to just make things up to support your fallacious arguments.

 

Make things up...you mean like only 40% having the drink package? Any regular NCL cruiser knows this is pure BS.

 

I excluded 7% PLUS I didn't include any cabin that can accommodate a 3rd & 4th guest. A majority of kids (those under 21) are a 3rd & 4th guest in a cabin...but those are all excluded. And yes, any other person not getting 2 drinks before the ship enters international waters is easily offset by all those that drink 3-4-5-6 drinks in the 5-6 hours from when they get on the ship to when the ship is in international waters.

 

But hey...i'm making it all up. Let's just go with "I heard the cruise director say 40%"...uh uh...of course you did. And Joe Schmoe heard him say 200%.

[njhorseman]

1 minute ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

Make things up...you mean like only 40% having the drink package? Any regular NCL cruiser knows this is pure BS.

 

I excluded 7% PLUS I didn't include any cabin that can accommodate a 3rd & 4th guest. A majority of kids (those under 21) are a 3rd & 4th guest in a cabin...but those are all excluded. And yes, any other person not getting 2 drinks before the ship enters international waters is easily offset by all those that drink 3-4-5-6 drinks in the 5-6 hours from when they get on the ship to when the ship is in international waters.

 

But hey...i'm making it all up. Let's just go with "I heard the cruise director say 40%"...uh uh...of course you did. And Joe Schmoe heard him say 200%.

 

It wasn't the cruise director who gave the percentage, it was the hotel director, a hell of a lot more credible source than your "any NCL cruiser knows". 

 

I'm done.  Go argue with someone else.  You're just pulling stuff out of the air. 

 

[pbenjamin]

Maybe I missed it but has anybody confirmed that this happens in Alaskan ports?

[luv2kroooz]

5 hours ago, slugg said:

Is it possible to get just a PARTIAL refund of mandatory gratuities, or do you only have the option for a full refund?

You can make a partial adjustment of the daily service charge.

 

Not sure about the 20% gratuity/service charge on liquor, dining packages, spa services, upcharged food items etc.

[newmexicoNita]

20 hours ago, lhsail said:

Thought we got charged on the Celebrity Equinox March 2018, but I could be wrong.  Such a small amount.  Princess charges as well. 

I am sure we go charged on RCI as well. For those who say they did not, maybe MSC is an exception.

[newmexicoNita]

19 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

Every other cruiseline "absorbs" the taxes and do not charge passengers.

 

But of course, NCL does charge the passengers...

this is not true!!!!

[CruisingNole]

1 minute ago, newmexicoNita said:

this is not true!!!!

 

According to my Royal invoices from 2017-2019, they do not charge anything for drinks consumed in port other than the cost plus 18% gratuity. These sailings all left Florida ports and visited various places in the Caribbean.

 

NCL all inclusive on the Sun out of Florida also does not charge taxes on beverages consumed in port.

[newmexicoNita]

3 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

 

According to my Royal invoices from 2017-2019, they do not charge anything for drinks consumed in port other than the cost plus 18% gratuity. These sailings all left Florida ports and visited various places in the Caribbean.

 

NCL all inclusive on the Sun out of Florida also does not charge taxes on beverages consumed in port.

I don't have my invoice from my last cruise so can not argue with anyone as I do not know for sure. I do know, for sure other lines, do impose the tax on guests. 

[sanger727]

19 hours ago, slugg said:

Is it possible to get just a PARTIAL refund of mandatory gratuities, or do you only have the option for a full refund?

 

So there are two gratuities. The DSC and the gratuities on the beverage package. I believe you can get the DSC refunded; but I’ve never seen any way or any claim that you can get the beverage package refunded. If you tried I suspect they would simply tell you that you can’t have the beverage package promo.

 

why anyone makes a big deal about this tax is beyond me. It’s pretty simple, if you don’t want to pay it, don’t order drinks the day you are in/leave a US port. Problem Solved. On our last NCL cruise, every time we ordered a drink while in US waters they told us that tax would be charged. It wasn’t a big surprise at the end.

Edited April 17, 2019 by sanger727

[vwlmember]

20 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

We went on the Edge and not a penny was charged, nor were any of the other people we talked to.

 

While it may not be much, just think 2 drinks per person before the ship leaves to international waters and if the tax is $1 per drink, that’s $8,000 (based on 4,000 passengers) that NCL is taking out of our pockets. That’s per week. 52 weeks per year and that number grows to $416,000 per ship. So easily there’s a couple million dollars per year that NCL charges us for where other cruise lines just eat it up.

And how much was that cabin cost on the Edge? I looked into cruising on the Edge and found the prices extremely elevated.

[DaCruiseBug]

3 hours ago, vwlmember said:

And how much was that cabin cost on the Edge? I looked into cruising on the Edge and found the prices extremely elevated.

Prices on the Edge are high (but coming down) since it’s their newest ship. Our inside room was comped thru the casino.

[Two Wheels Only]

Every cruiseline pays the tax and every cent comes from the customers. HOW the cruiseline gets the money can differ. For example, if 10 people have drinks and 10 do not, either the 10 drinkers are charged a tax on the spot (NCL, Carnival, etc.) and the 10 non-drinkers never see a charge or all 20 are charged something built into their cruise fare (the non-drinkers pay for something that they didn't consume).

 

The toilet paper in the stateroom isn't free. It is purchased by NCL with money from the customers. If NCL started to charge for a roll after the first roll, people would go crazy. Do people prefer when costs are hidden and spread across to those who only use one roll per week or do people prefer if those who use (or drink) more pay based on what applies to them?

[worktocruise610]

Does anyone know if there is a tax while docked in Bermuda? I thought I read they don't have a VAT but hoping someone who's done this cruise can confirm. Thanks!

[Von & John]

Good Morning  --  It's not just the US Ports you pay Tax in. 

You also pay Tax in European Ports on beverages as applicable - I believe it's the VAT Tax...

Edited April 17, 2019 by Von & John

[Peachypooh]

The way it was explained to us ( a couple of times in different ports) that at the embarkation

lunch in Cagneys even though we had the beverage package we had to pay local taxes (not

sure if it was taxes or a port charge but it was something).Problem was cruising out of

New Orleans it was a LOOONG time before that extra charge (whatever it is) was not charged.

Hours. I thought I read somewhere that cruising out of the Texas ports the cruiselines

were actually only allowed to sell certain items until in International waters. What I was told is

that whatever is being charged goes back to the local area and NCL does not keep it.

 

[Peachypooh]

48 minutes ago, worktocruise610 said:

Does anyone know if there is a tax while docked in Bermuda? I thought I read they don't have a VAT but hoping someone who's done this cruise can confirm. Thanks!

We were not charged when we were docked in Bermuda. This was on RCCL Liberty of the Seas and NCL Gem.

Might have changed.