Drink costs while in US waters

[macfam5]

Can someone remind me if you have the UBP, do you only pay for taxes on the drinks until you hit international waters? 

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

Can someone remind me if you have the UBP, do you only pay for taxes on the drinks until you hit international waters? 

You will actually pay taxes only until you exit state waters, which is 3 miles, not 12 miles.

[trex-de]

My hope hope is to have a big bill. 😀

[Hutcha]

21 minutes ago, trex-de said:

My hope hope is to have a big bill. 😀

Paid tax on 2 bottles of Moet before we left port 2 weeks ago 😁

[MrsKC08]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:16 PM, chengkp75 said:

You will actually pay taxes only until you exit state waters, which is 3 miles, not 12 miles.

Actually it is much longer than 3 miles when sailing from Nola due to the river.

[chengkp75]

40 minutes ago, MrsKC08 said:

Actually it is much longer than 3 miles when sailing from Nola due to the river.

Actually, its not, since you are never more than 3 miles from land while transiting the river.  Even though you have traveled 95 miles from the cruise terminal to "head of passes", and then another 20 miles to SW Pass, you still have to go another 3 miles from the end of the jetty at SW pass before you leave state waters, but it is all within 3 miles of shore.

[charlie murphy]

chengkp75. 

you crack me up with your knowledge of the topic. I enjoy reading your responses. For me it becomes trivia knowledge because I will likely never use it . But i feel like a learn a little some thing every time. thank you for your input and my education. I can not imagine that i am the only one that feels this way, so thank you. 

[racingraysswimmom]

7 minutes ago, charlie murphy said:

chengkp75. 

you crack me up with your knowledge of the topic. I enjoy reading your responses. For me it becomes trivia knowledge because I will likely never use it . But i feel like a learn a little some thing every time. thank you for your input and my education. I can not imagine that i am the only one that feels this way, so thank you. 

Exactly!!  Thank you for posting and the education!

[mafig]

I don't recall paying these taxes on other lines (Celebrity, Royal, MSC) when we had a beverage package.🤔

[chengkp75]

31 minutes ago, mafig said:

I don't recall paying these taxes on other lines (Celebrity, Royal, MSC) when we had a beverage package.🤔

Some lines will not "post" the charges to your onboard account until after the ship leaves 3 miles, thereby "getting around" the tax.  Some ports don't charge sales tax on foreign flag ships.

[Von & John]

Sales tax vary by state...

And, in the case of AK - we do not have a state sales tax...

But some of the municipalities/boroughs/cities/communities may have a sales tax...

[The Traveling Man]

In the past we sometimes have encountered similar charges while sailing in European waters.  This is how it was explained to us in late 2016:  We were sailing on the Star out of Barcelona for Rome, with several planned stops in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  Because of political unrest in Turkey, the itinerary was changed at the last minute to drop Turkey and substitute some additional EU ports.  So, since the original plan was to sail from one EU port to another, with one or two non-EU ports in between, there would be no requirement to collect VAT on drinks.  Since the non-EU ports were dropped and we stayed within the EU ( or was it within Schengen?) for the entire cruise, the laws of the port of origin, Barcelona, applied throughout the trip.  Hence, we paid Spain's VAT tax for every drink for the entire cruise.  At least that's the way the Captain explained it to hundreds of irate passengers from Great Britain who were on board to celebrate Guinness Day.  Or maybe they just were upset that the ship ran out of Guinness beer on the forth day of the cruise and they had to drink American beer.

[Gracelyn]

How about POA does it ever go 3 miles out where there is no tax on drinks. We just assumed every drink will have tax?

gracelyn 

[Gabriele73]

And how about a new-england-cruise (Breakaway)? 
 

Do we have to pay those taxes in every US-Port? 

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, Gracelyn said:

How about POA does it ever go 3 miles out where there is no tax on drinks. We just assumed every drink will have tax?

gracelyn 

Yes, they do.  The bridge notifies the purser's office when the ship crosses the 3 mile limit, and the POS registers are reprogrammed to not charge tax until the ship enters Hawaiian waters again.  And, as a technicality, Hawaii does not charge a "sales tax", it is a "general excise tax" that is placed on business activities (so actually it is levied against the cruise line), but the state allows businesses to visibly pass the cost on to customers (though they can pass it on "invisibly" by just raising the price).

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, Gabriele73 said:

And how about a new-england-cruise (Breakaway)? 
 

Do we have to pay those taxes in every US-Port? 

Again, that would depend on your ports.  But, given that only New Hampshire, of the New England states, doesn't charge sales tax, then yes, you will.

[KristinLM]

OK. So what happens on an Alaksa Cruise (Encore--ports Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, day in Glacier Bay). We are in state waters almost the entire cruise.

Do we need to be budgeting for additional costs?

Edited April 7, 2022 by KristinLM

[chengkp75]

43 minutes ago, KristinLM said:

OK. So what happens on an Alaksa Cruise (Encore--ports Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, day in Glacier Bay). We are in state waters almost the entire cruise.

Do we need to be budgeting for additional costs?

Alaska does not have a state sales tax, but 154 cities and towns do.  Ketchikan is 6.5%, Juneau 5%, Skagway 5%.  Not sure how much detail you put into your budget, but don't think this is going to break the bank.

[Daytonasailor]

On 3/17/2022 at 12:59 PM, chengkp75 said:

Actually, its not, since you are never more than 3 miles from land while transiting the river.  Even though you have traveled 95 miles from the cruise terminal to "head of passes", and then another 20 miles to SW Pass, you still have to go another 3 miles from the end of the jetty at SW pass before you leave state waters, but it is all within 3 miles of shore.

I'll go to sea with you any day.

[KristinLM]

30 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Alaska does not have a state sales tax, but 154 cities and towns do.  Ketchikan is 6.5%, Juneau 5%, Skagway 5%.  Not sure how much detail you put into your budget, but don't think this is going to break the bank.

Thanks! I guess I was wondering about travelling "between ports". We really aren't planning on staying on the ship during port stays.

Maybe it won't break the bank, but if all drinks on board have extra costs than what we paid for the package, then I need to add that in as we figured those were completely included. If not, it could be an unwanted surprise at the end of the cruise.

 

And yes, concerning the cost of our entire vacation (of which the cruise is a small part), I am serious about budgeting--out of necessity not desire. I am sorry that is our reality. I wish it wasn't.

It is our first cruise. I didn't understand the "3 miles out" and heard it for the first time on this thread. Does that account for leaving port, too? Is there extra cost until we leave the entire Puget Sound in WA? I am officially slightly confused now.

I am also sorry for being confused about this.

[smokeykat]

Sailed on Royal Caribbean many times and have never been charged tax out of NY for any drinks that we got on our premium drink package. In fact that is one of the first things we do to start our vacation.

Leaving out of NY for Bermuda on Joy so I guess we will have to wait a bit now 😕

[KeithJenner]

17 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

In the past we sometimes have encountered similar charges while sailing in European waters.  This is how it was explained to us in late 2016:  We were sailing on the Star out of Barcelona for Rome, with several planned stops in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  Because of political unrest in Turkey, the itinerary was changed at the last minute to drop Turkey and substitute some additional EU ports.  So, since the original plan was to sail from one EU port to another, with one or two non-EU ports in between, there would be no requirement to collect VAT on drinks.  Since the non-EU ports were dropped and we stayed within the EU ( or was it within Schengen?) for the entire cruise, the laws of the port of origin, Barcelona, applied throughout the trip.  Hence, we paid Spain's VAT tax for every drink for the entire cruise.  At least that's the way the Captain explained it to hundreds of irate passengers from Great Britain who were on board to celebrate Guinness Day.  Or maybe they just were upset that the ship ran out of Guinness beer on the forth day of the cruise and they had to drink American beer.

That is about right. The main example of the standard 7 day Epic round trip from Barcelona or Rome which doesn’t leave Schengen. Spanish VAT is charged on that whole cruise (or it was when I last sailed it and I’ve not heard that it has changed).

[chengkp75]

51 minutes ago, KristinLM said:

It is our first cruise. I didn't understand the "3 miles out" and heard it for the first time on this thread. Does that account for leaving port, too? Is there extra cost until we leave the entire Puget Sound in WA? I am officially slightly confused now.

Yes, when the ship leaves the dock, until it gets to 3 miles offshore, the sales tax will be charged.  I believe it is charged in part of Puget Sound.  It gets a little tricky there.  Part of the Sound is Washington state on both sides, so it is "inland" waters (state waters) no matter how wide it is.  From Seattle, at some point the international boundary between Canada and US goes right down the middle of the Sound.  Outbound, the ship will stay in a "traffic lane" that is in Canadian waters, so no state sales tax will be charged there.  I don't know for sure when it will stop being charged.

 

I understand about budgets, so just plan ahead for a 5-6% addition for the few drinks you'll have while in Washington state waters.  The Alaska municipal sales tax will be only while at the dock, and some towns probably don't charge it, as it is difficult for them to get it back from the cruise line.

[chengkp75]

27 minutes ago, smokeykat said:

Sailed on Royal Caribbean many times and have never been charged tax out of NY for any drinks that we got on our premium drink package. In fact that is one of the first things we do to start our vacation.

Leaving out of NY for Bermuda on Joy so I guess we will have to wait a bit now 😕

What RCI does is mildly illegal.  They don't "post" your drink purchases to your account until after the ship leaves NY waters.  They tend to do this even for drinks without the package wherever taxes are charged.

[chengkp75]

10 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

That is about right. The main example of the standard 7 day Epic round trip from Barcelona or Rome which doesn’t leave Schengen. Spanish VAT is charged on that whole cruise (or it was when I last sailed it and I’ve not heard that it has changed).

And, from what I understand, it is only Spain that chooses to do this, though other countries could.