Be Careful What You Buy on Board

[Charles4515]

20 minutes ago, topnole said:

Respectfully it isn’t the concierge or securities place to say anything and they probably had no idea what the issue was.  I assume your son is an adult, and if so this was between him and customs and no one else.  
 

But there was no issue. The son had no way to declare or pay on the ship. He had to leave the ship to declare and to pay. 

[topnole]

30 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

But there was no issue. The son had no way to declare or pay on the ship. He had to leave the ship to declare and to pay. 

Ok.  So then what is the OPs gripe if there was no issue?  

[topnole]

11 hours ago, nelblu said:

So, no standard operating procedures.  Surprising?

 

Don't worry, we won't be faced with this problem in future, as we don't intend on purchasing anything of value on board.

The issue of duty owed doesn’t go away because you didn’t buy it on the ship.  If you buy duty free on the island and

don't declare (and pay it) and you get caught, the implications could be severe.     

[nolimits]

GM All 

Ive been busy just caught up with this thread 

No where on that compass page does  it say 

# 1. HOW to pay duty on ship (can’t be done)You have to claim purchases at customs You need to be off ship to do that 

#2  That you will be singled out by Royal Caribbean (Not Customs)and not allowed to disembark (pulled off line on gangway to disembark)

 

# 3. Royal Caribbean. Staff will then escort you off ship to customs office ( like you did something wrong) 

 

Wouldn’t be better to inform cruisers who spend a lot of money in there shops to schedule with {RC staff } to escort you to customs on disembarkation ( like your special ) Not Bing Bing please step off line {RC staff } will be rt with you (like you did something wrong )

 

I  think unless people  have firsthand knowledge of these procedures that 

Myself and others have gone thru People just  won’t/can’t understand.

All I did was buy a watch had my customs form and money in my pocket. New my obligation and was doing things properly

Till Bing Bing

 

 

 

 

 

[Charles4515]

10 hours ago, topnole said:

The issue of duty owed doesn’t go away because you didn’t buy it on the ship.  If you buy duty free on the island and

don't declare (and pay it) and you get caught, the implications could be severe.     

Right, if he bought  on the island there would have been no bong going off or pulling him ot of line at the gangway exit . He would have gone through and proceded to customs where he would be expected to declare the purchase and pay duty. Buying on the ship he was treated rudely,  pulled out of line, not told why and escorted to customs. Ergo the lesson seems to be to buy on the island not on the ship....

[shipgeeks]

It is my understanding that buying on an island, esp in a "RC recommended store", will be reported to RC just as buying onboard is, with subsequent Ding Ding.

However, I still do not see that there was any humiliation/rudeness/trauma involved in this incident, just a perception of such by the OP.

Having been through a Ding Ding ourselves, with the delay in disembarkation, I can state that there was no humiliation or other negative aspect involved, only curiosity, as the Security person would only say "No idea what it is about; go and fix it".

[Charles4515]

19 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

It is my understanding that buying on an island, esp in a "RC recommended store", will be reported to RC just as buying onboard is, with subsequent Ding Ding.

However, I still do not see that there was any humiliation/rudeness/trauma involved in this incident, just a perception of such by the OP.

Having been through a Ding Ding ourselves, with the delay in disembarkation, I can state that there was no humiliation or other negative aspect involved, only curiosity, as the Security person would only say "No idea what it is about; go and fix it".

Several people have percieved that to them they were treated rudely. My sweet friend told me they treated her like *****.So there is something to the complaint.  Perhaps those crew do think the passengers they are escorting have done something wrong? As far as Royal or the  RC recommended shops reporting that does not bother me. They do want to know what ship and cabin number but possibely so the Royal personal shopper gets a cut.  In any case my view is that the items should be decared and the duty paid so to me Royal reporting purchases is not the issue. They should tell passengers though they will have to pay duty at customs and not tell them there are no taxes order to push the sale. 

[foxgoodrich]

20 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

It is my understanding that buying on an island, esp in a "RC recommended store", will be reported to RC just as buying onboard is, with subsequent Ding Ding.

However, I still do not see that there was any humiliation/rudeness/trauma involved in this incident, just a perception of such by the OP.

Having been through a Ding Ding ourselves, with the delay in disembarkation, I can state that there was no humiliation or other negative aspect involved, only curiosity, as the Security person would only say "No idea what it is about; go and fix it".

It's my understanding that the report of purchases from a "RC recommended store" is only made to determine the effectiveness of the shopping cheerleader person - the one who has those shopping seminars, gives you a shopping map, tells you where to go for free charms, and hands out coupons and door prizes.  The cruise lines get a kickback from money spent at recommended stores, and the stores can see whether the shopping seminar was effective.  The shoppies in those stores ask customers what ship they are on.  Those reports do not go to US Customs.  They are part of the agreement between the store and the cruise line.

 

I also believe that the Security people only see the message to hold up the departure for the guest when they scan the Sea Pass.  They do not know the reason.  The message you got ( No idea what it is about; go and fix it) would support that belief.

[nolimits]

The ? Is why are we being stopped by Royal Caribbean at all. It’s purchasers obligation to pay  at Customs, Why is Royal involving themselves , when they didn’t at purchase in shop 

They have already reported sale to customs 

[nelblu]

22 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

 "No idea what it is about; go and fix it".

Where you told where to go and fix the issue.  Was it GS (maybe pool towels, 😄)  Were you escorted.

It's so easy to make statements.  If security told us to go to Customs and fix it, my son would have gladly done so.

 

Since the elimination of the declaration forms which had instructions reminding of Customs allowances, don't you think that Royal has a duty to inform passengers accordingly other than a small blip on the disembarking paper schedule, which probably very few Paxs even notice.  How about a disclaimer posted in stores or in the daily Compass whenever the term "Enjoy tax & duty free on board".

 

By the way, we are all born with different DNA/RNA and how mentally a situation is perceived.

 

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

It is amazing the circles that some of you are dancing so you don’t have to admit that this could be dealt with in a better manner.

[jcl410]

3 hours ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

It is amazing the circles that some of you are dancing so you don’t have to admit that this could be dealt with in a better manner.

It has been done differently before. Years ago, well 2009, as we were waiting for our group to be announced to disembark, I was paged to go to a conference room on the ship. There were a number of passengers there waiting to see a CBP officer.   

 

In my case, we were on our honeymoon We also got married on the ship in Baltimore. We had paid $1200 for a photographer to take pictures of the ceremony and reception.  (This also included a disc with all the shots on it. We also spent ~$350 for a water proof camera onboard.)

 

It took only a minute with the officer, and I went back to waiting; no Bong on departure 🙂

 

Aloha,

 

John