10% VAT tax added to all "free at sea drinks" on NCL while in Med?

[Alatraveler1]

So are all drinks that my NCL promo says are "free" now subject to a 10% VAT if I were to book a Med cruise?  I'd already be paying gratuities so it's not really free, buy now it can really add up.  If so, maybe another line is now a greater value.

[steamboats]

Yes, and there are mutiple threads covering this topic.

 

steamboats

[KeithJenner]

It depends.

 

On ships that sail from and return to Barcelona without leaving the EU then currently yes I believe so.

 

if it leaves from Barcelona and ends somewhere else then I’m not sure.

 

I believe that other than that you are ok.

[DCGuy64]

8 hours ago, Alatraveler1 said:

So are all drinks that my NCL promo says are "free" now subject to a 10% VAT if I were to book a Med cruise?  I'd already be paying gratuities so it's not really free, buy now it can really add up.  If so, maybe another line is now a greater value.

Just curious where you read that, what is the source of this information? As @KeithJenner alludes to, it's just been cruises that call at Spanish ports so far, not the Mediterranean generally.

[davencl]

On my recent cruise from Trieste, thru the Greek Isles to Rome there was no VAT.

[CPRayVA]

On our recent cruise from Rome to Lisbon (most ports in Spain), there was no VAT.

 

[PATRLR]

11 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

It depends.

 

On ships that sail from and return to Barcelona without leaving the EU then currently yes I believe so.

 

if it leaves from Barcelona and ends somewhere else then I’m not sure.

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Just curious where you read that, what is the source of this information? As @KeithJenner alludes to, it's just been cruises that call at Spanish ports so far, not the Mediterranean generally.

Interesting.  So just because it begins and ends in Barcelona, they have to collect VAT the entire cruise?  But if it ended somewhere else, they wouldn't?  I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't see how that makes sense.  (I'm not saying it's wrong.  I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to me.)

[DCGuy64]

47 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Interesting.  So just because it begins and ends in Barcelona, they have to collect VAT the entire cruise?  But if it ended somewhere else, they wouldn't?  I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't see how that makes sense.  (I'm not saying it's wrong.  I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to me.)

I don't know if it makes sense or not. I don't think Barcelona has anything to do with it. It does, however, seem to have something to do with Spanish ports in general. Going on the basis of my memory alone, I recall people posting within the last few months that VAT was being collected on purchases (including alcohol) when ships docked at any port in Spain, whether the entire voyage was made up of only Spanish ports or just one of them. It doesn't seem to be an issue with other ports in the Mediterranean like France or Italy, for example.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Interesting.  So just because it begins and ends in Barcelona, they have to collect VAT the entire cruise?  But if it ended somewhere else, they wouldn't?  I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't see how that makes sense.  (I'm not saying it's wrong.  I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to me.)

It doesn't make sense to me. Some folks on our cruise received the letter below about VAT for our cruise. We did not. I've just resigned myself to not knowing until we start drinking. The consensus seems to be that we'll probably pay VAT in Barcelona and Cartagena, but not any other time. 

 

Since some on our cruise received the message, I assume we're one of the "certain sailings," but who the heck knows, except NCL. Certainly no one here can figure it out. 

 

[rattla]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

It doesn't make sense to me. Some folks on our cruise received the letter below about VAT for our cruise. We did not. I've just resigned myself to not knowing until we start drinking. The consensus seems to be that we'll probably pay VAT in Barcelona and Cartagena, but not any other time. 

 

Since some on our cruise received the message, I assume we're one of the "certain sailings," but who the heck knows, except NCL. Certainly no one here can figure it out. 

 

it should just be the Spanish ports, we have had this on several cruises with different cruise lines, added while in ports and until you leave the waters.

[Pghcrews]

My understanding is that for Spain the VAT is assessed at the time of consumption and/or the time of purchase. Accordingly, it's assessed on drinks when served even if on a drinks package purchased months before outside of Spain.

 

Also, my understanding of which country's VAT laws are enforced many times depends upon the embarkation port.  For example, I've seen some indication that Spain's VAT rules will be imposed throughout the cruise no matter where you are if the cruise begins and ends in Spain.

 

That said, if the itinerary goes to at least one non-EU country, I believe no VAT is imposed.

 

Regardless, NCL has determined that it is in their best interest to make the VAT the responsibility of its customers when it is imposed, unlike many (if not all) of its competitors.

 

There may be additional nuances, but that seems to be why so many here report paying no VAT when there cruise begins in Italy, for example.

 

Just my two cents.

[DCGuy64]

58 minutes ago, rattla said:

it should just be the Spanish ports, we have had this on several cruises with different cruise lines, added while in ports and until you leave the waters.

 

58 minutes ago, Pghcrews said:

Regardless, NCL has determined that it is in their best interest to make the VAT the responsibility of its customers when it is imposed, unlike many (if not all) of its competitors.

What makes this issue particularly hard to figure out is illustrated by looking at these two posts. The first suggests that VAT might be levied on cruise passengers regardless of which line it is, while the 2nd implies it's only NCL. Not sure what to make of this but to say nobody really knows for sure.

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Some folks on our cruise received the letter below about VAT for our cruise.

Just curious, when are you going?  We've got a med cruise booked in July 2024, round-trip Barcelona.  We've not received any such communication

[PATRLR]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

What makes this issue particularly hard to figure out is illustrated by looking at these two posts. The first suggests that VAT might be levied on cruise passengers regardless of which line it is, while the 2nd implies it's only NCL. Not sure what to make of this but to say nobody really knows for sure.

Well, I suggest the tax is levied on all cruise passengers, regardless of the cruise line, who meet a certain criteria (e.g. while in a Spanish port).  The tax is collected from NCL passengers while other cruise lines choose to pay the tax and not collect from the passengers.   And that I believe is consistent with NCL's SOP.

[rattla]

8 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

 

What makes this issue particularly hard to figure out is illustrated by looking at these two posts. The first suggests that VAT might be levied on cruise passengers regardless of which line it is, while the 2nd implies it's only NCL. Not sure what to make of this but to say nobody really knows for sure.

I think there may be some bearing on where you sail from as the letter Someone copied suggested.

This is an example of one of our receipts for drinks in June on Anthem of the seas when we were in Bilbao, Spain.  We left from the U.K. and went to stops in France and Spain and it was only while in the 2 Spanish ports the tax was required

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by rattla

[hawkeyetlse]

17 hours ago, CPRayVA said:

On our recent cruise from Rome to Lisbon (most ports in Spain), there was no VAT.

 

I know this was the case for "free" drinks, but can you also confirm that people actually paying for drinks on board while the ship was in/near Spanish ports were not charged tax? (On the Gem, right?) It's a nice surprise if they weren't, but it's hard to understand why they weren't charged.

 

Not that I'm really trying to understand NCL's rules on this anymore. I fully expect this season to end, and when the ships come back to Europe next March/April, the whole mess will start up again.

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Just curious, when are you going?  We've got a med cruise booked in July 2024, round-trip Barcelona.  We've not received any such communication

We're sailing out of Barcelona on Nov. 20th, this year. The communication was not sent to my husband or I, but was sent to several passengers who are on the same sailing. Many of them posted this same letter. It was sent to my fellow passengers about a month ago, so three'ish months out from sailing. 

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, PATRLR said:

The tax is collected from NCL passengers while other cruise lines choose to pay the tax and not collect from the passengers. 

Which of course begs the question: how much more do the lines charge that choose to pay the tax themselves (rather than passing it on to the passengers as NCL does)? Personally, if I had to pay a 10% tax but saved more overall than going on a different line with a higher price tag, I'd feel I still came out ahead.

[DCGuy64]

7 hours ago, rattla said:

I think there may be some bearing on where you sail from as the letter Someone copied suggested.

This is an example of one of our receipts for drinks in June on Anthem of the seas when we were in Bilbao, Spain.  We left from the U.K. and went to stops in France and Spain and it was only while in the 2 Spanish ports the tax was required

 

 

I'm going to save this picture for future use. Guess why?

[cruiseny4life]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm going to save this picture for future use. Guess why?

Just remember...that's someone without a beverage package. Others are going to come at you saying they have the Free at Sea, so why should they pay tax. :-) 

[DCGuy64]

8 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Just remember...that's someone without a beverage package. Others are going to come at you saying they have the Free at Sea, so why should they pay tax. 🙂

I wasn't referring to FAS.

[graphicguy]

I realize this is generally a European issue, but I think it would behoove all the cruise lines to post the Ts and Cs that covers the VAT charged on the beverages in those areas that it's required.  That wold eliminate the confusion.  Regardless of how it's charged, the geographic areas require it.  So, the cruise lines can offer something that explains why they're adding it. 

[DCGuy64]

19 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I realize this is generally a European issue, but I think it would behoove all the cruise lines to post the Ts and Cs that covers the VAT charged on the beverages in those areas that it's required.  That wold eliminate the confusion.  Regardless of how it's charged, the geographic areas require it.  So, the cruise lines can offer something that explains why they're adding it. 

I have a notion to post something elsewhere on CC about this. I'd really love to know how other lines deal with this issue. If it's truly a VAT thing, I don't believe for a second that the major players like Carnival, RCCL, Princess, MSC, Celebrity, etc or the smaller, boutique lines like Viking, Oceania, etc. would simply refuse to pay it.

[DCGuy64]

I am beginning to think this isn't just an NCL issue. Another poster on a different board had to pay VAT and he was on a P&O cruise. And the post from @rattla above shows tax paid on a Royal Caribbean cruise, too.

[Debifluff]

On my recent cruise that left from Barcelona and ended in Trieste we had to pay VAT while in Spanish waters on any purchases made.    Once we left Spanish waters - there was no VAT added.   However our cruise stopped in Montenegro and it is not a member of the EU yet which I believe is why we only had to pay it in Spanish waters.