Cruise on the Med & European Tax

[Sunbeam56]

We booked a cruise on the Med for October 4th, 2007 (Barcelona, Villefranche, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo) - Voyageur of the Seas.

 

I heard that there is an European Tax that is charged on the ship for purchases and services. You can get your refund for the tax charged on the purchases but not the services. So that means, anything consumed (drinks, wine), we cannot get our refund.

 

When you order wine in the dining room, is that tax charged and what percentage is it?

[GMoney]

I spent a month on Brilliance in the Med in June, and while I could be wrong, I just do not recall such a tax being applied to goods and services I purchased on board.

[Aprille]

You must have blocked it out, Patrick! ;) Or maybe it depends on your departure port.

 

I was on this same itinerary on Voyager in October (round-trip out of Barcelona). There is a 16% :eek: VAT tax. I believe this is only imposed on non-consummables so wine would not be taxed.

 

Towards the end of the cruise you will be informed that you can take all your receipts to one of the shops and have a Global Refund Cheque form printed up. You must have this form stamped by customs in order to get a refund. If you don't get this form printed out on the ship I think you have to fill out a form and have it stamped by customs. Either way the form (or the receipts?) must be custom stamped!

 

I did have the form printed out on the ship but it all seemed like so much trouble for $12.82 USD that I never followed through. :p I'm sure they count on this from the majority.

 

P.S. You're going to LOVE this cruise whether you get your VAT tax refund or not! ;) We had an incredible time! :cool:

[hcat]

We cruised RT from Barcelona (on Celebrity) but had a stop in Gibraltar-- a Non-EU country. I believe that is why there was no VAt Tax on shipboard items that I noticed... but there were so many extra fees & conversions along the way that after awhile we did not care--Barcelona was great & we had lots of fun...It was an expensive vacation but one of our best!

[Magicat]

We just came back from the Brilliance in November and we did not get charge a VAT tax. I did do some research into getting your VAT back and it is different in each country and the amount you spend is also different. You can not get VAT back from restaurants and hotels and you have to spend all your money in one store. In Italy you have to mail your original receipts back to Italy to get your money back as in Spain you have to get a cheque from the store then get it approved at the airport at customs. And only certain stores give you your VAT back.

 

Here is the link for the Spainish VAT tax return

 

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/shopping/tax-free-shopping.html

 

Just Google Italy and you will find it. Unless you plan on spending a ton of money on gifts it's really a non issue. As to the ship, although they do warn you that certain purchases will include VAT we bought items from the bar, spa, and jewelery store and we did not get charged a VAT.

[Sunbeam56]

I was on this same itinerary on Voyager in October (round-trip out of Barcelona). There is a 16% :eek: VAT tax. I believe this is only imposed on non-consummables so wine would not be taxed.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Is a ship excursion considered a non-consummable?

[Sunbeam56]

I did do some research into getting your VAT back.

 

Thanks for the info.

[dthompsond1]

The reason why you did'nt notice the VAT Tax is that it is not shown as a seperate tax but is built into the price of the item purchased. VAT (17% in UK) is put on nearly all purchases except food and childrens clothing.

[Aprille]

Is a ship excursion considered a non-consummable?

That I don't know. We had all our excursions booked and paid for before the cruise. And there was no VAT tax charged on our ship-sponsored excursions booked in advance.

 

The reason why you did'nt notice the VAT Tax is that it is not shown as a seperate tax but is built into the price of the item purchased.

While that may be true off the ship, the VAT tax on purchases on the ship was clearly itemized on the receipts.

[Sunbeam56]

That I don't know. We had all our excursions booked and paid for before the cruise. And there was no VAT tax charged on our ship-sponsored excursions booked in advance.

 

Thanks. We have the intention of booking are excursions from RCI before we leave.

 

I am so looking forward to that trip there is only 299 days left.