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My daughter recently purchased the wifi package for our upcoming Symphony of the Seas cruise leaving from Barcelona. The taxes on this were almost 21%!  The app mentions a charge for Spain's Value Added Tax. Have others encountered this?  Is this typical of purchases made on ship?

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@J441 Although I haven't cruised from Barcelona before, I'm very shocked by these taxes. I find it bizarre that the taxes for Wi-Fi are that high, and I don't even think that service is taxed. From my understanding, it's usually a flat-rate service. This sounds bizarre. How was every other onboard expenditure taxed? I understand this taxation for drinks perhaps or a service that encompasses a gratuity as well, but this just sounds odd to me. This is especially bizarre for an RCL ship since the cruise line is so popular in the States. Maybe I stand corrected, but I always thought tax-free, duty-free shopping was a huge perk of shopping onboard a cruise ship!

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The only other advance purchase we made (we sail next month) is for a shore excursion through RCL. There was no tax applied to that.  That excursion is in Italy though. 

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@J441 I think this taxation is unfair. Unless it's truly a government-mandated tax, this "Spain's Value Added Tax" sounds like an extra way for the cruise line to make money. Were you able to contact RCL about the reasoning behind it? I doubt you will receive a solid answer, but I'm curious to hear the line's stance on this extremely high taxation. Keep me posted on the final price post-cruise. I'm also curious to see if the cruise line ends up taxing you that high for all onboard expenditures as well.

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I do remember the last cruise we took out of Barcelona, we were charged tax on our drinks while in the port of Barcelona and until we were in international waters. And this was even on those drinks included in the alcohol packages.  No big deal to us on a couple of adult beverages- we were grateful to be on vacation embarking on a Med cruise! 

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I spoke with an RCL representative today who said this is their standard tax rate, and it has nothing to do with Spain's VAT. So apparently any onboard purchase will be taxed over 20%. To break it down:

Wifi for 2 devices- $230.93

Tax- $48.44

Total- $279.37

Needless to say, we won't be making any more onship purchases. 

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Posted (edited)

@J441 I agree with @kefthecruiser, how can this even be considered tax? RCL shouldn't call it a tax if it really isn't. This high percentage is more like a user convenience fee. I have noticed taxation on things on board but I have never noticed one this steep. I think Royal Caribbean Line is really trying to get crafty to recoup the previous year's losses. I just think this "tax" is a pretty sneaky and unreasonable way to do it. As you said, guests should be really cautious now about what they are purchasing onboard. This additional tax will make your bill rack up pretty quickly.

Edited by Cruising Caribbean
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@J441 You just gotta love how the cruise line explicitly states the charge is for Spain's Value Added Tax, and then when you call the line says nevermind it's not that, and furthermore you have to pay it on everything. Sounds like a scam of a tax to me. Don't you think? 

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@3Sistersyes I'm not sure that the rep I spoke with was correct. I've seen in my other post on RCL blog that Spain has VAT of differing amounts depending on what is purchased, but it does actually go up to 21%!

I'm just wondering if you can avoid the VAT if you delay your purchase until you're in international waters. 

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@J441 That's a good thought. I wonder if this VAT can be avoided. Customer service reps often have no idea about all of these minute details. Sometimes they just pull an answer from their behind to appease the customer on the line and move on to the next call. From what the rep told you, it seems unavoidable, but based on the nature of the tax, it would make sense that purchases in international waters would avoid this VAT. The percentage is almost a joke to me, 21% is just way too high.

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