Cruise Contests

I am sure this has been discussed many times however I am fairly new to Cruise Critic. Why do all the cruise lines that run contests only have them open to US citizens? Cruising out of the US is huge for Canadians also.

I have received offers of other kinds of contests where they say 'Canadian citizens may be required to take a quiz' or some such things. It may be that Canada has some rules for give-away contests that the cruise lines are not willing to meet/bother with. EM

short answer: Canadian/UK/Australia law says certain criteria must be met on both sides. the cruise lines are not interested in putting forth the effort.

probably a legal issue or tax issue

Just like in Canada most contests are not open to Residents of Quebec

I would suspect a legal issue.

Keith

I would suspect a legal issue.

 

Keith

If there was no 'skill' involved it is legally classified as a lottery, therefore gambling with the concomitant licence issues etc..

Add a trivial question and you involve skill, therefore not a lottery but a competition of skill, legally speaking.

Taxes!!

If there was no 'skill' involved it is legally classified as a lottery, therefore gambling with the concomitant licence issues etc..

 

Add a trivial question and you involve skill, therefore not a lottery but a competition of skill, legally speaking.

Not in the US. Here, many companies, stores and businesses offer prizes through contests. The restrictions here are that these contests must not require a purchase in order to enter them. Everyone must have equal opportunity to enter, whether a purchase is made or not. It has nothing to do with said contest being considered a "lottery". It is more about ensuring equal chances for everyone.

It is also important to note than many, if not most, of these types of contests have severe restrictions on how and when they can be used. They often aren't the wonderful prize they first appear to be. And, we are required to pay sales taxes on the full value of the prize.

I remember a company I worked for who gave away a well equipped car as a thank you to their employees for a very successful year. Everyone in the company was given a key. Only one fit the door. Our secretary, a single mother with three kids, won the car. Everyone was excited for her. Unfortunately, the sales taxes she would have had to pay for the full value was out of her reach. She had to refuse the win because she couldn't afford the tax, which was substantial. But all ended well. The employer arranged to have the car returned to the dealer for a lower cost car, and they used the difference to pay those taxes.

Taxes!!

There are taxes on prizes over a certain level in U.S.

Think Lottery.....

I just heard of a $4million dollar winning lottery ticket. The winner opted to get lump sum payment and will get $2.3 million (or something like that). The rest goes to taxes.

In Canada we pay no taxes on prizes or lottery winnings

If Canadians win big in Vegas they have to fill in a form to get ALL the money

I suspect that is the same with contests in the USA, so they just eliminate people that are not US residents from the get go

I am sure this has been discussed many times however I am fairly new to Cruise Critic. Why do all the cruise lines that run contests only have them open to US citizens? Cruising out of the US is huge for Canadians also.

You could move to the U.S. and become a citizen, thereby making yourself eligible for contests. Then, you'd have a slim-to-none chance like the rest of us do at winning a free cruise. :rolleyes: