tax on beverage package

[lindie15]

If a beverage package is given as a perk when booking a cruise, is tax and gratuity for drinks then charged to my account

[Alberta Quilter]

No.  The perk includes the gratuities and any taxes.

[annnmarie]

That definitely depends on the cruise line. A friend recently was hit with a HUGE bill from NCL at the end of her cruise, over $300 in taxes and gratuities on her "FREE" amenities. Never again she said. However, if you are relatively new to cruising, just make sure you know EXACTLY what you will pay. If "free" upcharge dining is included, ask if there are ANY additional costs to you. On a recent 11 day on Celebrity I got a $150 OBC, classic drink package, and upcharge dining package included. There were NO additional charges, taxes, or gratuities added to my bill.  On a recent trip on NCL Breakaway, ALL of these items had additional "hidden" frees. The agent could not give an exact figure on additional charges, saying she could only give an "estimate" since it varies greatly. I have found best (on some lines) not to pre-book any packages. "Welcome Aboard" specials on some lines are often considerably below pre-booked prices since the management knows if the specialty restaurants are over or under booked on a sailing, what percentage of drink packages are already sold, etc. This also varies by line, some do not offer any boarding day specials except spa treatments. I have sailed all the major lines and have found for my personal preferences, NCL is by far the highest. This is interesting since many people are under the impression that Celebrity, HAL, Princess, RCCL, etc. are more expensive. I tend to think they have never actually figured apples to apples exactly, but, to each their own. Sometimes a one of a kind, or seldom seen itinerary (like a Bermuda cruise sailing from Florida, not the northeast, or stops at seldom visited islands) are worth a higher fare or inflated prices for "freebies".

Just one opinion of a frequent floater. 

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by annnmarie
clarity and spelling corrections

[TAD2005]

If you buy the beverage package, HAL charges the 15% service charge, when it is purchased.  If the SBP is included in your cruise as a perk (Explore-4) then the 15% is part of the perk and there are no extra charges.  In some US states (Florida for example) an extra 7% state tax is added when you are in a Florida port, or sailing from one Florida port to another, e.g. Tampa to Key West.  You have to pay that 7% if you DON'T have the package, but if you do, there is no additional charge added to your room account.

I have heard of various nicknames for NCL....Nickle & dime Cruise Line.  I haven't sailed NCL for almost 15 years, and based on these reports, I never will.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thankfully HAL doesn't charge you extra for the gratuities and taxes on the drink packages or any free dinners you are given by HAL or a TA or from anyone else.

[dundeene]

We priced out an NCL cruise vs HAL.  Both came with "free" perks.  The tax and grats on NCL's "free" perks totaled almost $400. The tax and grats on Explore 4 were zero.

[DeeniEncinitas]

4 minutes ago, dundeene said:

We priced out an NCL cruise vs HAL.  Both came with "free" perks.  The tax and grats on NCL's "free" perks totaled almost $400. The tax and grats on Explore 4 were zero.

Your absolutely right👍

Your puppy is adorable too!

Love my little grand puppy Paisley! She is well into cruise critic too!

Denise😊

[trophy_23]

We booked a short pacific coastal repositioning cruise a couple years back on NCL that had the option of beverage package or three specialty restaurants dinners or internet package.  I asked the same question you are asking and was told that I had to pay the gratuity.  We really aren’t big drinkers, and once I did the math it wasn’t even worth it for us even just based on paying the cost of the gratuity for our cruise.  We ended up doing the specialty restaurants.  This is the only time we have had a booking with this type of promo.  As mentioned above we also found NCL really nickeled and dimed, so different than our experiences with HAL and Princess.

Edited March 8, 2019 by trophy_23

[Jareds_mommytoo]

7 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

In some US states (Florida for example) an extra 7% state tax is added when you are in a Florida port, or sailing from one Florida port to another, e.g. Tampa to Key West.

What about San Diego?

[trophy_23]

13 hours ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

What about San Diego?

We got charged an additional fee for drinks purchased while docked in San Francisco.

[TAD2005]

2 minutes ago, trophy_23 said:

We got charged an additional fee for drinks purchased while docked in San Francisco.

Did you have the Signature Beverage Package when you were charges a state tax while docked in SFO ?   Florida has a 7% sales tax on just about everything except groceries.   While docked in Tampa and Key West, we saw an additional 7% FL Sales tax added to our drink receipts, but when I asked the server, he said we didn't have to pay the tax if we had the beverage package.  Checking our cabin account on the HAL Navigator, there were no drink taxes added to our bill.   I would assume that the state sales tax works the same for California.

We board the Eurodam tomorrow (Saturday) and I will check the drink receipts for a sales tax.  But I have heard that HAL has stopped issuing receipts for drinks with the beverage package, unless you request one.

[trophy_23]

In the case of San Francisco it was just on a happy hour bogo type purchase while in port, not a package.

[BerthaH44]

On 3/7/2019 at 5:24 PM, Krazy Kruizers said:

Thankfully HAL doesn't charge you extra for the gratuities and taxes on the drink packages or any free dinners you are given by HAL or a TA or from anyone else.

Does HAL offer “deals” on beverage packages prior to sailing?

[TAD2005]

4 hours ago, BerthaH44 said:

Does HAL offer “deals” on beverage packages prior to sailing?

We always sail on HAL with the SBP, and we get it as a perk, or we pay for it costing $44.95 per day plus 15%. 

We have never seen any discounts on the SBP offered online, before sailing.   We've also never seen any reduction in price when you get onboard.   Actually, if you wait to buy it onboard, you pay an additional $5 per day for the package.   This is to encourage people to use their cash to buy the package before boarding instead of using any OBC that you have received from HAL.   If you don;t have the package before boarding, you must purchase it within the first 48 hours.   If you do purchase it onboard, do it as soon as you can, because it is a bit of a pain getting any drinks you have consumed reversed by the front office.