Plus Drink Package

[mygirlsemandsam]

Are drinks included from the minute you board until the minute you leave?

[NRWPA]

yes

[fatbird]

Where are you leaving from? If it's Texas it'll start late-after the ship is in international waters.

[PaperSniper4]

On 12/21/2022 at 3:52 PM, mygirlsemandsam said:

Are drinks included from the minute you board until the minute you leave?

Depends. From Galveston, for instance, no. From Cape Everglades, yes. I believe some California cities might be the same.

 

 Doug

[dog]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:52 PM, mygirlsemandsam said:

Are drinks included from the minute you board until the minute you leave?

Non alcoholic drinks are.

[KLM3164]

From CA ports….Yes, drinks included the moment you board until the moment you disembark. 

[memoak]

From some ports you may encounter a local sales tax. From Texas all rules are different due to state laws   The state does not allow drink packages nor the use of any liquors not bought in Texas. This all changes when you get to International waters

[Thrak]

I was surprised to see tax added when we boarded in San Francisco. I knew they did that in FLL but didn't realize it would happen in SF. No biggie - just a surprise. The whole Texas idiocy is bizarre.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

I was surprised to see tax added when we boarded in San Francisco. I knew they did that in FLL but didn't realize it would happen in SF. No biggie - just a surprise. The whole Texas idiocy is bizarre.

Do they only charge the tax in CA if you do not already have a drink package?

[t&atravel]

23 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Do they only charge the tax in CA if you do not already have a drink package?

Yes.  We sailed from SF 3 times this year with the package and were not taxed. And yes, we had cocktails as soon as we boarded.  😉

[polmcs]

We’ve never been charged tax on beverages bought under a package whilst still in port at San Pedro, CA. We did sail on NCL with a package out of New Orleans and it’s a few hours sail out of that port until you reach international waters and we were charged sales tax on every beverage until well into the evening.

[Thrak]

We had Princess Plus and were charged the tax in SF. Like I said, it was a surprise. We've never been charged tax when sailing out of San Pedro. It may well be a Princess screw up but it certainly wasn't worth disputing the charge.

[memoak]

37 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We had Princess Plus and were charged the tax in SF. Like I said, it was a surprise. We've never been charged tax when sailing out of San Pedro. It may well be a Princess screw up but it certainly wasn't worth disputing the charge.

No I have seen this in various ports even with a drink package you just get a charge for tax. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

We had Princess Plus and were charged the tax in SF. Like I said, it was a surprise. We've never been charged tax when sailing out of San Pedro. It may well be a Princess screw up but it certainly wasn't worth disputing the charge.

We cruise quite often out of California ports and the only time we’ve been charged a tax on a drink while having the package is if we bought something over the limit.  
As you say, it may have been a screw up.  
 

[Cruise Raider]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

From some ports you may encounter a local sales tax. From Texas all rules are different due to state laws   The state does not allow drink packages nor the use of any liquors not bought in Texas. This all changes when you get to International waters

 

Tito’s anyone?  Or does that not even apply?  
 

[sloopsailor]

32 minutes ago, memoak said:

No I have seen this in various ports even with a drink package you just get a charge for tax. 

 

The comment was about San Francisco, not about various ports. I've never seen this in San Francisco, no matter the cruise line. Must be a screw up. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by sloopsailor

[mygirlsemandsam]

Cruising out of Seattle to Alaska

[PaperSniper4]

21 hours ago, memoak said:

From some ports you may encounter a local sales tax. From Texas all rules are different due to state laws   The state does not allow drink packages nor the use of any liquors not bought in Texas. This all changes when you get to International waters

Out of NOLA on NCL we paid state tax (we had the Beverage package). Most folks forget it's a long, long time down the Mississippi River until we're out of state jurisdiction. But that only added a couple of dollars for that first evening.

 

 Doug

[DallasGuy75219]

6 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Out of NOLA on NCL we paid state tax (we had the Beverage package). Most folks forget it's a long, long time down the Mississippi River until we're out of state jurisdiction. But that only added a couple of dollars for that first evening.

 

 Doug

Yes, local and sales tax is levied while docked in New Orleans.  After departure, you're in Louisiana waters until around midnight when the ship leaves the Mississippi and enters the Gulf, through which time state sales tax continues to be levied.

[jagoffee]

25 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Yes, local and sales tax is levied while docked in New Orleans.  After departure, you're in Louisiana waters until around midnight when the ship leaves the Mississippi and enters the Gulf, through which time state sales tax continues to be levied.

Even if you have a drink package that has been previously paid?  Does not make a lot of sense to me.  Do they charge tax on dining, internet, etc. while you are in port?  Why the difference?  
does NCL charge a gratuity for each drink purchased with a package or something similar?

[DallasGuy75219]

1 minute ago, jagoffee said:

Even if you have a drink package that has been previously paid?  Does not make a lot of sense to me.  Do they charge tax on dining, internet, etc. while you are in port?  Why the difference?  
does NCL charge a gratuity for each drink purchased with a package or something similar?

I intentionally said "levied," as in what the government requires to be paid.  It's up to each cruiseline whether they eat the cost or pass it on to the pax. 

 

I can only speak to drinks, not paid dining or internet.  From my own experience, Carnival passes it on.  Based on previous posts, NCL does too.  In my experience, Princess does not, nor do I recall Royal doing so.

 

NCL charges a gratuity upfront on based on the cost of the package, even if you got the package itself free as part of an offer (very slimy IMO as I'm not aware of any other line charging gratuities on a "free" drink package).