7/18/2010 Mickey's Baltic Ballyhoo!! Part 4

[jilljill]

I better not let Alana get wind of 16th birthday extravagandas! I'm not even sure what we are doing for her 15th and that is in 2 weeks from today!

Around here sweet 16's are not a big deal and never have been. I told DD not to expect anything next year since we are going on the cruise and our friend's are coming with us. She was fine with that since they are coming with us.

 

[RJAYL]

Around here sweet 16's are not a big deal and never have been. I told DD not to expect anything next year since we are going on the cruise and our friend's are coming with us. She was fine with that since they are coming with us.

I have a 16 year old & he is anything but sweet & my 13 soon to be 14 year old daughter is not far behind!

 

[RJAYL]

Hey Izzie I just bought some of those big Cadbury Creme filled Easter Eggs! They were 3 for 2 Dollars after easter they will be 3 for 1 Dollar!

 

[jlawall]

Hey Izzie I just bought some of those big Cadbury Creme filled Easter Eggs! They were 3 for 2 Dollars after easter they will be 3 for 1 Dollar!

I love them! My favorite Easter candy treat.......I had the mini-eggs this weekend!

 

[RJAYL]

I love them! My favorite Easter candy treat.......I had the mini-eggs this weekend!

I could have bought the mini's but the big eggs are decadent!

Only have 2 left now!

 

[jlawall]

I could have bought the mini's but the big eggs are decadent!

Only have 2 left now!

 

[jilljill]

Hey Izzie I just bought some of those big Cadbury Creme filled Easter Eggs! They were 3 for 2 Dollars after easter they will be 3 for 1 Dollar!

Oh you mean you bought the fake Cadbury eggs....they are pretty bad. You really need to get the 'real' ones from England. I will eat those but not the ones from here, they are too sweet and sugary.

 

[jilljill]

For those of you that went on the Med. cruises, did you have VAT added to your purchases made on the ship?
If so then you will like the Baltic sailing since they don't add VAT to onboard purchases.

 

[RJAYL]

Oh you mean you bought the fake Cadbury eggs....they are pretty bad. You really need to get the 'real' ones from England. I will eat those but not the ones from here, they are too sweet and sugary.

Your Loss the more for me!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

For those of you that went on the Med. cruises, did you have VAT added to your purchases made on the ship?
If so then you will like the Baltic sailing since they don't add VAT to onboard purchases.

As the ship stayed in Europe all the time yes they added VAT but non Europeans with receipts could claim it back at the airport.

I think this one is different as we leave Europe

 

[jilljill]

Your Loss the more for me!

...and more for my DH.

 

[jilljill]

As the ship stayed in Europe all the time yes they added VAT but non Europeans with receipts could claim it back at the airport.

I think this one is different as we leave Europe

We were able to get the VAT back on purchases we made in Helsinki, the only place we made a large purchase. In Tallinn the shopkeeper gave us a larger discount so we didn't have to make a VAT reclaim at the airport.

 

[jlawall]

I didn't get the VAT refund, I honestly kept my purchases to a minimum and we spent very little time in Barcelona, so I didn't do that.......I was a little overwhelmed......I know.......Americans?!

 

[jilljill]

I didn't get the VAT refund, I honestly kept my purchases to a minimum and we spent very little time in Barcelona, so I didn't do that.......I was a little overwhelmed......I know.......Americans?!

Most places require you to spend a min. of 50 pounds or euros before the will give you the VAT reclaim form and then there's a service charged deducted and then you get your amount after all that comes into play. Plus you have to have your purchases in your carry on in case the VAT reclaim agent wants to see that your goods are being carried out of the country. So sometimes it isn't worth the hassle to get it back.
I bought a sweater in Helsinki and a few other things at the port shop and they gave me the reclaim form and sealed up my bag to show the VAT reclaim agent. I then got my refund converted to GBP from Euros and received the currency. I usually just get the refund back onto my credit card but it was just easier to take the bills and coins and spend it at the airport. Plus I had already lost out on some of it due to the currency conversion and I didn't want to lose any more with another conversion to US$.
I've done the VAT reclaim more times than I really do care to admit so it's not that big a deal to me.

 

[Caropooh]

As the ship stayed in Europe all the time yes they added VAT but non Europeans with receipts could claim it back at the airport.

I think this one is different as we leave Europe

call me dumb, but they don't consider where we are going Europe?

 

[jilljill]

call me dumb, but they don't consider where we are going Europe?

You are not staying in Europe, the ship goes to Scandanavia and Russia. Don't knock it....it saves you the 16% VAT on all ship purchases.


I won't call you dumb because I didn't realize ships that stay in Europe add the VAT to onboard purchases. That can really add up quickly. At least in the stores in Europe the VAT is already included in the posted prices.

 

[Caropooh]

You are not staying in Europe, the ship goes to Scandanavia and Russia. Don't knock it....it saves you the 16% VAT on all ship purchases.


I won't call you dumb because I didn't realize ships that stay in Europe add the VAT to onboard purchases. That can really add up quickly. At least in the stores in Europe the VAT is already included in the posted prices.

So Scandanavia and Russia aren't considered Europe? What are they then?

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Hey Izzie I just bought some of those big Cadbury Creme filled Easter Eggs! They were 3 for 2 Dollars after easter they will be 3 for 1 Dollar!

I love them! My favorite Easter candy treat.......I had the mini-eggs this weekend!

I could have bought the mini's but the big eggs are decadent!

Only have 2 left now!

Yea, Yea but they don't taste the same ....... however enjoy them just the same

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

So Scandanavia and Russia aren't considered Europe? What are they then?

They are not part of the European Union. I think Russia would be mighty pi**ed if you called it European

 

[bellelinus]

So Scandanavia and Russia aren't considered Europe? What are they then?

It's the EU they are not part of . . . Of course geographically they are both part of the Eurasian super-continent . . .

When I did the Med before, the ship did add VAT -- but I was too busy buying things off the ship to do too much purchasing on the ship Once we were on the transAtlantic, VAT was not longer added since we were ending up in the US. On the Med, there were envelopes in the cabin to save receipts and a big letter explaining how to get VAT back from the ship.