Examples of my fantastic upgrades on NCL

[Stitchesmumanddad]

Originally Posted by munmun

Hope new man is an upgrade LOL.
Need pictures, post as pm if you like!

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Aaaw looks wise he is not everyone’s cup of tea - bless him, but in person, his personality, devotion and loyalty are fantastic
Will do xx

[Princess Alison]

Originally Posted by Stitchesmumanddad

Im not sure about marrying as Id never ever get married again- so I never researched that.

I have a very peculiar situation. So in a nutshell, I receive a substantial tax free Government pension - whilst if I lived in Spain that would still be “taxed” in this country at zero as its a public sector pension - so taxable only in the Country that pays it - those are the Treaty rules, the value of it is still taken into account for all other income in Spain ( other non public sector pension, rental incomes etc ) as Spain taxes on World wide income so it pushes me into all that extra being taxed at 47% - rather than my £12,500 personal allowance and the 20% rate etc here in the UK ( as the tax free money is ignored here ….. not ignored in Spain )

Also Spain has a tax on assets owned called “wealth tax”. I own three houses in Greater London. They are fussy with exemptions for mortgages on non Spanish property. They do exclude a certain amount for main residence but thats not enough. So essentially you pay a % on everything above the threshold after deducting the exemptions permitted -EVERY year - no thanks.

Loads of ex pats believe if their income is taxed in UK into a UK bank account, its under the radar. Spain is a little “behind” with technology but if you get caught up with, the Spanish tax authorities are after you - bit like the IRS in USA lol

Hence I never want to spend more than 183 days a year ( 1st Jan to 31st Dec ) in Spain / EU

As said its a very specific situation and the laws are rather unwieldy so everyone is different x

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Thank you for taking the time to respond. It certainly is complicated!

[Sandraoh40]

Originally Posted by Stitchesmumanddad

There are two ways to get upgrades.

1. Yes they “usually” send you an email and a bit like bidding on airline upgrades, you slide the bar across to pick the price you want to offer. I just picked the minimum £125 each for Spa balcony. ( The price for 10 day Thermal Spa pass is £329 EACH ! ) This was accepted. I offered £85 each for standard balcony and I think £200 each for club suite which seems exactly the same as a balcony, as Ive just stayed in two as above.
I say “usually” as I also cruised in January on the Escape - which is also next months ship, and Ive checked. I never got an upgrade email for that one.

2. The other way is to constantly check prices online and when the room you want is an acceptable price you call up and say you want to upgrade and its done at the new price. But check the Free at Sea deals as they change sometimes ( ie one speciality meal, not two. 150 mins of wi fi not 250 etc ) Hardly a deal breaker though.

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Thank you 😊

[Loopylooloo]

Just glad you are happy and still enjoying life!