How do you fly home with duty free alcohol from a Caribbean cruise?

Times have changed so the savings are small and I don't want to worry about a bottle of spirits breaking while in the luggage.

Keith

Am I missing something here? What is so difficult about bringing it home?

 

 

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A)You can't take it in carry-on.

B)You risk breakage in checked luggage.

C)If you have more than one bottle, the added weight could put you over the limit, or you might not have room for it, requiring a second checked bag.

D) If C, the additional cost might be more than the small savings on purchase price.

Hi

If you are flying into Canada from the States, you can still purchase alcohol in the airport and carry it into the plane. I agree it's not as cheap as the Caribbean or the States, but it is still much cheaper than in Canada.

I fly from/to a (U.S.) border city, so I will either make my purchases there or stop at the duty free shop at the border when driving home. I can't be bothered packing bottles in my checked luggage.

Many years ago, DW and I would return home from the Caribbean with lots of booze...sometimes even going over our duty-free limit (but US Customs never charged us...partially because we were always very honest listing every bottle). In our case we only purchased relatively expensive booze (usually high-end single malt scotches and Cognacs) where our savings (over stateside prices) was substantial. In some cases we were able to save over $60 per bottle! And by the way, the best deals (by far) were found in St Maarten....not St Thomas. While US regulations have a much higher limit for booze purchased in St Thomas...that never was a bid deal.

But in the past decade times have changed. In most cases, the booze we price in St Thomas and St Maarten are generally close to stateside prices or even more expensive. Why this has happened is a mystery to me...but it has happened. I actually got into a discussion with a liquor store owner in St Maarten and explained that I could purchase the same stuff for nearly an identical price in PA (an expensive state where all liquor is sold by Stat Stores....and he refused to believe me. So I quickly pulled up the current PLCB (our liquor stores) price list on my phone and showed him that a decent bottle of Cognac was actually $1 cheaper at home.

Yes, we do sometimes see a small savings on cheaper stuff (like Rum or Vodka) but the savings amount to less then $5 per liter. IMHO, it is just not worth the hassle to drag back booze to save a few dollars....and have to risk putting it into checked luggage (for flying in the USA). We still occasionally buy a very good bottle of scotch at our favorite store in St Maarten....but only because we cannot even find that particular bottle anywhere in the USA (our St Maarten store carried one of the largest varieties of Scotch Whiskey I have ever seen outside of Scotland).

Hank

The prices in the Caribbean are not sufficiently below those at home for it to be worth the possible over-weight or extra bag charges or the hassle.

 

Perhaps stopping at UPS or FedEx on the way to the airport and letting them ship it home for you. Their $50 to $60 or so charge might not use up your savings on purchase - but it would come close.

Not all states allow for shipping of alcohol for personal use Until recently, only commercial -- to/from-- shipping of alcohol (in cluding wine) was allowed in MA. Happily, that law is now changed.

I never travel without bubble wrap on a cruise.

I fly with bottles all the time. I just put them in the middle, with clothes around them.

In MANY years, and MANY bottles, I have had 2 break. One ended up packed at the corner of a soft side, and it got dropped on that corner. The other, I have no idea, but it was on my way home, and so just had to do a bit more wash. :)

I buy mainly things I cannot get in the US. Like odd ball local things, and some Scotch whiskies that are only available in Europe.

But in the past decade times have changed. In most cases, the booze we price in St Thomas and St Maarten are generally close to stateside prices or even more expensive. Why this has happened is a mystery to me...

Because people will pay the price.

Those stores are businesses. So they buy for as low of a price as they can get, and sell for as high a price.

And while some people are savvy shoppers like you, most are not.

I remember years ago, flying out of Hong Kong. People were going NUTS in the duty free at the airport. Wandering around, I came across a sign, on a column, facing the wall. It pointed out that Hong Kong was a duty free zone, so the prices in the "duty free" store were not necessarily less than anywhere else in Hong Kong. :D

We were just in St Thomas last month. I guess since folks can't carry that liquor box onto a plane, sales have slacked off. Since they have, prices have gone up and savings are minimal, if at all. Liquor prices are a MUCH better in St Martin than in St Thomas. Though I didn't purchase, for the h*ll of it I priced a couple of things in each port and the prices were a LOT lower in St Martin but legally, you can only bring back 1 bottle duty free if you purchase there. At any rate, if you have to pack it in your luggage you might have end up paying for overweight luggage as well as risk the possibility of breakage. Not worth buying there, anymore.

Please be careful....high proof alcohol can be considered as flammable by the airlines. We were told that when we visited the Bacardi rum factory in PR. TSA will confiscate it above 80 proof. One of their rums was about 85 proof...so a no go there. :(

In the distant past, I would buy alcohol in St. Thomas, etc and it would be delivered to the ship before it sailed. You would get those telltale boxes the final night. At that time you could carryon the plane those boxes or check(?) the box with luggage. How do you take it home now? I don’t want to pay for an extra bag.

Thanks

 

 

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We just put it in our luggage, unless we are flying back from San Juan or St. Thomas, in which case you can carry it on the plane.

People are paranoid that it is going to break but a lot of liquor is in plastic bottles, and chances of breakage are slim. In addition unless glass bottles bang together they rarely break. Think about how hard it is to break a liquor bottle. It takes a real hard blow. If you have hard sided luggage it is simply not going to happen. With softside luggage it takes a perfect hit for something to break.

Put it in your bags, pad it well, and you are good to go.

We just put it in our luggage, unless we are flying back from San Juan or St. Thomas, in which case you can carry it on the plane.

 

 

People are paranoid that it is going to break but a lot of liquor is in plastic bottles, and chances of breakage are slim. In addition unless glass bottles bang together they rarely break. Think about how hard it is to break a liquor bottle. It takes a real hard blow. If you have hard sided luggage it is simply not going to happen. With softside luggage it takes a perfect hit for something to break.

 

 

Put it in your bags, pad it well, and you are good to go.

"A lot of liquor is in plastic bottles?" Perhaps Thunderbird or Pink Ripple or something of similar quality :). We do know that some lower cost Vodkas (i.e. Smirnoff) is sometimes sold in plastic. My goodness, you might even save $1 or $2. On the other hand, if it puts your checked luggage over weight it could cost you $35 (or more).

So here is my question. Can anyone name a high quality liquor sold in plastic bottles, that is found in the Caribbean at a substantial savings?

Hank

A 1L cheap rum (Captain Morgan) is +\- $45 in most of Canada. At $15 in Caribbean that's a big savings for me. And plastic.

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Hardly worth the effort. You can't take ANY liquids over 3.4 oz onto the plane in your hands or carry on. You'll have to pack it in your checked bags somehow...hope it doesn't put you over the weight limit or break during the flight. I can't imagine the "savings" are worth the effort.

Not quite.......

There are exceptions to the 3.4oz/100ml rule when passing thru Security at the airport (in the US - flying outside the US is a different story) - medically necessary liquids and formula/juice for infants/toddlers to name a couple. Once past Security, you can bring liquids in any amount (within reason) onto the plane, including buying bottles of whatever at the Duty Free shops.

The issue becomes when you land from foreign soil with your Duty Free airport purchase and you transfer to your domestic flight. At that point it has to be in your checked luggage.......

A 1L cheap rum (Captain Morgan) is +\- $45 in most of Canada. At $15 in Caribbean that's a big savings for me. And plastic.

 

 

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Ahhhh yes, we know how much our Canadian neighbors enjoy paying their taxes :). Captain Morgan is generally around $12-$15 in the USA for 750 ml with 1.75L often going for less than $23. At $15 a liter is is hardly worth the hassle for most in the USA. I guess for Canadians the Caribbean is still a good deal...but then again you can get good deals by just hopping over the border into many States.

Hank

Princess sells padded bottle bags. You can also find them on Amazon.

Princess sells padded bottle bags. You can also find them on Amazon.

Back in Oct-Nov we were on the Regal Princess and took a good look at their booze offerings...and even picked-up a detailed price list. I was specifically interested in some good single malt scotch and decent (VSOP or better) Cognac. The stock was quite limited but they did have some items that I would have purchased, if the price had been good. But looking at the Princess "Duty Free" price for VSOP Cognac (can't remember if it was Remy or Courvoisier) I simple compared it to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Price (which is always available on line). Since Princess sells mostly Liter bottles and our state store sell mostly 750ml I had to do a little math....and quickly found that the price in PA was even a little cheaper than the price on Princess. I pointed this out to the shop manager and he had very little to say. Keep in mind that PA prices are actually pretty high compared to many other US States.

Folks need to understand that "Duty Free" is a meaningless term. Sure, the shop is not paying or charging Duty. But the only thing that matters is the actual price. And obviously the Princess shops were more then making up for "Duty Free" with a huge price mark-up. Lets understand that Pennsylvania adds a 10% Johnstown Flood Tax on all liquor (this is a tax in place since 1936) plus an additional 6% State Sales Tax plus a mark-up for profit. And yet their prices were about the same or lower than the so-called "Duty Free" price charged in the Princess shop. Go figure. Bottom line is that the numbers do not lie.

And it is the same with jewelry. Not sure why folks think they get a good deal at ship jewelry shops, but when you can do a specific comparison you might be shocked. We compared some Citizen watches with online prices for the same items...and the online prices were less!

Hank

And to piggy back on the above post.....we were going to buy some Waterford in St Thomas. We did some research prior to the cruise and at the shop I said, "this is the same price as at home" and the clerk said, "yes, but you don't pay any sales tax". To pack it, carry it, worry about breakage....for the cost of the sales tax, I'd just as soon buy it at home! Someone in our group was going to purchase some perfume and she said, "it's cheaper on line". The bargains that used to be there, aren't any more.