Buying LIQUOR on a cruise....?

[mompells]

I haven't ever purchased any liquor on a cruise ship or in any of the ports. I would like to price KAHLUA. Any hints on where I would find the best price? The ports that I am traveling to are San Juan, St. Kitts & St. Maarten. I am traveling on the Navigator of the Seas. Thank you in advance!!!

[Clarea]

I haven't ever purchased any liquor on a cruise ship or in any of the ports. I would like to price KAHLUA. Any hints on where I would find the best price? The ports that I am traveling to are San Juan, St. Kitts & St. Maarten. I am traveling on the Navigator of the Seas. Thank you in advance!!!

We've had good luck with liquor prices in St. Maarten.

 

Be sure to check on the ship too. They may have a low price guarantee.

[George C]

I would do St Marten or ship, got good deal on Navigator on Johnny walker gold last year, they also had some scotch and other tasting on the ship , need to know your prices before you go some are really bargains others not, also remember ship and ports most likely will be liter size

[Keith1010]

Of these three ports St. Maarten.

 

Just think how you will get it home as if you are flying you would have to check it with your checked bags.

 

Keith

[truffles2]

Are you driving to the port? or flying?

If flying, you will have to pack it in your checked luggage--which is risky for breakage--and overweight charges. Just something to think about.

[Tripper10]

St. Maarten for sure.

[Clarea]

If you see lower prices int he port, be sure to take a picture. I've seen the ship match the price before.

[ryano]

The best prices are on the ship since they will do best price guarantee. You just wont have the selection the ports do. Kahlua should not be a problem

 

Find the price on Kahlua at the port, take a picture of the price and take it back to the ship. They will match it. Ive never had any trouble whatsoever getting them to match the price.

Edited February 24, 2016 by ryano

[Merion_Mom]

Cozumel. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. ;)

 

Beware about the "taking picture" thing. Many shops have signs up warning you not to do that. And they mean it.

[Keith1010]

I was thinking of Cozumel too. LOL.

 

Keith

[Guest maddycat]

On our last cruise we wanted to buy Sheridan to bring back to a friend. We found that the ship's price was lower than any of the prices in either St. Martin and St. Thomas.

[DaniDanielle]

So far, I have found the ship to have the best prices. Kahlua was super cheap.

[ryano]

Cozumel. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. ;)

 

Beware about the "taking picture" thing. Many shops have signs up warning you not to do that. And they mean it.

 

Im sure they do but as many of liquor stores as Ive been in port, I have only seen these signs at St Thomas. The good thing is, the only thing I was looking for on my last cruise was vodka for my stepdad. Luckily there was a sign outside one of the stores in Grand Cayman "two liter bottles of absolut for......" so I just took a pic of that. The ship was a little higher but had no problem matching the price

[Winghunter]

Are you driving to the port? or flying?

If flying, you will have to pack it in your checked luggage--which is risky for breakage--and overweight charges. Just something to think about.

 

Bought my wife some earrings one time on the ship, they threw in a couple bottles of booze from the ships store. I got a bottle of Jamison and JW Black label, they wrapped them in bubble wrap for me. I placed them in my suitcase between all the clothes thinking that and bubble wrap would be fine. When we landed and got our luggage we smelled something but just walked to the car, on the way home the car stunk so we pulled over to find out what it was. Both bottles were 100% shattered, not a piece of glass larger than an 1/8th of an inch. Almost like they had been broken on purpose.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

If you see lower prices int he port, be sure to take a picture. I've seen the ship match the price before.

 

Interesting, I did not know about this.

Thanks,

[tserface]

When we used to be able to pack up liquor to carry it on the airplane it was sometimes a good deal. These days we never buy anything that we can get in a liquor store back home unless it's a phenomenal deal. Most of the time I've noticed the prices are something like $5-$10 different than the price we can get down on the corner and it's just not worth the trouble to try to pack it, hope it doesn't break in your suitcase, etc.

 

For example, Kahlua is very common around here and already pretty cheap: http://www.bevmo.com/kahlua-coffee-liqueur--750-ml-.html

 

Of course, that may not be true where you're from.

 

That said, there are some things like guavaberry liqueur or tequilas or off brand rums that we can't get at home so those are more worth the risk. Guavaberry is available through the mail now so even that's hart do justify packing home.

 

I miss the old days where it was so easy and the cruise lines always packed up the bottles so nicely.

 

Tom

[denamo]

On all the Royal Caribbean ships we've been on, they do a tasting the first or second night, and if you purchase two bottles there are some savings. They knock off a slight percentage that you will only see that night. There usually is a fairly long line for tasting some of the liqueurs. You don't have to taste to purchase.

[matj2000]

Kuhlua is one of the cheapest things to buy in the Caribbean, especially on the ships.

I they do like 2 bottles for $15 or something like that...

[Aduntu]

St. Maarten had the best prices from what we could find. We found Johnnie Walker Blue at the port shopping area for $125 (usually over $200 in the states). General Store staff on Freedom matched the price without question (regular price on ship was ~$165). Like mentioned earlier, snap a photo and you shouldn't have any problems getting a price match.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Aduntu