septrack Posted October 7, 2017 #1 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Just herd that St Croix will replace St Thomas on our upcoming Regal Cruise. Does any one know if all the Virgin islands including St Croix , have the same more liberal customs laws as St Thomas, allowing for duty free liquor brought back home. I believe it's 4 bottles (an extra one if it's a USVI rum totaling 5 per person) vs 1 per person everywhere else!:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
septrack Posted October 7, 2017 Author #2 Share Posted October 7, 2017 In other words is that special provision for all USVI islands or just St Thomas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted October 7, 2017 #3 Share Posted October 7, 2017 (edited) https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/424/kw/alcohol%20allowance The provision applies to any "U.S. insular possession" So St. Croix is the same as St Thomas. Finding a liquor store open and stocked may be the bigger challenge Though suffering less infrastructure damage than St Thomas or St John, St Croix is still reporting few businesses reopened--and was not as nearly equipped as St Thomas to deal with regular calls from mega-ships in the first place. Remember you will be hauling your five bottles back to the ship on tenders as well. Edited October 7, 2017 by fishywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridalover5623 Posted October 7, 2017 #4 Share Posted October 7, 2017 I'm thinking that they don't have the competition that St Thomas does & the prices might be a little higher. We'll see. If their prices are out of line you can always buy liquor in the ships shops which sometimes aren't to bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alabaster Cruiser Posted October 7, 2017 #5 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Tender at St. Croix? Sent from my VK700 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted October 7, 2017 #6 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Tender at St. Croix? OK I was mistaken. Up to two ships can dock at St Croix. But I can't find any port schedules that have been updated to show if there are any days with more than two ships. And ships with deep drafts still have to anchor offshore: max draft is 36 feet at one pier, only 29 feet at the second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alabaster Cruiser Posted October 7, 2017 #7 Share Posted October 7, 2017 I was just hoping that they did not loose their dock in storms. Sent from my VK700 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skynight Posted October 7, 2017 #8 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Just herd that St Croix will replace St Thomas on our upcoming Regal Cruise. Does any one know if all the Virgin islands including St Croix , have the same more liberal customs laws as St Thomas, allowing for duty free liquor brought back home. I believe it's 4 bottles (an extra one if it's a USVI rum totaling 5 per person) vs 1 per person everywhere else!:cool: Yes, and a married couple can actually bring in 10 bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridalover5623 Posted October 7, 2017 #9 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Tender at St. Croix? Sent from my VK700 using Tapatalk They've built a dock and there's a beach nearby you can walk to. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alabaster Cruiser Posted October 7, 2017 #10 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Yes, we have snorkeled there in front of the fort before. Sent from my VK700 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satxdiver Posted October 8, 2017 #11 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Appears as though St Croix may be the benefactor of what happened to St Thomas and St John. Problem is that cruise ships have not routinely stopped there in the past so they don't have the built up structure like St Thomas once provided. Never having been to St Croix, I am ready to go. The San Antonio Spur, Tim Duncan was raised on St Croix and has been leading a relief effort to take supplies to his boyhood home island. From what I have read he has sent several relief pallets to St Croix and is continuing to collect things to send to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lljost Posted October 8, 2017 #12 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Just herd that St Croix will replace St Thomas on our upcoming Regal Cruise. Does any one know if all the Virgin islands including St Croix , have the same more liberal customs laws as St Thomas, allowing for duty free liquor brought back home. I believe it's 4 bottles (an extra one if it's a USVI rum totaling 5 per person) vs 1 per person everywhere else!:cool: Yes, St. Croix has the same liquor allowance as St. Thomas. Four bottles plus one USVI bottle of rum per person. And prices are generally about the same. But post hurricane, not sure who is open and stocked. Your best bets from the west end (where the ship docks) are probably the grocery stores: Plaza West, Pueblo or Kmart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky TGO Posted October 8, 2017 #13 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Yes, St. Croix has the same liquor allowance as St. Thomas. Four bottles plus one USVI bottle of rum per person. And prices are generally about the same. But post hurricane, not sure who is open and stocked. Your best bets from the west end (where the ship docks) are probably the grocery stores: Plaza West, Pueblo or Kmart. Thanks for sharing. Good to know. :) Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted October 8, 2017 #14 Share Posted October 8, 2017 In the past 5 years we have been very unimpressed by the so-called Duty Free liquor prices on St Thomas. In many cases a decent bottle of single malt scotch or cognac was priced very close to the high prices we pay here in Pennsylvania. Last year the cognac prices were so high that we did not even think it worth the trouble to haul a few bottles home. In fact, we have found that the best prices (by far) for higher priced liquor was on St Maarten. As to St Croix, the shopping opportunities there are not in the same category as St Thomas so we would not expect many bargains. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha 1 Posted October 9, 2017 #15 Share Posted October 9, 2017 And let's end this notion that you can only bring back 5 bottled per adult. That is for duty free only. You can bring back as many bottles as you can safely pack. You only pay the duty on the extra bottles which generally is $1- $2 per bottle. Do your math in advance. Know your local prices before you go and shop informed. BTW, Hlitner is correct, prices for single malts and other fine liquors have risen over the last few years in the USVI. Less competition than before, especially with Sparkys gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted October 9, 2017 #16 Share Posted October 9, 2017 And let's end this notion that you can only bring back 5 bottled per adult. That is for duty free only. You can bring back as many bottles as you can safely pack. You only pay the duty on the extra bottles which generally is $1- $2 per bottle. Do your math in advance. Know your local prices before you go and shop informed. BTW, Hlitner is correct, prices for single malts and other fine liquors have risen over the last few years in the USVI. Less competition than before, especially with Sparkys gone. A would add that on several occasions we have not paid any Duty for our overage. We are always honest with our declaration and declare every bottle (we have sometimes brought back more then our duty free limit). The CBP Officer who has glanced at our Declaration has always just waved us through. The problem (for them) is that there is a lot of work to do the "paperwork" to collect a small Duty.....so they will often waive small overages. But it is wise to always be honest and disclose the overage. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelers36 Posted October 9, 2017 #17 Share Posted October 9, 2017 I have not purchased any great quantity of DF liquor on St Thomas for several years, but have noticed prices up to the point that the real bargain basement prices of 15-20 years ago are not the same. Nevertheless, the best prices were in the grocery or a KMart at the time and I expect it is the same today (compared to the shops on the waterfront). We bought when staying on-island, but it was a lot different before 2001 of course. Other than a relatively recent stay about three years back, have only been there on port stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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