alcohol on b2b

[*erika*]

we're doing a b2b in May and we were wondering since we present ourselves through customs after each cruise segment, does that entitle us twice the liquor allowance? (meaning can we come back with the allowance for each cruise and not get penalized on our final day of embarkment?)

 

i'm sure someone can answer it, as we're never done a b2b and don't really know how everything works!

[Alexis]

we're doing a b2b in May and we were wondering since we present ourselves through customs after each cruise segment, does that entitle us twice the liquor allowance? (meaning can we come back with the allowance for each cruise and not get penalized on our final day of embarkment?)

 

i'm sure someone can answer it, as we're never done a b2b and don't really know how everything works!

 

Your luggage is going to stay in your cabin when you are escorted off the ship after the first part of your back to back. You will be checked in again and brought back on. I have only had to fill out one card at the end of the two weeks to give customs declaring what I bought. It does not matter how long you stay somewhere, it only matters what you are allowed to bring back into the US from a trip.

Your liquor will go off with you after the trip ends.

[HurricaneSally]

However, your liquor will be brought to you at the end of cruise one and you can drink that onboard the following week, lol. What a nice feeling.

[Alexis]

However, your liquor will be brought to you at the end of cruise one and you can drink that onboard the following week, lol. What a nice feeling.

 

I thought I read on here that the B2B people do not get their liquor delivered to them until the end of their 2 nd week. After all, RCCL knows you are staying on.

[HurricaneSally]

We have been on two back to back cruises and have gotten our liquor both times. let's face they're too busy to figure out who to give it to and who not to give it to.

[Merion_Mom]

Alexis, I didn't test that theory, but I am sure that my neighbor, HurricaneSally, is right. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to us. I get the feeling that if *I* hadn't inquired at the Purser's Desk, no one would have told us what to do that last morning/first morning of the switch. I was tempted to buy something, but I carried on enough in the first place that I didn't think that I could drink a whole bottle myself in just four days. :D (of just one thing! champagne is different. :D)

[Lou_70]

Alexis, I didn't test that theory, but I am sure that my neighbor, HurricaneSally, is right. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to us. I get the feeling that if *I* hadn't inquired at the Purser's Desk, no one would have told us what to do that last morning/first morning of the switch. I was tempted to buy something, but I carried on enough in the first place that I didn't think that I could drink a whole bottle myself in just four days. :D (of just one thing! champagne is different. :D)

 

 

Carol, I would of taken that as a personal challenge to make sure I drank an entire bottle in 4 days :)

[Merion_Mom]

Drink a whole bottle in a day?

 

Red wine. Check.

 

White wine. Check.

 

Champagne. Check.

 

Jack Daniels? Don't think so - a regular bottle lasted me five. I should have bought the liter. :D

 

Hey, Lou, when are we sailing together? ;)

 

 

BY THE WAY.............I don't drink at home. At all. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I don't know what comes over me when I set sail................

[Lou_70]

Well after the voyager cruise, who knows :)

 

actually I do not drink much at home either.. I have the same case of beer with 5 beers missing from my Memorial Day cookout.... sad. I will be accidently taking two bottles of Captain Morgans next week, along with a bottle of absolute and a bottle of maui coconut rum ( this is for 4 people btw I am not that much of a sloshing drunkard).

 

Merion PA is not too far from where I live :)

[Buccaneergirl]

If you buy liquor on the last day of the first cruise, you can take it back to your cabin yourself.

 

Consequently, if you are brave enough, you can bring back more than your alottment of liquor and put it in your luggage. I've never seen anyone checked on the way out. Of course, if you are the nervous type, there's only about a $1 per bottle charge for going over that allotment.

[Lou_70]

yea if your caught you only have to pay the taxes on the stuff you are over on. Not the difference in retail.

 

There are about 5 customs agents and 3000 people on my ship... they are standing there getting pelted with customs forms..

[BCHappyGal]

On our B2B we purchased alchol in the store and it was delivered to our cabin the night before the end of the first cruise. We needed to restock our in-cabin bar for the 2nd cruise. As we had friends joining us for the 2nd cruise only we also purchased a bottle for them for their in-cabin bar - that way they did not have to pack any in their suitcase.

 

The shops on the ship are contracted out by the cruise line so the shops do not care whether you are staying on or getting off - they deliver the duty free stuff that was purchased on the cruise on the last night of the cruise whether you are a B2B passenger or not.

 

However as to customs coming off the ship your duty free limit is whatever is set by the customs - if you want to risk it by not declaring extra you can try but the fine is fairly high if you are caught. If you want to bring back more than the duty free amount just declare it and pay the duty.

[Merion_Mom]

Well after the voyager cruise, who knows :)

 

actually I do not drink much at home either.. I have the same case of beer with 5 beers missing from my Memorial Day cookout.... sad. I will be accidently taking two bottles of Captain Morgans next week, along with a bottle of absolute and a bottle of maui coconut rum ( this is for 4 people btw I am not that much of a sloshing drunkard).

 

Merion PA is not too far from where I live :)

Yeah, I think it's a straight shot down Route 1.......................:)

[Lou_70]

actually a straight shot down 95 :) just about...

 

I lived closer to you when I was in New Jersey, but not that far anyway :)

[rubrrick]

I think Carol is right. No one is noticing whether you are staying on for a back to back or not. I'll make sure the theory works on our B2B on the Monarch...............because............I was trying to figure out how to stock up on our B2B transatlantic, Baltic cruise. We have friends coming aboard for the 2nd segment, which is 12 days, and I was looking at having a company in London restock my liquor locker. Thanks all, for turning on the light!!:D

 

Rick

[Alexis]

Thanks all of you for giving me the correct info on buying alcohol on the first week of the B2B. This is our first B2B since Dec. of 2002 and things have changed. That is so good to know. :D Question 2? Is that just for the liquor bought in the ship store, or does that also include the liquor that they confiscate from you that you bought in the ports? (Yes, they have taken mine from me upon returning to the ship. One bottle of coconut liquor when it went through the X ray machine in a RCCL shopping bag.) I am mainly interested in what I purchase on the first leg of the B2B while on the islands.

Of course the OP wanted to know if they could buy and bring back double the allotment. That question kind of went in another direction, but I think they will read between the lines on how to do that.. :o

[HurricaneSally]

All of your liquor will be given back to you Alexis, even what they confiscated the first week. By the way, when we buy liquor on the islands I place it in my beach bag, between towels and have never had it taken from me. Shopping bags they check.

[Alexis]

All of your liquor will be given back to you Alexis, even what they confiscated the first week. By the way, when we buy liquor on the islands I place it in my beach bag, between towels and have never had it taken from me. Shopping bags they check.

 

I am hoping on our first week that I can get the coconut liquor in Cozumel and get it on this time. They got about 200 of us coming back from there last time and that is only the bags I saw lined up on the floor when I boarded. :eek: They had a field day in Cozumel that time. :D

[HurricaneSally]

They check all the shopping bags. Use a really big purse or a beach bag, it works every time. Sure it goes into the scanner, but they don't really look at the contents. Shopping bags are another matter entirely.

[JMEL21]

We just retruned from a cruise one week ago and my Dad had 20 bottles of booze. He delacred it to customs and his bill was ZERO. I have had similar experiences on all of my previous cruises. I always buy at least 3 to 4 bottles and I have never been charged any duty. I always delacre it but no one has ever given it a second glance. So buy what you want. If they do decide to charge you the duty, it is about 2%. So on a $10.00 bottle you will pay 20 cents. Still cheaper than buying it at home for the back to back question, usually your booze from the ship will be delivered. If you don't want to chance it, buy it on the last night of the first week. they let you take it back to your cabin immediatly. If the last day of the first week is a port day, you are allowed to bring it on board. they do not collect and store booze bought on the last day becasue they would turn around and have to deliver it later that night. No one knows you are a B2B unless you tell them. the names only match the face when you present yourself the last day at the information desk.

[Merion_Mom]

On New Year's Eve day, we were docked in Nassau. I walked off, into the first small liquor store, bought a small (half pint? Pint? don't recall) bottle of brandy, put it in a brown paper bag, put it into my purse, walked straight back on the ship and through "security" - no problems, mon.

[Alexis]

We just retruned from a cruise one week ago and my Dad had 20 bottles of booze. He delacred it to customs and his bill was ZERO. I have had similar experiences on all of my previous cruises. I always buy at least 3 to 4 bottles and I have never been charged any duty. I always delacre it but no one has ever given it a second glance. So buy what you want. If they do decide to charge you the duty, it is about 2%. So on a $10.00 bottle you will pay 20 cents. Still cheaper than buying it at home for the back to back question, usually your booze from the ship will be delivered. If you don't want to chance it, buy it on the last night of the first week. they let you take it back to your cabin immediatly. If the last day of the first week is a port day, you are allowed to bring it on board. they do not collect and store booze bought on the last day becasue they would turn around and have to deliver it later that night. No one knows you are a B2B unless you tell them. the names only match the face when you present yourself the last day at the information desk.

 

Good advice from everyone.

[Merion_Mom]

It is amazing how outstandingly well-informed we all are on the subject of alcohol! ;)

[Alexis]

:D

It is amazing how outstandingly well-informed we all are on the subject of alcohol! ;)

 

LMBO :)

Funny thing is, I almost never have a drink unless I am on a cruise ship like some of you posted. Get me on a ship and it is the after dinner shooters, the Margarita's at the shows, the Kahlua in my cabin. Yikes! Good thing I have only been doing one big 11-14 night cruise a year lately. I would be in rehab.:eek:

[Lou_70]

The great thing about cutting loose on a cruise ship is:

 

-no worries bout driving..

 

-no worries bout getting up for work

 

-there is alcohol EVERYWHERE

 

-no worries at all pretty much cept when the next cattle call for food is