Where to buy a bottle of Crown Royal?

[KristiK]

Hey everyone,

 

First let me say Happy New Year!!!!

 

Question for seasoned cruisers...where is the cheapest place to buy a bottle of Crown Royal (or any bottle of alcohol)

 

I'm flying Toronto to Tampa, cruise stops at Cozumal, Belize, Costa Maya, then back Tampa to Toronto.

 

If I'm buying 1 bottle of Crown Royal, where is cheapest? Tampa airport duty free on return? Onboard ship on the last night? In one of the ports?

The price difference is probably negligible, but in case it's not, I thought I'd inquire 🙂

 

Thanks,

Kristi

[ski ww]

I've never done a price comparison, but I don't think there is much of a difference. If you buy it at one of your ports of call you will have to pay corkage fee to get it back on board. 

[RLK33853]

If you have any, we often use On Board Credit to purchase duty free.

 

As an aside, if you are on a Princess cruise (you didn't mention the cruise line) you don't pay a corkage fee to bring alcohol on board, just wine.  Instead, they'll tell you to stop by the  alcohol table upon return to the ship and surrender any alcohol purchased on shore for "safekeeping".  You get it back at the end of the cruise to take home.  Although that is their policy, we have seen many people bypass the table,  especially if it is busy. 

[lx200gps]

12 hours ago, KristiK said:

Hey everyone,

 

First let me say Happy New Year!!!!

 

Question for seasoned cruisers...where is the cheapest place to buy a bottle of Crown Royal (or any bottle of alcohol)

 

I'm flying Toronto to Tampa, cruise stops at Cozumal, Belize, Costa Maya, then back Tampa to Toronto.

 

If I'm buying 1 bottle of Crown Royal, where is cheapest? Tampa airport duty free on return? Onboard ship on the last night? In one of the ports?

The price difference is probably negligible, but in case it's not, I thought I'd inquire 🙂

 

Thanks,

Kristi

Happy New Year to you as well ;o)  Given that itinerary, I'd say Coz is your best bet for buying outside of the US. If you dock at the International Pier south of town, you will have to pass through a massive Duty Free store which should have Crown Royal. Belize is a tender port and you DON'T want to go walking around Belize City. Costa Maya may have something if you dock at Mahahual, though Cozumel will probably be a better bet for selection.  If you do buy in Mexico, check with your cruise line's policy about bringing onboard alcohol purchased ashore, some lines may not even allow it. Princess do allow it as someone mentioned, but since you are sailing out of Tampa, you are presumably not sailing Princess.

 

That being said, since you are flying in and out of Tampa, I can strongly recommend buying your booze at one of the Total Wine stores. Their store locator shows them having 6 outlets in Tampa/St. Pete, so if you can get there during your trip, that would be your best bet. Check their web site for pricing, Their pricing on the massive 1.75 liter bottles is astoundingly low but we Canadians can't bring that much back under our 1.14L exemption.

[dolfan1980]

The duty free in the airport is sadly no longer worth the trouble, the LCBO back in Ontario often the same price nowadays.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Celebrity /RCL will let you bring it on but they may take and return it on last night of the cruise 

[KristiK]

Thanks everyone. I'm on a Carnival cruise. I'll take a look at the price in the cruise shop before we stop in Cozumel and see if there is any real difference. If I remember they often have a sale in the cruise ship store on the last night that might make it cheaper.

[em-sk]

9 hours ago, KristiK said:

Thanks everyone. I'm on a Carnival cruise. I'll take a look at the price in the cruise shop before we stop in Cozumel and see if there is any real difference. If I remember they often have a sale in the cruise ship store on the last night that might make it cheaper.

 

If you want a bench mark.  Pre ordering the 1L bottles on Air Canada duty free is $35 CDN (or $28 if buying two bottles).  Delivered to your seat on your return flight.  To take advantage of the option, you will need a friend to walk the second bottle through Canadian customs.  

 

https://acdutyfree.com/crown-royal-canadian-whisky-1l

 

Should note, it is only offered on flights leaving Canada. So you probably don't want to do this but it provides a bench mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by em-sk