Best place to buy liquor in the Caribbean?

[dividedsky319]

While down in the Caribbean my mom wants me to get her a bottle of Grand Marnier... when we went to St Thomas years ago it was really cheap down there.

 

Our cruise will be going to Grand Turk, St Martin, Tortola, St Thomas and San Juan... what's the best island to purchase liquor?

 

And also, is there any limit to how much you can bring back with you?

 

Thanks.

[zaandam_2]

wait until st. thomas. US customs gives you a higher allowance when purchased there. i believe it's 5 litres. just remember the new airline restrictions. you can no longer carry-on liquor, it must be checked.

[bankerbabe]

If you do go over your allowed liters, you can still buy the alcohol and bring it home. You just have to declare it. Even if US Customs bothers to charge you the appropriate taxes, it usually still makes the alcohol purchase cheaper than if you had bought it at home (or at least for those of us buying liquor in Oregon it's cheaper, but Oregon has some strange liquor laws). We brought back extra on each of our cruises and customs never bothered to charge us.

[dividedsky319]

just remember the new airline restrictions. you can no longer carry-on liquor, it must be checked.

 

Lucky for us, no plane will be necessary, so we can go crazy! ;)

 

I imagine that's 5 liters per person?

 

And, another liquor related question... I imagine it's just the stuff that's made down there that's cheaper, correct? (Rum, tequila, etc) Or would stuff like scotch be cheaper down there too?

[zaandam_2]

i wonder if this has been changed. i ran a search, and there appears to no longer be an exemption on liquor (or cigarettes) purchased in st. thomas. here's the link to the US custom's service page

[bankerbabe]

On our last cruise (Mexican Riviera) we came home with a bunch of Grey Goose vodka, which is made in France. It was a little more than half the cost of what we could get it for back home, and in a bigger bottle than they can sell in Oregon.

[sk8teacher]

i wonder if this has been changed. i ran a search, and there appears to no longer be an exemption on liquor (or cigarettes) purchased in st. thomas. here's the link to the US custom's service page

 

That is interesting indeed. We were in St Thomas last November and I'm fairly certain I saw the five liter tax free written somewhere there.

 

Cheers,

[serendipity1499]

i wonder if this has been changed. i ran a search, and there appears to no longer be an exemption on liquor (or cigarettes) purchased in st. thomas. here's the link to the US custom's service page

 

Yes...It's still 5 liters but one must be locally produced...If you download the Know before you go Booklet (20 something pages) you will find the following on Page 12.. QUOTE

 

If you travel to a U.S. insular possession and to one

or more of the Caribbean Basin or Andean countries

listed above, let’s say on a Caribbean cruise, you may

bring back $1,600 worth of items without paying duty,

but only $800 worth of these items may come from the

Caribbean Basin or Andean country(ies). Any amount

beyond $800 will be dutiable unless you acquired it

in one of the insular possessions. For example, if you

were to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica,

you would be allowed to bring back $1,600 worth of

merchandise duty free, as long as only $800 worth was

acquired in Jamaica.

Also, you may include 1,000 cigarettes as part of the

$1600 exemption, but at least 800 of them must have

been acquired in an insular possession. Only 200 cigarettes

may have been acquired elsewhere. For example,

if you were touring the South Pacific and you stopped

in Tahiti, American Samoa, and other ports of call, you

could bring back five cartons of cigarettes, but four of

them would have to have been bought in American

Samoa.

Similarly, you may include five liters of alcoholic beverages

in your duty-free exemption, but one of them must

be a product of an insular possession. Four may be products

of other countries (see section on Unaccompanied

Purchases from Insular Possessions and Caribbean

Basin Countries).UNQUOTE

 

It's a bit difficult to find info on this WEB site..You have to do quoite a bit of searching..

[GarySuzy]

While down in the Caribbean my mom wants me to get her a bottle of Grand Marnier... when we went to St Thomas years ago it was really cheap down there.

 

Our cruise will be going to Grand Turk, St Martin, Tortola, St Thomas and San Juan... what's the best island to purchase liquor?

 

And also, is there any limit to how much you can bring back with you?

 

Thanks.

 

St Thomas is the place were we bought our Grand Marnier, you might want to give your mom a treat and get her a bottle of 100 or 150 year old, it is about $139 a bottle but if you drink it from a warm sniffer it is such a treat to not only the nose but to the taste buds also.

[RedmondCruiser]

By far the best prices that I have found in the Carribbean are on St Martin at a shop called "RAMS". If you take the launch over to the city - as you get off walk to the main street and take a left. They have great prices and even give bulk discounts. In 2004 I bought three 1.125 L of Johnny Walker Black for $19.95 per bottle. Since then I have never found that size bottle again or the price.

 

The trick with customs is NEVER NEVER lie. On liquor just enter it as "Liquor" and how much you paid for all of it. If they want to ask you how many bottles then tell them. Normally they dont care about an extra bottle. Once ran into someone who took 18 bottles off the ship and listed that total price he paid for the liquor - never had a problem. If they do charge you duty you are still ahead of the game.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Check with your airline to see if they will allow bottles of alcohol to be brought into the cabin - most dont. You may be required to pack your alcohol in your checked luggage. Check with your airline.

[barante]

Except for the customs regulations that favor St. Thomas and have already been discused, St. Martin offers compelling buys, particularly among top-shelf brands. My wife likes Glenfiddich and the price on a one-liter bottle was excellent. We'll be in St. Martin again in March.

[E91]

My wife and I have used them for years. They always beat the prices on the ship and arrange delivery - so no worries. We haven't had an issue since we started cruising in 1993. They also have a very nice courtyard restaurant for lunch with a limited menu - awesome Pizzas and Mudslides. Pricey - yes - but you're on vacation so who cares. Quite a wait at times and near some of the only usable (mean semi-clean) restrooms on the island. They also have on of the best jewelry stores on the island. Our second favorite is H. Stern which has quite a few custom made pieces. Of course you can't beat Little Switzerland. Now that they have state-side stores returns are easy and straightforward if you have buyer's remorse when arriving back home. Just keep your receipt.

[E91]

My wife and I have used them for years. They always beat the prices on the ship and arrange delivery - so no worries. We haven't had an issue since we started cruising in 1993. They also have a very nice courtyard restaurant for lunch with a limited menu - awesome Pizzas and Mudslides. Pricey - yes - but you're on vacation so who cares. Quite a wait at times and near some of the only usable (mean semi-clean) restrooms on the island. They also have on of the best jewelry stores on the island. Our second favorite is H. Stern which has quite a few custom made pieces. Of course you can't beat Little Switzerland. Now that they have state-side stores returns are easy and straightforward if you have buyer's remorse when arriving back home. Just keep your receipt.

[dividedsky319]

So, even if prices might look cheaper in St Martin, I'll have to pay a duty on them vs if I purchased it in St Thomas?

 

Sorry, I'm not quite up on all the details of buying stuff out of the country... thanks!

[OceanLiner]

I think that the best place to buy liquor is on the ship, drink by drink. You don't need to worry about customs, driving, lugging the stuff around, airline restrictions, or any of a multitude of issues.

 

Please understand that I am not tring to flame anyone about this issue, it's just that we are always amazed at the amount of effort that passengers exert in tring to save a few dollars on a few liters of booze, relative to the over all cost of the cruise.

 

We would much sooner spend the day enjoying our liquor on the deck of the ship then shleping the liquor back to the deck. This is kind of the same issue as spending the time doing the laundry on the ship vs. sending the laundry out and instead watching the sunset.

[dividedsky319]

it's just that we are always amazed at the amount of effort that passengers exert in tring to save a few dollars on a few liters of booze, relative to the over all cost of the cruise.

 

Think of it like a souvenir. I might not buy a 50 dollar bottle of liquor at home, but in the Caribbean I might be able to get it for 20 bucks, which is a steal.

 

If I'm going to be down there anyway, why not stock the bar with quality liquor and save myself some money in the process?

[OceanLiner]

Think of it like a souvenir. I might not buy a 50 dollar bottle of liquor at home, but in the Caribbean I might be able to get it for 20 bucks, which is a steal.

 

If I'm going to be down there anyway, why not stock the bar with quality liquor and save myself some money in the process?

 

The souvenir idea is a good one. But it's heavy, delicate to ship, and its only unique property is that it was cheap. I could more easily see souvenir booze that was unique; like the Guava berry stuff that we find in St Marteen.

[rebeljohn]

The cheapest port for liquor will be St. Martin. We buy(5 liters each)of it in St. Martin, and have the staff at the liquor store place it in a PLAIN liquor box(you know, with the handles). When you through Customs, if they ask, you can tell them you bought it in St. Thomas........how will they know? They don't, and I've never had 'em ask.

One time, we bought a 1 liter bottle of St. Thomas rum in St. Thomas, and had the K-Mart store(two blocks from the pier) put it in a six bottle box(box has K-Mart St. Thomas on it). When we got to St. Martin we bought 4 liters of cheaper booze, and put it in the St. Thomas box the last eveing of the cruise. Hey..............looks like it came from St. Thomas.............

[Odd Ball]

The cheapest port for liquor will be St. Martin. We buy(5 liters each)of it in St. Martin, and have the staff at the liquor store place it in a PLAIN liquor box(you know, with the handles). When you through Customs, if they ask, you can tell them you bought it in St. Thomas........how will they know? They don't, and I've never had 'em ask.

One time, we bought a 1 liter bottle of St. Thomas rum in St. Thomas, and had the K-Mart store(two blocks from the pier) put it in a six bottle box(box has K-Mart St. Thomas on it). When we got to St. Martin we bought 4 liters of cheaper booze, and put it in the St. Thomas box the last eveing of the cruise. Hey..............looks like it came from St. Thomas.............

Bad idea.:(

If you get stopped, customs can/will ask you for the receipt.

Both St.Thomas and St. Martin are cheap. It is not worth it to take a chance for a dollar or so. The prices are very close between St.Thomas and St. Martin .

[gizmo]

I was stopped once. There was no reason that I am aware of they did . All they did was ask to see the receipts and yes we were carrying a carton of booze from St. Thomas. I think being stopped was just a random thing.

[sandiegojoe]

While in St. Thomas, our tour guide told us the best place to buy booze was the K-Mart...he said they had the best prices and the best selection...just what I heard, never went there myself.

[bcirish]

We usually stay on St Martin and St Thomas for a ocouple of weeks each year and over the years, the prices in St Martin for the good stuff is consistently lower. We have used several stores but beware of the following when pricing liquor - read the size of the bottles because the quart and liter look the same and tend to be priced the same. Last year we were buying stoli gold for our kids - they had found it by the liter for half the price of a quart in the States. We always come home with the max and have never had a problem with customs. Keep in mind that even though you may go over the limit the duty is very small - don't remember the details but was very surprised.

 

We usually take a walk down the street and check for our favorites and then pick it up for the best price on the way back down the street on the way back ( in our case - to the car) but in your case in St Martin to the ship. Phillipsburg has had the entire front street face lift redone and it looks very nice - enjoy your trip!

[gizmo]

I think that the best place to buy liquor is on the ship, drink by drink. You don't need to worry about customs, driving, lugging the stuff around, airline restrictions, or any of a multitude of issues.

 

Please understand that I am not tring to flame anyone about this issue, it's just that we are always amazed at the amount of effort that passengers exert in tring to save a few dollars on a few liters of booze, relative to the over all cost of the cruise.

 

We would much sooner spend the day enjoying our liquor on the deck of the ship then shleping the liquor back to the deck. This is kind of the same issue as spending the time doing the laundry on the ship vs. sending the laundry out and instead watching the sunset.

 

In most cases, people are buying booze to bring home. We have bought liquor many times but didn't haul it back to the ship. We always bought at HR Riise who delievers to the ship if purchased before a certain time. The ship holds the booze until the last night when it is delievered to your cabin.

[Lynne Myrna]

While down in the Caribbean my mom wants me to get her a bottle of Grand Marnier... when we went to St Thomas years ago it was really cheap down there.

 

Our cruise will be going to Grand Turk, St Martin, Tortola, St Thomas and San Juan... what's the best island to purchase liquor?

 

And also, is there any limit to how much you can bring back with you?

 

Thanks.[/quote

 

When in the Caribbean, we always get our booze in St. Thomas....5 liters per person........they have the best buys there.....