Duty Free On Board

We are sailing a back-to-back on Marina. Is there duty free liquor to purchase on board? Do they deliver or can you pick up at the end of the first segment?

No duty free liquor or cigarettes on board

Duty free perfumes and jewelry and such.

That would be counter productive to their liquor sales and packages...

Duty free is somewhat of a false economy as the savings are minimal.. all you are saving is 1 or 2 dollars tax on a bottle. Far better to find ashore cheap or good deals and pay the tax... with few exceptions is will be far cheaper than on board !!

The exception will be on your cruise Tahiti taxes the daylights out of liquor and you will not find a deal till you get to Mexico....

The prices you would pay at duty free in LAX or HNL will be far more thn your used to paying at KTA or Longs!!

If you want liquor for use in your cabin you can pick some up on the way to the ship or in a port

You can purchase from the Bon Voyage gifts if you want

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/bonvoyage/default.aspx

Airport and Airline "duty free" is a ripoff for Americans from any state that doesn't have government regulated pricing (I.e., the "state store") and does have discounted liquor pricing (e.g., wine at Safeway or Costco).

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Airport and Airline "duty free" is a ripoff for Americans from any state that doesn't have government regulated pricing (I.e., the "state store") and does have discounted liquor pricing (e.g., wine at Safeway or Costco).

 

 

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To the OP....a former neighbor in Kona.... The duty free price on say a 5th of Vodka in LAX or SAN or SFO is around $19.00 Where as in local stores in Hawaii it goes for $9.00- $12.00 for the same.

If you live as mentioned in North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, or Canada/UK then it might be borderline... as its all state controlled price

Seconding what Flatbush Flyer wrote above. Duty-free vendors want customers to assume that avoiding taxes/duties on the purchase will result in a lower price to the consumer than elsewhere for the same merchandise.

Most customers, however, do not realize that duty-free vendors remain free to set their retail price at any level they wish, including far more than the retail price at Safeway or Costco or your corner ABC store, thus negating any savings on taxes/duties and adding more profit (i.e., your hard-earned dollars) to the vendors' balance sheet.

Never buy anything in a duty-free shop that you don't already know the proper retail price. Otherwise, you're a fish seeking bait. I've found a few bargains in airports but, more often, shaken my head in disbelief at the prices being charged.

That said, there is one good reason for buying your favorite booze at the duty-free airport shop and schlepping it with you on the plane: you won't have to pack it in your checked baggage. Consider any excess price to be a "convenience fee" that accrues to your benefit.

Just remember that if you have an overseas flight connection (or domestic if coming from overseas), you will have to go through security again for your connecting flight and they will not let your bottle through…as I discovered to my chagrin several years ago when connecting on an LAX-Guangzhou-Kunming itinerary. Dang!

That won't be a problem on a straight LAX-PPT or HNL-PPT flight.

prices being charged.

 

That said, there is one good reason for buying your favorite booze at the duty-free airport shop and schlepping it with you on the plane: you won't have to pack it in your checked baggage. Consider any excess price to be a "convenience fee" that accrues to your benefit.

 

Just remember that if you have an overseas flight connection (or domestic if coming from overseas), you will have to go through security again for your connecting flight and they will not let your bottle through…as I discovered to my chagrin several years ago when connecting on an LAX-Guangzhou-Kunming itinerary. Dang!

 

That won't be a problem on a straight LAX-PPT or HNL-PPT flight.

Not totally true Dan. There are some exceptions that went into place at the end of January this year. See the following link for some exceptions to the rule:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/travel/tsa-international-duty-free-liquids/

Thanks, rallydave, for the update (although I'm not Dan). The new rule is…well...news to me.

Still, there is that little clause in the linked article stating "provided they were purchased in duty-free shops and placed in secure, tamper-evident bags (STEBs)." That would make me nervous. What if the overseas DFS doesn't pack it that way, which you learn only upon having your package handed to you as you board the flight? Uh oh…now what?

I suppose having claimed one's baggage and gone through US Immigration and Customs, one could then pack the overseas bottle(s) into checked baggage for the connection. Hmmm. That would make me no less nervous.

Nothing spoils one's day quite like seeing an expensive French claret leaking out through the suitcase seams upon arrival at one's home airport baggage carousel. Or opening the bags once at home and finding no bottles there, only one of those little official "Notice of Baggage Inspection" notes. Not to imply that our TSA inspectors might have a taste for fine claret that happens to fall out of one's bag, but once the bag has been opened and the contents rearranged during inspection, all of one's best attempts at cushioning are negated and the bottle's fate rests in the less-than-delicate hands of the luggage tossers. It's been opened once already, and who knows whether it's been securely closed?

Nonetheless, it's useful information that you've passed along. We can all use it to decide during future incoming connections whether we feel lucky or whether someone is likely to go ahead and make our day.

...seeing an expensive French claret leaking out through the suitcase seams upon arrival at one's home airport baggage carousel. Or opening the bags once at home and finding no bottles there, only one of those little official "Notice of Baggage Inspection" notes. Not to imply that our TSA inspectors might have a taste for fine claret that happens to fall out of one's bag...

Hopefully, the traveler and the TSA agent would know enough about wine to realize the real value and quality, even when "expensive," would have California or Oregon Pinot Noir in those bags. ;-)

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I would agree wholeheartedly…except that my post concerns buying wine overseas and bringing it back to the US. Not likely we'll be finding those fine Oregon and California pinots and cabernets in the CDG duty-free shop.

Cheese is another matter. Donnez-moi d'Époisses, s'il vous plaît! No packing problems whatsoever.

This law isn't that new.....well, it could be but was in effect last year. We purchased some Lemonchello (excuse spelling) in Italy a year ago. It was put in the special packaging and there was no problem getting through TSA inspection. I removed it from the carry-on case and put it in a bin -- just like I did with my computer. We also had a connection in the U.S. and they did not question it.

Thanks, TC2. Following up further on rallydave's post, here is a link to the TSA webpage stating the new regulation. Scroll down to the bottom.

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/traveling-food-or-gifts

TSA says the rule went into effect on January 31st this year. Maybe they were quietly testing the concept when you brought in your limoncello last year, or maybe you just hit them on a good day. Still wish it worked on outbound connections as well so that a favorite bottle of whatever could be taken along to enjoy aboard ship or elsewhere overseas.

This has been a really valuable thread for those of us unaware of the rule change. Thanks for the info!