Latest booze situation at port in sj!!!

[sailorwife]

Pop, Juice, Wine yes. Have a nail clipper with if you buy booze. It will go through security they will put a plastic band on your bag so they know when you are going to enter the ship you have booze. Well when you start to walk to the ship, clip the plastic band and you are good to go.

I know you can bring 1 bottle of wine per person over 21 , and are you allowed to bring pop and juice, we ordered our rum & vodlka from Carnival so I wanted to get my oj and Hubby's coke at the pier, if not then I will buy it before we return the car,

Thanks

sailorwife

[Kikkycat]

The duty free shop on the Pan American pier had a salesman going through our line waiting to board Serenade of the Seas on January 30th. He had fliers to hand out with the sales and said he could get our purchases on board for us. He said "We had 30 happy couples who sailed last week!". I didn't think to ask him until much later how many UNhappy couples there were who didn't get their liquor aboard...

[OwassoCruz]

So if I am leaving in April on a Princess cruise from the PanAm Pier... And I purchase some Baileys at the duty free shop and stuff it in a carry on bag, will I more than likely loose the Baileys or keep it? Anyone on Princess since the first of the year know? :)

[oldstubblejumper]

I just returned from the Jan 31st sailing and had no problems bringing 2 bottles of rum in carry on from the duty free store. The security guys saw the bottles, looked at me and waved me through.

:)

OSJ

[OwassoCruz]

Thanks for the great update, looks like I will stuff the wife's bailey into the carry on.

[sail7seas]

I think it also depends on who is screening the luggage. In 2008 on Princess we bought at the duty free and put our purchases in our carry on. Also had rum runners in our checked luggage and had no problem at all. This last December we went on Celebrity Summit and brought a bottle of wine in our carry on and rum runners in our checked bag. They stopped us to look at our wine to make sure it was wine, and held the checked bag down on deck one for us to come claim it because the scanner picked up liquids in the bag. Thankfully I had all of my tolietries in the bag and my rum runners hidden in a beach towel in plastic bags, so when I opened the bag, they didn't see them, but it was still embarrassing getting called to the "naughty room". HOWEVER, my friend brought on board several bottles of alcohol, went to her room and unloaded and got off and got more with no problem at all. We also were able to get alcohol at the ports and bring it back on with no problem in our carry on bag.

 

Oh heck no! It's really NOT a problem walking your purchases on board in San Juan. Seriously folks, anything you purchase at the pier and put into your carry on, do it. You will not be challenged. Also, if you buy $100 worth, they'll pack it into a rolling carry-on and you can just wheel it onto the ship. No one says a word to you. Really, it's not a problem.

 

 

 

When you bring bottles aboard, where do you drink the liquor? You stay in your room drinking or make drinks in your room and go out and about with them? Do you just return to make more when you are ready for another?

 

I have no opinion either way about doing whatever, I'm just curious.

[dvan68]

When you bring bottles aboard, where do you drink the liquor? You stay in your room drinking or make drinks in your room and go out and about with them? Do you just return to make more when you are ready for another?

 

I have no opinion either way about doing whatever, I'm just curious.

 

A little of each - we like to have a cocktail out on the balcony when we come back from excursions and getting ready for dinner. We will generally have a bottle of wine with dinner - then after, we grab cups from the lido, and make our first round to bring to the show. This way we just leave the empties then head over to the piano bar or whatever looks best. We still have a pretty good bar tab - it's really more about conveinance for us - if we had an inside cabin, we probably woudn't spend so much time there!

[MrBill64]

and whatever you buy in San Juan is not subject to your duty free allowance so stock up before boarding or during your stop at the store on the cruise pier.

 

I will going on a cruise that departs from NY that stops in San Juan, Bermuda, Grand Turk, and the USVI. So when we stop in San Juan I buy 12 bottles of liquor in the duty free shop I don't have to declare them when I return to NY? On my return I just show the customs agent in NY my receipt showing that I purchased those bottles in San Juan? Just trying to get clarification.

[m steve]

whatever you buy in Puerto Rico is treated the same as if you bought it in Brooklyn. No limit but separate it from the DF you bought on other islands. Now NY might want to collect tax. The shop is not duty free but tax free. That is the difference.

[MrBill64]

The shop is not duty free but tax free. That is the difference.

What if the liquor I buy in Puerto Rico is duty free? Does that make a difference? Sorry, I am a bit confused.

[SoonerOne]

We are going on the Victory out of San Juan in October of this year. This thread is very informative.....keep the good advice coming:)

[Lsimon]

Deleted message - I had misunderstood a question

Edited February 27, 2010 by Lsimon

[m steve]

there is no duty free in Puerto Rico. There is in St. Thomas and many other islands that are not US affiliated. St. Thomas is duty and tax free.

[MrBill64]

there is no duty free in Puerto Rico. There is in St. Thomas and many other islands that are not US affiliated. St. Thomas is duty and tax free.

First I want to thank you for answering my questions and showing patience as I try to understand all this duty free, tax free stuff on liquor. Check out this link to an article about the duty free liquor store at the San Juan cruise ship terminal, pier 4 I believe, http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/san-juan-cruise-pier-duty-free/ . I am thinking that any liquor I buy at this store would be considered duty free or am I missing something? And if it is considered duty free would this change my exemption upon returning to New York after my cruise? Thanks again.

[Lsimon]

First I want to thank you for answering my questions and showing patience as I try to understand all this duty free, tax free stuff on liquor. Check out this link to an article about the duty free liquor store at the San Juan cruise ship terminal, pier 4 I believe, http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/san-juan-cruise-pier-duty-free/ . I am thinking that any liquor I buy at this store would be considered duty free or am I missing something? And if it is considered duty free would this change my exemption upon returning to New York after my cruise? Thanks again.

 

I'm going to be a little lazy here but still volunteer a logical (at least to me) answer even though I'm not knowledgeable on the subject. The liquor at the duty free store at the dock is being sold under the presumption that it is being sold 'duty free" taken out of the country for consumption. If you then bring it back into the country I would presume it would be subject to the same limitations (bottle count and duty) that would otherwise apply to liquor you've purchased outside of the USA and must be declared.

[rainforestgirl]

There is duty free liquor in PR (at the piers and at the airport).

 

I am not an expert on this either, but what I believe:

For people flying back to a State (not Canada- for you guys I have no idea).

If you buy duty free alcohol (in PR or other islands), you must declare anything over your 5 liters per person at customs (which you only go through as you get off the boat). You will not go through customs again.

Anything you buy at the PR airport duty free is free and clear and does not count in your allotment and there is no limit on that.

 

No one stopped us from bringing our duty free bottles back to our stateroom, so we drank some of the stuff we bought duty free during our cruise, so it didn't count in the end!

[livingthedreamrtw]

Can you buy alcohol arriving at the airport and bringing it into San Juan or do they only sell for outbound fliers?

[rainforestgirl]

Can you buy alcohol arriving at the airport and bringing it into San Juan or do they only sell for outbound fliers?

Only outbound.

[livingthedreamrtw]

How about supermarkets in Old San Juan then :-D

[Indy Island Hopper]

We cruised on Princess mid February from the Pan America port. As you check in before boarding the boat there is a liquor store in the same building. Go in, buy what you want, put it in your carry on luggage, and walk onto the boat. We took rum onto the boat and beer at a couple of different ports. Don't flaunt it and you will be enjoying your own mixed drinks and beer on board.

[Clubber]

Celebrity stuck a green tag similar to embarkation luggage tags onto my carry on after the scanner at the port. Just ripped it off immediately after walking away. Took some effort. Might want to have a pair of clippers handy.

[m steve]

Tax free is what you buy at the pier and airport in San Juan. Duty and tax free is what you have in St. Thomas and St. Martin as well as many other islands. Even the brochures from the PR shops relates that it is Tax free. It's like confusing customs and immigration. Customs refers to your purchases out of the country, Immigration relates to people entering the states.

Edited March 1, 2010 by m steve

[Clubber]

Also for Celebrity cruisers: they are scanning your checked bags and holding a few that have bottles in them. My friend had to go down to pick up his bag on the entrance level of the ship. It was amongst a couple dozen other bags. Fortunately, no one was there and he took it to his room.

 

You can always try these:

 

http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com

Edited March 2, 2010 by Clubber

[robomom]

On Carnival you are allowed 1 bottle per person in your carry on and you can bring from home, put them in your carry on bag. No need to buy at pier

 

Please clarify. The last several flights I've taken the TSA prohibits any liquids of less than...what...2 oz in a small plastic bag. Am I missing something?

[NanaOfBKM]

If you are flying, I would wait until you get to SJ and buy your wine. Otherwise, you would need to wrap it up good & put in checked luggage. As rough as airlines are with the bags, I wouldn't chance it. We stayed overnight at Old San Juan the night before we boarded ship. There are grocery stores in the area where you can pick up your wine and put in your carry on for when you board the ship.