Duty Free Booze

[MsSoloTravel]

I'm cruising on the Conquest to Jamaica and Cayman in September and am curious how many bottles of liquor I can bring home with me. If I am reading the website correctly, I'm limited to one bottle. Is this correct?

[doneinne]

We were told 2 per person. We didn't find out until we had purchased 6 bottles for the two of us. We told the customs guy we had 6, he just waved us through. Disclaimer: we had our 18 year old daughter with us. I don't know if he assumed she was 21 or if he just didn't care we had 6?

[Crazy4Cruisin225]

I believe 2 is the limit per person. Anything over that they can charge you tax on. Doesn't mean they WILL, but they CAN. I think it helps to be honest when filling out the customs form too. If you claim "nothing" and they check your bags and see a case of liquor...well, they don't like being lied to. I only get to take advantage of the duty free prices when I sail out of a local port (NY or Baltimore) cause the airlines will charge $100 per bag if over 50lbs which would defeat the purpose of saving the money to begin with ;)

[sparks1093]

I believe 2 is the limit per person. Anything over that they can charge you tax on. Doesn't mean they WILL, but they CAN. I think it helps to be honest when filling out the customs form too. If you claim "nothing" and they check your bags and see a case of liquor...well, they don't like being lied to. I only get to take advantage of the duty free prices when I sail out of a local port (NY or Baltimore) cause the airlines will charge $100 per bag if over 50lbs which would defeat the purpose of saving the money to begin with ;)

 

They don't like being lied to and they can levy a hefty fine and confiscate anything that is undeclared. The general rule as stated at CBP.gov:

 

 

"Alcoholic Beverages: One liter (33.8 fl. oz.) of alcoholic beverages may be included in your exemption if:

• You are 21 years old.
  
• It is for your own use or as a gift.
  
• It does not violate the laws of the state in which you arrive.
  

Federal regulations allow you to bring back more than one liter of alcoholic beverage for personal use, but, as with extra tobacco, you will have to pay duty and Internal Revenue Service tax." (That's one liter per person over 21.)

 

If a US territory is on your itinerary then you may bring back 5 liters, one of which must be a product of the US territory.

 

If I remember correctly the duty rate is 3% plus an IRS tax and most CBP officers won't bother with the paperwork for small amounts of alcohol (bring 3 $100 bottles back you might pay duty, 3 $10 bottles probably not).

[Crazy4Cruisin225]

Ok, so 1 bottle per person. I got confused with the 2 because when I did bring liquor home we had sailed to St. Thomas and the 2 was not a problem.

[yst347]

St. Thomas has its own higher limit. You are allowed to bring 4 liters per person and a fifth liter if it is a product of the US Virgin Islands.

 

You are only liable for duty over the limit so declare it and pay the $2.90/bottle.

 

Scroll down to page 20 for details on booze. http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/kbyg_regulations.ctt/kbyg_regulations.pdf

[sparks1093]

Ok, so 1 bottle per person. I got confused with the 2 because when I did bring liquor home we had sailed to St. Thomas and the 2 was not a problem.

 

It's easy to get confused, especially when they probably won't collect the duty on the extra bottle unless you have really expensive taste:).

[luv2go1]

It's easy to get confused, especially when they probably won't collect the duty on the extra bottle unless you have really expensive taste:).

My husband and I brought back 6 bottles of rum from Jamaica last month. We declared it on the custom forms and they waived us through without paying any extra taxes/fees.

[x-cruiser]

I bought a case of Crown back last year and 8 bottles (NOLA) this year and were waved through. I declared it on the customs form. The only time I ever had to pay anything was in Mobile.

[Sundiego]

Just off the Conquest in Nola. DH and I had 6 liters at a total cost of $115 and we declared them all. We were waved through.

 

We usually buy some liquor on every cruise, 4 to 6 bottles, and always declare. We have never had to pay duty on the excess.

 

~Denise

[donnaandtim]

I have a friend who works in customs and he told us to declare everything. And to be honest and they won't charge you the extra as it is a lot of extra paperwork. He told us he stops people who are rude and who look shifty, but honest hard working people he just lets them through.

[sparks1093]

I have a friend who works in customs and he told us to declare everything. And to be honest and they won't charge you the extra as it is a lot of extra paperwork. He told us he stops people who are rude and who look shifty, but honest hard working people he just lets them through.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how rude people can be to those that have the power to make their lives h*ll:rolleyes:.

[MsSoloTravel]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'm ready to go shopping now!!!!

[askimdog]

I have always found local stores in town have better prices than the liquor shops at the ports. They look like a good deal until ya head into town and see the prices are often better. I found this out at several ports, recently in Belize and Cozumel.

[ltcal94]

My wife and I brought back 8 bottles from our last trip. I declared all of them and they waived us through. Apparently, there is a monetary amount ($10?) that if the duty is less than this amount they will not collect it due to the fact that it costs more to process the duty than the amount they would collect. At the end of the day , I think honestly is the best policy when dealing with CBP.

[donoiv]

I believe 2 is the limit per person. Anything over that they can charge you tax on. Doesn't mean they WILL, but they CAN. I think it helps to be honest when filling out the customs form too. If you claim "nothing" and they check your bags and see a case of liquor...well, they don't like being lied to. I only get to take advantage of the duty free prices when I sail out of a local port (NY or Baltimore) cause the airlines will charge $100 per bag if over 50lbs which would defeat the purpose of saving the money to begin with ;)

 

Good points... they usually don't charge unless you re claiming a bunch of other stuff... or the amount is excessive... it's just not worth their time beased on how many people are waiting to get through customs...

 

Just back this Sunday... we had 7 bottles... 2 adults and a six year old. He may have assumed my six year old as 21, but don't think so... no charge.

[kelkel2]

We were told 2 per person. We didn't find out until we had purchased 6 bottles for the two of us. We told the customs guy we had 6, he just waved us through. Disclaimer: we had our 18 year old daughter with us. I don't know if he assumed she was 21 or if he just didn't care we had 6?

 

Same experience as you. We knew we could only have 2 but we had more that we wanted and didn't really care. They just waived us through when we told them we had 4. I assume it's not worth the paperwork for them on such a low $ amount.

[MsSoloTravel]

I have always found local stores in town have better prices than the liquor shops at the ports. They look like a good deal until ya head into town and see the prices are often better. I found this out at several ports, recently in Belize and Cozumel.

 

Thanks for that tip! We plan to get away from port a bit.

[donoiv]

Thanks for that tip! We plan to get away from port a bit.

 

Another tip.

 

When you buy in port, you are supposed to give the bottles to the crew when reboarding... The will hold until the last day. When you put the bags through the scanner, the guy will say something like "drop the bottles of at the table"... Just say ok and proceed up to you room or where ever else you plan on going. Easiest way to get booze on the ship. Did it twice this past week.. No one watches or cares. And even if they do say something, you just play dumb and head over to the table.

[MsSoloTravel]

Thanks, Donoiv! I did read in a few threads about people doing that. Definitely worth a try!