Bringing home alcohol

[junglecat]

Just curious how those of you who buy booze get it home, if flying. Can it be checked? Do you pack it and zip lock it and put in your suitcase? Thinking of bringing back some for DH when me and the 3 BFFs cruise in two weeks. Just not sure on how to get it home.

[sunlovingirl]

As long as you adhere to all the customs regulations (from the ship 1 liter per adult over 21) and you have room in your packed checked luggage go for it. We always carry a trash bag and ziplocks and I usually wrap some clothes around the bottle to keep it from breaking. Have fun!!

 

 

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[PAPERBKWRITER]

Over the years I've found it isn't worth hauling booze home on an airplane. the bottles are heavy and take up room and if you buy 4 bottles you probably aren't saving much over $20. Driving I do bring a few bottles home.

[Lineaway]

Bubble wrap. Doesn't weigh anything. Bring a couple good kitchen garbage bags. Always slightly tighten the cap before packing. Claim everything to Customs and have the receipt.

 

Top shelf brands can be worth bringing back compared to our local prices. Some brands like St.martins Guavaberry Rum (spelled)cant even be purchased here.

[joncorr3]

My question is what are the fees if you bring back extra.

 

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[sunlovingirl]

Sorry I don't know how much it costs with customs. I assume it is just the tax you didn't pay originally. As for flying, as long as your suitcase is underweight, just the cost of the suitcase being checked (if you pay one). If not, it will be whatever the cost of an overweight suitcase is (which is by airline).

[irishnyc]

My question is what are the fees if you bring back extra.

 

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It's a few dollars per liter depending on the cost per liter, proof, and type of alcohol. http://www.usitc.gov/publications/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/0910C22.pdf

[SadieN]

My question is what are the fees if you bring back extra.

 

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Not that much. Friends carried off 6 bottles of Sheridan's. They had to pay duty on 4 of the bottles. It was a total of $12 ($3/bottle).

[kids-in-2-centuries]

We use those arm floaties kids use when swimming. They are light and take up no room in the suitcase on the way down. Put your bottle in a Baggie, put the floatie around it and blow it up. You can find the floaties at any drugstore near the port. They also work well for any breakable you might buy and want to protect.

Have fun!

[cruisegal11]

We brought back 2 bottles of Sheridan and 1 bottle of Big Black Dick Rum from Grand Cayman. I don't think you can purchase any of those bottlems in the US. We put them in plastic bags then wrapped them in dirty clothes. No problems on the flight home.

 

Enjoy!

[cruizn2escape]

We take bubble wrap and duct tape. Tape the cap securely with the duct tape, wrap in bubble wrap and then put a t shirt around it and place in the middle of our checked luggage. TSA has unwrapped the bubble wrap but they wrapped it back up. No problem.

[Tutankhamen]

We brought back 2 bottles of Sheridan and 1 bottle of Big Black Dick Rum from Grand Cayman. I don't think you can purchase any of those bottlems in the US. We put them in plastic bags then wrapped them in dirty clothes. No problems on the flight home.

 

Enjoy!

 

never heard of Big Black Dick Rum, nor did I ever think I would read anything like that here. Made me chuckle.

 

Tempted to ask how does the Big Black Dick Rum taste, but I would rather not know.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Tutankhamen

[DreaminFP]

We have brought bottles with us the last two times we have cruised. Usually if you are buying in one of the shops in port they will wrap them pretty well for you. we just put them in the middle of our suitcase with clothes all around without a problem.

[richfret]

For information, if your cruise includes St Thomas, the duty free rules change as follows:

 

Alcoholic Beverages

U.S. residents 21 years of age and older can return to the mainland with four litres of liquor, duty free. Add a 5th litre duty free if it is a product made in the U.S. Virgin Islands! Compare this to the one-litre-per-person duty free limit outside the U.S. territory, including stores on board cruise ships.

[steve819]

On every cruise, 19 and counting now. I always bring bubble wrap and gallon or larger zip lock bags. I wrap the bottle in bubble wrap, and double bag it in zip lock bags, and then wrap it it in clothes in the middle of the suitcase. It always makes it home safely. Do be honest on the customs form. In our experience, customs is lenient to U.S. Citizens bringing liquor home from a cruise.

[xan51090]

We use bubble wrap and large ziploc bags. We've taken home as many as 8 bottles, declared them on our customs form, and have never been charged an extra duty fee.

[kona_wahine]

Last cruise bought two kahlua. TSA actually opened the bottles. One they didn't reseal correctly and it slowly leaked out. Really ticked me off. Had to throw away the suitcase. Made a claim to TSA and they denied it. Not sure how they can say it wasn't their fault. Good old federal gov. :mad:

[EmmasNana]

I use wine diapers. If the bottle does break or leak, the liquid will be absorbed by the diaper.

 

http://*******.com/nmz8zk7

 

google it or find it on amazon

[ducklite]

We only bring home wine. We use http://www.thewinecheck.com and have never had an issue.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[Gunner22aa]

If you buy it in the airport at a duty free shop after you have gone through security then you will be able to bring it on the aircraft in your carry on which is probably the safest way. The only downside to this is that the price for what you buy could be a bit higher than if bought at a foreign port. Airport duty free shops have a captive clientel so to speak.

[FlyerTalker]

If you buy it in the airport at a duty free shop after you have gone through security then you will be able to bring it on the aircraft in your carry on which is probably the safest way. The only downside to this is that the price for what you buy could be a bit higher than if bought at a foreign port. Airport duty free shops have a captive clientel so to speak.

Not quite that simple. If you are making a connection AFTER you pass through US customs, you will have to put it into your checked bag. You will NOT be allowed to take it through USA security onto your domestic flight. Same at security in many countries.

 

Rules on STEB though the EU are a bit different -- however, as always, the place to go for the correct info is not a poster on CC or otherwise, but from the website of the relevant airport/security service.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how saving just a couple of dollars on a bottle of booze from the Caribbean makes folks so happy. Now...bringing home a rare treasure, or something unavailable at home, that's where DF really shines for Americans. For example, fine Scotches from UK DF, or excellent Japanese whiskeys from Narita DF.

 

Of course, this does NOT apply when taking liquor into jurisdictions with high taxation on booze. Such as Scandinavia or Iceland, but not the USA. There, the savings can be significant. For example, found a simple fifth of Smirnoff in Norway going for over $55. In cases like that, it does make sense to max out on DF.

[Zach1213]

I always stop by duty free stores to see what their prices are. I use Glenlivet 12 as a base to compare prices around the world. The only two places I've seen really, really good prices that were dumb to pass up on were Bangkok and Providenciales (Turks & Caicos Islands). Everywhere else it's either so close that it's not worth it, or more expensive. For example, London Heathrow T5 seems to have such ridiculously high prices that I cannot believe people buy it. But I still stop and look every time on my way to the BA lounge.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Zach1213

[marco]

Duty is minimal. We've brought back cases of wine when coming home TA. If you are flying and planning on bringing back more than a bottle or two, the added weight and possibility of breakage kind of negates any savings. And no, you can not carry it in your carry on,unless you bought it in the airport duty free shop.

Edited January 7, 2014 by marco