Customs and YOUR OWN jewelry

[xhoosa]

In 2004 we took a cruise to the western caribbean. When we got back my husband was wearing his Movado watch when we disembarked. The customs agent took him aside, grabbed him by the arm :eek: and ketp asking him where he had bought the watch. :( We told her more than 10 times that we had bought it in Miami. She kept insisting:mad: and even asked us if she looked in our bag was she going to find more jewelry. We are cruising again in July,:p this time to the eastern side. I am concerned about taking any jewelry at all because how do you prove if you had it before you boarded in the US or bought it abroad? Definitely not an experience I want to have again. Any thoughts? Has anyone had this experience before?:confused:

[britincanada]

I know that when you fly you can declare valuables at Customs BEFORE you go, so that when you come back with them you have proof that you took them! I'm not sure of the exact procedure, but I saw folks doing this when collecting my cats when they were flown over (had to get a stamp from Customs). People were declaring mainly cameras etc of value. Maybe this is an option when cruising???

[tomc]

Find your local customs office (could be an airport, for instance) and have them fill out a form for whatever looks valuable. Keep the form with you.

[kitty9]

In 45 cruises I've never had Customs ask about my jewelry---and I wear a lot of it. I would suggest that you take any jewelry that's a popular purchase in the Caribbean and take a picture of it at your home. Make sure that they can see it's in your house. With digital cameras, it's easy to lay out your jewelry on a table and take a date-stamped photo of your jewelry. If this happens again, and I highly doubt it will, you can always pull out your camera, and show them the photo of the jewelry you took at home. Believe me, it's a real pain in the behind to find your local Customs office and fill out the forms. If you have a photo, they will let you go. Movado watches are the most popular items that people purchase on the islands.

[lysolqn]

Our passport wallet always has an up to date photocopy of the declaration page of our insurance policy which lists all the jewelry items that are insured.

[lougee1043]

Our passport wallet always has an up to date photocopy of the declaration page of our insurance policy which lists all the jewelry items that are insured.

 

that is the easiest way to prove prior ownership but you must have a jewelry floater on your homeowners insurance policy

 

really dont know if the dated photo will work as on my camera i can reset the date to anything i want

[seamama1]

The customs folks won't just take your word for it, believe me. Best thing? Leave your valuables at home.

 

If you must travel with valuable items, you can declare them prior to your cruise. Just mention to the person checking you in that you need a declaration form and then fill it out. It will delay you getting on board but will avoid trouble upon return.

 

The Custom people are just doing their job. Can you imagine how many people try to bring something back and avoid paying the fees involved? You can't blame them, fer sure.

[xhoosa]

I guess the best option is to leave the jewelry at home.:mad: We declared every single souvenir we bought so we really did not expect anything like this to happen, but you live and learn. This time we do plan to buy jewelry in St Thomas if it is as good and cheap as they say.:rolleyes: Having never done this before, who do you pay the fees/tax for the stuff you buy abroad? on the ship or to customs? Do they take credit cards?:D

[Genessa]

you could bring a photocopy of your original receipt, too.

We've done that with my husband's watch.

[Sunrunner3]

I carry the appraisal for my diamond studs with me, just in case, would hate to have them taken from me!!!!

[joelmarj]

This happened to my BIL coming home from an island one time. He had all very shiny and flashy jewelry and watches. Bascially he had a full strip search and all their luggage torn apart. What they told him was in the future travel with receipts from his jeweler. Also, because it was all very new looking, that was the trigger. If it looks somewhat "aged", its not likely that you will get stopped.

[missybirchfield]

This has not happened to us, but I have heard of it before.

What we do is leave all our jewelry at home. Hubby leaves his Movado home and wears a Timex. If it gets lost or stolen, no big loss.

 

Missy

[seadancer]

We've never been checked before but we've never bought jewelry either but i could clothe a small village with shirts and such:D

[kitty9]

Yes, you can change the date stamp on digital photos, but my point was to take a photo of all the jewelry you're taking with you in such a way that it shows you owned the jewelry previous to your cruise. I have to take photos of my jewelry for my homeowners insurance---I keep one and the insurance agent keeps one---in case of a problem. One way to do it is to put your jewelry on a newspaper where you can see the date. That would prove you owned the jewelry before you left for the cruise.

[sparkydog]

We just got back two weeks ago from a Trans-Panama cruise, and I took copies of the store receipts and jeweler's appraisals, which included pictures of the jewelry. For the new "baubles" we bought on the Panama cruise, all the Customs agent wanted to see was the store receipt where we bought them. No tax assessed. :)