Take me through the customs thingy

[Fast Pass]

Take me through a quick guide of customs.

What can or can't I bring into the US(other than fruit,veggies and other plant material).

Do they go through every piece of luggage?


What is the tax rate for over 800.00 per person?



Do I need to show receipts for everything or can I just claim them?


If I forget to claim something,not intentionally, do they arrest you?



I looked over the US government site but I guess I'm getting the cyber run around because every page I click on sends me to another site!

Thanks for any help!

 

[derdejoh]

I can't answer most of your questions, since we've always managed to stay under the limits, but here goes...

On our last cruise we were told they randomly stop maybe just a few families and search their bags--everybody else just skates on through. For example, we were under our limit, so just walked through Customs and handed them our form. He asked if we had any alcohol or cigarettes, we responded one liter of alcohol and moved on through without incident.

If you are over your limit, you have to meet Customs on the ship the morning of debarkation and pay your fees--which I understand are usually pretty small, maybe pennies on the dollar.

There are limits on cigarettes (I believe 200) and alcohol (typically 2 liters)--the information from DCL when you get your cruise documents will spell that out for you. And you can't bring any Cuban cigars, and some other natural items like certain types of protected coral.