Liquor Questions

[disneyfreak1]

Can you take your own liquor on board? If so, how much? Also, do they sell Crown Royal in St. Maarten? If so, how cheap is it? How much can you bring back with you and can you drink some that your purchase on the ship?

I know I sound like an alcoholic! I'm really not, I just don't want to pay those high prices for a drink!!!!!

 

[mcnuss]

You can bring liquor on board and I guess the limit is how much you can carry. I know there are rules about consuming the stuff you buy in a duty free store, but I can't remember exactly. I can't help you with the Crown Royal question. Don't even know what it is...!

 

[Señor Ferrari]

You can't consume any alcohol you buy duty-free on the ship. They will hold it for you and give it to you on the last morning.

There's a small store amongst the shops at the base of the cruise ship pier in St. Maarten. I don't know specifically if they have Crown Royal, but I would think they do. We usually pick up a couple six-packs of Heineken there before we get back on the ship. You are allowed to drink alcohol you purchase in port on the ship.

There is no shortage of places to buy booze at both St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

You are limited in how much alcohol you bring back into the US after the cruise. You can bring in one liter duty-free, but must pay duty on anything more than that, regardless of whether you have reached your exemption. The US Customs Service has a good brouchure online (link) which discusses alcohol, tobacco, and duty in general.

 

[TootyJane]

Originally posted by Señor Ferrari
....There is no shortage of places to buy booze at both St. Maarten and St. Thomas....

Personally, we thought liquor prices were lower in St. Maarten.

 

[Towncrier]

Liquor prices are considerably lower on St. Maarten than on St. Thomas (and from the duty free store on board). I got a 1 liter bottle of Baileys for $10 on St. Maarten when it was $15 on board the Magic. And if you don't buy at least one bottle of Guavaberry Rum on St. Maarten, you are missing out on a treat.

The rules on just how much liquor each adult can bring back into the US duty free seem to have changed over the past year. When we last cruised, you were allowed to purchase a certain amount of locally produced liquor in addition to the Crown Royals and Baileys that you might buy.

 

[sigafoos]

Does anyone know how much you pay if you bring home more than allowed? I saw people buying cases of liquor on our last cruise but I was afraid the duty fees would be high. When I got home someone told me that even after paying duty on any amount over the per person allowed it is still cheaper than buying at home.
Kim

 

[mcnuss]

Kim - it's not much at all, and a lot of times, they do not bother to charge you even if you are over. We brought home 17 bottles of wine from France last year and of course put them on our declaration; the guy at Customs just waved us through.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Based on the information provided via the link in my post above, I think that duty is 1.5% of the declared value with goods purchased at a US Insular Possession (i.e. USVI), 3% from Caribbean basin coutries, and I think 4% from everywhere else. They don't require you to pay it if it is less than $10. I found this out the hard way after reporting to Customs at 6:00am on the final morning of one cruise. We had spent over the limit in St. Maarten, so figured we had to pay duty. When the Customs officer looked at our declaration slip, he said, "We usually don't collect if it's less than $10." We would have had to pay $8, I think. Oh well, lesson learned, and an hour of sleep lost....

The US Customs website states that if you bring back an unusual amount of liquor or tobacco, that they might levy duty on it if they believe you're bringing it back for resale. This is (probably intentionally) left pretty vague, so I don't know what contstitutes an unsual amount. The following is a quote from the Customs Dept. site:

While federal regulations do not specify a limit on the amount of alcohol you may bring back for personal use, unusual quantities are liable to raise suspicions that you are importing the alcohol for other purposes, such as for resale. Customs officers are authorized by Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) make on-the-spot determinations that an importation is for commercial purposes, and may require you to obtain a permit to import the alcohol before leasing to you. If you intend to bring back a substantial quantity of alcohol for your personal use you should contact the Customs port you will be re-entering the country through, and make prior arrangements for entering the alcohol into the U.S.