Non drinker has question about bringing liquor home

[erby2283]

My very good friend's husband LOVES the 12-year aged rum that can only be purchased in the Cayman's. I will be there next week. However, my brother also loves the rum I brought home from there on my last cruise and I'd like to bring back at least 6 bottles or so.

 

I guess my question is two-fold. Isn't there a limit as to how much you can bring back without being taxed and what's the most you've ever brought home (and brought home without breakage :D).

 

Any tips for packing the booze? Last time my bf brought a duffle bag and we just wrapped our clothes around the bottles as best we could. Seemed to work as nothing broke but wanted to know if anyone had a better idea.

 

Thanks everyone!

[jwalk03]

The "limit" is 1L per person over the age of 21 without paying duty. That said on my last cruise I brought back 12L (between 2 of us), and declared all of them on my cutoms form. Never paid any duty.

 

As far as packing them, i brought a roll of bubble wrap from home and bubble wrapped them, and then distributed them within my dirty laundry and between several bags. (We were flying so weight was also a concern) Got all 12 bottles home without any breaking.

[LovesCruising]

not quite sure but I believe the allowance is only 1 liter - they will advise while on the cruise - are you flying? 6 bottles could weigh a lot and it would have to go in your checked luggage. You could carry on if you buy at the airport in the departure lounge.

[puppycanducruise]

I'm not sure about how much liquor you can bring back - others will know.

However, when we were in the Med, I wanted to bring some olive oil home, so, I took bubble pack and extra large ziploc bags with me. It worked. Wrapped the bottles in the bubbles, then in ziploc just in case, then surrounded by dirty clothes in my checked bag for the trip home.

[Mysticks1]

I'm not sure about how much liquor you can bring back - others will know.

However, when we were in the Med, I wanted to bring some olive oil home, so, I took bubble pack and extra large ziploc bags with me. It worked. Wrapped the bottles in the bubbles, then in ziploc just in case, then surrounded by dirty clothes in my checked bag for the trip home.

 

I also used the large Ziploc bags. I didn't take bubble wrap though, I put the bottles in the bags and then rolled each one up in a couple of pairs of my husbands pants and padded them with the other dirty clothes. I got 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of Limoncello and a bottle of olive oil back home from the Med with no problems.

[TerReuv]

We brought back 7 bottles of tequila our last cruise (listed on just my husband and my declarations page) and had no issues. They actually do not ask how many bottles on the sheet just the amount it is worth. Bubble wrap is good but if you go to Amazon.com and goggle wine diapers, they have these packs that have ziplock seal and you can put bottle of something in each one. They work great!

[Colorado Kat]

Tell the liquor store how you are travelling. (plane or car). They can put them in some pretty sturdy boxes for car travel.

 

There are various padding products available on the internet.

[maldenmusic]

My tequila has always been wrapped up very nicely when purchased and then I put it in a large zip loc baggie. Last time I brought back several bottles over the limit of 1 litre per person and declared it on my customs form. I was never asked to pay any tax on it.

[LovesCruising]

We brought back 7 bottles of tequila our last cruise (listed on just my husband and my declarations page) and had no issues. They actually do not ask how many bottles on the sheet just the amount it is worth. Bubble wrap is good but if you go to Amazon.com and goggle wine diapers, they have these packs that have ziplock seal and you can put bottle of something in each one. They work great!

 

I could have sworn the customs declaration sheet had a column for quantity but you are right - it doesn't - however, has an agent every asked how many? They have when declaring cigarettes

[mrsfuzzmo]

Some thing to note when purchasing liquor in Grand Caymen while on a ship is that they will not let you carry it on. We've had the liquor store not even let us walk out with it and they shipped it right to the ship for safe keeping and return the last night of the cruise.

 

You will not be able to "legally in Carnival's terms" carry liquor back onto the ship. If you do, they will take it upon re-boarding and return it to you at the end of the cruise.

 

That being said, many have made it onboard with a bottle or two in their carry-ons. Our last trip to GC we bought a bottle of Big Black Dick Rum and told the people in the liquor store that we were staying on the island. They let us walk out with it and we did slip in without it being detected. It was a souviner for a friend back home, so if they would have taken it at boarding that would have been OK, but they never said anything so we just walked on past and packed it in our suitcase for the flight home.

[kona_wahine]

I brought two 1 liter bottles of Kahlua home last cruise. I wrapped them up, and also wrapped them in clothes. The TSA apparently had a problem with this and actually OPENED THE BOTTLES! That probably wouldn't have been so bad, but one of them they lightly closed. LIGHTLY! By that I mean it dribbled out all over everything! I was so ticked. Yeah, filed a claim thru TSA and SURPRISE, it was denied. They did nothing wrong. Luckily it was an older suitcase, not expensive. And it all washed out of the clothes, no stains. But dang, I was out a whole bottle of Kahlua!

[TerReuv]

I could have sworn the customs declaration sheet had a column for quantity but you are right - it doesn't - however, has an agent every asked how many? They have when declaring cigarettes

 

They didn't even blink. No questions at all. I was surprised actually.

 

As for taking the purchased liquor back on board, you can bring it on when you come back on board, but you are supposed to stop and check the liquor in with the ship and they hold it for you until the last night when they deliver it to your cabin. As for letting a liquor store send it to the ship, I would have a hard time doing that. I want to know it made it on board.

[valentinebaby1]

We recently brought home about 10 bottles of rum from our cruise on the Valor. We declared it on our customs form but didn't have to pay any taxes on it. We had planned on bringing home a couple bottles, so before our trip we went to the dollar store and bought several packages of little kids blow up arm bands...and inserted the bottles into the armbands, then blew them up around the bottle. Worked pretty well, but it ended up taking 2 armbands per bottle and we only brought 3 pairs, so the rest of the bottles we wrapped as best we could with our clothing and beach towels and hoped for the best... all 10 bottles made it home without breaking.

[Khloella]

The limit for duty free liquor is 1L per person. Most of the time if you do declare it on the customs form, they just let you walk right through without paying any extra. One time they did make us pay the tax and it was only $2 per bottle. So, even if you do have to pay the tax it is super reasonable.

[mcwebber]

I did a B2B and brought back 4L and the customs guy griped to me about the quantity. I played dumb and he said "just remember for next time." Hope his power trip made him happy. It was all listed on my form. Either charge me extra duty or really STFU about it.