Liquor prices vary

[hancock]

Many of us want to bring back bottles of liquor taking advantage of duty free pricing. I want to share my recent experience visiting St. Thomas and Sint Maarten.

 

I know that the liquor allowance for visiting the US Virgin Islands is 5 lt. pp for US residents. Having cruised before, I was aware the the prices in Sint Maarten are usually less than St. Thomas. While I checked the prices in ST, I decided to wait until SM to purchase what I wanted.

 

I found that there are different prices in SM depending on distance from the ship in P'burg, SM. I am going to use Meyers Rum as an example. At the store near the ship, the price was $15 a bottle. At the store near the water taxi, the price was $12.50 a bottle. I decided to walk right on Front Street.. A block or so down on the right, I found a store carrying liquor that had the Meyer's Rum for $10 a bottle. Their prices for other liquors were also less than the other places. I will add that using a credit card cost a little more. I bought $75 worth of liquor. If I had used the CC, the price would have been $81. Btw, they delivered to the ship! I didn't have to carry it back.