USA rule on wine

[Renmar]

We like to bring 6 bottles of our homemade wine (DW loves the stuff---HWHL ) on our upcoming cruise but have no idea if customs will allow us to bring those from Canada without paying duty. It won't be worth it if we have to pay a lot of duty on it.

I think I have read somewhere, a long time ago, that customs will allow more wine/alcohol if we are in transit. We are not staying in the US apart going from the airport to the ship in San Pedro. I tried to contact US customs but so far no luck.

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

Theo

[jlp20]

4 minutes ago, Renmar said:

We like to bring 6 bottles of our homemade wine....

Your asking the wrong question, will the cruise line allow you to bring six unsealed bottles of a unknown substance on the ship??? The corporate office of the cruise line will give guidance, but security of the actual ship has final say.

[Renmar]

14 minutes ago, jlp20 said:

Your asking the wrong question, will the cruise line allow you to bring six unsealed bottles of a unknown substance on the ship??? The corporate office of the cruise line will give guidance, but security of the actual ship has final say.

Sorry but it is the right question. Who said that the bottles are not sealed? Yes they will allow it as long as we pay the corkage fee, the bottles are properly sealed and properly labeled. We did this many times before when we were sailing out of Vancouver without us having to cross a border. Hence my question about US customs rule.

 

Theo

[jlp20]

Sorry, but "homemade" and having a small bottling set-up with your own label have a different connotation.

[chrysalis]

Ask the US Consulate in Vancouver.....

[-Lew-]

You should know that food not commercially packed could cause an issue with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Check out this article titled I am a Canadian Citizen and want to bring Canadian food products?   

[chrysalis]

2 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

You should know that food not commercially packed could cause an issue with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Check out this article titled I am a Canadian Citizen and want to bring Canadian food products?   

Homemade wine is dealt with in the US Gov webpage....

 

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/190/~/bringing-alcohol-(including-homemade-wine)-to-the-u.s.-for-personal-use

 

[Renmar]

Thanks for all the info, Much appreciated.

 

Theo

[Retired_Army]

Note the paragraph "It is illegal for travelers under the age of 21 to import alcohol - even as a gift." 

 

They are serious.  Our daughter tried to bring back a bottle for Mom when she was 19 (that was 18 years ago) and made the mistake of declaring it.  When she applied for Global Entry last year the violation was still in the files.

[riffatsea]

As far as I know the USA doesn't have a concept of "in transit". That's why everyone who stops at a USA airport goes through USA immigration and customs even if they are staying in the airport to catch a flight to another country.

[Renmar]

7 hours ago, jlp20 said:

Sorry, but "homemade" and having a small bottling set-up with your own label have a different connotation.

In my first post I asked about US customs not if the cruise line allows it. So far Princess did not have a problem with it.

13 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

As far as I know the USA doesn't have a concept of "in transit". That's why everyone who stops at a USA airport goes through USA immigration and customs even if they are staying in the airport to catch a flight to another country.

Thanks for you post, I was hoping that the US has something like an "in transit". Oh well, back to the drawing board.

 

Theo

[CruiserBruce]

When "in transit" you must be in a secure location...usually behind secure the security checkpoints.

 

When going from the airport to the port, you are not in a secure location. So you can't be "in transit".

[XBGuy]

Renmar, I am curious about your question.  I hope that when you get a definitive answer, you report it here.

 

[zqvol]

12 hours ago, Renmar said:

We like to bring 6 bottles of our homemade wine (DW loves the stuff---HWHL ) on our upcoming cruise but have no idea if customs will allow us to bring those from Canada without paying duty. It won't be worth it if we have to pay a lot of duty on it.

I think I have read somewhere, a long time ago, that customs will allow more wine/alcohol if we are in transit. We are not staying in the US apart going from the airport to the ship in San Pedro. I tried to contact US customs but so far no luck.

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

Theo

My experience is that as long as you declare it when you enter the US, they are not going to charge duty on six bottles of wine. Remember that you can each bring in a liter. So probably 3 of your bottles come in with no questions asked. The duty on the others is so small it is not worth the effort to collect it, and even if they do it will only be a few dollars per bottle.

[Renmar]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

Renmar, I am curious about your question.  I hope that when you get a definitive answer, you report it here.

 

 

2 hours ago, zqvol said:

My experience is that as long as you declare it when you enter the US, they are not going to charge duty on six bottles of wine. Remember that you can each bring in a liter. So probably 3 of your bottles come in with no questions asked. The duty on the others is so small it is not worth the effort to collect it, and even if they do it will only be a few dollars per bottle.

 

I will again try to contact US customs within the next few days and hear what they have to say about it.

We know that we can buy some good quality wine in LA when we arrive and we also know that the wine in California is not expensive but my DW really likes the Chardonnay we are making.

When I have an definite answer I will post it.

 

Theo

[sail7seas]

Most of  us here on CC have learned, one cannot always rely upon answers provided by  cruise line  telephone reps  .  if you ask   three, you  well could get three  (or more)   different answers.    most   have little experience   and scant  training.  Good luck.

[cruising cockroach]

Just wondering if you're using fresh or even own-pressed grape juice to make your wine?

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, sail7seas said:

Most of  us here on CC have learned, one cannot always rely upon answers provided by  cruise line  telephone reps  .  if you ask   three, you  well could get three  (or more)   different answers.    most   have little experience   and scant  training.  Good luck.

 

What is being asked here is a very specific question about US Customs law. Many attorneys don't know the answer. How can we expect a person answering the phone at HAL, (or any other cruise line) to know the specifics of US Customs regulations,  as well as any other country. That is not their job.

 

We seem to expect every cruise line phone answerer to gave the knowledge equivalent of the hundreds of thousand of posters here. To know about every ship, cabin, itinerary, menu, port, excursion, weather, political situation, crew, policy, procedure, and a million other things. That would take a Ph.D. How does one train their employees in all of that?

[Renmar]

7 hours ago, sail7seas said:

Most of  us here on CC have learned, one cannot always rely upon answers provided by  cruise line  telephone reps  .  if you ask   three, you  well could get three  (or more)   different answers.    most   have little experience   and scant  training.  Good luck.

I am well aware that I most likely won't get a proper answer at any of the cruise lines (in my case Princess) hence the question put out here because I have received valuable answers on these boards in the past.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts I am going to contact US customs, or any other agency, to try to get the right answer which might be an answer I don't like but so be it. 

 

Theo

[Renmar]

7 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

Just wondering if you're using fresh or even own-pressed grape juice to make your wine?

Mainly from concentrated juice but sometimes freshly pressed (surplus from my friend 😊).

 

Theo

[sail7seas]

7 hours ago, Renmar said:

I am well aware that I most likely won't get a proper answer at any of the cruise lines (in my case Princess) hence the question put out here because I have received valuable answers on these boards in the past.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts I am going to contact US customs, or any other agency, to try to get the right answer which might be an answer I don't like but so be it. 

 

Theo

So sorry, Theo.   I was not aware you   knew that about reps,   I was trying to help.  maybe  my comment was  helpful  to other persons  reading this thread ?

[sail7seas]

10 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

 

What is being asked here is a very specific question about US Customs law. Many attorneys don't know the answer. How can we expect a person answering the phone at HAL, (or any other cruise line) to know the specifics of US Customs regulations,  as well as any other country. That is not their job.

 

We seem to expect every cruise line phone answerer to gave the knowledge equivalent of the hundreds of thousand of posters here. To know about every ship, cabin, itinerary, menu, port, excursion, weather, political situation, crew, policy, procedure, and a million other things. That would take a Ph.D. How does one train their employees in all of that?

 

Maybe they should only hire from  the  pool of 'CC  Experts'.  We know it all, don't  we?  😄    LOL

[cruising cockroach]

Though U.S. and California taxes on wine are very minimal, I would suggest not bringing your own wine from home.  6 bottles is a lot of weight (wine alone is 4 1/2 Kg excluding bottles) and risk of breakage. You can't bring it into the airplane cabin with you.

 

 

[Renmar]

27 minutes ago, cruising cockroach said:

Though U.S. and California taxes on wine are very minimal, I would suggest not bringing your own wine from home.  6 bottles is a lot of weight (wine alone is 4 1/2 Kg excluding bottles) and risk of breakage. You can't bring it into the airplane cabin with you.

 

 

I am starting to realize that I have probably to disappoint my DW getting her favourite wine during this cruise, she will get over it. By the way, it was six 1 liter bottles . I know,  only 3/4 liter bottles allowed but got away with it many times before out of Vancouver.

Oh well, we have to make a trip to the wine store when we arrive in San Pedro. There is a liquor store about 15 minutes away from the hotel we are staying where we can buy our 2 bottles. The rest we can buy in the ports in Mexico and try to "sneak" them on board or pay the $ 15.00 corkage fee.

Is it not silly to spends thousands of $$ on a cruise and then we try to save a few bucks on the wine . Nah, it is the sport of seeing if you can get away with it and it would also be nice to avoid those exuberant prices the cruise lines are charging.

 

Theo

[cruising cockroach]

I hear you.  Last cruise (15 nt), my wife boarded in Vancouver first while I went to get forex.  She bought the 2 bottles on board and no one was checking so she sent me a SMS and I went to the LCB under the Sears Tower to get two bottles myself.  Smuggled two mickies of vodka onboard in Alaska and we made do without any other onboard drinks for the cruise.  Nice to have paid $0 other than for service charges and perhaps duty free booze at cruise end.

 

Next cruise is a 27 nighter all-inclusive so no need to buy any of our own.  Of course the per-day cost is 3.5x higher.