Duty free on Brisbane to Sydney return cruise

[Kaylacool]

We are sailing on a 5 night cruise out of Brisbane down to Sydney back to Brisbane.  Does anyone who has done similar itinerary know if duty free purchasing of alcohol etc. will be available?

thanks

K

[OzKiwiJJ]

It won't be available for purchase. The ship has to visit an international destination, which includes the famous Wiilis Island sail-by before it can sell duty free on a particular cruise.

[Kaylacool]

38 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It won't be available for purchase. The ship has to visit an international destination, which includes the famous Wiilis Island sail-by before it can sell duty free on a particular cruise.

Thought that may be the case but husband was hopeful there may be duty free opportunity. :)

[SinbadThePorter]

Not only is there no duty free, we have to pay GST on local cruises. 😢

[Hogbay]

I

Even if Willis Island is on your itinerary, local liquor shops have specials that are the same or cheaper. Vila Vanuatu needs to be your destination .

[buchhalm]

Ahh, even if Premier Palace-Chook wants to be queen of her own country, still no Duty Free when crossing the borders of her realm.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, buchhalm said:

Ahh, even if Premier Palace-Chook wants to be queen of her own country, still no Duty Free when crossing the borders of her realm.

 

Don't we get enough politics outside of CC?

[ceeceeDee]

Frankly, the duty free prices on board aren't that much of a bargain. Or they weren't when we did the 'famous Willis Island sail by' a few months back.

[Aus Traveller]

4 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

Frankly, the duty free prices on board aren't that much of a bargain. Or they weren't when we did the 'famous Willis Island sail by' a few months back.

Agreed. The only time the duty free prices on board are good is on cruises going to Port Vila where they have to compete with the duty free shops.

[ceeceeDee]

Exactly, Aus T

[Aussieflyer]

The only duty free benefit I have found is that Carnival Splendor had Capricorn gin which is not easy to find. Though I have ordered through an online speciality Australian spirits website. It's a boutique Burleigh Heads distillery and basically not available anywhere so a real surprise to find it on board and it was cheaper than I paid later for a bottle of the same.

In the past have had very cheap gin on international Celebrity but that was many moons ago.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[arxcards]

52 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

The only duty free benefit I have found is that Carnival Splendor had Capricorn gin which is not easy to find. Though I have ordered through an online speciality Australian spirits website. It's a boutique Burleigh Heads distillery and basically not available anywhere so a real surprise to find it on board and it was cheaper than I paid later for a bottle of the same.

In the past have had very cheap gin on international Celebrity but that was many moons ago.

I like to look for some gems that can be leftover from the Alaskan season and a bonus of doing the first cruise of the season. Last year on Majestic, it was a premium variation of Jim Beam that you won't find at Dan's. One of my favourites from a few years ago was a Buffalo Trace bourbon cream. Baileys like but bourbon, I have seen it at a couple of places since but would never have looked for it if it wasn't begging at me from the duty free shelf - Radiance, I think.

 

But I will agree with above, pricing and choice is usually pretty lame and not worth lining-up at the dining room on those ships that hold it till the last minute.

[OzKiwiJJ]

You have to be a bit careful comparing prices. I've noticed the bottle size offered onboard can be bigger than retail bottle sizes ie 1 litre against 750ml. Also sometimes they have very good deals when you buy two of something - last year we picked up two 1L bottles of Baileys for around the same price as a 700ml bottle at Dan Murphys. We just bought them from the duty free section of one of the onboard shops on Coral. 

[Ondine]

Another bonus is that you can use OBC and on some ships there is not much else to spend it on.

[Hogbay]

Au $16 for a drink sounds good 👍 well what about you get to keep the glass it came in 🤣🤣🤣