Flying with duty free liquor

[GreenEyesWA]

I'm not sure which board to post this question on (I'm new...can you tell?). :o We are booked on the 12/16 Noordam sailing and plan to bring back some duty free liquor from St. Thomas. Anyone have any recent experience with the airlines since we don't live in NY and can no longer bring "liquids" as carryons onto planes? Are the sellers packaging the liquor in heavier shipping boxes to check or ??

[Little Feet]

We were on a cruise last month, and we had to pack all liquor in our suitcases. The ship had run out of cardoard boxes, but they were just the regular kind & I would not check them as is. We put the bottles in hard cased luggage wrapped with a travel pillow and our dirty laundry (in plastic bags) for cushioning! The bottles made it, but we were nervous about it. We are going to St. Thomas on the Zuiderdam in December, the week before you, and were planning to bring back our limit in liquor. Don't have a clue how we will pack all those!

 

Anyone else have suggestions?

[WindyCity]

I brought home liquor from Europe (2 planes) and none broke - just wrap each bottle in bubble wrap and put it into a ziploc bag,

[michmike]

It would be interesting to know how badly the airline regulations have impacted A H Riis in St Thomas. Gotta believe they've seen an 80% + loss in sales.

 

For the amount of savings to be had we just were not comfortable bringing it home in our luggage and taking a chance on leakage.

 

As for checking a cardboard box of liquor... gotta believe a fair number of those end up "lost" *L* (plus, when traveling with MY DW she has the luggage allowance maxed out anyway so checking a box isn't an option and putting the bottles in a suitcase will put us way over the weight allowance)

 

The heck with all the country's other political issues... let's get this liquid restriction fixed ...what's the point of a stop in St Thomas w/o my $9 Absolut and $17 Knob Creek? Fixin' Social Security pales in comparison.

[lb0103]

We just came back on 10/28 and I planned ahead of time with luggage to take back our quota of booze. I brought 2 hard sided bags and bubble wrap and the cardboard from the boxes to pack them. They got home fine, but TSA did open those cases, I'm sure to check what they were.

 

We brought a lot of throw away casual clothes and I had an extra backpack in one of my cases that I checked going down and became my personal tote on the way back for shoes and heavy things that I had coming back.

 

It takes a lot of planning and you are going to have to make a choice on clothes or booze or pay for the extra weight. Hands down for us it was the booze. I am to cheap to pay for the extra weight.

[njgirl]

Heard from my friends in St. Maarten that the store owners are wrapping the liquor bottles in bubble wrap. Bring some plastic/zip lock bags and place them in them before packing in your checked luggage surrounded by your clothes.

P.S. The liquor prices are cheaper in St. Maarten than St. Thomas.

************2 weeks and counting***********************

[Randyk47]

Good information!!! My DW and I were just talking about this and we were wondering what others were doing to get around the new carry-on rules. It's not that we always bring back our total duty free limit but we do pick up a bottle or two of our favorites. Sounds like, until they change the rules again, we'll be skipping the liquor purchases though....not too hot about the idea of a bottle busting in our luggage (all soft sided and it would cost more to replace than we'd save with the duty free liquor). The present rules must be really hurting all the duty free liquor places though.

[HoneyGV]

We were on a cruise last month, and we had to pack all liquor in our suitcases. The ship had run out of cardoard boxes, but they were just the regular kind & I would not check them as is. We put the bottles in hard cased luggage wrapped with a travel pillow and our dirty laundry (in plastic bags) for cushioning! The bottles made it, but we were nervous about it. We are going to St. Thomas on the Zuiderdam in December, the week before you, and were planning to bring back our limit in liquor. Don't have a clue how we will pack all those!

 

Anyone else have suggestions?

 

I don't know for sure, but can you have the seller in St. Thomas ship them home to you?

[elmorejj]

Heard from my friends in St. Maarten that the store owners are wrapping the liquor bottles in bubble wrap. Bring some plastic/zip lock bags and place them in them before packing in your checked luggage surrounded by your clothes.

P.S. The liquor prices are cheaper in St. Maarten than St. Thomas.

************2 weeks and counting***********************

 

 

Yes the prices are cheaper in St Maarten but you are restricted to one liter from there, unless you want to pay duty on excess.........jean:cool:

[elmorejj]

I don't know for sure, but can you have the seller in St. Thomas ship them home to you?

 

 

 

No, this is strictly against the law..........jean:cool:

[sail7seas]

I don't know for sure, but can you have the seller in St. Thomas ship them home to you?

 

 

And what about the shipping costs? That would eat up the savings, wouldn't it?

[Davey Interweb]

It'd be nice if they (TSA, BAA, etc et al) would relax the carry-on rules already. All of these headaches over an entirely bogus "terrorist plot". Yay. Gotta watch out for those potentially high-explosive lip balms. :mad:

 

Anyways, yeah, bring bubble wrap and tape your bottles up individually; they should be fine in your checked luggage. I've never had one break.

[Little Feet]

It'd be nice if they (TSA, BAA, etc et al) would relax the carry-on rules already. All of these headaches over an entirely bogus "terrorist plot". Yay. Gotta watch out for those potentially high-explosive lip balms. :mad:

 

Anyways, yeah, bring bubble wrap and tape your bottles up individually; they should be fine in your checked luggage. I've never had one break.

 

Well...you brought it up! The security farce is just that - FARCE! How many of you out there feel safer now that everyone is packing liquids in checked luggage. Do you feel safer because you walk through security in your bare feet? We go through this pathetic smoke screen of "improved security" and people with hairpieces are trotting through security without removing them. You luggage is rifled by TSA and who knows how many other people.....and you may or may not be notified. I am wondering if luggage pilfering will increase now that we have to pack our liquor in checked luggage? This is just as absurd as the rest of our "security measures". PROFILE the passengers! KNOW who the heck is flying....that way I WOULD feel safer. The silly motions that we are put through now do nothing for my sense of safety. Profiling has worked well for Israel.....they thought it over....they have had safe planes for years. Why won't our government REALLY protect us?

[island lady]

I would look for plastic liquor bottles...there are many out there now.

 

We also carry (in our suitcase) a water bottle filled with our favorite gin, plus a couple bottles of tonic . These I still wrap in plastic, and have buried in the center of the clothing.

 

Alas, the wine we used to carry inside our carry-ons aboard the plane are now a thing of the past. I simply won't bring wine on board the ship anymore, and have to leave my favorite champagne behind that I used to love to have for sail away on the balcony in our cabin.

 

Cheers! :)

[HoneyGV]

And what about the shipping costs? That would eat up the savings, wouldn't it?

 

I have no idea. Someone said it's illegal anyway. BUT...if it were legal, I would think it would depend on what you got, how much you paid for it and how much you'd have to pay for it at home, if you could get it and what the shipping costs are.

I always thought that there was some kind of license a company had to have to ship liquor. I have a friend here in Florida who belongs to some kind of wine club and he receives different wines that are shipped to him from different places. Not sure if they're from outside the US though.

Now I'm curious.;)

[kryos]

It'd be nice if they (TSA, BAA, etc et al) would relax the carry-on rules already. All of these headaches over an entirely bogus "terrorist plot". Yay. Gotta watch out for those potentially high-explosive lip balms. :mad:

Would you believe the TSA confiscated my cocoa butter hand lotion on the way home from Fort Lauderdale? It was a small tube ... eight ounces but over half used. I even put some on my hands to show the girl that it was cocoa butter and still she wouldn't budge. The lotion had to go. Boy, was I p*ssed! Another CCer lost all kinds of stuff too ... lotions, perfume ... the works.

 

I really wish the airlines would come up with a safe way to screen this stuff for explosives and then let the legimate stuff through. :(

 

On a happy note, though ... once again I made it through with my BIC lighter in my pocket ... and my five cartons of duty-free smokes got home with me safely as well. :) So, I guess all was not lost. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I have no idea. Someone said it's illegal anyway. BUT...if it were legal, I would think it would depend on what you got, how much you paid for it and how much you'd have to pay for it at home, if you could get it and what the shipping costs are.

I would think that if it were legal, the stores would simply set a required minimum amount that had to be purchased and then offer free shipping as an incentive to get you to spend that amount. If they are not doing that, then I would have to imagine shipping the booze must be illegal.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Little Feet]

Liquor in plastic bottles would be a good thing, and weigh less too! We always buy several bottles of vanilla in Mexico (all our friends want them). The vanilla used to be in glass bottles only, but since the "no liquids in carry on" requirements, the Mexican vanilla has been available in plastic bottles. Is there any reason why most liquor is not in plastic bottles?

[newmexicoNita]

Would you believe the TSA confiscated my cocoa butter hand lotion on the way home from Fort Lauderdale? It was a small tube ... eight ounces but over half used. I even put some on my hands to show the girl that it was cocoa butter and still she wouldn't budge. The lotion had to go. Boy, was I p*ssed! Another CCer lost all kinds of stuff too ... lotions, perfume ... the works.

 

I really wish the airlines would come up with a safe way to screen this stuff for explosives and then let the legimate stuff through. :(

 

On a happy note, though ... once again I made it through with my BIC lighter in my pocket ... and my five cartons of duty-free smokes got home with me safely as well. :) So, I guess all was not lost. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

As much as it is a pain in the @ss and I am also wondering how to get the booze back, I respect whatever policies are put into place. NMnita

[boscobeans]

In days long past I worked for the Railway Express Agency and can remember unloading cargo containers (after they had been unsealed by US Customs). They contained liquor that was packaged 4 quarts to a carton (no liters back then) and were being sent to people that had purchased them, duty free, while on vacation. The containers came off ships that were unloaded at the west side docks in NYC. This was over 40 years ago and I wish I could remember more about it.

[FrenchOnBoard]

I read a few messages saying -that was about beer- "Like any other alcohol other than wine & champagne, it will be taken and held for you until the end of the cruise." and "No alcohol except for wine and champagne".

I'm a bit confused now: can we buy liquor, say in St. Maarten, and drink it in our room, or will it be seized and only handed-in at the end of the cruise?

 

Thanks, FrenchOnBoard

[crazy4cruisn]

We just wrap the bottles in our dirty clothes and put inside our check in bags which are soft sided....never had breakage. However, a friend did this with olive oil she bought in Spain and had a terrible mess!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

On the Volendam, there was a note on the boutique door indicating that passengers could not take alcohol on the plane as carry-on luggage. But they would give you extra wrapping for bottles you purchase on board and want to pack in your luggage.

[nashkan]

We always pack the bottles we buy in our checked baggage. we layer clothes on all sides of the bag, then wrap the bottles in more clothes. it is best if the suit case is full so it can not move around. We have never lost a bottle yet.... This last trip (early this month we bought a 4 1/2 liter bottle of Dewers that was in the ship giftshop.... We were nervous about that, being packed in our bag, but it made it home safe and sound.... Was interesting coming through customs, was asked if I had any liquior in my bags, I said "yes"..... how many bottles, I was asked? I said 4.... (there were 4 bottles) I was never asked what size....:D ..... actually though between the 2 of us, I do not think we were over the limit... but it still made us smile..... Dan

[Cybercsp]

We just brought back 6 bottles from St. Thomas. We brought an extra smaller suitcase, bubblewrap, and the XL Ziplock bags from home. We bubblewrapped each bottle and put two or three in the Ziplock bag. Then put THAT package in a second XL Ziplock (did not want a mess if they broke). Packed the rest of the suitcase with dirty laundry. Zero problems, but we did note that the TSA lock had been opened :) The liquor store personnel tried to convince us that they would pack the box so well that it could travel as a piece of luggage. Forget that...the bottles were just in their compartments...nothing special. Good luck.