Liquor wars -- best prices at Kmart, Al Cohen, Riise, another?

[Sandi149]

Here is the website for Riise. I looked on there to see if there is a cutoff time for delivery but I couldn't find anything. There is a phone number, however, if you want to call them.

 

http://www.ahriise.com/

[K8sMom]

I sent them an e-mail and asked the question about the cut off time for purchases to be delivered. Will let you know if I get an answer.

[Thirsty Cruiser]

The boxes say either St. Thomas or St. Maarten (or whatever store you bought it from) so its pretty easy for the custom officials to identify where you bought it. If not, then you should keep your receipts for proof.

 

Also, even it is slightly cheaper in St. Maarten wouldn't you want to keep it legit and buy it from St. Thomas. Nothing to worry about then. Not to mention you are supporting an American territory by purchasing in St. Thomas. I would rather spend my money there :)

 

Good point, but as I said I lost track of where I bought everything, and it wasn't an issue. The prices (when I was there) were actually quite a bit cheaper in St. Maarten, to the point of being ridiculous. I even checked several shops to make sure I was not being ripped of (like they were putting water or something in the bottles). Not really sure how they were able to sell it so cheap, but I bought a bunch of it :D

[K8sMom]

I got an e-mail back from Riise about the cut off time to buy liquor and have it delivered to the ship. They said about 2 PM would be the latest to buy and have it delivered.

[Sandi149]

I got an e-mail back from Riise about the cut off time to buy liquor and have it delivered to the ship. They said about 2 PM would be the latest to buy and have it delivered.

 

Great....if you do your shopping in the morning, you can go to the beach in the afternoon. :D

[Thirsty Cruiser]

I got an e-mail back from Riise about the cut off time to buy liquor and have it delivered to the ship. They said about 2 PM would be the latest to buy and have it delivered.

Darn. That destroys my plan to compare with Kmart. I guess I'll have to take a look and buy what is a good deal, then get the rest at Kmart later.

[rebeljohn]

.......

[Thirsty Cruiser]

Update. Sorry it's so late.

I was not impressed by the prices at Riise. They did have a few cheap rums at low prices, but the premium stuff was not a great bargain. (Still cheaper than in the local liquor stores tho).

K-mart was still champ in the premium rum low price war. I picked up a couple bottles there, then more at Riise. In hindsight, I wish I had just gotten everything at K-mart.

If you are willing to carry your purchase yourself, and you are in the "downtown" area (a few blocks from the pier), go with K-mart. Otherwise, Riise or Cohen's are pretty good. Make sure you compare prices with the ship as well, since they were very competitive.

 

BTW, they did not take my purchases at the pier, so I had an extra-special cruise. ;) :D

[shoppingfool]

I have been a St. Thomas resident for over twenty years and I can say that K-Mart is not the best liquor buy. When you are here check prices because I know Riise and Dynasty/Dazzlers are very competitive. Also remember that these major stores deliver to the ship.

[Sandi149]

We chose Riise because they packed it up for us and delivered it to the ship. Maybe you can save a dollar or two per bottle going to KMart but having the convenience of the delivery was worth the small increase in price. There was no way we could have lugged all those bottles around the island with us. We were very satisfied with them and the prices were 50% off of what we pay here in NY.

[Thirsty Cruiser]

I have been a St. Thomas resident for over twenty years and I can say that K-Mart is not the best liquor buy. When you are here check prices because I know Riise and Dynasty/Dazzlers are very competitive. Also remember that these major stores deliver to the ship.

 

As I said in my post, I found better prices on the premium liquor (rum) at KMart. I did not check prices for cheap rum nor any other liquor.

We chose Riise because they packed it up for us and delivered it to the ship. Maybe you can save a dollar or two per bottle going to KMart but having the convenience of the delivery was worth the small increase in price. There was no way we could have lugged all those bottles around the island with us. We were very satisfied with them and the prices were 50% off of what we pay here in NY.

Remember that Riise will not deliver within a few hours of when your ship is scheduled to leave. I had an early excursion followed by a beach trip, so there was no delivery and I paid more, as I stated earlier.

KMart also packed my purchases and I enjoyed the short walk back to the ship. If you have mobility issues, or are not planning on an excursion, Riise or Cohens are the best choice. In my personal experience, however, I have found what I want at Kmart.

[Sandi149]

As I said in my post, I found better prices on the premium liquor (rum) at KMart. I did not check prices for cheap rum nor any other liquor.

Remember that Riise will not deliver within a few hours of when your ship is scheduled to leave. I had an early excursion followed by a beach trip, so there was no delivery and I paid more, as I stated earlier.

KMart also packed my purchases and I enjoyed the short walk back to the ship. If you have mobility issues, or are not planning on an excursion, Riise or Cohens are the best choice. In my personal experience, however, I have found what I want at Kmart.

 

I'm not saying that KMart is a bad choice but there was no way that we could have carried our bottles back to the ship even if we had to walk 1 block. We had 12 bottles. :eek::D

[doctor15]

I cant remember the exact prices but, Al Cohens was very cheap when I was there last march, especially for premium scotches. I think it was $20 for 1L of Glenfidich 12yr and $30somthing for 750mL Johnny Walker Gold. Seemed to have a very good selection. My friends and I definitely took advantage of the 5L allowance.

[millineumwoman]

I always wonder what happens if u ask them to deliver it to your ship and it doesn't get there b4 the ship leaves what do you do? are u just sol?

[wwinfl91]

Someone mentioned you could bring back 5 liters per person. I was under the impression it was 5 liters per cabin. Can anyone update me on this?

 

Thanks

[Sandi149]

Someone mentioned you could bring back 5 liters per person. I was under the impression it was 5 liters per cabin. Can anyone update me on this?

 

Thanks

 

5 liters p/p from the US Virgin Islands.

[2112]

Someone mentioned you could bring back 5 liters per person. I was under the impression it was 5 liters per cabin. Can anyone update me on this?

 

Thanks

 

You can actually bring back as much as you want, but it is 5 liters per person duty free from the USVI. Anything over that you would have to pay duty. Remember, this is US customs - they would have no idea how many people are in your cabin!

[m steve]

are owned by the same family and their prices are identical. Dynasty is priced the same. Some shops have different I found upper scale rum and scotch $3 higher than St. Martin. No duty on 4ltrs and you can bring back 1 more ltr if it's a VI rum. You can bring back more and they may or may not charge duty. It's worth the gamble and the odds are more in your favor

than the on board slots.

[jackdiamond]

We just returned from St.Thomas on the Radiance; and, due to the weather problems we eschewed our planned beach visitation. Therefore, we did some walking instead. One of our journeys was to the K Mart, where we priced the alcohol. Basically, it was comparable to Rise, although the Cruzan rum was considerably cheaper. They will pack it in a box, but they will not deliver it to the ship.

By the way, it is a wee bit more of a two block walk, but invigorating.

[afcj1]

I found that most liquor prices in PR and STT were at a savings, but not enouth to warrant the extra packing and worry about airline weight restrictions. If you're driving vs flying, from your port, then go for it!

[jackdiamond]

It is 5 liters per person.

Additionally, if you purchase two liters of Cruzan rum, then it is 6 liters per person.

[millineumwoman]

at a ii rise bacardi 3 litre bottle was $30, they have a few specials, though to tell the truth actually found that some alcohol was cheaper at the store at havensight mall called gourmet foods (its a little grocery store)

 

oh if you are buying cigars the absoulute best place to get them is at the cigar shop at the doll house, they have a huge walk in humidore with so many different kinds from $1.25 to over $30 each , they also sold them in cases and humidors, had stetsons and those other hats like scarface wore.

they also had a list of some of the best cigars and told you what kind of aroma taste you would find in them. it was a very impressive store.

they had all kinds of flavours including rum, Jack daniels, Kaluha, vanila, peach, stawberry, chocolate, cherry etc.., cubans, romeo and julliets, the sopranos, stratorvorsky (spelled wrong sorry, like the violin), monitcristo, jazz and many many others way too many too list, also hand rolled.

 

and they are the best priced, my daughter was kicking herself as she had just bought a pack of 5 small cigars rum flavoured at a little cigar shop just down the road and paid $10 for them and saw the same pack in the doll house for $2.50 so she was out 7.50.

[cruzinnluvinit]

Also, if you do want to buy more than the 5 bottles p/p the duty isn't very much. It's about 10%, IF the agent even bothers to collect it. You just have to be honest and tell them all the liquor you bought and if it's over by only a few bottles, they will let you go without paying the duty.

This is so true. My friend and I couldn't remember how many bottles we got on the ship, and the ports and when they delivered it to our room, we had 12 bottles each. They never said anything to us. We declared all of them.

 

Linda

[zqvol]

You can actually bring back as much as you want, but it is 5 liters per person duty free from the USVI. Anything over that you would have to pay duty. Remember, this is US customs - they would have no idea how many people are in your cabin!

 

This is not exactly right either. You can bring back one liter duty free. If you purchase any liquor in St. Thomas you may bring 5 liters back duty free IF one of the liquors was distilled in the VI. I know this is splitting hairs.

 

Also be aware, that it is not five bottles that you can bring back, it is 5 liters. Which could be a lot more than 5 bottles.

[The Islander]

From US Customs and Border Protection, last section on this page http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/types_of_exemptions.xml of their website says:

 

"$1,600 Exemption

 

If you return directly or indirectly from a U.S. insular possession (U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam), you are allowed a $1,600 duty-free exemption.

 

If you travel to a U.S. insular possession and to one or more of the Caribbean Basin or Andean countries listed above, let’s say on a Caribbean cruise, you may bring back $1,600 worth of items without paying duty, but only $800 worth of these items may come from the Caribbean Basin or Andean country(ies). Any amount beyond $800 will be dutiable unless you acquired it in one of the insular possessions. For example, if you were to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica, you would be allowed to bring back $1,600 worth of merchandise duty free, as long as only $800 worth was acquired in Jamaica.

 

Also, you may include 1,000 cigarettes as part of the $1600 exemption, but at least 800 of them must have been acquired in an insular possession. Only 200 cigarettes may have been acquired elsewhere. For example, if you were touring the South Pacific and you stopped in Tahiti, American Samoa, and other ports of call, you could bring back five cartons of cigarettes, but four of them would have to have been bought in American Samoa.

 

Similarly, you may include five liters of alcoholic beverages in your duty-free exemption, but one of them must be a product of an insular possession. Four may be products of other countries (see section on Unaccompanied Purchases from Insular Possessions and Caribbean Basin countries)."