Couple of issues.

How much you can bring back is determined by where you get it, and where it
is from. If it's from outside the US, it's one liter unless it was made in
certain countries listed at the link below, then it's two liters per adult.
Liters, not cases.

You have to pay an import duty and the IRS Service tax on whatever is above
your allowance, and you may be asked to prove it's for personal use when
cases are involved. Full details over at
http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/trave..._exemption.xml

Can you ship it is determined by the state you live in. Some states allow
alcohol to be shipped to the end user and some require it go through a
distributor first, some have additional restrictions. If it's shipped then
full duty will have to be paid for customs, and that is certainly to wipe
out any savings from purchasing it.

If you want to check it as luggage, then you need to get a shipping
container. Ubid.com has some excellent ones to ship wine very little money,
I've used them many times to ship home from Napa via UPS (I ship to a state
that it's legal to do so) and never had a bottle break. If you just use the
case you bought it in, if the baggage people don't take it then it will
certainly break.

Depending on what you purchase, they may or may not let you carry it on. It
has to meet the size and weight requirements for carry on luggage, but I
don't think they will let a case go on the plane. They will usually not let
151 on.




"CerminaraChris" wrote in message
...
Hello,

My wife and I will be taking our first cruise next month. We'll be
leaving
Easter Sunday for the Radience of the Seas. My question has multiple
parts:

1) Where is the best place to buy Rum and other alcohols. We will be
stopping
in San Juan, Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. When I was in St.
Thomas a
few years ago (not on a cruise). I remember alcohol being really cheap.
We
would like to stock our home bar if we have the chance. Our favorite is
Rum,
but we'd like to pick up a little of everything.

2) If we end up buying a couple of cases, how do we get it home. I know
the
ship will take it when we re-board and give it to us at the end, but what
about
the plane. Can we check it in with our other luggage? Ship it home?
Carry it
on? There's only two of us, so are we limited by what we can carry?

3) What are the rules about bring back alcohol. I gues it varies by
where we
would buy it. I don't mind paying tax on it because it will still be
cheaper
than buying it here (at least I think so. Does anyone know how much the
tax is
?). What is the limit?

4) Has anyone visited the Bacardi Rum factory in San Juan? Was it worth
it?
I think it would be very interesting.

Thanks for your help,
Chris