USVI-On-Line

So I wake up this morning thinking of my upcoming trip to St. John (as I do every morning) and going over all the things I "have to remember" in my mind and all of a sudden it hit me....you can't bring liquids on the plane???? How do I get my bottles of rum home?

Wow, can I really NOT bring home all those yummy flavors of rum? How the heck are the liquor stores surviving? Can you check the boxes they pack them in?

Can anyone tell me what the deal is?

Bug

You can check the bottles through as baggage. I am planning to rewrap mine in some bubble wrap to minimize the chance of breakage.

The last time I was there, they were making you check the boxes the rum comes in - and if you look at those boxes and think, "Hmmm. .. they don't look too sturdy" - you'd be right. We checked two boxes and our friends checked two, and only one made it. (Not any of ours!) It's a shame!

This was right after the ban went into effect, so maybe they are using better boxes now - I sure hope so! Anyone else done this recently?

I always ended up drinking it all before i left so i haven't brought any back. maybe go to the mail center or connections and package it real well.
BTW: back when i lived down there a bottle of cruzian was a $1.14 out the door.

Leaving the floats and kiddie toys behind as donations & eating up all the extra snacks we pack always leaves room for the RUM. I wrap it up in our clothing and its always fine.

My mama is leaving in a little over a week for STT and my husband was hitting her up for the liquor stock-up yesterday. Somehow I don't think she was game.

On our Nov trip we packed all our liquor in our suitcase wrapped in Bubble wrap & it was fine.
We were a little concerned as our luggage didn't make our connecting flight & was brought to us the next day.
My luggage had even been opened & it was still there.

I am thinking of taking a bottle of Champagne down this trip, just not sure about it going in our checked luggage?? Has anyone done this???
Anyone have an idea of the cost for a bottle on the Island?

The Shopper

theshopper3 wrote:On our Nov trip we packed all our liquor in our suitcase wrapped in Bubble wrap & it was fine.
We were a little concerned as our luggage didn't make our connecting flight & was brought to us the next day.
My luggage had even been opened & it was still there.

I am thinking of taking a bottle of Champagne down this trip, just not sure about it going in our checked luggage?? Has anyone done this???
Anyone have an idea of the cost for a bottle on the Island?

The Shopper

Not champagne, but I have been known to throw a couple of bottles of wine in my checked bags. NEVER a problem.

I routinely bring LOTS of bottles back from Europe in my luggage. I used to use dirty clothes as padding, but I've gotten so efficient at packing that I need to bring bubble wrap now. Last trip to Europe I loaded up my daughters' bags as well. They were a tad grumpy about dragging around my booze... Sherpas!

I don't bring that much booze back from the islands. Some Annapolis rum from Cane Garden Bay, some Guinness Foreign Extra Stout - stuff I cannot get on the continent.

Cheers, RickG

I tried wrapping bottles in dirty clothes on a trip once and one of the glass bottles broke. It was hard to get the rum smell out of the suitcase. I had it packed so tight though and that was probably the reason.

We purchased 2 boxes (5 or 6 bottles in each) at the STT airport on the way home. They packed it very well, bubble-wrapped each bottle, all separated by the corrugated cardboard dividers. Both boxes made it to Philly intact, as did the other passengers boxes, none appearing to be broken.

Never ahd a problem with it in my suit case and only once checked that was this year on usair they lost it all for three couples 36 bottles watched it go on the plane but never made it to Pilly must be some happy people in that bagage hold

We took a bottle of Champagne down in our suitcase and it made it ok

We bought all the liquor allowed by law (which does exceed the amount considered sensible by most) at the duty free liquor store in the baggage claim area in the STT airport on our way out. They did a really great job packaging it all up with bubble wrap and sealing the box. It gives you an additional piece of "luggage" to check but all 12 bottles made it home okie-dokie. (Several of the 12 we bought for gifts...as far as you know.)

CG - I honestly don't know. The prices at the airport beat what I could buy it for at home, so it was bargain enough for me.