Hi I persisted and got through to a real person at US Border Protection and the word back is US Customs in Vancouver is a pre clearnace..which means they "check to see that all paperwork is in order" for when we arrive in the US...which means the wine is not being taken into US territory technically as it is going ont the ship..and as long as it stays on the ship and is consumed on the ship then US does not have a say...the duty on wine is around $1-2 a bottle if it were to be taken off the ship onto US ground..hope that helps
If you choose to consume outside your cabin then the worst Holland Amercia can do is ask us to return to our cabin to consume or charge a corkage fee if you insist on drinking it outside your cabin if directed to do so...
Report abuse
The only thing safe to purchase in port would be what Holland America lists as acceptable...
if you look at the BC pricing you will see spirits pretty close in price of in cabin consumption...Holland does confiscate/hold spirits until end of the cruise even if safely declared and accepted by customs...so for safety only bring what they allow and for same price order spirits from Indulgance ( compare pricing on previous post of BC liquor prices and you will see Holland is very close if not a tad cheaper)
the price of Smirnoffs vodka is compariable to what liqour store charges here..so we would save the hassle of customs and buy on board "in room consumption bottle"...can discretely carry a drink out om deck...have yet in 4 cruisesboth straight and Olivia, been asked however never was intoxicated or drawing attention to myself..
That is from an old Cruise Critic review...on all the HAL cruises we have taken...any alcohol purchased in the duty free shops ARE stored for you till the end of the cruise.But you can buy alcohol packages for "drinking in your stateroom" thru "Indulgences" online...a 1 liter bottle of Absolut will cost you $32.20 & that includes the 15% service charge.
Is that policy different for Olivia charters? I found this information on the HAL site:
Hard alcohol purchased on board in the duty free shops or in port will be collected, stored for safekeeping and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the voyage.
Colleen