we had more than our share of rum and didn’t get checked, we never have our luggage checked in Miami.

ralphy57 – You were lucky. I go through customs in Miami about 10 times a year and they send me through the inspection line at least 2 out of those 10 times. All it takes is the plane’s manifest count to be off or any number of things that will cause all the passengers to have to go through the inspection line. When you do, they will go through everything you have and if you get caught with “more than your share” of anything, you will be detained and fined. It’s not worth the risk to save a few dollars on a few bottles of rum, or anything else for that matter. Always try to stay within customs allowances and declare anything in excess.

It’s worth noting that you can bring back an unlimited amount of locally produced products from the Caribbean, such as Blackbeard’s rum cakes, which are the only rum cakes produced in Cayman. ?

I grabbed this from the US Customs site it was from this past spring so not sure if it is still accurate:

One change will put more money in your pocket and give you more to spend. The $600 exemption that applied to travelers returning directly from any one of the 30 Caribbean Basin or Andean countries has been eliminated?the $800 exemption now applies to all countries except U.S. insular possession (U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam).

You might also find these links helpful

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/publications/travel/knowbeforeyougo.ctt/knowbeforeyougo.pdf

It’s a pretty extensive document and lets you know what you can and can not bring back into the US.

Cindy

Joe:

I knew you would find a more direct and clearer version, I muddled along reading the “official one” and thought that by the time someone got through it they would give up trying to bring anything back which would be a shame because some rum cake is always nice to take back with you!

Thanks for finding the clearer version! Now I know what to tell my family when they come visit!

Cind

We stay in a condo with a fuill kitchen but my wife does not want to cook, ( cant blame her it is vacation afterall ) My question is we usually cook lasagana and other casseroles etc freeze them and then take them. Can we still take cooked casseroles with us?

I want to bring some food from home to have in the Condo. Does anyone know of any restrictions? Is there a specific site that says what is allowed in and what isn’t? Thanks!

Thanks Shelly. We shouldn’t have any problems with what we want to bring which is more like snacky stuff.

chick-can hardly believe that. I’ve said I had cookies and candies and have never been questioned further. I thought that they didn’t have you pay duty unless you had more than you could use in the time there, or maybe if you had a ton of meat. Friends of ours take a cooler full of meat and have never had to pay in 35 years!

Shelly ?

? Ok, I’m getting confused, (which don’t take much :confused: ) If I bring with me, some snacks, crackers, chips, etc…..maybe some spices for cooking, do I need receipts for all this?? Also, can I buy duty free alcohol at airport before we go over to hotel?? I do have reciepts for my camera and dvd player? I Just want to be safe and have the right things for customs? Any help would be great on this?? I’m so excited to visit the Caymans, this will be our first time there!! :palm: