It's a huge pain in the ass. Even the agents don't know, I got stopped transiting through the airport from Nicaragua -> Houston -> Calgary and they started to claim I couldn't have more than 50 cigars as a visitor.
Going to the Caribbean
- Thread starter chilehed
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you would be better off waiting till you get home and put in a order. cause the prices are comparable to 20-30% higher. just came back from the Philippines in oct. and i came back with 50+ cigars with no problem. they still wanted to know i didn't have any cubans because obuma hadn't changed the rules yet
Sure, but as I said this trip was as much about the experience as the price. Was on a cruise, got to hang out a bit at the LCDH, talk with some folks, walk the streets of St. Kitts with a (hopefully) good stick... now that I know that I like the Partagas best (at least, so far) I can be about the business of where to get them for the least cost.
Visited the Anglican and Catholic churches while I was there, and glad I did. I thought the Catholic was prettier (and I'm Catholic so I went in to speak with the priest for a few minutes, it was great). The Anglican has a great old organ and woodwork, and you can climb a narrow spiral staircase and a series of ladders up to the top of the bell tower for an excellent view of the city. The 200-odd-year-old clockwork is still working... very cool.
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I just got back from another trip, originally planned for St. Maarten but diverted to Cozumel for obvious reasons. Continued prayers for those suffering in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes.
Cozumel ended up being a bit of an adventure. After the wife-ordered excursion we got back to the pier with 90 minutes until all-aboard and I figured I'd walk the few blocks that I remembered it being. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I was at a different pier, 3 miles away at Av Claudio Canto! As I left the cruise terminal I asked the guard how far it was, and he indicated it was indeed just five or six blocks... then it turned into a growing series of "es una caminata de 20 minutos" and "si, si, son solo algunas calles mas". I only had $20 cash and didn't want to flag a taxi without knowing what a legitimate fare would be, so I ended up jogging the entire way there. Nice place, but the sticks were REALLY expensive, nearly double of what they were in St. Kitts. Part of me wishes I'd just left without any but I was in too deep by that time so I got a 10er of Partagas Serie D No 4 for $200. Cab fare back was only 8 bucks, and the whole trip took about 70 minutes. At that price I probably might as well just drive over to Canada and buy them there.
And yeah, every time I turned around someone was trying to sell me fakes, most especially when we were in Casa Maya. It ended up being funny:
"Hey, you want some authentic Cuban cigars?"
"You don't HAVE any authentic Cuban cigars, every one here's a fake"
Steps back, throws up his hands - "Well, sure but, c'mon, if you want the REAL THING you have to pay a premium!"
So obviously, you need to ask for not merely authentic Cuban cigars, but rather REAL authentic Cuban cigars.
I did end up with a good bottle of similarly authentic Mexican vanilla. I'm wondering what to do with it - poison some sheep, maybe? Give it to a friend to use if his coumarin prescription runs out? It does smell pretty good, not exactly like REAL authentic vanilla but I now understand why tonka bean is used in desserts. I have a friend in the molecular biology department at the University of Michigan, maybe I can talk him into putting it through a mass spectrometer to find out how poisonous it is.
Anyway, I have some good sticks, payed WAAAAY too much but it's (I think) a good story and I can fulfill promises I made to bring some back.
Any thoughts about Chedraui? They have that little humidor by the wine that has mostly Montecristos.