Bringing wine into South Africa

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
1

We are flying to South Africa and then going on a cruise. I had hoped to bring wine from home on the cruise. Has anyone had experience bringing wine into South Africa?
I was thinking about bringing a case. Thanks
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2

I’ll reach out to Michael O’Brien. He did this for a cruise recently. I’m pretty sure he brought a case with him.

3

try this site. limit 2 litre of wine / spirits per person

http://country.southafrica.net/country/us/en/travel_tips/entry/customs-enus

although I don’t know how strict enforcement is.

4

Good morning Joe. True to his word Joe, Joe Dulworth sent me an email this morning or I would not have seen your post for a few days.

The answer is, it depends. Our experiences are with Oceania, Regent, and Viking. All allow wine to be taken on board, not limits. Oceania charges a $25 corkage for opening wine in their restaurants. Regent and Viking do not charge corkage.

I have traveled with as much as two cases. I was on board the Oceania Insignia this past April/May with a man taking the 180 around the world cruise. He shipped 10 cases to the ship. We leave again in January and will be taking two cases on Regent for that trip.

Most cruise lines bury their alcohol policy somewhere in the FAQs. If you can’t find it, call them. If it is one of the three lines above, take what you want. You shouldn’t have any problem entering South Africa. At least we didn’t. I took a case with me on that cruise.

Bon voyage,

5

Thanks Michael,
Did you declare the wine or just go thru the green line.
If you did declare, we’re you charged a duty fee?
Thanks, Joe

6

Forgot to recommend that if you haven’t already registered and visited the Roll Call for your sailing on Cruise Critic, you should. There will be helpful information and people putting together small group shore excursions. They will almost always be less expensive and at least as comprehensive as what the cruise line offers.

Also, you can ask the how many bottles question on Cruise Critic on the cruise lines main thread. I always like to consult the been there done that crowd.

7

To tell the truth, I don’t remember. We usually declare if the form asks for it. They quickly passed us. Had the cruise ship bag tags on. Probably helped.

8

Thanks for the cruise critic tip. Also, having the cruise tags on is a great idea.
Thanks again to all who posted.