Fun Question - Do you.....

[JanAndJeremy]

Do you collect any one single thing from every port you visit?

My husband and I collect Christmas Ornaments from each place we travel to. We don't have room in our home to put large items on display from all of our travels and this way we get to take them out each year, remember where and when we got a particular ornament, display it for a month or so and then do it all over again next year.

Just wondering if anyone else has anything that they MUST by when traveling.

:)

Jan

[jhannah]

I'm not a collector, but my DW is. She likes Christmas ornaments and woven baskets. While she won't get one from every port, she will try to find one that's representative of the overall itinerary. And, of course, we have to get a general souvenir somewhere along the way for ourselves and one for each of the grandchildren.

[jstducky]

i love collecting shot glasses from everywhere i go.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We too almost always buy something from each port like nice golf shirts. I collect Swarovski Crystal so I always buy an item from each cruise plus I can usually buy them for less and no tax.;)

[sail7seas]

I collect Bookmarks from every place we visit. My collection is quite large now and I have bookmarks made from just about every conceivable material you can think of. They pack small and are easy to bring home :)

[Paticakes]

I always get a charm for my bracelet and a Christmas Ornament. Hope to eventually have enough travel ornaments for a second Christmas tree.

[anniecat]

i too collect a christmas ornament from each trip...often not something intended to be an ornament, a shell with a hole for hanging, a funky keyfob (then i remove the fob...or is it the key part?) or a small sculpture that could hang.
we also try to get either a silly, tacky souvenir or a representative building from the area...we've got a Roman coliseum, the Matterhorn, the Empire State bldg, a very strange carved lady on a shell from hawaii...all small, less than 2 inches high...and displayed in an increasingly crowded glass case. nice to recall those trips each day!
I like the idea of bookmarks...now those are easy to pack!

first cruise...Amsterdam 8-8-04

[Mrs B]

Christmas ornaments of course - and our son collects the hand carved walking sticks!

[ore-ee-gun]

I always buy postcards - inexpensive, lightweight, unbreakable, and looking at them takes me right back to that place.....

[like2cruise]

Good ole shot glasses from every ship and port!!

[Sailure]

I like to pick up a CD from every port featuring a local band.

[Peggy Sue]

great thread!

We've always picked up postcards from every port, or vacation destination. Now with digital cameras, we can confirm we have a good picture ..so a postcard isn't as important as it was in the past.

We too collect swarovski crystal and have purchased some nice pieces on vacation. Sometimes we can't find a swarovski piece that matches the vacation..so we look for other crystal..found a crystal slot machine when we visited las vegas. From Hawaii we brough home a crystal orchid. A crystal fish from Bermuda. etc., etc.,

Interesting to read what we all collect! Never would have thought about a book mark..I like that idea!

[Ziggy7]

I like to collect key rings! :)

[jasl]

Interesting question and answers. I too collect Christmas Ornaments, worst thing is we often cruise over the Holidays so I don't do much decorating.
However, there will come a time when we'll be home for Christmas and I then get to re-live the memories of those lovely ports and countries we visited.
For the past few years, I have started to collect books of the areas we have been and it is another way to review the trips. CD's are also a nice addition to our collection.

[Jemima]

We try to buy a magnet, a deck of cards, and one postcard in each port. The postcards provide the port labels in our travel scrapbooks.

[RevNeal]

I'm not much for collecting various items from ports ... unless it's photographs that I've taken!!! :D

I DO have a collection of coffee mugs with the name of every ship I've cruised on, along with a few other HAL brand items.

[jazzsea]

Oh, it started thirty years ago with Christmas tree ornaments. Our tree is a travelog and joy to decorate. I also buy a silver charm from every new city or country that I visit. My latest are a little lochness monster from Inverness, Scotland and a tiny whisky bottle from Kirkwall, Orney Islands (Highland Park distillery).

We still buy postcards to add to our photos and now buy t-shirts for our two grandchildren.

Our collection of 'dam coffee cups grows larger every year. I'm having my coffee from the cobalt blue and gold trim Oosterdam mug, right now.

I also scour antique shops for Cunard Line 'cube' tea service items. These items are tough to find (except on eBay) but a real triumph when located.

I love the idea of bookmarks and will look for them in the future.

What a fun thread. Thanks for starting it.

[Sage]

I like to collect little hand made boxes and postcards. I will also pick up a Christmas ornament of the ship we are sailing on if they offer one.

[thulewx]

I usually only collect memories for myself, but I got a whole bunch of stuff from the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary 2. I do always buy a demi-tasse spoon from each port and ship, for my sister - she has way too many now... and has to explain to visitors that she's never been to any of the places on the spoons. :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

We collect Christmas ornaments from all over the world.

Also collect Swarvorski Crystal for ourselves and our neighbors.

:)

[iluvcruzin]

I collect cruiseship magnets from every ship I've sailed (both the picture and medallion ones). Also magnets from each location we visited either by sea or land. I pick up post cards from each port to use as "intro's" in my photo albumn. I have to admit though.. I started to cheat and scan postcards and reused them if I've been there before.

[LoveLifeAtSea]

I have been collecting shot glasses since I first started traveling. I also have a few Christmas ornaments as well, but have not been as faithful in this collection. However, I have found that the shot glasses take up so much room and I was thinking of giving it up. Now, thanks to this thread I have new ideas. I love the idea of bookmarks, postcards and key chains. I have been faithful in keeping a scrapbook of each and every travel, but that too is growing out of control.

Another thing that I started quite a few years ago is a special address book. (This is separate from the one I keep for family and local friends, etc.) In this book, on the right side I maintain my travel info, such as airlines, favorite hotels, cruiselines, travel agent, etc. Here, along with the phone numbers, I have handy the other important info, such as my Mariners Number, my Continental OnePass number, same for other airlines, etc.

Then on the left side, I keep all the information that I have received from new found friends from my travels (address, phone, email), with a notation of when and where I met them .... such as John & Jane Doe, HAL Zuiderdam, January 2003. It's interesting to periodically go through the book and remember those that I have lost touch with but have enjoyed knowing.

[Vicar]

I collect matchbooks from Restaurants, bars , clubs , businesses, etc.

I always have friends who travel pick them up for me too, so I have a rather large collection , but they are small so they really don't take up that much space.

[Orcrone]

I haven't done this. But reading this thread I think it would be a great idea. We have a couple of souvineer glasses from our cruise last year. They're only cheap plastic, but they're great to take out to the pool. I also have a couple from the Spirit of Norfolk, which is a local dinner/dance ship. Maybe we'll just have to make that our collection from each cruise.

I know it's been said before, but great thread. It's nice seeing a thread that generates interest and is non-controversial.:)

[LoveLifeAtSea]

I know it's been said before, but great thread. It's nice seeing a thread that generates interest and is non-controversial.I totally agree Orcrone!

[theduffys]

It's magnets for us but, since the refrigerator may fall forward at any moment from the weight, I think I may switch to the bookmark idea . That sounds like a fantastic idea.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I forgot to mention one important item we started collecting from HAL. On the Vista class ships they have the Waterford Crystal relicas of thier Atrium. We have so far Collected the Seahorse from the Zuirderdam and the Globe from the Oosterdam. We are looking forward to getting the Sailing Ship on the Westerdam and we can't wait to see what it will be for the new Noordam. The Waterford Crystal pieces are stamped with both the Waterford Logo and HAL's logo into the crystal. We are so far displaying them in one of our Swarovski cabinets and my Swarovski pieces have not complained or kicked them out;)

[Debi_D]

My sister and I always stop at a beach and collect either beach glass or shells for vase's around the house. It also gives me time to reflect on the time I am spending with my sister and how lucky that I am to be standing there on that beach.

When I get home and I need a pick me up all I have to do is look at the vase's and the memories come flooding back and it makes me smile and reminds me that soon I will be on another cruise....

We are all pretty lucky to be able to afford that luxury....

Debi

[Keith Rita]

We collect refrigerator magnets from each port and any new cities we visit. We have two fridges covered and the inside of our front metal door is Caribbean only. :cool: :cool:

[ekerr19]

My daughter (11-yrs) brings home sand, shells and a few times, she's been known to pack a zip-lock bag (x2) with a bit of beach water! She puts everything into an airtight decorative glass container when we get home and she has a "beach in a bottle".

On my desk at work I have a glass container from HMC, complete with beach water; and on my bookcase, the beach from Nicaragua... I can post away and dream about the next beach!

She packs the ziplock bags in her tennies... we've never had an accident yet!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Whenever I can, and always in the Caribbean islands, I buy the little colorful trucks, station wagons or whatever they are. Often they have the name of the island on them and they're painted bright colors. They have little bananas and fruits on the roof, sometimes there are people hanging out the back. They are so cute and a wonderful remembrance of a happy cruise.

[debblue]

i collect thimbles from where ever i go i have an extensive collection but just keep adding to it, also jewerly you can nver hae enough of that!!!!!;)

[gwilli]

Hi,

We collect different rums and liquors from the islands. We try to get the island brands - not seen in our area. Sometimes we are lucky enough to find "local" rums - those not sold in stores - but in the little stands. On our last cruise we got some cinnamon rum in Dominica - yum!! When we finish our scrapbook from our trip, we invite friends over to share what we have found! It's always a lot of fun!

We also collect (for our daughters) shot glasses and thimbles.

Happy sailing........