Cruise Mementos

[ryansmemom]

On my our first cruise, Chimera and I decided we wanted to start a collection of something that would help us remember our cruises. We decided to purchase a Lladro figurine for each cruise we took. We now have quite a large collection. We used to buy them on board when HAL sold them in the shop. Now we need to find a shop on shore. They are not directly cruise related but for us they commemorate our cruises.

I was wondering. Is there anything that you purchase on your cruise, as a memento? A collectable of sorts that commemorates each cruise for you.

Linda :)

[jhannah]

The DW always tries to find a quality Christmas ornament with a connection to our cruise.

[bravemom]

mine takes up lots of space-but since we have'nt done that many cruises we're o.k. for the time being-we've always purchased a poster of the ship at the time the captain is available to autograph items-we have our disney's hanging up in the great room. i have a friend who has a wide variety of cruise ship logo socks-in fact any one of her friends who is traveling via cruise ship knows well in advance what to bring home to her. i also tend to keep small items to include with our photos in the photo albums (paper bar coasters with the ship on them, any souvineer menus, kid's daily activity schedules...).

[Sage]

I always like a local craft item, such as our painted feather from Costa Rica, and DH always buys me a piece of jewelry.

[gizmo]

I collect refrigerator magnets with the name of each port, wooden type crafts, and jewelry.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

I purchase a piece of Swarvski crystal each time we take a cruise. Have a huge collection now.

Husband colletcs a Christmas ornament from each different port - have so many now that one tree is dedicated to our travels.

:)

[iluvcruzin]

Cruise ship magnets. Both the picture ones and the Medallon's.

[CruisinNana]

When I first began cruising, I purchased a magnet from each port as well as one with the ship's name. I continued that and then began collecting Swarvski crystal representing each trip. In fact, when I leave DH at home and go with the girls, we all purchase the same piece of crystal. :)

Then, several years ago, I began purchasing a piece of art....usually from the art auction, but sometimes we find something in a shop in the different places.

I tried to think which memento I liked best but could not come up with an answer. I LOVE them all because they are wonderful reminders of some of the best memories of my life. :D

[saltydog28]

For myself I liked to get a pin or an unset stone. But then I became a grandmother.
She'll be a year in Aug. I've been on two cruises since then and she has two Hummels.
Pat.

[bobpatj]

I can't seem to resist the "Gold by the Inch" table and get a bracelet on each cruise.

[JimVrhovac]

Ruth gets a Teddybear on each of the ships and we get the front desk to make us a nametag with the ships name the date and the specific name of the bear.

Lately we have been naming them after our favority crewmember on the cruise.

We get some interesting looks from the front desk when we ask for a nametag.

No comments on what it is like going to bed at night and removing a bunch of teddybears....

[sail7seas]

That's great, Jim. What Fun!!

I collect bookmarks. The ships used to sell beautiful leather ones with the ships names....long gone from the stores since the new concessionaires took over. I have a huge collection from all of our travels and am so happy on our very first trip to Europe some 25 years ago, I started collecting them and have been very faithful about getting them in all the ports we visit.....all the major sightseeing venues we tour.

[carmzav]

We collect refrigerator magnets from every vacation, and just about everywhere else we go for entertainment!

[chimera]

Lladros, as Ryansmemom indicated above, only because HAL was a bit upset over what I wanted to take home: room stewards, waiters, the concierge........ :)

[gizmo]

Ruth gets a Teddybear on each of the ships and we get the front desk to make us a nametag with the ships name the date and the specific name of the bear.

Lately we have been naming them after our favority crewmember on the cruise.

We get some interesting looks from the front desk when we ask for a nametag.

No comments on what it is like going to bed at night and removing a bunch of teddybears....
Jim,
I have a couple of bears too. Which one is Ruth's favorite? Mine is one from the Veendam, with the blue and white jacket and hat and a pin that says Veendam.

[Sage]

Ryansmemom,

Thank you for starting this topic. I have enjoyed reading what everyone collects, and I some of them sound appealing. Also what a wonderful picture of you and Ryan and Emily. :D

[JimVrhovac]

Actually her favorite is the snow dogs from alaska.

I just wie that HAL would get a little more variety in their selection

Jim

[Roadwork]

My wife collects Lladro and jewelry. I collect the bills then pay them.

[JimVrhovac]

That is the fate of the male of the species. I KNOW !!!!!!!!!!!!

[ekerr19]

For those collecting crystal & Lladro, the Crystal Shoppe in St. Thomas has a great selection - and very good prices. We still get their newsletter... and try and stop in when we shop in St. Thomas.

My 11-yr. old daughter collects sand, shells and water from various ports... we bring them all back and make a beach in a bottle - if we use a container we can seal, the water does not evaporate, and we add shells and sand... it is so pretty to sit at my desk and look at my HMC "beach" right here in my office...

We store a bit water of water in a few super heavy-duty ziplock bags and then my daughter packs them inside her tennis shoes in the suitcase... we've never had an accident yet!

[the2ofus]

I started to collect Lladro's but that got a bit steep so I switched to small porcelain collectible pieces or 8 x10 prints of some of our favorite ports. It is so nice to come upon these items during a day and be reminded of a special cruise moment.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

:)

I purchase a piece of Swarvski crystal each time we take a cruise. Have a huge collection now.


:)


We too collect Swarovski but mostly the small Daniel Swarovski pieces like the new fish or the birds. These are items that are not found that often on eBay and we can usually get them cheaper on cruises or the cruise ship. Otherwise most of the Silver Line Swarovski we can get for less on eBay. In Ketchikan we found a Collectible store that had a Swarovski Disc paperweight that said Alaska we were excited about that.

ekerr19, we also get the newsletter from the shop in St Thomas. When we were there last year we did buy a few Swarovski pieces unfortuately I have not found any of these places to sell the Swarovski Annuals any cheaper than the US.

The other thing we started to collect of interest is on the Vista Class Ships. In the Atrium they have a Waterford Crystal item hanging. They make a small replica piece of Waterford of that item that has stamped into the crystal both the Waterford logo and HAL's logo. We have the Zuirderdam Seahorse and the Globe from the Oosterdam. We are looking forward to going on the Westerdam in March and you can bet we will be booking a cruise on the new Noordam to collect whatever Waterford piece they will have for their atrium.;)

[gizmo]

Actually her favorite is the snow dogs from alaska.

I just wie that HAL would get a little more variety in their selection

Jim
Lately the bears have all been the same. It seems they have not changed venders for awhile. :D

[bjdamascus]

My husband and I, like a number of others have posted, collect refrigerator magnets from ALL of our travels - whether it is a cruise or not. Actually, we've only been on two cruises, but we have traveled by train (Amtrak) quite a bit. Our refrigerator became so covered with magnets (over 200 of them!) that we ended up buying metal sheets, painting and framing them, and displaying our magnets on them in our family room. We have a huge white wall in there which desperately needed SOMETHING - so this is PERFECT!

I also scrapbook, so I've scanned all of the magnets and use the pictures as borders/embellishments in our scrapbooks.

Beth D