Cruising Journals

[JanetMarie]

Hi there ~ I have a journal specifically for cruising. I purchased it a few years ago at Barnes n' Noble ~ it's leatherbound with ships on the jacket. I only write in the journal while we cruise. It's nice to take it along and sit on our balcony as we sail the high seas, jotting down whatever comes to mind.

[LittleBit]

that's a really neat idea!
I've done journals for special trips or special short term jobs -I don't know why I never thought about it for my cruises

I always do up a cruise photo album/scrapbook with various info written down on scraps of paper (stuff like who our dinner companions were, the names of fun drinks I tried, fun things I heard), and I always include the daily ship activities and things like our door signs/decorations and if I have info on the places I visited (like maps, AAA travel guide, etc.)

I like the idea of maybe a slim journal I could add into the album...

[JanetMarie]

LittleBit:

The other thing that I do is, I take 7 ziploc baggies for each day of the cruise. Since I scrapbook, I mark the bags, and that way, my items are ready to go when I scrap.

[Precoria]

I do the same thing. I bought a beautiful Traveler's Journal at Barnes & Noble and every night before retiring on a cruise, I record the day's events. It's nice to look back and see what we did each day

[WhiteStar]

I write a letter to myself on the ships stationary everyday describing my daily events...what I saw, ate, did, who I met etc. I have a stack of unopened letters from 12 cruises. I plan to open them in order when I'm too old to travel and re-live my past adventures.

[LuvShak]

You are quite imaginative, sending yourself cruise letters, I love that. Sounds like something in an old move....
For past trips like Hawaii I did all my notes of trips, location names, restaurants, etc. in my PP (Palm Pilot), but I've decided that it would be good to go lo-tech on a cruise. When other's are reading, I can be noting the days events. I bought a journal at Super Target last week...it's a hard cover has purple parchment paper on it. I like the sounds of the one JanetMarie picked up at Barnes and Noble though, keeping with the ship theme. I might have to check out the local Borders, I know they also carry special ones there.

[OceanDreams]

Originally Posted by WhiteStar

I write a letter to myself on the ships stationary everyday describing my daily events...what I saw, ate, did, who I met etc. I have a stack of unopened letters from 12 cruises. I plan to open them in order when I'm too old to travel and re-live my past adventures.

What a great idea and maybe even put some photos with them.

OceanDreams

[Travelight]

Originally Posted by WhiteStar

I write a letter to myself on the ships stationary everyday describing my daily events...what I saw, ate, did, who I met etc. I have a stack of unopened letters from 12 cruises. I plan to open them in order when I'm too old to travel and re-live my past adventures.

Do all staterooms have special ships stationary? This is a great idea! thanks!

[cruisinbuddy]

Originally Posted by JanetMarie

LittleBit:

The other thing that I do is, I take 7 ziploc baggies for each day of the cruise. Since I scrapbook, I mark the bags, and that way, my items are ready to go when I scrap.

Excellent idea. I think I'll do the same, thanks.

[CruiseAdict218]

Originally Posted by LittleBit

that's a really neat idea!
I've done journals for special trips or special short term jobs -I don't know why I never thought about it for my cruises

I always do up a cruise photo album/scrapbook with various info written down on scraps of paper (stuff like who our dinner companions were, the names of fun drinks I tried, fun things I heard), and I always include the daily ship activities and things like our door signs/decorations and if I have info on the places I visited (like maps, AAA travel guide, etc.)

I like the idea of maybe a slim journal I could add into the album...

Thats a pretty kool thing you do, and i luv taking the decorations for memories[The kool luggage tags, Carnival's Pins and now im going with princess so ill get the Stamp :]

[mtchg]

early in the morning..drinking coffee.....sun coming up..

Mitch

[JanetMarie]

One of the most memorable things I did with my journal (one of my journals, that is), is to hang on the outside cabin door a scrapebooked construction paper with a cruise ship and folks snorkeling, etc. . . and then I had another piece of blue construction paper with a pen attached to a cord. I had a lot of fellow passengers "sign" the paper and I incorporated that into my journal . . . another fun thing to do and look back on. Happy sailing!

[Cruiser Forever]

I too keep a journal of my cruising experiences. I love it. It brings back lovely memories when I take it out to read and relive my cruises. Along with the photos they are priceless souvenirs of my cruises. Precious and great keepsakes.

[JanetMarie]

We just returned aboard the Princess Caribbean, and I took my journal with me! Yep, still have the same leather bound one with nautical decor on the cover. As I sat on our aft balcony sailing the high seas, it was interesting to flip back to previous cruises and read what I was thinking back then. . .

[MGilly]

I buy postcards in every port, and each evening, my DH and I sit out on our balcony and record on the postcards our interpretations of the events of the day. (It's fun to see how differently we each view same events!) Once we get home, I punch a hole in the corner of each postcard and then put a ring through all of them. We end up with a cruise journal with wonderful, professional "photographs" that we can look back on whenever we wish. We've done this on our last few cruises, and we even did it on our driving trip up north last summer (well, we didn't sit on a balcony to write!). It's become a tradition, and it's one we really enjoy.

[spedteach]

Originally Posted by MerrylG

I buy postcards in every port, and each evening, my DH and I sit out on our balcony and record on the postcards our interpretations of the events of the day. (It's fun to see how differently we each view same events!) Once we get home, I punch a hole in the corner of each postcard and then put a ring through all of them. We end up with a cruise journal with wonderful, professional "photographs" that we can look back on whenever we wish. We've done this on our last few cruises, and we even did it on our driving trip up north last summer (well, we didn't sit on a balcony to write!). It's become a tradition, and it's one we really enjoy.

What a neat idea to keep the kids busy during a road trip. I'm going to try this for this summer's vaccation.

[tumeroll]

On my first cruise this past April I kept a journal. It was great fun and got a lot of attention from fellow cruisers. Being an antique dealer, I always look for old journals and over the past several years have found a number of them including one from a family from Beacon Hill, Boston that was sailing to Europe the day after the Titanic sank. There were numerous references in the journal plus two newspapers with Titanic headlines. Very valuable.

So keep a journal and when you pass it on to your children tell them not to put it in the yard sale as there is a very strong market for such Memorabilia.

Have fun!!

[collectingcoke]

I love the idea of bags for each day. I am a packrat when it comes to the cruise memorabilia that I collect for my scrapbooks. I always keep a journal day by day but then lump all my goodies into one big envelope. It would be so much easier to sort and scrap by doing it day by day! Thanks for the tip.

[playingfetch]

Do cruiselines sell journals? I am thinking about keeping one on my upcoming cruise.

[JanetMarie]

Yes, I have seen journals on some ships, however, if you have access to a Barnes and Noble, they are the best place to find journals. There are literally tons to choose from! I found a great leather one there with an antiquated (sp) picture of a ship on the front!