Free stuff on board??

I have read somewhere that there are a whole bunch of different things available for the asking on board - Could someone give me some tips?! I know that you can get playing cards up at the Pursurs Desk...What else?! I love little freebies!!

They didn't have any playing cards at the pursors desk on our Fantasy cruise. The only freebies were the items in the amenities basket in the bathroom. But I had a great time anyway. Oh yeah, there was tylenol and something else in the infirmary area.

Once on the Norway, I was kind of wandering I-don't-remember-where and came across a supply of free condoms intended for crew use.

on the QE2 you can get the usual postcards and stationary items for the asking, and my room stewardess on the last QE2 cruise gave me enough shampoos etc to last a long time.

I recently got off a SeaDream Yacht Club - we had great pillow gifts every night...including pajamas to take home with us!

The price for a SeaDream is pricey to begin with but you don't pay for a thing. If you have the budget, give it a try.

There are free lanyards at the Casino on Carnival ships. They will punch your S&S card for you, also. There used to be free crossword and trivia puzzles in the library but you may have to ask for them. Go when the library is open and ask the attendant to get them for you. Go to the Captain's party just before the first formal night and they serve free appetizers and drinks. Also, the art auctions serve free champagne on the first and last auction of the cruise. You get a free piece of chocolate candy on your bed every night. They used to give free decks of cards in the casino but on our last cruise they had started selling them for $1 each. They are not fancy cards - no pics of ships on them - just plain ole playing cards that they use in the casino. Each has the date that they were used on them. That's about all I can think of for now.

I always clean out the desk of paper, pens envelopes. Especially if the pens have the cruise ships name on them.

Drink coasters are free and often have the ship name on them.

Just got off NCL Pearl and if you went to their talks on shopping in the ports you got a free gift of a gold coin with the ship on it. Then you also got entered into the drawings for free jewlry.

We also got a free charm at one of the shops we went to in port. We had a coupon for free sterling silver helicopter charm. Since I always get a charm for my charm bracelet and we had just done the excursion of a helicopter ride to the glaicer I was thrilled with that gift.

We just went in and handed the coupon. No sales pitch was given just handed the charm and we left.

Joanne

Oh ya, when we were in Victoria BC we took one of those bikes where the guy gives you a ride on the back in little seats and when we got off he gave us a free Victoria BC pin. We are putting it in our scrapbook.

I recently got off a SeaDream Yacht Club - we had great pillow gifts every night...including pajamas to take home with us!

 

The price for a SeaDream is pricey to begin with but you don't pay for a thing. If you have the budget, give it a try.

You pre-paid for every single "free" thing you took -or didn't take.

Nothing is free.

You paid for it all -in full- before you even set foot on the ship! :)

It's all factored-in to the running cost of your cruise..whether you take it or use it -or not. ;)

.

If I remember correctly (dunno if you have to be DVC members or not), we got free lanyards and sign and sail card holders when we boarded Disney Wonder. Also included in it were two pins, one for trading, the other to keep.

Carnival has great writing pens- very thick with the carnival logo- I always bring one back from our cabin at the end of the cruise!

Princess has stick pens (not as nice as Carnival's) with the logo. Princess also gives away lots of gift-shop goodies for prizes for Trivia & contests (I got several tote-bags, key chains & magnets!)

supply of free condoms intended for crew use.

lots of down time I suppose:rolleyes:

The cruise lines have really cut back on freebies, they don't upgrade unless you pay. Midnight buffets, ships pins, mints on the pillow and other old goodies have vanished. They sell playing card for a dollar on some ships in the casino - if they have some to retire. This is announced in a very small spot in the page for activities on board and they sell out quickly.

My last cruise didn't even have the ship's pin for the VIP cruisers. I would have bought one in their gift shop if they'd sell them.

But after checking on vacations that a flight is required it's the most ecconomical way to vacation and the cruise lines know this. Looking at what they provide - hauling us and all the stuff we haul on board to foreign countries, food, hotel and entertainment - I don't know how they do it.

Ya got to love 'em!

I have read somewhere that there are a whole bunch of different things available for the asking on board - Could someone give me some tips?! I know that you can get playing cards up at the Pursurs Desk...What else?! I love little freebies!!

If you attend the meet and mingle on Celebrity, they give you a connections pin. In CC class, we also received a nice tote bag and a leather room key holder.

I certainly hope they haven't done away with the pin for Liberty. I began collecting them with the first cruise. I will still manage to enjoy myself somehow though. :D

lots of down time I suppose:rolleyes:

Shouldn't that be UP time hehehe:D:D:eek:

Shouldn't that be UP time hehehe:D:D:eek:

Maybe both up and down.

Since I posted 5 years ago, some changes have been made at Carnival. The Captain's party now sells drinks at a $1 discount. They are no longer free. We did get free drinks at the Past Guest party. We still get our free chocolate on our pillow each night. The past guest pins are still free but only to past guests. First-timers have to purchase them in them if they want them.

Ten years or more ago I was part of a big group on a Princess cruise, and we had decided that sometime post-cruise we would have a reunion party back home. While on board I got the idea to gather some "Princess" stuff to use at the party. Well I'm sure that I was by far not the first person ever to have this idea, so I was very pleasantly surprised at the responses I got when I began asking our friends in the crew if they could help out with some "donations". A favorite bartender gave use an entire package of Princess logo cocktail napkins AND an entire box of books of Princess matches. Our room steward helped us out with extra soaps, shampoos, lotions and assorted other toiletry items - we had a nice toiletry basket at the party and everyone could help themselves. She also got us extra chocolates - not a whole pile all at once, but a few extras every day which we saved and took home. Someone at the casino gave us some decks of cards. A favorite bar waiter gave us a bunch of his drink order forms so we could "order drinks" at the party. We got swizzle sticks, pens, "No Smoking" signs, bar menus, you name it...it seemed like everyone we asked was into the idea of our "Princess Party" and obtained some item for us to take home. It was great fun at the party when the guests (many of whom had no idea we had done all this while still aboard) saw all of our Princess stuff. We all felt like we were back on the ship!

Cathy :)

It has been a couple of years since we received any past guest pins. Free decks of cards are gone. You can purchase them for $7 in the souvenir shop on board. Or you can buy used decks from the casino for $1. We use to get free post cards with a picture of the ship on them. I started to save ship magnets. They completely changed the style of the magnets. We get something from each ship with the ship name on it. We are thinking of the wall map with all of the locations we have sailed to and from. Not much free stuff anymore. But still like to cruise. :)

Wow...seeing all this reminded me of how much USED to be free. We are sailing in July with a first-timer and I'll be carrying some Andes candies and ask the steward to put them on the pillows at night. I'm now buying the freebies and taking them on the cruise :(...but I still love cruising.

Hi I been on a few cruises. My first cruise Veendam in 1976. They let you have the menu's. I have these in my photo album. I really love them. They are dated. I hope they are still doing this. I am not sure why I don't have them for other cruises I have taken. I was at late seating but if someone (asked)was at first they were put away or given to you the next night.

Mary

It has been a couple of years since we received any past guest pins. Free decks of cards are gone. You can purchase them for $7 in the souvenir shop on board. Or you can buy used decks from the casino for $1. We use to get free post cards with a picture of the ship on them. I started to save ship magnets. They completely changed the style of the magnets. We get something from each ship with the ship name on it. We are thinking of the wall map with all of the locations we have sailed to and from. Not much free stuff anymore. But still like to cruise. :)

I think it must vary from ship to ship and even by what is available. I was on the Carnival Conquest last June and we were able to get free cards (first day) and always had free chocolates on our beds. We didn't get past guest pins, tho.