Do you have a cruise tradition?

[MrsT51608]

*we buy a shot glass from every ship

*take a picture with the safety ring (cant think of what theyre called right now) with ships name on it

*lose money in the quarter pushing game in the casino, haha

[hazeleyez3]

My husband has the traditions...as soon as we board he takes a ton of pictures throughout the ship. Thinking about it, I guess you could say my tradition is getting frustrated with him taking so many pictures (it seems that he takes 1 with every step)

 

In port he looks around for shot glasses and polo shirts.

 

 

pre-cruise:

i know i am on a cruise because for lunch we are eating honeystrung chicken. i don't even like it that much but it lets me know we are on a cruise!!!

 

I love that chicken. The problem is that I have only found it that 1st day.

[OHCruisinDad]

We've had an unofficial welcome aboard M&M party at the Sky or Pool Bar with many of our fellow CC'ers on our last several cruises. We'll start after lunch and relax with a few foo-foo cruise drinks for a couple of hours until muster drill. DW does the magnet collection thing. We also check out the dining table assignment and confirm our specialty restaurant reservations. And now that we are cruising on the Freedom and larger sized ships, we get DS signed up for the Flow-Rider. :)

[BecciBoo]

I have something organic from every beach we visit...(I know, another rule breaker) but I can't go home without a shell or bit of sea fan or sand dollar that has washed up on the beach. Never take one from a reef, only on the beach.

Then, I collect corks from all our wine bottles at dinner and elsewhere. I've been collecting for quite a while now, aiming for making either a serving tray or a couple of trivets out of them.

 

Oh and we do the life saver photo too along with one photo in a forbidden area of the ship~!

[walkerer]

My husband and I always buy a magnet and a Christmas ornament at each port. When we hang the ornaments at Christmas, it brings back a lot of memories for us!

[akcruz]

We do the ornament thing in our family. Do it for non cruise vacations as well. As someone else said as you are decorating the tree each year bring backs many memories!

[FrancescaH]

We started a tradition on our 4th cruise after we had our son. We always get a photo of my son and I in lifejackets during muster drill. And I always take a photo of my son and husband next to one of the life preservers that has the ship's name up on the deck above the pool. It's been fun to see our son's growth from baby to preschooler through those photos after 4 cruises.

 

Here are the ones of my guys..

 

 

[griffy]

(1) We head straight to the Windjammer..hungry or not, or cruise hasn't begun until we've eaten at the Windjammer.

(2) Photo in Life Jackets. We have photos that illustrate each stage of my Grandson growing up. On the first cruise (life jacket and tears at 4 years old) 3 couples decided not to have children while listening to him scream about the jacket. This year, he and his cousin will, for the first time, be in a different Muster Station because they will be on the other side of the ship.

(3) Sneak away in at least one port, to buy a special ornament for each of our households. We are a family of three households. We exchange our Cruise Ornaments every year at Thanksgiving.

(4) Frozen Thingy during "sail-away"......This year, the sail-away is once again late, so I know we will already have "sampled" the drink of the day many time. I've ordered 3 bottles of wine and chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the room....A NEW TRADITION!!!

[Gracie115]

No matter how bad we buy the "welcome aboard" picture....now we have so many that we can fill a book and have...they're fun to look at and reminisce...and for us, anyway, see how we have become fitter over the years....I'm actually 50 lbs less than was on 1st cruise!!

 

Also ALWAYS get a manicure the first day...only thing I pay for in the spa.

[ladytaekwondo]

DH and take pictures every night of the towel animals. We also travel with a plastic rubber bloody stump hand that we leave in the bed the first night for the cabin steward to find. We always return to find it propped up on the pillows waving to us with sunglasses on it or some sort of funny pose...LOL. We also usually leave a rubber snake protruding out of the toliet for him to find....ahh....cruising....how much fun!

[akcruz]

DH and take pictures every night of the towel animals. We also travel with a plastic rubber bloody stump hand that we leave in the bed the first night for the cabin steward to find. We always return to find it propped up on the pillows waving to us with sunglasses on it or some sort of funny pose...LOL. We also usually leave a rubber snake protruding out of the toliet for him to find....ahh....cruising....how much fun!

 

 

:eek::eek: I love it, would have never thought of something like this!!

 

On one cruise my DD and I went to the towel folding class and left our creations, that night we came back to find a herd of tiny elephants on the bed along side our 2 lopsided ones :D.

 

May need to see if we can fit something like this in our suitecase this year. Love it!

[niecyd]

DH and I go straight to the Windjammer to Welcome Aboard lunch, then check out our table number in MDR, make reservations with Portofinos and then explore each deck until our cabin is ready!:)

[oakley2414]

enjoy getting out by the pool asap with a nice bucket of cold ones.. Usually gets the beginning of the trip off to a great start.

[karena1]

Pedicure and new set of nails pre-cruise

Drink at the pool bar as soon as we board

Stake out my chair at the pool for the afternoon

 

 

Then we collect:

Magnet from every port

Sand from every beach - I am getting quite the collection!

DH gets a Royal Coffee Mug from every ship

I get a heavy Royal shot glass with the pewter symbol of each ship

 

 

Since we have been to many of the islands numerous times, for the most part we just chill on the beach.

[Teeara]

Pre-cruise:

 

Set countdown clock on my office desk showing how many days until my next cruise (677 days today!)

 

Two days before departure full leg waxing (ouch!) (and yes, BOTH legs...sheesh, some people ;))

 

Fly in day early, have a nice dinner and early to bed.

 

Boarding day:

 

Be at ship around 10:30 and wait in line. I don't care if I'm early, I'M ON VACATION! WOO HOOOOOO!!!!!

 

Be among first dozen onboard ship (after the wedding party people). WOOO HOOOOO!!!

 

Head straight for Windjammer, pick prime window seat and watch everyone else standing in line to board the ship (Mwuhahaha! I'm already onboard! WOOO HOOO!!!)

 

Go to cabin to find luggage there, unload carryons, grab camera and start roaming the ship taking pictures with NO PEOPLE in them. Also, give directions to people just boarding on how to get to Windjammer (if they look bewildered and totally discombobulated).

 

Return to cabin and unpack prior to muster drill.

 

Get a Bahama Mama for sailaway. WOO HOOO!!!!

 

During Cruise:

 

I always buy Christmas ornaments and magnets at each port and onboard ship. I also collect the ship replicas and like to have them on display at home near my computer.

 

Disembarkation Day:

 

Stay onboard ship as long as possible. Boo hoo! :(

 

Stay overnight and fly home the day after.

[nanfromatlanta]

As soon as we board, we head straight to the Windjammer for Honeystung Chicken. It is the only day on which it is served... yummmmm!! :D :D

[MellieInWI]

Thank you for sharing everyone. These are GREAT!!!!

 

I think we're going to have to steal a few of these and make them our own. :)

[Sky616]

We started a tradition on our 4th cruise after we had our son. We always get a photo of my son and I in lifejackets during muster drill. And I always take a photo of my son and husband next to one of the life preservers that has the ship's name up on the deck above the pool. It's been fun to see our son's growth from baby to preschooler through those photos after 4 cruises.

 

Here are the ones of my guys..

 

 

This is very nice. I think we'll start doing this with our son. You are on Freedom the week before us. Have a fabulous cruise.

[Gracie115]

ah...I forgot...we also take pictures of all the towel animals....

 

AND

 

I bring home one T-Shirt from each cruise....they are my gym workout clothes...helps keep me inspired for next cruise!!

[constantcruiser]

I do the Christmas ornament thing and have a travel tree, too. Now I can show this thread to DH and prove I'm not the only one who does this! Besides the ornaments, I also put pictures we've taken or postcards into little frames and tie them to the tree.

[vo922]

The wife and I have Lemon Drops at the highest bar on the ship.

After all the anticipation and hustle getting to the ship, boarding, etc, this signals the real start of our cruise vacation.

 

 

Dh bought me a charm bracelet and has bought me charms from every port, magnets, shot glasses and oh yeah BUBBLES to blow at sailaway:p:)

[petesweet]

No matter how bad we buy the "welcome aboard" picture....now we have so many that we can fill a book and have...they're fun to look at and reminisce...and for us, anyway, see how we have become fitter over the years....I'm actually 50 lbs less than was on 1st cruise!!

 

This is too special to pass over without comment. Congratulations to you!!!

[Gracie115]

petesweet-

thanks!

[tomko2]

After the HoneyStung Chicken and Carrot Salad, we go to Chops and/or Portofino to check our reservations and adjust if need be. Then it's on to the MDR to check table. Once we drop our bags in the cabin and check it out we head for the Mini-Golf.

 

We have an on-going tournament and play at least one game a day. Up until our cruise on the Navigator in March we pretty much took turns being the "Champion" however my DH managed to get a score of 22!:eek: So it is likely he will be our reigning champ for a long time. :(

 

Final tradition is a glass of draft beer right after our golf game; we don't care where just as long as it's draft beer.

Kathy:)

[cecelia0613]

DH and I always use the stairs and when going up it's always two at a time without holding the railing. Great exercise!

 

Use to buy Christmas ornaments but not anymore.

 

DH looks in every port for a new pair of sunglasses. What's up with that!

 

The only things we still do all the time are:

 

- buy the embarkation picture no matter how bad

- eat savory bites every night for dinner in the dining room.

 

Great Thread! I like the idea of the bloody hand and fake snake to leave in the cabin!:)