Souvenir Collections

[westernmom]

Since we will be taking our first cruise of what I hope to be many, many more, I was wondering what specific cruise souvenir collections that everyone starts?

 

In the olden days, it used to be spoons when traveling....

 

What do you collect? Any specific reason?

[sdwrdt]

We take at least 1 family vacation and a girl scout vacation each year, so I'll tell you what I collect.

 

About 13 years ago, when we were leaving NY state, so doing all the touristy things we could while we were on the East Coast, I began collecting bells. They were different from spoons and I love their sound. Some trips this can be an adventure to even find a bell - or if I do something other than the plain "silver" with the glued-on emblem.

 

Then, I added t-shirts, sweatshirts to the collection to add to my current wardrobe.

 

The last thing I collect - which is my utmost favorite - are Christmas ornaments. It is just wonderful to bring them out each year and remember the places my family and I have traveled!

[Spikesgirl]

For me, it's tee shirts - I love to get a shirt from each port, sometimes on shore or in the ship's store (if necessary). DH is a foodie and he collects jams and jellies. Those are the 'must haves,' everything else is icing on the cake!

 

Happy Sails!

 

Charlie

[Cotton]

Many years ago, when I first started traveling, I started a collection of shot glasses/jiggers. My collection grew to over 100. I kept them on a shelf behind the bar in our rec room.

[seadancer]

we collect just about any type of glass.if you have something to drink at our house it will be in a cruise ship glass or a Walt Disney world glass. Seems to be a good conversation starter when new folks come over.

 

 

Seeeeuuuu

Jeff

[Cricket63]

I collect magnets and dolphins, my DH collects unusual liquor bottles with the liquor made in the island we're visiting, and the old shot glass.

[westernmom]

I'm starting to get some ideas....

 

My mother-in-law always collected bells so I used to buy them for her.

 

I was wondering about the "drink of the day" glasses on the ships. Is this something that people collect? Is there other ship memorabilia that others collect?

 

Magnets are a cute idea. They don't need to be dusted.....

 

I usually buy t-shirts every time I travel because the grandkids love them. I have thought about making a quilt out of my travel t-shirts!

[LizaMM]

I collect coffee mugs...

 

i am an avid coffee drinker and I love these!! They are displayed proudly in my cabinet and I drink from a mug each morning that corresponds to one of my cruises...I Love this!!

 

I buy coffee mugs in each port and also on the ship.

[KAS-Cruiser]

I have started collecting local crafts from the different ports ... pottery, baskets etc.

[hotshot99]

Our collection is SnowGlobes....

[cruzky]

I collect cherubs all the time. I always look for them whenever I go abroad. I also collect tee shirts to make into a quilt of my travels.

[planktonic1]

I collect my shipboard key cards and sometimes turn them into fridge magnets.

[smokester]

My DS (12) collects the carved wooded sticks from every island that we visit. Sometimes they will carve his name & the date in the stick for a special fee;) . He also likes to buy the "Rain " sticks. He probably has about 15 to 20 sticks, all very different & unique. As for us adults, we really don't collect anything.

[momthecruisedirector]

We've encouraged our sons to collect shot glasses - not to encourage drinking but because they don't take up a lot of space! They've each got quite a collection and at least they'll fit in a shoebox when they don't want to display them anymore.

 

I do a scrapbook of each trip, so my souveniers are photos that we've taken, shots of local plants, buildings, our adventures. If we got a map of the area or a brochure or menu from a restaurant I'll use that as a background to mount the photos on. I try to get a postcard of each place we visit - including the cruise ship postcard and incorporate that into the scrapbook too. I usually mail the postcard to our house with a little note of what we did that day as a reminder - and a nice surprise when the postcard arrives 6 weeks later.

[swissmiss]

We started about 5 cruises ago, to collect Christmas Ornaments, usually 1 from each Island we stop at. I also have bought shells, ie. starfish, tropical fish, birds etc.

Each year at Christmas, I bring them all out to decorate our special "travel tree" that we have in the rec room (which is decorated in nautical). I have some artificial ferns that I stick in, and have made a tree topper out of a Mexican sombrero. It is really filling in quite nicely, and I look forward every year to seeing where we have been.

[caribbean dreams]

I'm another shot glass collector, but i did get a beautiful carved frog in Barabdos last year, and i always have to get a Italian charm with the flag of each country i visit.

[Bug715]

My mom started a postcard collection years ago to use in her classroom. I have had a keychain collection since 4th grade (i'm in college) and last year my friend and I started collecting shot glasses(my aunt has a huge collection).

[PeterR717]

I have been collecting Lapel Pins for quite a few years now. They're usually less than $5 and almost every destination has at least one pin being sold that represents that place. On top of that it's even smaller than a shot glass (Although I feed my sister's shot glass collection when I travel) I probably have about 80 pins and they are on a small corkboard about the size of a hard cover book.

 

Looking at them brings back stories of almost every one (since some are from other people's vacations - I even have a few from St. Maarten and one from the Majesty of the Seas even though I've never been!)

[westernmom]

Everyone has such great ideas! I had forgotten about collecting lapel pins! My dd spent a year traveling as a rodeo queen and she was given so many pins she had to put them on her travel bag. She made a wall-hanging out of them. She always carried a bunch of "Idaho Spud" pins to give out also. It was fun conversation starter for her.

 

I think I will take some to give to my fellow cruisers and will start my own collection as well!

[sweetpea-2]

I collect jewelry :D ....DH collects hat pins for his cap and gets them in the gift shop on the ship and in port for different places and he only collects the ones he likes of course.....he's soon going to either get a larger cap or start another one !!!

[GRMonLI]

I collect a thimble from each place I travel to and keep them in a printers box on the wall.

 

My poor partner spent hours and went to at least 8 stores when we were in Alaska last year looking for one for me from Juneau!

[barbarah33]

I used to collect glasses and/or shot glasses from every cruise and every port. My collection grew to over 200 and I had to stop - they were taking over my home. I collect hippos anyway so if I see a hippo I will get it.

The best thing to collect while on any vacation: MEMORIES!!

[moknits]

I'm not much of a collector, I just buy what I like, but my mother collects Christmas ornaments and I think it's a great idea. It's so nice to unpack that box at Christmas time, and hang the ornaments together while saying, "Oh, this sea turtle! Remember the sea turtles in Grand Cayman?" :D

[GRMonLI]

ornaments too!

 

Well my partner and I have collected one Christmas ornament a year that has the date on it since we have been together. (We started in 1997)

 

The more we travel, the more fun it is to try and find one from our big trip that year that has the place and a date on it!!!

 

 

I was going crazy in 2001 returning from our trip to Paris with this really delicate handpainted ornament.

 

 

I was surprised that we were able to find many ornaments in Alaska with the town and the date.

[viva01]

I call it collecting. :) I scrapbook all our vacations and in this scrapbook are photos, sand, shells, matchbooks, napkins, stir sticks, brochures, score cards, wrist bands, postcards, stamps, foriegn currency, key cards, daileys.........

 

....and I like to get a magnet from each place I travel to.;)