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Need Great Ideas of clever things to bring


long2cruise
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I like to bring some unusual US currency. We stock up some two dollar bills, dollar coins, some older 50 cent coins. One of my fun cruise memeories is giving dollar coins as payment in the straw markets, I wish I had video of the reactions.

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One thing I do is keep a look out for specials on international calling cards I give these as gifts to my cabin steward and head waiter and assistant waiter . These people are very far from home and I hate to think that they spend their hard earned money just to call home I give it to them at the start of the cruise and hubby and I are well rewarded!!:D I also always take my own goodie bags of snacks I know that there is tons of stuff to eat but sometimes you just have to have a snickers bar!

 

Any ideas on where I can find these cheap international calling cards? I've looked online and really can't seem to find what I"m looking for.

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  • 1 month later...

I love this thread! Great ideas for things to bring. I love the candy idea and will probably use this in 10/2008 on our cruise.

 

Most of our vacations till now have been at Disney, and I have been doing the gifts from home for years. We are from Maine, and I try to find post cards showing the fall colors or winter scenes, and write my thank you's on them. I leave them with the housekeeping tip and sometimes include some other little Maine souvenier.

 

Thanks for sharing the ideas. I look forward to hearing more and more.

 

Carrie :)

Maine

aka sabba

aka clairefraser2002

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If you are going to be sending post cards take along address labels preprinted so all ya got to do is stick them on ...

 

This thread is fantastic. I am going on my third cruise in July so I'm still learning the whole cruise thing. I love the idea for the pre-printed labels. Why didn't I think of that before? I also really liked the idea of bringing candies and hometown souvenirs for the crew. On our last cruise we made a card for our room steward in the scrapbooking class and after she got it she came and gave us big hugs and she couldn't stop smiling. It is so true about how hard these people work and they make you feel so important. Man I am so ready to cruise again:)

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  • 2 months later...
I gave the recommended $$ tips and more PLUS I got "souviners" from our hometown!!!!

 

Post cards, key chains, a picture of our town from the sky, ect.!!! Our steward came to me an hugged me with tears in his eyes!!! I also added a simple handwritten thank you on a note card and he said he loved it...that no one has ever done that for him and that he loved seeing my home as his was so far away and would be so long untill he went back!!! Now that was a nice feeling....he did so well and so much for us that week and all I did was write thank you and give him a picture!!!!! It still gives me goose bumps thinking of his warm genuine hug!!!

 

Just a thought that worked for me!!!

 

You know how you now have to get to the airport HOURS in advance...the best place to buy souvenirs is your local airport and it helps to take-up that wait to get on the plane. We live in Oklahoma so it is somewhere they (all the wonderful help) would travel so it facinates them some of the great things our state has to offer.

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I just absolutely love all these ideas, particularly the one with the chocolate wrapped in dollar bills. I'm leaving 9/2/07 for Alaska and wondered if you ever had any problem with them melting in warm weather? Can I just pack them in my checked bag in a ziplock and they will be OK?

 

Thanks, Sue

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I know everyone tries to minimize their must haves & maximize their space, so travel size everything is wonderful!!! Free is also good, too. Found a website that is similar to this site that has a lot of websites for free samples from everything from toothpaste & shampoo/conditioners to face cream, etc. Be sure to go to the last page & work your way back. That's one more item to check off the list of "things to buy for our curise"!!! LOL!!!

 

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421384&page=24

 

Ann =)

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Great thread. I have started a new must haves list for our next cruise.

 

One of the best things we pack is space saver bags. You would be absolutely amazed how much room they save you! And at the end of the cruise, we pack all our laundry in them! So the laundry is sealed in airtight bags!:D

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Was at Bed Bath and Beyond and they had these really cute clips called "Boca Clips" in shape of colorful fish etc. They are used for clipping your towels to your chair - so we will use it to clip our bathing suits to the chairs on the balcony.

 

They are sooo cute!

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Don't forget the individually wrapped Shout Wipes, and the Tide-to-go pen.

 

I also take the over-the-door shoe rack, it's great! Got the idea here! No more objects rolling around inside the desk drawers! And make sure you get the clear vinyl or the canvas/mesh design, so you can see what is in each compartment.

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  • 4 months later...

On our recent cruise, someone gave us a magnetic clip - you can also get them in the souvenir shop on board any ship. We clipped the day's schedule, invitations, etc to it, and always knew where to find it. THere are plenty of kkmagnet friendly places in your stateroom to hang it.

 

And of course, the 'over the door shoe thingy' which we bought in Target - awesome!

 

We live in NYC, so it's very easy to get international phone cards. We give $10.00 cards to our room steward, the assistant steward, and the DR waiter and busboy. Their gratitude was overwhelming, and their service was wonderful. We also bought chocolates to add to our tips, I like the tootsie roll idea - won't melt if you take them off the ship.

 

We were going to some poor islands, we took boxes of crayons with us to give to children. You can get them in the 99 cent stores - 5 colors to a box - very cheap - we had some left at the end of the trip, and asked our guide on an excursion to give them to a school.

 

These folks work very hard, giving a little extra goes a long way.

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I forgot - if you want to print anybody's list on the board, just click on the triangle on the upper right of the post, and it will open up just the individual post. You can then do a simple cut & paste to a word document.

 

One of the other things I take is a miniature battery operated fan that I can stick in my bag, and use whenever the heat is brutal and there is no AC on an excursion.

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  • 1 month later...
I need some sugesstions on clever things to bring with me. I read somewhere to bring a shoe bag that hangs over the door to put in your sunglasses, tickets, chapstick, all those things you don't remember where you put them. Great Idea. Anyone else have really clever ideas? :rolleyes:

 

We always get a balcony room, and in the past, when we go ashore, we wanted to get a pic of our balcony....but which one is it?? So instead of counting, etc., I have taken a small windsock, and hung it out on the balcony (there is usually someplace to hang it from), and there you go!!!

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On many cruises we have been on I have observed the crew returning to the ship carrying their own "provisions". In Hawaii we saw several of them returning with laundry detergent. I had no idea they had to provide their own. I did hear later that they have to launder their own personnal clothes and uniforms etc. Since then I always take a small box of detergent and some dryer sheets and leave it at the end of the cruise with a note and an extra tip.

 

P.S. I love all the new tips I am learning.

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Boozebabe: that idea about the detergent is great! I'd never thought of that, but you are right, the crew does 'shop' for their own sundries, and they sure can use laundry stuff!

I used the over-the-door shoe/storage holder. Probably THE best organizer you can use in the cabin. There were four adults in the cabin on my last cruise, and that organizer held everything we needed in the bathroom Since it had 24 compartments, each person got '6'. There was NOTHING on the shelves in the bathroom. Keeps the area real neat and clean AND the cabin steward appreciates it!!!!

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We always get a balcony room, and in the past, when we go ashore, we wanted to get a pic of our balcony....but which one is it?? So instead of counting, etc., I have taken a small windsock, and hung it out on the balcony (there is usually someplace to hang it from), and there you go!!!

 

Great idea! I tied my scarf to the railing, but it was white so we had a hard time finding it. We finally were able to spot it when we were in Honolulu. I'll bring a wind sock for our next cruise.

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One thing I found to be most handy when going ashore for excursions in any place warm is a camelback back pack. Not only can you carry your camera, sun screen, etc, but you also get 2 liters of water. We went on a hike in Grenada a few years back and it was a life saver. We were the only ones with water (well other than the small bottle provided, which we did not have to carry) We bring a small water bottle with us on the ship and use it the refill it from the sink (or you can use bottled water from the ship if you prefer, but $$$$) This also prevents you from having to drink the local water

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Ziplocs make easy packing, and give your suitcase more space if you fold clothes inside the bags and store them. Also makes it easier to bring sand and shells home (as we always do). Bring some bags of all sizes, you know what you're bringing on the cruise, but you might bring a lot more home.

 

We bring two copies of our most recent family picture so when we tip our table waiter and room steward at the end of the cruise, we give them our picture with a gift and the tip to remember us. :-)

 

I bring a journal to write in day to day about the things I did and places I went...as well as have the new friends put their information in it at the end of the cruise so we can continue the friendship after the vacation. Great reminder to look back on years later about all the good memories.

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I take disposalable underwear. My wife thought I was nuts. Our next cruise is in 65 days and she asked my to get her some . Greatest invention since duct tape. Now that is clever.

I don't need clocks,clothes pins,DVD players,tape,shoe racks,fishing line,and least of all a special bag for my underwear. Don't laugh till you tried them.

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