Host/Hostess gift

[emmylou]

We are cruising Rhine River Christmas Markets with GCT in November.We are suppose to go to a home hosted lunch or cake and coffee.Have any of you fine people ever taken a gift for the Host /Hostess?What kind of gift did you give them and has anyone went to a house where there are also children?Anyone have any suggestions? Can really use some imput.First time riverboat cruising for us and we can really use the help.

Emmy

[Carhut]

Calendars, magnets, pictures from home, candy are some of the things I've seen.

[emmylou]

Thanks Carol

Have you heard if any of the hosted home tours have had children.We would like to get something special for them if there are as well as the host/hostess gift.

emmy

[june1]

I brought postcards from our state and a scarf I had knitted. Another couple brought candy but most didn't have any gift. Why not bring an American style Christmas ornament.

[Carhut]

I've been to 3 home hosted dinners and none had small children. There might be some, but I didn't come across them or hear of any.

[johnql]

I've given a book of panoramic photos of all different scenes from my hometown - NYC.

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

We are cruising Rhine River Christmas Markets with GCT in November.We are suppose to go to a home hosted lunch or cake and coffee.Have any of you fine people ever taken a gift for the Host /Hostess?What kind of gift did you give them and has anyone went to a house where there are also children?Anyone have any suggestions? Can really use some imput.First time riverboat cruising for us and we can really use the help.

Emmy

 

We have taken two GCT trips and one OAT trip.

 

We have taken post cards from our home town as a gift.

 

We have never seen children at any of the homes.

 

From what we saw, the Hosts were upper middle class.

 

Enjoy your trip :)

[johnql]

On my OAT trip to Thailand/Cambodia, one of the home-hosted dinners was hosted by a wonderful, gracious woman who had a son at home (about 5 years old). The boy played by himself during dinner. Our group had not been told in advance that there would be a child present. It had absolutely no adverse effect on the visit and no one felt that a gift (for the boy) was expected.

[emmylou]

You have all been very helpful and if there is any other advice you would like to share about your trips we certainly can use the your advice, such as what tours to be sure to take or which ones we could do something else.

We just found out form GCT our ship the Ravel is sold out for our trip.We were told that only a few cabins are available at other dates in Nov and Dec.is about the same.Needless to say we are very excited first timers to riverboat cruising:D

emmy

[Carhut]

I just remembered that last year I took our hostess a beaded bracelet that I made. One year I gave the hostesses a silver dollar with picture of Ike on it.

I'm sure money would always be a good gift.

[ChefPeg]

We are cruising Rhine River Christmas Markets with GCT in November.We are suppose to go to a home hosted lunch or cake and coffee.Have any of you fine people ever taken a gift for the Host /Hostess?What kind of gift did you give them and has anyone went to a house where there are also children?Anyone have any suggestions? Can really use some imput.First time riverboat cruising for us and we can really use the help.

Emmy

 

Hi there,

 

I was wonderfing; how did you know you were having a home hosted lunch? When were you informed?

Was it already part of the itinerary?

 

Peggy

[lobsterlover]

We have taken 2 river trips and a home hosted visit was always listed in the itinerary in the catalog. The first trip I gave the hostess a pin I had made and the last trip in Oct. I gave very pretty Hallmark paper napkins with autumn leaves that were very like our Adirondack Mts. in the fall, and postcards of our area. Then I stressed out wondering if the hostess would be insulted with paper napkins, only to find she set the table with paper napkins. One of our group was from Texas, and brought an ornament shaped as a cowboy boot. It seemed to be half brought a gift, and half didn't. I didn't hear of anyone giving cash. It was suggested in our pre-travel material to bring a gift. This Sept. I am going to China where we will again have a home hosted visit. What does someone take to someone in China........everything in our stores comes from China! Think it will be just postcards of our area. Any suggestions from those of you who have been to China?

 

L.L.

[ChefPeg]

What does someone take to someone in China........everything in our stores comes from China!

L.L.

LOL!!!

[emmylou]

Carole,

The bracelet sounds very pretty.

Chef Peg,

The home hosted visit in on our itinerary.I don't know if other tour companies have the home hosted visit or if it is only GCT riverboat cruises.Our first riverboat cruise so don't know what other companies are offering.

LL,

I will see if my daughter has any suggestions she lived in Thailand for a couple of years and has friends still in that area.To bad you can't take a Coney Island hotdog or a New York cheesecake and a eggcream chaser mmm good.:D

[land lover]

Just back from a Russian waterways trip and everyone in our group gave a hostess gift, no money........Many thought my idea was clever and easy to pack...I brought a deck of cards made in America that had scenes of America..

[Kayelache]

I've been on 7 Grand Circle trips and 3 with the sister company, OAT. Every one of them has included at least one "home visit," sometimes two or three, and even twice, overnight visits. My last trip with OAT, to China had four,

a lunch in Beijing, an overnight visit in a farmer's home near Xian, a visit with a relocated family along the Yangtze, and a tea (made with yak milk) in Tibet.

I used to take t-shirts, I live in Arizona and thought the Grand Canyon ones were sort of neat. One recent incident made me reconsider. It was an overnight home visit, and the host, with a big grin, showed me a closet in his home- packed full of t-shirts. There must have been over a hundred.

I think the picture books are great, and go beyond the language barriers. One girl on my China trip brought a AAA map of the United States. It was a big hit, as everyone was able to point out where they were from to our host family. I hate to take candy, as dental care isn't often that available in many parts of the world.

I would be very uncomfortable offering money. These hosts are paid by Grand Circle, it's a much a business for them as running a B & B would be.

On our China cruise, one host family had grandchildren living with them, and one of the families on a Rhine cruise in Germany had five children. The father said they started offering these home visits so that their children could see how important it was to learn English.

Another suggestion would be to make sure you get their name and address, and send them a postcard with a picture of your home town upon your return.

[emmylou]

Lore,

the playing cards sound like a good idea.

Kayelatch,

I really thank you for your input.We only have the one home hosted tour and for sure I won't be taking a teeshirt from New Jersey seems to me they at this point have enough.I know you said you wouldn't take candy,but I am leaning towards salt water taffy since it was first made on the boardwalk in Atlantic City,New Jersey.I purchased a box to send to my daughter who is now living in Arizona and the company gave me a paper on how it came to get it's name and the story of the company that made it back in the 1880s and is still making it today.This is just a thought.

what does everyone think of that idea.:confused:

emmy

[land lover]

Emmy, Several on our Russian GCT trip did bring a local treat.....almost everyone had theirs in a gift bag, except for me and another women who was from Hawaii who brought a necklace...not much recognition was given for our gifts, probably because most were in gift bags and they were more interested in getting us in and out.

Our visit with traditional snacks and tea(they called it dinner) probably was not more than 30 minutes and we were the second group that visted the home that day....don't frett over what to bring, our hostess certainly wasn't expecting anything and really did not have time to be gracious for what we brought, so make it simple, I think the taffy is a great, light weight idea.

 

Have a wonderful trip.

[ChefPeg]

Okay I checked, Tauck doesn't offer an itinerary that includes a home hosted excursion.

I am still glad I found this thread perhaps on my next riverboat cruise:p I will have a visit to a local's house.

 

Thanks!

[lobsterlover]

Land Lover,

 

I'm so disappointed to hear your home hosted visit in Russia was an in/out token visit. I'm planning to do GCT's trip to Russia next year and amazed to find the host provided a mini snack for which it was supposed to be dinner. I have had 3 home hosted visits on GCT tours and all were great experiences. The one in Wertime was coffee, tea and home made kuchen with a single mother and 2 children 10, and 14 who were learning English. It was 1 hr, to 1 1/2 hr visit. The other two, 1 in Holloko outside of Budapest was an abundant lunch with home made wine and brandy (Whew!) soup, salad, chicken paprikash and the best ever apple or raspberry kuchen; the other was in Croatia....lovely lunch pretty similar except we had meatloaf patties. The hosts were warm, friendly and less interested in gifts than they were in pleasing us...."eat, eat, eat". Perhaps GCT will be interested in your comments. Our visits were surely one of the highlights of our trip.

 

L. L.

[land lover]

L.L., It was probably unfair of me to write they called it dinner, even though that was stated on our days intinerary our guide did qualify it would be a few traditional snacks and on the original intinerary it states tea and piroshki...We had dinner that night on the ship.

 

If you are planning to do Russia with GCT you will not be disappointed. Even though our home visit was short...the rest of the trip was wonderful.

At Svirstroy where our home visit took place we were only there from 2- 4:45pm and with 200 people going to 6 different homes and if you wanted to get in some shopping, time was short. The walk to our host home was about 1O minutes 1/2 our group went at 2:15 another at 3:15. These poor ladies that we visited barely had enough time to wash their tea cups.

[emmylou]

Lori,

I am sorry that your gift wasn't that receptive I thought the playing cards with the America sights was a great idea.I thought the interaction with a family from another Country is a great idea.I am sorry that the host family was so busy that there was no time to learn something of thier culture and they of ours.

L.L.

We are doing the Rhine River and you said there were children at the host house.Did you know that in advance and if so did you take something for them as well.Just wondering since our trip is around the holidays what others like yourself would do.

emmy

[lobsterlover]

Emmylou,

 

We did not know there would be children ahead of time. It was a matter of 6 get off at this house, 8 at that etc. Most did not have children present. The son preferred to play with his next door friend and disappeared a while. The daughter was interested in our visit and helped her mom with translations at times. I think that several postcards of the area we are from would interest the children and I'll have those with me just in case. I also thought the playing cards was a good idea. My friend from Boston took a calendar with pictures of Boston and area. I think lapel pins of the state might be fun for them to collect, also. With luggage limits we need to have small items.

 

I must say though, when we were at the other two home hosted lunches the hostess never sat to eat with us. We were 10 seated around the dining room table and were served great amounts of food. The hostess stayed more in the background at one while her adult daughter served and talked to us (without sitting) and showed us the handiwork they created. At the home in Croatia the hostess had her goddaughter there to sit and talk with us (she was about 22) but she also didn't eat.

 

L.L.

[emmylou]

LL

Thanks for the added information.

Another question please.This question is for the ladie,has anyone taken a curling iron that uses a gas cartridge instead of electric plug in? I have one I use to take with me all the time and thought this might be a solution to purchasing the plugs and adaptors but am wondering if security will stop me from boarding planes or boarding the riverboat.I can't seem to find any information on this.Gents if you know also really need the help on this one.

emmy

[2travelers]

HI Emmy: Just got back last night from the Russian River Cruise on Amadeus and while I am still suffering from some serious jet lag, I saw your post and wanted to respond. I questioned what to bring our host in Uglich, and received many great ideas. In the end, I had my husband pick up post cards of all the famous landmarks in New York. Our host cooked us a wonderful breakfast and had sheets of notes prepared in English that she could read from to tell us about herself. She spoke very little English but we learned that she was a math teacher in a middle school. Her 16-year-old daughter showed us some of the paintings she had done. Our host explained all the family portraits on her walls, and we all had a good laugh when she introduced us to her male and female cats and the littler of kittens they just had. In her broken English she said that her cat had a husband but she did not! When she got stuck trying to tell us what she had cooked, she showed us the box - it was truly a wonderful experience. When breakfast was over I brought out the post cards. She was just thrilled, recognizing the most famous landmarks - the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden....when we left, I gave her several dollars. I was the only one who did that, and one of the woman with the group told me she thought it was inappropriate. She said that she was sure the ship took care of that. I responded by saying that I thought these people were very poor, and that if we tip tour guides who spend two hours on a bus with us - then why not someone who went to the trouble of cooking a hot breakfast, setting a lovely table and then having to clean up afterwards? I did what I felt was right - I guess it was just a matter of opinion. I felt sorry for the people who chose to stay on the ship tht day, they missed a great experience. After the breakfast my husband and I decided not to go to another church (enough is enough) instead we spent the next two hours browsing through the large market where we were finally able to get gifts for just about everyone, including me. Hope this helps. More when I get my act together.