Best souveniers question

[Acheavacci]

What are some of your favorite and most "WOW" souveniers that you bought on your cruise?

 

Our cruise isn't until Feb 2020 but I thought it would be fun to learn what some of your best souveniers are/were.  Our itinerary is Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grank Turk. 

 

Sidenote:  We were at Gatorland and my son (10 yo at the time) had to have a metal alligator back-scratcher.  I thought "wow kind of obscure souvenier but okay".  That back scratcher is the best and I always smile when I use it!!!

[Dvelocity]

I am an ornament collector.  I love Christmas time and pulling out the ornaments and unwrapping each ornament to re-live the experience of my travels.  

[mickiemac]

Magnets from ports of call are on my childrens list.

[Out of Iowa]

On our honeymoon, at the market in USVI, there was a stack of used license plates for sale.  A very pretty fish design.  The top plate had my initials and month/day of my birth.  I felt compelled to buy it.  Pride of place in my office and is a conversation starter!

[Theosprey247]

I always get magnets. They are cheap and don’t take up a lot of room. 

[Anyislandwilldo]

I like collecting paintings from the local artists.  The first picture is about 24 x 30 and hanging in our living room.  This is from 2011 so I think it's time to update the living room  :) 

[makavide]

my favorite "Free" souvenir was found while on Grand Turk. Head to the right when getting off the pier (opposite direction of Jacks Shack) and walk for about 20 minutes.  There you should be able find yourself a free conch shell - there should be a bunch of them laying around the beach.

[beachbum53]

8 minutes ago, makavide said:

my favorite "Free" souvenir was found while on Grand Turk. Head to the right when getting off the pier (opposite direction of Jacks Shack) and walk for about 20 minutes.  There you should be able find yourself a free conch shell - there should be a bunch of them laying around the beach.

 

I have read differing reports about bringing conch shells back on board. Some have had success, and others have not been allowed to bring them aboard unless they were purchased from a gift shop. It depends largely on how closely the ship's staff members inspect what you bring aboard. 

[wms99]

After wondering what to do with cheap stuff after we got home, a new path was found. We buy a bag of local coffee beans at each port. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's el-stinko. But always fun. And a month later it's gone.  For the record, the coffee we got in Belize has been the very best.

 

[schazzy]

I'd have to say the hand carved wooden tea set my DH found in Grand Turk. They had an nice little marketplace right buy the duty-free shop that had several interesting local handicrafts. I'll have to post a picture of it when I get home.

[LostPuppy]

I have a small (3") ceramic bear I purchased at a gift shop in a retirement home in Sitka, AK. At the time of purchase I was told that it was one of "Eleanor's bears"  and she was eating lunch if I wanted to say hi.  We did, and had a charming visit with her and heard many interesting stories about Alaska in the 30's/40's.

 

I also have a 4" clay egg, white with black spots I bought from a street vendor in Roaton (before Mahogany Bay).  Nothing special other than being hand-made.

 

Not a big fan of buying anything made in China and being sold as a "souvenir".  To me that is an oxymoron.

[purplephenom]

A couple of my favorites

 

A wooden carved box from Roatan.  I use it to save cash through the year for spending money on the next cruise.  

 

Also from Roatan, a small painting I watched being painted at Tabayana Beach.  It's probably no bigger than 8" across, small enough to hang up at work, and reminds me of what i called the best day of my snorkeling life. 

 

A little hand made perpetual calendar (is that what they're called? it has blocks for months and dates).  It's tiny, tropical colored, shaped like a cat, and takes up very little space.  

 

An elastic beaded bracelet from Miami.  It certainly wasn't expensive, I think it was maybe $2- the blue is the color of tropical water, it's not fussy and easy to slide on and off.  I love wearing it on a freezing cold day in January, since it reminds me of past vacations.

 

I try to pick up small things in ports- I like carved animals- easy to display together since they have a theme, but each country's looks a little different. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by purplephenom

[JaxsMama]

I collect skull stuff from Mexico. 

[bury me at sea]

I like trivets.  My favorite from a cruise is a mahogany one from Mahogany Bay.

 

I also enjoy the after dinner shot glasses from the MDR.  My whole family enjoys those, especially when I have Godiva liqueur on hand.

[LittleYiaYia]

3 hours ago, Dvelocity said:

I am an ornament collector.  I love Christmas time and pulling out the ornaments and unwrapping each ornament to re-live the experience of my travels.  

 

I too collect ornaments from each island we visit.  I also buy a ornament on the ship (you know, they are shaped like the ship, with the ships name on the side).  I smile whenever I get the Christmas decorations out, thinking about all of our past cruises and what we have planned for the future. 

 

Just recently I started buying those plastic bracelets in each port.  They say the name of the island and are in many different colors.  Extremely inexpensive.  I have a teenage grandson who collects them and he thinks they are the best because no one else has any like his. 

[Viv0828]

my fave are pics from the trip. we travel a lot and at the end of each year we make a shutterfly album of the year's trips -  some cruises and some land based. it's fun to get out the albums and browse through them.

[SRQbeachgirl]

Two of my favorites are a painting of Trunk Bay and a painting of a street in Aruba. We've had them for almost 25 years.

 

The cheapest are refrigerator magnets.

 

The most unexpected was when our snorkel guide in Jamaica dove down and brought up a shell for us. Imagine our surprise when that shell literally crawled out of our suitcase when we got home! BTW, we did find that poor little crab a good home at a local fish store.

[Mike981]

In all the years of traveling, our favorite was at (I believe) St. Kitts where we went to a day resort. They had a store where everything was made local and my wife, who rarely buys any souvenirs, had a ball and purchased several. One being a very cool napkin holder. We still proudly display all of them and enjoy the memories. 

[lenquixote66]

Tee shirts. I have 50 so far from every place we have traveled to.

[ldubs]

Kind of started with land trips. Mrs Ldubs used to look for Swarovski crystal figures when we traveled.  Kind of cool to view her collection and talk about where various pieces came from.   She stopped a few years back because the curio is full.  Now days she really doesn't buy any souvenirs, except for maybe the odd sweatshirt, or whatever happens to catch her eye.   I'm pretty hard on T shirts so if I see a really good deal I'll buy as many as I can manage.   Once, when RCI was having a really good close out sale I bought every on-sale T shirt they had in my size --Scored!! 

[feathersandnananose]

Earrings.  They certainly do not overload the weight limits, and every day I put a pair on, I remember where they came from....... Not something put away or on display, but something I use day to day.....

 

 

[marco]

A "painting" done by an elephant on a trip to Thailand.

[MicCanberra]

Photos usually, other than that things like Tea towels, Pillow cases, Table clothes, bed spread, basically something that we would use once at home rather than an ornament (that just collects dust).

[OCruisers]

13 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Photos usually, other than that things like Tea towels, Pillow cases, Table clothes, bed spread, basically something that we would use once at home rather than an ornament (that just collects dust).

 

Basically agree with the above .... Something you will actually use at home and not something that collects dust.  

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, marco said:

A "painting" done by an elephant on a trip to Thailand.

Did he or she sign it ?