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Souvenirs

anniedave

By anniedave,
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anniedave

anniedave

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I wondered if all you experienced cruisers have an tips for a newbie. We have our first ever cruise in Jan on the Reflection. We are visiting Cartagenta, ABCs and Grand Cayman . Having never visited any of these places before I am hoping to pick up some small ( flying from the UK so space & weight is important) souvenirs from each place. Something inexpensive but dont  just want the usual fridge magnets. I realise this is a subjective question depending on taste but all suggestions welcome. Thanks 

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G.M.T.

G.M.T.

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There is always the old Btitish tradition of teatowels with the name of the place visited, or as DW does the tea spoons with crest and name. We put upmagnetic strips and DW arrangesthem in chronological order.

 

I personally collect beer, but because of the weight and security aspects I had to disposed of them locally.🍻🙈

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GastroGnome

GastroGnome

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For years we had a theme (stopped now - it got too much!).  One year we got shot glasses - that worked really well and was terribly easy as there are shot glasses everywhere.  But there are only so many shot glasses you can have at home!  Several times we've gone for lizard theme - you can get tiny ones which you use for decoration etc and our house is full of lizards and dragons.  (Not live ones - in case that needed saying!)  We've done "nothing over £1"  (limiting - slightly tacky).  Ducks.  (Long story..) Fish. Something green (I think we lacked inspiration that year!)

 

If you collect beer / wine, as GMT says - dispose of locally, but soak off the labels and bring them back.  Beer mats?

 

If you don't want a theme as such just aim to get something truly representative of the local culture at each place - as long as it is small.  DS collects photos of herself and her partner in as many local bars as possible.  Its a life goal...

 

 

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Aqua water

Aqua water

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Take photos in each port especially of the water  bring an inexpensive under water camera. I write a small journal entry to go with the photos and make a short travel book when I return home.

I usually visit local grocery stores to look for products that are okay to bring back into your country.

Unique local hand made items.

Museums often have unique local art.

 

 

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chemmo Holiday Sharing Rare

chemmo

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In addition to tea towels you could look for other fabric items such as lightweight throws, cushion covers, scarves...often very representative of local colours and culture.

 

If you want a nicer item more suitable for a shelf or display cabinet Cartagena had some quite nice metal trays...mass produced but quite pretty and less likely to get damaged on the journey home than ceramics.

 

Another alternative, although a bit pricier, is the ‘general’ window in jewellery stores. They often have small clocks with a local theme and letter openers...However, be warned, we bought a letter opener as a souvenir at the Vatican City and it was confiscated as we reboarded the ship! They delivered it back to us the night before we disembarked...Obviously we were less likely to use it to commit murder last night of the cruise...

 

After years of world wide travel we do have a simple rule before purchasing anything on our holidays...If we can’t think of exactly where we will put an item we are considering buying then we don’t buy it. Too easy to fall for items that are lovely but would clash terribly with everything else in your home!

 

Happy shopping and I hope you have a fantastic cruise!

 

 

 

 

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denby

denby

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I like to buy a small piece of jewelry. If there is a market in town you can usually get hand made local jewelry. It gives me pleasure to put on a pair of ear rings and remember where they were purchased. In Antigua, Guatemala i bought lovely jade ear rings. They don't add clutter to your home and you don't have to dust them.

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Angua

Angua

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I love chunky, interesting necklaces so I have started buying necklaces at least once per cruise.  I don't need one from every port but I do try to find one i really love and get one.  That way whenever I wear it, I am reminded of that particular cruise. 

 

Our first couple of cruises we were picking up dust catchers, but realized that wasn't sustainable, we just don't have the surfaces to accommodate that many items. 

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RealBatman

RealBatman

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This won't directly answer your question, but something I wish I had done was go to the ship gift shop, and purchase a replica model of the ship we were sailing on. The models are not sold off ship - so if you don't purchase it ON the ship, they are difficult and much more expensive to purchase. Above my office desk, is a model of Silhouette... a quick glance brings back many wonderful memories of people and places! (heavy sigh). Then, back to work! LOL

😎 😉

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Carried_Away

Carried_Away

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I have nieces who are young enough to enjoy getting mail, so I look for postcards in every port to send to them. My recent cruise on the Summit was port-intensive, and I found that I really enjoyed writing the postcards over drinks in the evenings. It was a nice way to reflect on the highlights of the day, and by the end of the cruise, the postcards were a nice review of the trip that differentiated each of the ports. Now that I’m home, I’m mailing the postcards one port at a time so my nieces can enjoy getting mail every couple of days for a week or two.
 

I also like to look for local specialties, usually for gifts. I just brought home coffee and chocolate from St. Lucia, and last year I got salt and bath salts from Bonaire. 
 

I cruised to Grand Cayman and the ABCs on the Silhouette last year and loved that itinerary. Although Bonaire isn’t known as a port for shopping, I actually thought it was good because it had more small, authentic local stores and products than I have found in most cruise ports. No Diamonds International, but you can find that in the other ports. 

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ldubs

ldubs

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1 hour ago, RealBatman said:

This won't directly answer your question, but something I wish I had done was go to the ship gift shop, and purchase a replica model of the ship we were sailing on. The models are not sold off ship - so if you don't purchase it ON the ship, they are difficult and much more expensive to purchase. Above my office desk, is a model of Silhouette... a quick glance brings back many wonderful memories of people and places! (heavy sigh). Then, back to work! LOL

😎 😉

 

That is something I wish I had done too.  Would have had the side benefit of helping me remember which ships we have been on.  My BIL does this.  It is very cool to see his cruise ship collection. 

 

One of my SIL's collects thimbles from places she visits.  She has them on display in a curio.  Mrs Ldubs used to buy Swarovski figurines from places we had been.  But stopped at exactly 100 because the curio was full and it seemed like a good number.  

 

I think another good one might be coasters.  Easy to pack, inexpensive, and always needed.   

 

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lenquixote66

lenquixote66

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11 hours ago, anniedave said:

I wondered if all you experienced cruisers have an tips for a newbie. We have our first ever cruise in Jan on the Reflection. We are visiting Cartagenta, ABCs and Grand Cayman . Having never visited any of these places before I am hoping to pick up some small ( flying from the UK so space & weight is important) souvenirs from each place. Something inexpensive but dont  just want the usual fridge magnets. I realise this is a subjective question depending on taste but all suggestions welcome. Thanks 

 I buy tee shirts from every place I have ever been to.I have close to 100.If I return to a place I wear the respective tee shirt.

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clo

clo

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Just now, ldubs said:

 

Gotta get thicker ones!  Or, just accept it as part of the charm!  Haha

Oops, coaster not poster 🙂 It really gets one' attention when the glass/ceramic/etc. 'detaches' and crashed on to the glass topped coffee table!

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