Favorite Souvenir from a Cruise

[bepsf]

Other than your HAL tiles and plates and totebags and photographs, of course...

;)

 

I have a woven textile that I use as a runner on my dining table that I found in Guatemala on my first cruise aboard Oosterdam, and a huge conch shell in my guest bathroom that I bought on the pier in Nassau from my Opera cruise - I enjoy looking at these every day.

 

But my favorites are a pair of amber cufflinks that I found in Sitka on my Amsterdam cruise (I buy french-cuff shirts now just so I can wear them), and a sapphire and diamond ring set in white gold that my pal Joe (who died this past week from colon cancer) bought aboard Oosterdam on our first cruise and gifted to me the following Christmas.

 

 

...what are your favorite souvenirs from your cruises?

[Aramis1932]

The first thing that comes to mind:

While on the Rotterdam in 1997, my husband and I were searching for all the original areas of the ship and came upon the "Wireless Room" and we stopped and said "hello" to the operator. He said "Are you Mr. and Mrs.....?" I said "Yes!" and he said laughing "I don't receive these very often" and handed me a wire (okay a telex!) message from two ocean liner geek friends of mine which said:

 

JULY 19, 1997

TO: MR AND MRS ......

SS ROTTERDAM, AT SEA OFF THE WEST COAST OF CANADA

 

WISHING YOU CLEAR SKIES AND CALM SEAS

'SEA' YOU ON YOUR RETURN....

 

BEST,

A AND B

SS OCEANBREEZE, AT SEA 60 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AMBROSE TOWER

 

My other favourite item:

A large German saute pan, that I bought in a kitchen shop in Lubeck during a Silversea Baltic cruise. I use it all the time and it still looks new!

[the2ofus]

I try to find a small print or art object to remind me of a port of call I enjoyed. I'm enjoying my ever enlarging display on the wall of my dining room.

 

Brian, sorry to learn of the death of your friend. How nice to have a lovely memento from that friendship.

[babyher]

Brian ,

 

First off I am awfully sorry to hear about your friend .

 

I thought I was the only one who bought a french cuff shirt because I had cuff links I wanted to wear *LOL*

 

They were my Dads (Gold and Onyx and another pair with Star Saphires ) they are both beautiful.

 

Hmmmmmm have a lot of little things I love from my cruises. The one I see every day (like your runner and shell ) is the hand carved wooden bowl we use as a centerpiece on our dining room table that we got in Belize

[jhannah]

We always try to get something crafted locally when we travel. Not from every port, mind you, but at one place that represents the main "theme" of our sailing. I guess the best one is a lovely Grecian urn my DW found on Rhodes. She'd been looking for one all cruise long, but hadn't found one to her liking. The taxi driver we hired took us to a small family-run workshop and there it was calling out from the shelf.

[DFD1]

We always try to find a small original oil painting by a local aritist. Sometimes the paintings we find aren't very good or not to our liking. Sometimes we aren't able to find any at all, but more often than not we find one we can't leave behind.

 

Over the years we have collected about twenty small paintings from a dozen or so islands and countries. I always attach a note to the back indicating the trip details, date etc. All are framed and hanging...not packed away. We enjoy them very much.

 

Brian, I'm sorry about the loss of your pal Joe. Good pals are like gold.

[sail7seas]

Brian......I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I hope your happy memories give you comfort.

 

DH wears only french cuffs with his suits/jackets. He has collected cufflinks from here and there.

 

Among my favorite momentos from cruises are the origami flowers and designs and various articles Filipino crew men and women made for us through the years. They always put the name of the ship and date on them so we can identify where and when. Those and the very large collection of painted Dutch hats that we treasure. Again, they always indicate date and ship. Some of them are so beautifully painted you can't imagine the talent. How special that stewards took all that time and trouble to make them for us. They are so very special to us.

 

[Iris5383]

In Cozumel we took the excursion to Passion Island;). While I was out playing in the water my DH was on shore. When I came back he handed me a piece of coral that had washed up on the beach. If you hold it upright it looks EXACTLY like an erect male organ. My Passion Island souvenir is quite a conversation piece! :p

[rkacruiser]

I collect and save the daily activity sheets and the menus from my cruises and enjoy looking over these once in awhile once I am home.

 

I think my favorite souvenir from a cruise, though, was a pillow gift received during the Volendam's 2002 Asia Pacific cruise: a plush kangaroo with a joey in her pocket. Every time I look at that "creature", very pleasant memories of a most wonderful cruise return.

[bardgal]

Brian! I am so sorry for your loss. How nice you have something that brings back such fond memories.

 

My favorites are a shell pareo buckle I got in Bora Bora, along with some monoi tiare oil that I keep ordering online because I'm addicted to the stuff.... my mexican blankets (puppycats love sleeping on them) and my silver jewelry I wear on a daily basis.

 

:D

[DougandEric]

We used to collect T-Shirts but we ended up never wearing them or out growing them (and not in a good way!). We've not started to collect Christmas tree ornaments from different ports and ships. As we decorate the tree, we remember the trips, people and ships those ornaments came from. They also take up much less space! Our tree may not look like a magazine picture, but it's always special to us!

 

Doug

[Candy]

We took the Paradise Tram in Charlotte Amalie, and found a huge Wild Man, carved out of cedar, locks of horsehair, legs folded indian-style and ready to fight! We named him "Magumbo the Voodoo Priest" and Jim uses him to threaten his Fantasy Football owners. Sometimes it even works!

 

Candy the ZuiderPrincess

[hammybee]

Gosh- sorry to hear about your friend.

 

 

My favorite thing is a thingy from Greece. It's made out of disks of sea glass, strung together with silver balls, with a big ole tassle on the end. It's the type of useless and gorgeous thing one splays out on a foyer chest or coffee table and everyone ( well not quite) wants to know what it is and where it's from. Some probably just think it's weird. But I love it.

 

BTW, thanks for the nice thread. I do not recall this topic before.

[ekerr19]

We always try to get something crafted locally when we travel. Not from every port, mind you, but at one place that represents the main "theme" of our sailing.

 

We try and do the same - last cruise, handmade marble chess set from Katakolon, Greece. We ended up sending home via parcel post from our post cruise stay in Rome and it arrived without incident.

 

My favorite - St. Petersburg Russia, a beautiful watercolor from a local artist displaying her work in the area of the Hermitage. We also have other local works of art we are partial to - a watercolor from Tallinn, Estonia and an acrylic of an alleyway off Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

[JimVrhovac]

The best momento from a cruise is credit cards that Ruth has not maxed ou. Those of you that we have saied wih and know Ruth know what I am talking about.

 

This is a woman that if she lived in an egloo in Alaska in the winter the worst salesan you have ever met could sell her a refrigerator and freezer with an oversized generator to make the electricity and an extension cord to reach the nearest city just in case she ran out of gas.....

 

Jim & Ruth

[Copper10-8]

Brian, my condolences with the loss of your friend!

I've been collecting the larger navy blue coffee mugs with the ship's likeness and name in gold, the ones they sell in the gift shop. I like the way they look.

[Sunshine91]

We collect local art everywhere we go - our walls are a map of the places we've been. I've spent a fortune at the framer's.

I think my favorites - cruise-wise - are the ones from our first trip to Cozumel & second to Grand Cayman. The Cozumel piece was created right in front of us. It's an underwater scene with fish - multicolored underneath with blackout on top. Then the artist removed bits of the black to reveal the colors. From GC we have what looks like an old-fashioned pirate map from the museum.

We also collect Christmas ornaments - we have so many we need a 14ft tree! But, this year due to the Jan 6 cruise, we won't be using any. Just ribbons & lights.

Brian - I'm so sorry.

[Sierrachik]

Mine is a ring purchased in honor of our anniversary, made even more special because it was my husband's first choice and our first ever vacation. Each side has heart cut outs under each diamond to let the light through, not sure of the proper term for the cut outs, in all the ring has 10 hearts on it.

 

Each time I look at it in detail, it brings back the happy thoughts of anticipation of our vacation and all the memories of our time together on the ship and in the ports.

[mechcc]

The best momento from a cruise is credit cards that Ruth has not maxed ou. Those of you that we have saied wih and know Ruth know what I am talking about.

 

This is a woman that if she lived in an egloo in Alaska in the winter the worst salesan you have ever met could sell her a refrigerator and freezer with an oversized generator to make the electricity and an extension cord to reach the nearest city just in case she ran out of gas.....

 

Jim & Ruth

 

Now Jim! You fail to mention how much you enjoy spoiling Ruth!

Brian, sorry to hear of your loss.

As for us, Christmas ornaments are a passion and love decorating the tree, then there is the charms (Mom started collecting charms for me when I was 4 and I still collect to this day) but still each cruise has to have something special. Current favorite is the Waterford Sailboat from the HAL-O-Ween Dam Cruise - reminds me of a perfect cruise with wonderful friends, a perfect day in Tortola with an old friend, and a new friend who also collects Waterford.

[ger_77]

Brian, I'm sorry to hear about your friend - what a nice memento your friend provided when giving you the ring.

 

My favorite souvenir from a cruise is a papyrus of 3 beautiful Egyptian women - one of whom is rather scantily clad (DH picked it out) - and it has two golden ovals where my name and DH's are printed in hieroglyphics. I never dreamed I would ever get to Egypt, and to bring something back like that is such a beautiful reminder of a wonderful cruise. DH bought me the papyrus, and I bought myself a cartouche - it was a win-win situation!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[bepsf]

Thanks everyone - Joe was a great guy and I really enjoyed our travels together...

 

...and what great stories about your souvenirs!

Keep 'em coming!

:)

[michmike]

sunshine - I feel your pain re framing costs. Just took a Terry Redlin Christmas print in, that my wife has had sitting around unframed for a couple years. Decided to get it done in time for the holidays as an early Christmas present. Once they tallied it up, she may only get slippers for Christmas. Ouch!!

 

 

I'm with Sail, our most treasured souvenir is one of the Dutch hats that the staff in the Ocean Bar decorated and gave to us on our 1st HAL cruise, on Veendam. That was 6 yrs ago and we haven't received service like those folks provided, since then.

 

Other than that, we do the Christmas ornament thing and also treasure a small print we bought in that passageway print shop next to A H Riis in St Thomas. Wife is a sheller so she has brought back shells from many of the islands as well and keeps them separated by island. Our traveling buddies brought back a large brain coral from Curacao and suffered the inevitable jibes that after 58 yrs Ed finally has a brain.

[Odd Ball]

We collect refrigerator magnets from each port we visit.

I need a bigger refrigerator. :D

[Sea King]

Easiest question of 2006

 

a final bill that had a credit balance:eek:

 

think that happened around 1998 (could have been 1999):)

 

never let that happen again:D

[sail7seas]

Easiest question of 2006

 

a final bill that had a credit balance:eek:

 

think that happened around 1998 (could have been 1999):)

 

never let that happen again:D

 

 

:D :D You win, Sea King. That's great@!!##@#@#@