Forming A Cruise Club

I had an idea and would like to know if people are interested. Here it goes.
There was this pub where I lived that had beers from around the world and you
could get a card on which you could check off the different countries when you
bought one of there beers. They broke it down by continent where you could
work on say Europe first then move on to Asia etc. When you finished you
would be called Master of the World and you would get a T-shirt etc.
The U.S. Navy does something similar where when you cross the equator or
pass through the Straits of Gibralter you get a fancy certificate and a
wallet card. (See Tiffany Publishing Company)

Here is the idea what if we organized some people and created a list of
cruise related achivements Back to Back Crossings, World Cruises, Etc we could
also keep many of the Navy achievements Crossing the Equator etc. We would
need to establish some standards, get someone who could print up some kind
of certificates and other aspects.

I need to know if people are interested or if I am alone in the need
to have some sort of cruise related score card. PM's are fine

Pete - I think that sounds like a fun idea!

We could get 'awards' as different symbols next to our screen names or something!

(well, at least I would be more interested in that than a certificate....more people who were interested in cruising would see that more than a certificate.)

Maybe a big gold star for whoever gets the most days at sea in a given month, or year?!

Sounds interesting. I agree with Pam , in not needing another piece of paper.

I cannot speak for how C.F. would interpret the idea. It is possible
that they wouldnt mind having some sort of system like that attached
to your screen name. I think that could be done as well as having some
more formal awards. I personally wouldnt even mind along with certs and
wallet cards something like a pin you could wear, but again we are
along way from that sort of thing. I am just trying to ascertain how
much general interest there is out there before engaging in such a
serious undertaking.

As far as I am aware nothing like this exists at all in the cruising community
so there exists a potential that this could become a large scale project
very quickly. There is also the possibility it could die a lonely and isolated
death like so many of my other so called great ideas.

I guess what you would need is an expanded profile page where agreed milestones would be recorded.

OH... I see. You're planning on going into the global cruising community with this.

I thought you were just talking about our Freeks.

Would you have to 'join' this club - pay a membership fee - have annual / semi-annual meetings (to give out awards) ?

I still might be interested in this.

Why not keep it 'special' to Cruise Freeks it could then act as an attraction to this forum ?

That is exactly what I had in mind. One of the nice things
about this project is that if did become popular it would
remain exclusive to CF. I was fortunate enough to win
one of the contests ,so I feel that promoting this site is
a way of compensating them for there extreme generosity.
That is not why I originated the idea but what a great benefit
it would be if it did become a big draw for the site.

Now as far as the practicle aspects of the idea such as what
are the milestones, standards, or site promotion I have not
given much thought until I know people are interested. The
primary object of the club would be to have fun. I have been
looking at specific cruises which accomplish some of the goals
I want to achieve. One example is the Amazon Jungle cruise
which as stops at Devils Island and St Lucia also crosses the
equator making me a shell back. When I cruise sometimes what
makes the Port visits fun is to see something small and seemingly
unimportant. In Charleston, SC there is an island called Morris
Island where the final battle in the movie Glory took place. Its
site seeing counterpart in Boston is seeing the plaque dedicated
to the 54th Mass Regiment.

In some sense accomplishing feats such as crossing the International
Date Line of the Equator are such insignificant events to the cruising
community that cruise lines never even promote them. However, like
seeing where Fort Wagner stood its a big deal to me! My instinct thus
tells me that I am not alone in appreciating these often overlooked
attractions. If nothing come from this idea it still will not change who
I am or how I feel ,so therefore I still will pursue that esoteric list of
nautical must do's the US Navy requires. I just thought it would be fun
to share it with people who might enjoy it as much as I do.

Adirondack Pete wrote:

In Charleston, SC there is an island called Morris
Island where the final battle in the movie Glory took place. Its
site seeing counterpart in Boston is seeing the plaque dedicated
to the 54th Mass Regiment.
However, like
seeing where Fort Wagner stood its a big deal to me! My instinct thus
tells me that I am not alone in appreciating these often overlooked
attractions. I just thought it would be fun
to share it with people who might enjoy it as much as I do.

Those are the types of places I like to visit also Pete, but maybe it would only be a few of us, ( I have a some grass from the field of Waterloo ). your idea of the achievement list will have to have more mass appeal items. We can use this topic to suggest them.
Crossing the Equator , Crossing the Atlantic, Crossing the Pacific, Transit of the Panama Canal, Rounding Cape Horn,

Sounds very interesting and fun to me.

A cruise club sounds good, but for family reasons, I usually cruise to many of the same ports and dont plan on doing any TAs, but the idea sounds good.

I have 4 children (14,12,10, and a wife so that means two cabins $$$$!
You can imagine that I have my own cruises and some for them. If
your like me someday you may venture outside the Carribbean and
start to do different cruises. Vacations to go has a vast array of
cruises on their site and is worth viewing. What you may discover
are cruises in other places that are actually less exspensive. If not
the idea of the club is to promote cruise achievements. There is a
certificate for sailing the Carribbean ,but for children one thing I find
they enjoy is something as simple as saving the room keys.

I want to Thank everyone who took the time to view the post.

pete - i like your idea a lot but maybe we have to make categories or something. but to keep it to CF would be great. don't abandon it too quickly.

You might want to check this site for their prize/award, etc. stuff - all virtual, all very light hearted and some tongue in cheek, but fun.

www.funtrivia.com

Could also start a CF 'private' tournament for the trivia players - we must have some?!

Ginny and I are a team on Fun Trivia and got up to 5/10,000 playing
hard catergories History, Geography and not getting any bonus game
play points we did it soley on quizzes only. I wouldnt mind playing in
a Trivia thread although I am not starting one. I am fastly getting
a reputation for being a thread killer or posting a topic nobody reads.

oesnjstar wrote:

pete - i like your idea a lot but maybe we have to make categories or something. but to keep it to CF would be great. don't abandon it too quickly.

Here is the largest problem and that is what to offer people they would
want to keep. The category design issue should be no problem in fact
that would be a lot of fun. The Navy issues wallet cards and certificates
both of which are very nicely done but most people do not want another
piece of paper. I collect all my past cruise cards as memento's so I am
inclined that something other than certificates are in order.. but what?

What could be given out thats affordable, something nice that people
would want to keep, and collectable?

well let's all think about what you would want to keep and collect

Small pins are nice to collect but I am not sure how affordable they would be.

tie tack pins. i don't know that they are that costly. not sure to be perfectly honest but i remember buying them for an organization i belong to and they were $1-2 each.

We could find certain designs already made to be used for certain
feats. Just as an example sea horses, dolphins, a snowman, etc
could all mean different things. The hard part would be keeping
them in scale and finding them but thats a really great idea.

If someone has the time to look those items up and start creating
a list let me know. I think that is heading in the right direction. We
may want to distinguish bewteen accomplishments that merit a pin
vrs lesser ones which mandate some kind of endorsement---perhaps
even on your CF avitar. That way we do not have too many pins or
maybe after a certain number you move up to a bracelet.

Your ideas are better than mine so keep them coming.

definitely like an addition to your avatar.

I like your idea Pete.

Tripadvisor does have something on their site, where you put in all the places you visit and it comes up on a map, then you can send it out to other people. I can't remember what else it does.

My Mom just took an 18 day cruise on Princess, that crossed the Equater and they did have a big ceremony for it.

How bout this and this is just off the top of my head

Penguin---- Antartic cruise
Polar Bear---Alaska cruise/ Arctic circle
Mermaid-----Crossing the Equator
Dragon------Far East Cruise
Neptune-----World Cruise
Pineapple----Hawaii

I'll look for others later as that is what I could find. What I like
most about this idea is you buy your own. That way you can
choose that achievement which means the most to you ,and
also so you can individualize it. Another idea would be you could
have a small pic instead of letters on your avitar.




Let me know what everyone thinks

tomorrow i'll look it up since i have absolutely nothing to do at work. i don't know what to do to make 8 hours go by.

Now that I am thinking maybe we should loose the equator and
just stick to regions that people like to cruise. If you want we could
use a gem stone system which could be mounted on the icon you
sailed on to obtain that achievement.

Having said that the mermaid could be the Carribbean. All we need now
is to find an icon for the Med. and South America.

You should see some of the Polar Bear and Peguin pins
They are soo cute your going to want to do this.