I wonder what attitude Forum members had to QE2 memorabilia while on board...
Did you save everything that came your way in the normal course of events (menus, daily programmes, invitations, etc.)?
Did you buy QE2 branded goods from the shops?
Did you regard thei items with which you disembarked as souvenirs or as investments (e.g. to sell later)?
How are you keeping them now -- filed, locked away, in daily use, or on display?
Well l kept everything, right down to till reciepts from 1986, even they were stamped QE2. l kept all the menus and daily programmes, newspapers and in fact nothing was thrown out, even envelopes. Quite often l would pick up several of the menus, daily programmes and the American brochures. Sitting on a train with the luggage in the guards van quite often l wondered had l bought too much, but then its QE2 so that made it all worthwhile.
As for buying goods from the shop, On one voyage the staff used to give me a staff discount which made me buy even more, but yes over the years l have bought a lot of souvenirs, the photos were always purchased as a reminder.
In the early days long long before ebay l viewed everything as a souvenir, and bought stuff because l liked it.
Ebay has in some ways allowed non voyagers to purchase things that otherwise they couldn't buy, and again it allows people to offload items which they have more than one of, and that l hold my hands upto.
As for buying for investment, that's a tricky one, the boxed set from the Isle of Man, could that really be sold and make a profit? they only just sold enough to make it into treble figures but its listed at limited to 736. The Salute to a Queen print for what l paid for one of them onboard, they hardly sell on ebay for half what was paid. the same with the Glencairn crystal decanters, just how little they go for is a bit of a surprise, However it can be a good way to get a duplicate. But then do you need two of an item.
On the Farewell crossings on the limited edition souvenir sale day a friend in the know let slip some of the merchandise the was coming up, hence why l bought two of the whisky decanters, the price was maybe a tad inflated but l carried on and wondered had l done the correct thing, well it was QE2 so I could justify it.The luggage at the end of my last trip on QE2 was quite simply unreal, but it was the end of an era.
Some of the stuff is on display, but in the main its boxed up, and really l should have noted whats in each box, when you go looking for something l get easily distracted and end up forgetting what lm looking for in the first place.
One elderly lady l had the pleasure of sitting with during Dinner on a crossing in 1991 was flying back on Concorde, l think she was perhaps slightly eccentric, towards the end of the crossing she was complaining about the limited luggage allowance for the flight, but had solved the problem, she was weighing her suitcases each night, and throwing out clothes to make way for her purchases, the last breakfast l asked her quietly how she had fared with her choices, her reply was , she was flying home in what she had on and that was simply it....
I guess for some of us excess baggage is a way of life..2 years previously l had to fork out £99 fees for baggage from Stansted to Aberdeen. the flight was only £79 return with Dan Air. The only time l ever flew back from a QE2 cruise, Not one of my better moves..
