Ships coin

I'm never to old to learn something new ! Thanks for the info ! So Exciting ! Can't wait for our Cruise in April, on Sunshine, to head out on Treasure Hunt to find. Wish I had known about this on past cruises. Can't wait to let DH know what WE will be doing one afternoon instead of him playing in the Casino. Won't he be surprised !

We got one on the Magic's first cruise. All guests got one free. Cannot buy them, only way to get one is on the ships first cruise.

Looks like it’s actually two things. This is the one I’ve seen companies make a big deal about during the early stages of constructing a new ship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_ceremony

But it sounds like these are the coins you can actually see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_Stepping

What is the significance of the coin ?

I knew about the tradition of the coins, but I didn’t think they were placed in an area accessible to passengers. I’ll try to remember to look for them in the future!

I wish I would've know about this and had my kids have hours of fun trying to find it!

I can only address this question in regards to Carnival Cruise Lines, but the "coin" is on one of the bulkheads in a public area of the ship, usually somewhere on one of the weather decks. There are a few ships where the "coin" is a bill instead.

I watched a show about a cruiseship going through different stages of building. It showed the coin being placed on a large base. It seemed this base was part of the hull or something, but maybe I was wrong.

Can you get commemorative coins from the gift shop as a souvinir?

The bigger ships often have them high than deck 11, but if you like the water works, you might be able to find them more easily,