NebrMom

I admit I had never been to a build a bear in a mall, etc. so I didn't know how much they followed the process there. Here are a few more photos of the process.

Take a heart (ignore the wild hair on DD she had just come back from an all day excursion :D )

Choose your animal

get it stuffed

get it "sewn"

At the first workshop they had cookies and a photo backdrop but at the second one there was just coloring sheets

The little bear cookies looked so worried :)

Thanks for this review... I was thinking of getting a build-a-bear from our Breeze cruise for my grandson as a gift (he's not sailing with us). How uncomfortable would I feel if I went to the workshop without a little one, just to make it for my grandson?

 

thanks in advance...

There were a few parents/grandparents there who were obviously getting it as a gift, but one woman in line behind us to pay admitted that she had always wanted one and decided it was time to just get it for herself. :)

Pictures of the animals available

Bunny

monkey

pink bear

puppy

rainbow bear

rainbow cat

shark

turtle

end display (displayed with clothes)

The build a bear line up on the first day in Camp Ocean

Clothes

shoes

I'm writing this review of the Build-a-Bear at sea workshop because before we left I could not find very much about it and my 9-year-old DD was very excited about it.

We sailed on the Breeze out of Galveston Feb. 5, 2017. There were two workshops, the first on the fifth night (Thursday) at 4:15 pm after returning to the ship from a port excursion. It was in the Limelight Lounge.

The second workshop was on the seventh night (Saturday) at 3:15 pm on a sea day. It was in Camp Ocean.

IIRC, both workshops were listed in both the daily Fun Times and the Camp Ocean schedules.

We attended both of them and bought an animal each time. (My DD had been saving up her money for months for this)

Both workshops worked very similar to each other. Each family's name was written down in the order they arrived, later they are called up 2 or 3 families at a time.

Everyone is given a small foam-filled heart and they do a cute little ceremony where you touch the heart to your head to make your new friend smart, tuck it in your elbow to make it strong, etc.

When your name is called, you choose the animal you want to make. I think they do occaisionally change out the animals (or different animals on different ships) because what information I could find before the cruise showed a calico cat that was not available on our cruise.

I saw a snow leopard, rainbow heart bear, pink bear, spotted dog, turtle, monkey, shark, rabbit, the Carnival Bear (white bear with red and blue inside ear and a whale tail symbol on his foot, I think) There also was one labeled rainbow heart cat but my cat-loving daughter thought it just looked like another bear.

There also is a rack of clothes, shoes and other accessories (ie. sunglasses) you can purchase for between $8-12.

A crew member helps the child add stuffing using a machine that looks like a giant gumball machine filled with fluff. The helper puts the animal on the spout of the machine by way of the hole in the animals back. The child is in charge of the foot pedal that runs the stuffing machine. They will ask the child to do a "hug test" to see if they want the animal filled more or less.

The next step is to another crew helper who tightens the strings on the animal's back, ties them off and cuts off any excess. If you have chosen any clothes they also will dress your animal for you. (Which is helpful because I watched one helper put a pair of shoes on a bear and it did not look easy)

From there all that is left is the pay station. Each animal is $26, no tax. You just put it on your sail and sign card.

Carnival's website says this is available on the Breeze, Conquest, Dream, Ecstasy, Fascination, Imagination, Inspiration, Legend, Magic, Miracle, Paradise, Triumph, Victory and Vista.

If I can figure out how, I will add photos of the process and options as well.

We also just got off the Breeze Sunday and our cabin steward, Keerthi, met us as soon as we got to our cabin the first day and handed us a form to fill out where you could check 'morning' 'evening' or 'both' (yes there was a box to check for 'both') It also specifically asked about other extras such as will you want extra towels, pillows or blankets. He did an excellent job, recognizing us every time he saw us in the hall and connecting us with our daughter who was actually booked in my sisters room next door.

As for debarking, we had a little bit different experience because even though we chose to carry our own luggage, our cabin was on deck 2 so we were some of the last ones off ship. So with the fog delay that set everyone back, we didn't get off the ship until nearly 1 p.m. However, we parked our group in the Limelight Lounge where the crew set up a movie for us to watch.