NebrMom Posted February 15, 2017 #1 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NebrMom Posted February 15, 2017 Author #2 Share Posted February 15, 2017 The build a bear line up on the first day in Camp Ocean Clothes shoes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NebrMom Posted February 15, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Pictures of the animals available Bunny monkey pink bear puppy rainbow bear rainbow cat shark turtle end display (displayed with clothes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaded Lady Posted February 15, 2017 #4 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalgeek Posted February 15, 2017 #5 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Wow it sounds like they really brought the whole experience from the land-based stores. (I've taken my granddaughters to get them). Sounds like something my wife would like to do on Miracle next year. Lol, we aren't afraid to do kid stuff if they'll let us. (We had a blast at Dr. Suess breakfast even though all our kids and grandkids were back home). Thanks for the review and the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NebrMom Posted February 15, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalgeek Posted February 15, 2017 #7 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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... ha, I'm not OP but I can guarantee if they let kidless adults in we'll roll up in there just like we belonged. If you wanna make a bear for your grandson don't let anyone tell you you should feel bad about that or that you can't. Well, except for Carnival employees - I reckon they would have the final say on that.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalgeek Posted February 15, 2017 #8 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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. :) there ya go. That's good news too. My wife would probably make one for the kids AND one for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniceB Posted February 15, 2017 #9 Share Posted February 15, 2017 My friends daughters did this on the Breeze in January. She said it was a great experience and thought the cost was excellent for what you received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NebrMom Posted February 15, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalgeek Posted February 15, 2017 #11 Share Posted February 15, 2017 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 ) 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 :) Looks like they made a pretty decent compromise between the full scale stuffing machine at the mall store (It's a big Dr Suessian looking contraption lol) and the stuffing station on ship. Still get all the experience but maybe a little less hardware which is fine and understandable on a boat. Incidentally my wife already told me we're doing this on or cruise next year. She been ignoring my texts all day until I told her about the build a bear lol. She didn;t wanna hear how much I would be spending tomorrow on Metallica tickets but Build a Bear got her attention. Oh and yeah, around me, cookies need to worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaded Lady Posted February 15, 2017 #12 Share Posted February 15, 2017 At the first workshop they had cookies and a photo backdrop but at the second one there was just coloring sheets WELL!!!! If there are cookies I'm all in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanyon71 Posted February 15, 2017 #13 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Awesome. My daughter will be very interested in this, she already has a few of them. Thanks for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassyredhat Posted February 15, 2017 #14 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Thank you for this review. Our G-daughter will be 5 when we go, and I was planning to do this with her. Patti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnjam1 Posted February 15, 2017 #15 Share Posted February 15, 2017 We have done the workshop on several of the ships including the Breeze. I am excited to see they have gotten the machine now as in the past we hand stuffed them with the same material! Super cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JordyM Posted February 16, 2017 #16 Share Posted February 16, 2017 My daughters 20 and 17 and I each built a bear on the Magic at Christmas. No one batted an eye that we didn't have littles with us. Sent from my SM-G920P using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deborahjo Posted February 16, 2017 #17 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Wow. We have been doing Build a Bear for 4 years and have never had all this happen. We walk in pick out our creature. Stuff it and leave. We are 2 adults and build them for our Labrador retrievers. No one cares that we have no kids with us. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirbym099 Posted February 24, 2017 #18 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Does anyone know if the Valor is still doing the carnival sponsored build a bear since the actual Build-a-bear shop still says coming soon? Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk8rmomof3 Posted February 25, 2017 #19 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Thank you SOOOOOO much for the information. That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for! Kind of hoping it would be one day 1. I wasn't planning on bringing stuffed animals for the kids and was hoping they'd get to make a bear day one. I'm so glad it sounded like it was worth it! My kids want to do this! I hope one of them picks the Carnival bear since it's the only place you can get it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivemonkeysplus1 Posted February 25, 2017 #20 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I didn't care to do this until your post 👍🏻 We've done it here several times...but that shark <3 and we're swimming with sharks in Belize. I'm in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinHoneymooners Posted February 25, 2017 #21 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Thanks SO MUCH for posting this, I've dug and dug, too, hoping to see more details about this. I'm looking forward to surprising my son with it on our cruise next month. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted February 25, 2017 #22 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Thank you for sharing your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaskie Posted February 26, 2017 #23 Share Posted February 26, 2017 My daughter loves BB, so I know we will be hitting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5ten Posted March 1, 2017 #24 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I don't know if I should tell my kids about this or not. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domergirl Posted March 1, 2017 #25 Share Posted March 1, 2017 This is a great review, and I'll be excited to try the real build-a-bear experience at sea!! I wanted to post to make sure that people understand that this Isn't on all ships yet. We were on the Fantasy last week, and even though the Funtimes calls their event "Build a Bear"....it's really the same old "Beary Cuddly" that's been around for years. My daughter still enjoyed it...but it's a different experience, different selection, etc. The carnival website will tell you which ships have which experience. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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