Build-A-Bear Workshop at Sea

(We had a blast at Dr. Suess breakfast even though all our kids and grandkids were back home). If you're sure you know what sort of cabin you want, on which ship, on which itinerary — and about a dozen other things — you can head over to Carnival.com to book directly. As you might expect, pricing for ships will generally be lower during offseason periods such as September, October and parts of November. Note that, in contrast to airline frequent flyer programs, cruise line loyalty programs do not require you to requalify for status every year.

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The carnival website will tell you which ships have which experience. If you're sure Carnival is your line, look for a travel agent who specializes in trips with the brand. You want someone who understands all the little quirks that are unique to Carnival's cabin categories and, preferably, has done ship inspections to see the cabins firsthand. Meanwhile, for passengers hoping for quiet time away from the kids, many Carnival ships also have an adults-only Serenity retreat area on their top decks with padded loungers, daybeds, hot tubs and often a bar. In addition to entertainment spaces, the interiors of Carnival ships are loaded with other venues where passengers can kick back and let loose day and night, including a wide range of bars, lounges and nightspots.

Carnival Cruise Passengers Attempt to Bring Portable Washing Machine Aboard Ship

Build-A-Bear Workshop going out to sea - Chain Store Age

Build-A-Bear Workshop going out to sea.

Posted: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The pop-up workstations are set up at designated times throughout the cruise and include everything to make a cute huggable bear. The events will include racks filled with various outfits and accessories as well as iconic stuffers that allows participants to add soft stuffing to make their bear as plush and cuddly as they want. Prices for the bears start at $20 with outfits and accessories starting at $5. The Build-A-Bear Workshop will give any aged child a chance to build their very own cuddly bear. The bears are taken to another level with a voice chip enabling kids to record a message into the bear. Each bear also comes with a birth certificate including the date it was created.

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In short, there's a ton to do up top on Carnival vessels — and it's almost all available to every passenger on board the vessels at no extra charge (the roller coaster is the only exception). Other popular venues found on some Carnival ships include RedFrog Pub, which serves up Carnival's tasty housemade beers on tap, as well as plenty of other choices. In addition, every ship has at least one — and usually several — extra-charge eateries. The most common ones found across the fleet are Fahrenheit 555, the line's signature steakhouse, and Italian cuisine-serving Cucina del Capitano (if you're a Carnival fan, you know this as the place where waiters sing and dance between courses). The two venues have flat fees of $49 and $24 per person, respectively.

Carnival Sunshine Build-A-Bear Workshop at Sea

The self-described "fun ship" line is the king of short, affordable, fun-focused cruises from U.S. ports to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico and other nearby destinations. No matter where you live in the U.S., you're probably within a few hours of a Carnival ship. Every kid loves to get a stuffed animal on vacation, but it's so much more fun -- and meaningful -- when you get to pick the animal you want, stuff it yourself and then dress it in an outfit you picked out. The first Build-A-Bear At Sea Workshop is currently aboard the Carnival Dream and is expected to be rolled out fleet wide aboard all 25 Carnival ships by summer 2017.

The top decks of Carnival vessels are covered in family-focused attractions – pools, waterslide areas and bustling fun zones with such draws as ropes courses and miniature golf. Also, there are always several music venues where you'll find live performers in the afternoons and evenings, including — on some ships — the Atrium Bar and a secondary hub area called Ocean Plaza. There's almost always a piano bar that's home to lively singalongs. The quality of the food (and drink) on Carnival ships always surprises us, given the budget pricing of the brand. Despite being one of the industry's lowest-cost operators, Carnival manages to pull off one of the best steakhouses at sea in Fahrenheit 555, and even the no-extra-charge main restaurants get the basics right.

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Carnival claims to draw more children than any other cruise line. So perhaps it makes sense that it has one of the most extensive children's programs at sea. The line has formal children's programming and activities for children as young as 2 years old through the age of 17. On one of Carnival's newest ships, Carnival Panorama, there's no RedFrog Pub, but the Smokehouse Brewhouse has a stage that's home to live music nightly and some of the ship's karaoke sessions. When it comes to raucous, though, nothing on Carnival ships quite compares to the frequent karaoke nights on board.

Still get all the experience but maybe a little less hardware which is fine and understandable on a boat. 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.

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Sometimes held in a secondary lounge or a shipboard pub, karaoke on Carnival draws a big crowd. Passengers come prepared with rehearsed songs and sometimes even their own guitars. Most of these six ships (all but Carnival Venezia) have an a la carte barbecue-and-beer joint called Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse Brewhouse, too. BlueIguana is a Chipotle-style restaurant, with yummy made-to-order burritos and tacos. Created in partnership with Food Network's Guy Fieri, Guy's Burger Joint offers burgers that beat anything you'll find around the pool on other mass-market ships and even most luxury vessels.

We are equally grateful to partner with Build-A-Bear Workshop to help raise money for the special kids at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” she added. Carnival is the family cruise leader, with 700,000 children per year enjoying a holiday on-board their ships. The addition of the workshops will complement the wide range of activities already available for children, including the kids’ clubs, water parks, arcades, mini golf courses, poolside movies and sports courts. Carnival Cruise Line and Build-A-Bear Workshop have partnered together to bring aboard another family-friendly activity, Build-A-Bear At Sea. The Build-A-Bear concept allows children to build and individualize their own teddy bears.

Some East Coast ships also head to Bermuda, New England and Canada. On the West Coast, sailings to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska are the norm. For the most part, Carnival ships sail relatively short voyages of three to eight nights. Seven of the line's 25 vessels measure less than 100,000 tons, which makes them almost midsize by today's cruise ship standards. Carnival is one of the world's biggest cruise lines by passenger capacity, with 25 ships that together offer nearly 80,000 berths. This is, after all, the brand that for many years held a Hairy Chest Contest around the pool deck on every voyage, to a standing-room-only, hooting and hollering crowd.

Kids can cobble together their own custom teddy bears on Carnival Cruise Line ships under a new partnership with Build-A-Bear Workshop. The workshops have been around on land since 1997 and are familiar to any parent with youngsters, but this will be their first voyage at sea. The concept is to allow kids to choose a stuffed animal that can be personalized with accessories and outfits. Carnival said shipboard it will charge $20 for animals and $5 for accessories and outfits. Bears will be available for building either at a pop-up workstation with Carnival’s Camp Ocean children’s facility, or in scheduled parties hosted by cruise directors and replete with music, bear-themed snacks and photo opportunities.

Each bear comes complete with its own “birth certificate” with the bear’s name and date he or she was created, as well as a logoed drawstring bag. Give the gift of building a new furry friend at the Build-A-Bear Workshop At Sea experience! Onboard credit is redeemable for one (1) furry friend of the recipient’s choosing during Build-A-Bear Workshop At Sea events only and is not redeemable for cash. This purchase provides an immediate credit to a guest's Sail & Sign account. This credit is valid for a single voyage and cannot be transferred to future bookings.

At 800 feet in length, these aren't the biggest roller coasters ever. On the vast majority of Carnival ships, there's not just a single waterslide but a whole water park area. Dubbed WaterWorks, these areas vary in size and features from vessel to vessel. They typically have one or two big waterslides (sometimes three!), a play zone with interactive water features and a large, continuously filling dump bucket that periodically soaks everybody within range. In fact, when it comes to waterslides on ships, Carnival is the cruise world's king. There's now at least one waterslide on all but one ship in the Carnival fleet (Carnival Luminosa) — something no other line can say.

Each bear costs $26, which also includes a Carnival-branded Build-A-Bear drawstring bag for carrying your new bear. A Carnival t-shirt is $5 and all other accessories and outfits cost extra. 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.