Cruising Towels

These are too funny. What do they pay these people and where do I sign up?

those are SO cute...I've never heard of such a thing.... I love it.... !

wonder if they actually have someone whose job is just to make towel critters?

I love it Duckie! They did that when my sisters and I cruised a few years ago. They even put a pair of my sister's glasses on one of the animals. Dontcha lust love cruisin'?

the froggie is a true work of art

Oh -- and they even had a tour of the kitchen with a demonstration of making towel animals.

Vicky, the ship's crew gets less than minumum pay, I'm afraid. They are outrageously exploited. Most crew members come from Asia where the pay is of course considered "high" in comparison to what they can be paid in their own countries.

On the Valor, I understand that they were paid between $2-3 an hour and must depend on the passenger's gratuity for the rest of their pay. As each passenger is assessed a fixed amount ($10.00) for each day that they are onboard, the crew gets to divide that gratuity equally among themselves. There's over 1200 of them so it does not translate to a lot... the crew is expected to work 12 hours a day. They only have rotating weeks when they can disembark to have a few hours on the ports of call.

Because I knew most of them send their money home to provide for their families, I left our Stewards and Waiters extra cash, apart from the gratuity that the ship assessed against our bill.

If I remember correctly, they a sign contract for 6 months, get 2 months off with their families (they pay their own way back from the ship's port) and if they're lucky, they get to sign back up. This depends on their performance reports which are rigid and daunting. Three passenger complaints or dissatisfaction reports against them are all it needs to be replaced. There is of course a long waiting list for new trainees. In countries where jobs are non-existent or where the poverty is rampant, a job aboard a cruise ship is premium.

Flit, all the Stewards were trained to create the towel figures! They came to clean our stateroom twice a day and would leave a different towel each time.

They held classes onboard where one can sign-up to learn how to create the animals. I didn't expect to be making like Martha Stewart to my house guests so I preferred to laze by the pool. :-)

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Diane, I love cruising! We're leaving for another one in April.

I did go on that tour of the ship's Galley. It was an amazing experience with mind-boggling statistics about how a floating hotel can cater to 2500+ people 24 hours a day offering food and drinks!

Oh What Fun!

Those were great! I wonder how long the class lasts where you learn to make those?

When we were in Jamaica a couple of years ago, we were greeted with fresh swans every day. Nothing nearly as creative as this!

I haven't tried the new publishing options, yet. I'll check them out when we get home from having our taxes done. We're in a snow day, here!

There must be a core class as part of hospitality training called "Towel Sculptures 101." We experienced the joys of the terrycloth menagerie when vacationing in Cozumel. Thanks for sharing, Duckie!

Duckie, thanks for the towels to sob into. I just had to do a very long comment twice due to some kind of glitch, so count me amongst the weepers and moaners.

These are truly spectacular and like others here I have never even heard of such an art form. As always you have enlightened and entertained. Well done you!

Linda, yes the towels were fun and a neat surprise each time!
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Ina, on the Valor, I think the classes lasted for a couple of hours per session. They were not free, I think the classes were charged against your Sea and See cards. That's the credit card they issue you at boarding time. Everything gets charged against it while onboard... like special drinks, spa treatments, onshore expeditions, etc. You are expected to pay up after the cruise or you can pre-pay a certain amount into the card.

Lucky Flit is on a snow day, too.
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Renie, did you buy the book too? They were selling one on the Valor.

Carolyn, we cross-posted!

You can have all the towels you need :-) I'm one of the lucky ones, no glitches for me so far... knock on me head (it's woody sometimes)

These towels are excellent. My husband is very interested going on a cruise, but what a shame about the so many of these hardworking folks. We've still got a ways to go before the world evens out.

I love the towel folding on cruises! I always take photos of them, too, Duckie!

Stephanie, you'll enjoy your cruise, I'm sure of it!
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Sue, glad to know another cruiser!

i'm going on my first cruise in january. i hope they put these in my room.

These are amazing.

If you feel like, I have the perfect group to publish this to:

Pictures of Towels.

(Because it's such a specialized group, there isn't any content there yet. Some day we plan to take and post pictures of our towels. Honest.)

CC, if you go on the Carnival Lines, I'm sure you'll find these towels in your room! We're using the Norwegian Cruise Lines on our next cruise in the first 2 weeks of April so, I'll find out if they do the same thing there.

NCL happened to be the cruise stopping at the places we wanted to see and which would end in New York, where we wanted to spend a few days post cruise, that is why we changed lines.

The next cruise line on the drawing board will probably be Royal Caribbean, we want to go to Alaska next year and we've heard they have the best cruises going there.
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Aniko, thanks!
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Janna, it's done. LOL. I am FIRST in line... YIPEE!

Thanks for inviting me!

These are awesome! How fun it must have been to be surprised with each day's new creation.

that is really some impressive creations made from towels. I'm impressed!

Tonia, we enjoyed the surprises!
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I have a slight knowledge of Origami... can't be that different to use towels instead of paper. You come visit me Ed, and I 'd try to create some for the Guest Room while you're here :-)

Duckie - these would make me happy to come back to - I'm sure they were fun to do as well...I'll have to learn!
Regarding your trip to New Orleans in April - well, I'll ping you. Salud.

I think these are so clever, and probably one of the reason cruises are as expensive as they are, not just a folded towel, but one sculpted by some one trained to do these, I love them. I am glad you got back on too, no notifications so going down the list of my last articles and thanking those that commented , thank you "Duckie, glad you had a nice time on your cruise,.

People are so endlessly creative. What fun!

What a treat! The art of towel. New to me...never cruised.

This article is a Feature in the Pictures of Towels group.

(It is also the only content in the Pictures of Towels group. Folks, we want to see your towels!)

So cute! I'm glad this group finally has some content.

Mariana, thanks for all the helpful tips you left me! You're a peach, second only to the one below you :-)
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Elsie, I honestly think cruises are one of the cheapest vacation options you can think of. Everything is geared around making your trip a pampering experience. I doubt that the towels add an extra expense... just a little bit of training makes it easy for the stewards to fold them intricately and leave them on the beds.
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Rose, I think you found the root of it all. Yes, the kid in our hearts are joyful of the gift that is presented by the animal figures... we've never outgrown the pleasures that dolls and teddy bears give us.
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Kate and Ja, thanks!
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Janna, thanks for the feature. I feel special ;-)
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Sandy, thanks! I must have known the group was going to be created... I 've had this towel article in my Drafts page since last October!

I'm with you. I think cruises are far less expensive than other vacations. Everything is included (well, maybe no booze). You can get off at the tourist stops and just browse around without buying anything. I know a woman who went on a week cruise with only $50 to her name. She came back with $25 of that. (On our cruise, all tips were already included too.)

Boy do I love that elephant towell sculpture. I collect elephants. Wish I could do that...

Marilyn,

The budget-minded who wants to spend as little as possible on a cruise can do that! Since it was our first one, we spent more because we decided we wanted to do things on shore like tours and other activities, which cost extra.

I just found a website you might want to visit. Scroll down to number five, the instructions for the Elephant Towel Origami is there. Good luck and have fun!

Towel Origami

what fun! I'd be trying not to use them! Good thing you have photos!

I will love seeing the towel animals again. We will be sailing on Royal Caribbean again in October, our last 2 cruises were on Celebrity and they do not do the towel animals.

Nyota, we left those towels intact. They left us enough other towels in the bathroom to use, so we just enjoyed the animal towels.
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Nikki, we will leave for New Orleans on Thursday to board the Norwegian cruise ship, Spirit, on the 30th. It will be fun checking out the differences between the Carnival ships and their Norwegian counterparts. I will have pictures and stories when we return :-)

Those are really cute! I posted pictures of the towel animals from our cruise too.

I was following some links to see where they went . These pictures are actually worth posting - really cool .

Oh, I remember these now! You got extra special treatment with two animals at a time, I see! I think you were being favored. ;o)