I was surprised and delighted when I entered our room after our first dinner on our first night of our first Holland America Grand Voyage in 2015.  Sitting on the bed was a cute little animal made from towels and washcloths.  Every night I was charmed by these different creations.  And on a 68 day cruise there was a lot to be charmed by.

I attended the class on making towel animals and even bought a “how to” book hoping to be able to charm my grandkids.  But I am all thumbs when it comes to doing dexterous things (I am left handed so perhaps dexterous was never in my wheelhouse) and the grandkids didn’t get the animals on their beds when they visited. But I still love the little critters.

Since the pandemic the tradition of nightly towel animals has gone the way of a lot of other things as lines worked on cost savings.  While I missed the daily treat I enjoyed, even more, the animals that did appear on my bed on dressy nights. 

I understand the change, and as the resident of a cruise port, I even approve.  Think of how many extra towels and wash cloths go through the laundry using electricity that, when generated, creates stuff coming out of the funnels that either goes into our air or is washed out by the scrubbers into the sea.  Think of the extra wastewater from those washings.  And with 34 rooms to clean, if it takes even a little less than two minutes to make an animal, that adds an extra hour to each steward team’s workday.  So, I delight in what I can get.

But once a cruise a whole menagerie of animals appears on the Lido.  Easter Sunday was our day.  And given the space and using seamer blankets as well as beach towels there is a wider range of possibilities.  Here is a gallery of this year’s menagerie.