These Adorable Towel Animals Always Surprise Cruise Guests: How To Make Your Own

Pets generally aren’t allowed on cruises, but passengers may find a fuzzy friend in their cabins anyway.

Cruise lines often leave towel animals in guests’ staterooms after they’re cleaned, ranging from dogs to swans to octopuses. Michael Cuenco Cajucom, a stateroom attendant with Carnival Cruise Line, is one of the professionals behind the fluffy wildlife that awaits guests upon their return to their cabins.

Cajucom, who is currently working onboard Carnival Liberty said guests get “so excited.”

“And even they’re fighting (to be) the first one who’s in the cabin to see what animal they get,” said the 49-year-old. Cajucom showed USA TODAY how to make a towel elephant, so travelers recreate their own when the cruise is over.

You will need one large and one medium-sized towel. Spread the large towel out on a flat surface and fold it inward a maximum of about three inches on both long sides. Fold the top edge of the towel down and roll it tightly halfway down the towel. Repeat the process with the bottom of the towel until they meet in the middle.

Grip the ends of the rolled towel with both hands and fold it in half to make four rolls, which will serve as the elephant’s legs. “That’s going to be the body,” said Cajucom. “And then make it stand.”

Adjust the rolls – or elephant’s feet – until it can stand on its own.

Hang the medium-sized towel from a wall hook – or something similar – midway down the edge of one its long sides. Hold the top edges of the towel and pull it toward you. Then gently roll each side inward evenly until they meet.

Remove the towel from the hook (it should resemble an elephant’s head and trunk). Flip it over so the trunk is facing downward. Hold the trunk with one hand and use the other to pull the material between the elephant’s ears down to make a face.

Twist the two loose ends at the top of the towel once each to make its ears. “It takes a lot of practice, but it’s going to be neat,” said Cajucom.

Hold the tip of the elephant’s trunk and fold it backward halfway. Then place the head on top of the legs. “Of course, you need to make it more alive but putting an eye on (it),” he added. Place two round, black stickers – which Cajucom said guests can order on Amazon – on either side of its face for eyes.

“We’re happy making these things, especially when (guests) are attached to the towel animal,” he said.

Illustrations by Veronica Bravo, USA TODAY