I have had my eye on Cruising Adventures (31083) for some time. However, since I do not currently have a marina or shoreline in my LEGO® city, it was not high on my purchase list. As luck would have it, I recently found this set on liquidation at Walmart. I bought it for $29.00 CAD. It usually costs $79.99 CAD. Therefore, at a savings of 64%, I could hardly refuse. In this week’s set review, we will see if Cruising Adventures was worth the wait!
Cruising Adventures (31083) Summary
- NAME: Cruising Adventures
- SET #: 31083
- THEME: Creator 3-in-1
- COST: $79.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 597
- MINIFIGURES: 3
- RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2018
Cruising Adventures (31083) Quick Review
- VALUE: 92% (Good value, excellent build time.)
- BUILD: 95% (No major complaints, it is a nice looking set.)
- MINIFIGURES: 84% (Good Minifigs, loads of accessories, poor brick:fig.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 100% (Loads of fun.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 93%
Cruising Adventures (31083) Review
VALUE: 92%
At full price, Cruising Adventures will set you back $79.99 in Canada. With 597 pieces, you are looking at spending $0.13 per brick. Overall, that is good. My current average cost-per-brick is $0.14. I rate the value of this set at 84%. Thanks to Walmart, I picked up Cruising Adventures for $29.00. At that price, I paid $0.05/brick, which is hard to beat.
Cruising Adventures took me 132 minutes (2 hours and 12 minutes) to build from start to finish. That is excellent, and earns 92%. Also, keep in mind that I only built one of the three possible variations of this set. If you were to assemble all three, you would get a lot of build time out of one kit. Because of that, I will rate Cruising Adventures at 100% for build-time value. Averaging this score with the cost-per-brick grade gives this set an overall value rating of 92%.
BUILD: 95%
Despite the number of water pictures I have taken for this review, Cruising Adventures does not actually float. That is not an issue at all in my mind; I just thought I should point it out given the pictures that I have taken. It would be hard to have a 3-in-1 set that floats. However, what you do get looks great. From the outside, this boat is awesome. I have no complaints.
The interior of the ship is equally cool. There is a bed, a kitchenette, and a small bathroom. My only issue with the bathroom is that it has no door. You can also see right through the cabin door, which is right next to the toilet. Not much privacy for those poor Minifigures. This is a small issue though.
In addition to the main boat, you also build a small beach scene and a jet ski. The alternate builds are a beach house or a coast guard station with helicopter and landing pad. While I did not build the alternate versions of the set, I like the boat the most based on the images. Cruising Adventures only loses half a point for the aforementioned bathroom privacy issue. I rate this set at 9.5/10 (95%) for build.
MINIFIGURES: 84%
There are three Minifigures included with Cruising Adventures. Sadly, one of them is a stumpy ape-child who does not come with the standard moveable legs. Other than that, the Minifigures come with all of the regular parts, as well as front and back torso printing. Both of the adults also have double-sided faces, and some basic leg printing. These design specifications would usually earn a score of 73%. However, you also get 16 accessories. There is a fish, a crab, a fishing rod, a camera, a surfboard, a hot dog, a printed soda can top, a Popsicle, a bucket, a frying pan, a clever, and five printed screens/control panels. The sheer number of accessories easily brings the design score up to 100%.
Three Minifigures in a 597-piece kit translates into a brick-to-Minifigure ratio of 199:1. I have seen better. As a result, Cruising Adventures earns a ratio score of 68%. Averaging this with the design score brings these Minifigures an overall grade of 84%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 100%
As an adult collector, I really like Cruising Adventures. I had a lot of fun photographing this set for the review. I also want to keep this set built. This boat will fit nicely into a coast or marina scene should the need arise in my LEGO® city. I give it 5/5 (100%) as an AFOL score.
Kids will probably enjoy Cruising Adventures as well. The set is realistic, and has some neat details that will make for fun play. I cannot really see myself not having liked this set as a kid. Cruising Adventures earns 100% in the KFOL category as well.
Boat interior 
Boat Interior.
Overall Score: 93%
There is very little that I do not like about Cruising Adventures. The only down side that I can see about the set is the low brick-to-Minifigure ratio. Even if you buy this set at full price, you are getting a good deal. As I write this, the set is on liquidation racks at many retailers. Therefore, you stand to get an even better deal on a great set. I highly recommend it. As always, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time,
-Tom
What do others think?
Brick Insights is an awesome site that aggregates LEGO® set review scores from around the web. Based on their statistics, you can see what other reviewers think of Cruising Adventures below.
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