Popular Cruise Activity: Hide Rubber Ducks !?!

Oh my yes! It is a real thing! We cruise on Holland America and it seems to be quite the thing. On a recent cruise there was one stuck on our cabin door. I think it was meant to be a gift as I was celebrating a birthday. Anyway, folks really talk about it on the various Holland America FB groups. We were recently watching a YouTube video on Amsterdam and I swear I saw a shop that sells ducks. Maybe thats where they get them.

But no, we do not participate in the duck hiding or looking.

Sorry, but that article is 100% pure click bait. The hide and seek rubber duck game has been going on for many years now. And the cruiselines dislike of the game is well known. While calling them a hazard strains credibility, it is true that coming across a forgotten duck and having to dispose of it would certainly add to crew workload by at least one or 2 seconds per duck. And each duck going into the trash instead of a cruisers luggage without question adds to the problem of plastics contamination of the environment.

As for the door "decoration ", which has been going on far longer, it infests and cheapens the ambiance of most mainstream cruiselines. The usual excuses for these eyesores range from claims they help cruisers find their cabin in long corridors full of identical doors because either they are too visually impaired or too drunk to read the numbers on the doors. Or the cruisers feel they can't enjoy their cruise without plastering their doors with garish and tacky signs and banners. Besides being a visual assault on the senses, some of these examples of personal expression can actually damage the finish on the doors due to the irresponsible use of inappropriate adhesives.

Have you guessed how I feel about these?

Years ago, a shipping container of yellow plastic ducks fell off a ship, and for several years afterwards there were ongoing reports about how far any duck might have travelled.

I think ducks are more popular on some cruiselines than othets. I haven’t seen any on my cruises.

Door decorations are now discouraged on NCL. Too bad because it is a fun activity and contrary to a previous poster, helps everyone, not just drunks, more easily find their cabin in those long corridors.

We are long time cruisers. The first time my husband found a duckie in an elevator by my arm we felt special. I looked duckies up on google I was hooked! That’s the kid in me. We have hidden several hundred ducks over the years. We buy them online in bulk, never the expensive ones in stores. I bring one duck for each of us for the number of days of the cruise. We find them on every cruise all over the world. Many of the crew like to collect ducks for themselves and bring them to their kids. Ducks are not a danger and they aren’t thrown into the trash. You don’t hide them in the stores or pool areas. They are hidden in plain sight. Many cruisers don’t know about ducks and you can ignore them if you want. I also put a sketch on my door with a magnet. I like seeing the door decorations. These are harmless fun…much better than heavy drinking and gambling. Quack! Quack!

@cyn - have you ever taken a cruise?

Ducks seem like just a way for some folks to "share" their excitement - whether in cruising or in Jeeps. Almost daily I will see a Jeep with one (often MANY) ducks lined across its dashboard. I've also come across duck "events" where they are released en masse in a stream for a race and have a winner. Ducks seem a regular thing at fairs or amusement park games.

IOW, for whatever reason, little rubber ducks hold a place in many folks' happy place, so as a vacation is often also a happy place, I sort of understand why the folks with both those in common will have them part of their vacations.

My wife was gifted a little duck from a friend of her's young daughter after their family took a Princess cruise. The little girl was so happy to share it with my wife, and while I don't really "get" the reason to hide them across cruise ships, I do think many folks do - in cruising and in broader daily life.

And, yes, 1,000x better than stupid padlocks.

I think the duck thing is fun. We need more fun these days. I've always carried a very small Travelocity Gnome in my backpack. Couple of years ago I found a small rubber duck in a Swiss thrift store, so now my duckie is hanging with my Gnomie.

Or, save your money and have a couple of margaritas.

A well-known, talented French blogger with ties to RS often has her duckie in a photo exploring new places. Her English-language blogs are excellent.

Three friends and I traveled through England Scotland and Wales with one tiny rubber ducky. One of our high school friends liked rubber duckies so we took pictures everywhere of the duck in many famous spots, at the dinner table with its own place setting, on the ground with a baby Highland calf sniffing it, etc, and sent them to her via text. Silly? Yes! We giggled like schoolgirls. I didn’t take the duck on the trip but I did bring it home and I still have it 12 years later. My grand kids played with it in the bath tub.
As far as hiding ducks all over a ship, not something I would do but might smoke if I saw one.

Clearly, there are some folks who are passionate about duck activity in a cruise. Others seem to have opposite opinions. Is this just line “cruising” in general?

Some folks just like rubber duckies for other activities, including various travel purposes! I know there have been lots of charity Rubber Duck races, where you buy a numbered duck and it gets dumped in a creek with hundreds of others. I won a $25 certificate to a local deli once, when my duck was one of the first to cross the finish line.

@ Tom R, my only cruise was almost 40 years ago, to Egypt and the Middle East. Since then, an African Safari trip included three nights on a river boat, going up and down the Zambezi River, and a tour of Viêt Nam included a night on a ship in Halong Bay. Norway by car required several fjord crossings by car ferry, and I’ve “sailed” on the Thames River from London to Greenwich a couple of times. No rubber ducks, and definitely nothing stuck onto a cabin door!

Does whitewater rafting in Colorado count, or canoeing in the Boundary Waters or among mangroves in Florida? Sea kayaking off the coast of Brittany? Sailboat on Lake Michigan?

A well-known, talented French blogger with ties to RS often has her duckie in a photo exploring new places

ElizaBets, I don’t suppose she’s taken her duckie anywhere they produced, or served, foie gras? That might be awkward ;-)

Interesting factoid: Quack Quack in French is Coin Coin. I know this because somewhere in France I saw that they had something called a “Coin Coin” sandwich the menu. I was curious as to what it was so I ordered it, and lo and behold it was 🦆

Egypt and the Middle East. Since then, an African Safari trip included three nights on a river boat, going up and down the Zambezi River, and a tour of Viêt Nam included a night on a ship in Halong Bay

Such a good point CYN: Egypt, Middle East, Zambezi River, Halong Bay...all places where the price of this first world duck and activity could feed your cabin attendant's children. Indeed, circumspect for the societies and our places of privilege would certainly put a damper on such frivolity as hiding ducks.
Hey, I like rubber and real ducks as well as anyone else and no duck was injured writing this post.