Cruising Ducks - Yes or No ?

[Britboys]

It's another one of those things that I really just don't get. I suppose it's just about harmless but what a waste of time and effort when there are so many other things happening around a cruise ship...

[Red Ray]

Pray God she doesn't leave any in the laundry...that way lies madness....!

[FamilyCruiserUK]

I honestly think that most of the people that have replied on this thread do not cruise with young children. 

Its a bit of hide and seek with for the children. Just like an easter egg hunt. 

Granted its more plastic junk, but its just some fun for the little ones. 

As rightly said the american ships love doing them. Us brits, too stuck up sometimes to enjoy harmeless fun. 

[Dermotsgirl]

On land, geocaching seems popular these days.  ( treasure hunting with a GPS enabled device)

 

I tend to think this ducks thing is a low-tech shipboard equivalent.  I think it's fun for children. but not something I'd actively take part in  

 

 

[pete14]

1 hour ago, jh1809 said:

I came across this for the first time on Aurora last autumn. I think they were woollen ducks, though I didn't pay much attention. It does seem a waste of time and effort - except for the outfits manufacturing and selling them, of course.

On a child free ship? 

[jeanlyon]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Did anyone answer Jean? I’m still at a complete loss as to what the point is!

Yes, got told I was a party pooper!!  Ha ha

[CarlaMarie]

At Christmas my local church had volunteers knitting lots of hanging angels and attached was a tag inviting you to midnight mass or the childrens service. They hung them in the bushes and trees around the area, and I thought that was a nice touch. 

 

But I don't get hiding ducks on a cruise ship. If it is organised by the crew for the children then that is different, but otherwise I don't see what the point is.

[kalos]

As an alternative you could play hunt the duck in the mdr .

Who knows what you will get ? Maybe a slice or a leg hidden under your green beans .

The fun does not stop there for anyone who cares to read the menu footing .

This product may contain shot pellets , so in a way you can choke on it , just like you 

would with a sixpence in a Christmas pud . The good old days .

We brits know how to have fun !

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I honestly think that most of the people that have replied on this thread do not cruise with young children. 

Its a bit of hide and seek with for the children. Just like an easter egg hunt. 

Granted its more plastic junk, but its just some fun for the little ones. 

As rightly said the american ships love doing them. Us brits, too stuck up sometimes to enjoy harmeless fun. 

But someone does it on Ambassador, which is pretty much child-free most of the time...

[Slugsta]

This seems to have passed me by, had I not read this I would probably have thrown away anything I might have found!

[Denarius]

14 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

I have found a few on a P&O ship before and I left them exactly there , but in Spain I came across a duck shop with thousands of different ducks to buy all dressed up , different nationalities etc , I don’t see the need for this unless you want company in your bath 😁

In Dubrovnik

Edited April 17, 2023 by Denarius

[Vampiress88]

5 hours ago, SquishTheWhale said:

It's an American thing. On a FB group I've seen people getting hundreds of these things custom printed with a band logo which is so incomprehensible to me because 1. It must have cost them, 2. Not everyone likes the same band as you, and 3. WHY

As the owner of a young child, bath toys that are squeezy with a hole in them are a breeding ground for black mould as the water can't escape once it's inside. So these things are no good for young kids even! I guess my son would be happy to find one and I'd let him play with it but not in water.

On NCL they have grab machines with ducks in various designs so maybe that's where the idea originated- people won the ducks and then rehid them around the ship?

My mum crochets (with real wool) small toys and leaves them in local parks for children, I know people paint rocks and leave them to be found and rehidden. Much more environmentally friendly versions of this game!

agreed about the mould. 
 

mine just like to find them on the ship then re hide them for other kids. My youngest was looking in the club house for one but has yet to find one. Think we’ve always found them on the ship before 

[jh1809]

3 hours ago, pete14 said:

On a child free ship? 

Yep.

[Palaceman]

17 hours ago, Tapi said:

 

I’ve found a few ducks myself over the years. I’ll pick them up and put them right back where I found them. No interest in participating. 😂
 

 

When I read that this has happened on Aurora being an adults only ship, it's very worrying. The whole thing is very childish. If I found one I would not put it back but put it in a bin. Not one on board so the crew have to waste their time disposing of it appropriately but in a bin at the next port of call.

[Dermotsgirl]

I’ve just seen on FB, that someone’s planning to do this duck thing on Saga ! 

[Sheila127]

Sorry if I am missing something here but think this is really weird!

[Presto2]

We have stayed at Darwin's Escapes (English company) a number of times and we always get a free duck for the jacuzzi in our accommodation. Of course we never ever use them -------- cough ---- though they now live in our caravan. 😉 (Only 3 of them though)

To be honest, I just think this is a bit of fun and would find it amusing. There are plenty of other negative things that I am hearing about on ships at the moment and finding the odd plastic or knitted duck would be the least of my worries. I think it would be quite funny ..... sorry.

Anyway, coming from Stoke on Trent, we call everyone 'Duck' so it'll be like being at home.

🙂

[Selbourne]

I absolutely get why kids club staff might do something like this during school holidays on family ships as a sort of treasure hunt for young kids, and I’d have no issue with that whatsoever.
 

However, I still don’t get what gives a passenger the right to think that they can unilaterally decide to litter the ship with this tat and think that it’s acceptable. I can see this featuring on one of the many cruise programmes on TV, as they seem to like to highlight things that make cruise passengers look eccentric or odd. When I was working, many colleagues were staggered that we liked cruising, such is the reputation that it gets from things such as this!

[Presto2]

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I absolutely get why kids club staff might do something like this during school holidays on family ships as a sort of treasure hunt for young kids, and I’d have no issue with that whatsoever.
 

However, I still don’t get what gives a passenger the right to think that they can unilaterally decide to litter the ship with this tat and think that it’s acceptable. I can see this featuring on one of the many cruise programmes on TV, as they seem to like to highlight things that make cruise passengers look eccentric or odd. When I was working, many colleagues were staggered that we liked cruising, such is the reputation that it gets from things such as this!

I think I am a pretty level headed person, but I still find it quiet sweet if we found a 'duck' somewhere and it would make me smile - even without children on board. Lighten up - like I said - have heard of plenty of worse things happening on ships so why worry about it?  Perhaps its just me and I need to book an appointment at a local psychiatrist or retire ......or both. 😉

[Snow Hill]

3 hours ago, Palaceman said:

When I read that this has happened on Aurora being an adults only ship, it's very worrying. The whole thing is very childish. If I found one I would not put it back but put it in a bin. Not one on board so the crew have to waste their time disposing of it appropriately but in a bin at the next port of call.

+1

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I absolutely get why kids club staff might do something like this during school holidays on family ships as a sort of treasure hunt for young kids, and I’d have no issue with that whatsoever.
 

However, I still don’t get what gives a passenger the right to think that they can unilaterally decide to litter the ship with this tat and think that it’s acceptable. I can see this featuring on one of the many cruise programmes on TV, as they seem to like to highlight things that make cruise passengers look eccentric or odd. When I was working, many colleagues were staggered that we liked cruising, such is the reputation that it gets from things such as this!

This has been going on since 2015 so not exactly new, 2018 was the start of the big phenomenon based on one little girl's adventure on Carnival Breeze.  Carnival actively encourage it on their ships as I understand it: 

 

"Others have gone so far as to suggest that rubber ducks should be banned aboard cruise ships, prompting one concerned traveler to ask Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, if this would happen on their ships. He not only assured his FB followers that the ducks were welcome on board (“Hide them. Find them. Have fun with them,” he wrote), but assured would-be hiders that “most” of the crew members knew not to throw them away if they came across them."

[Snow Hill]

8 hours ago, Denarius said:

In Dubrovnik

Ducbrovnik. 😬

[Josy1953]

11 hours ago, Sheila127 said:

Sorry if I am missing something here but think this is really weird!

+1

[lincslady]

+ 2.

 

Surely just something kids might do at a children's party?

[twotravellersLondon]

2 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

+1

  

We wonder just how far this might go... time to guard he ducklings?