What’s With All The Ducks?

If you have spent any time on a cruise ship lately, you may have found one.

A rubber duck. Sitting on a stairwell. Tucked onto a ledge. Hiding somewhere near an elevator. A toy duck infestation.

You have discovered cruise ducking. Congratulations. Or maybe, sorry to hear that.

The idea is pretty simple. Passengers bring small rubber ducks onboard and hide them around the ship for other passengers to find. They might have a little tag attached telling you where the duck came from, who left it, or maybe the name of the ship and sailing. Details from the duck’s originator.

Some people just keep it. Some might hide it again for somebody else. That’s basically it. There are no points. No prizes. Nobody gets a free cruise after collecting all seven Infinity Ducks.

Where Did This Start?

I always assumed this somehow grew out of the Jeep thing. You may have seen Jeep Wranglers driving around with a collection of little rubber ducks lined across the dashboard. The first time I was ever attacked by a duck, I had a rented Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Recon – a killer Jeep – and walked out of a balsamic vinegar store in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I spotted a duck on the fender, and my wife exclaims “you got ducked!”. What? I assumed I was marked for death by some serial killer. Instead, she explained, the duck was given as a gift message, something along the lines of “hey, cool Jeep”.

But the jeep crowd didn’t start the trend. That didn’t catch on until 2020, from a girl named Allison Parliament #DuckDuckJeep.

Turns out, the cruise people beat the Jeep folks to it.

The modern cruising-duck craze is generally credited to a 10-year-old girl named Abby Davis, who sailed aboard the Carnival Breeze in 2018. Abby wanted to bring some rubber ducks along and hide them around the ship to make other passengers smile.

Her family brought 50 of them.

The idea caught on, a Facebook group followed, and what started as one kid hiding ducks on vacation somehow became a thing on cruise ships all over the world.

Why Do People Do It?

Mostly because it’s fun. I’m not into it. I don’t need a collection of rubber ducks. But, if people are having a good time, who am I to get in their way.

Kids seem to love hunting for them, although I’ve seen plenty of adult women get crazy excited after finding a $2 rubber duck behind a potted plant. Is that sexist if I say women? I only say that, because I never saw a man do it.

People decorate them. There are pirate ducks, captain ducks, Hawaiian ducks, holiday ducks and ducks wearing clothing nearly elaborate than what I packed for formal night. I mean look at that white suit. And those sparkling shoes. LOL

Some passengers bring dozens of them. People have Facebook groups devoted to the “game”. They post pictures of the ducks they’ve found. Madness. But that’s really the whole point. Somebody finds something unexpected, it makes them smile, and maybe they pass it along.

Not Everyone Loves the Ducks

Like almost everything involving cruising, there are strong opinions.

Some people absolutely love ducking.

Some people couldn’t care less.

And some people seem to believe that civilization itself is endangered by a three-inch rubber mallard sitting next to an elevator.

Cruise lines don’t all treat the practice the same way, either. Carnival has actually mentioned hiding rubber ducks in its own cruise-packing material. Disney Cruise Line, on the other hand, does not allow guests to hide ducks or other objects around its ships. Hmmmm. I wonder if that’s because Disney is trying to sell their own toys to all the good little boys and girls. Disney isn’t just out to get in your pocket, are they?

So before arriving at the terminal with a suitcase containing 600 rubber ducks, it’s probably worth checking the rules for your cruise line.

And wherever you hide one, use a little common sense.

Don’t put them around safety equipment. Don’t hide them somewhere somebody has to climb, crawl or dismantle part of the ship to find them. Toss them into the pool? I wouldn’t. That’s just extra work for the crew to fish them out of the filter.

Would I Do It?

Personally, I’m in the no harm, no foul camp. Or no fowl, I guess. See what I did there.

I’ve never brought ducks aboard and I’ve never really gone looking for them. If somebody else enjoys doing it, though, have at it. There are certainly worse things you could be doing on a cruise ship.

But lately I’ve been thinking…

Maybe I should have some Just Go Cruising ducks made. A little logo. Maybe the website on the tag. Hide a few around the ship.

Is that participating in a fun cruising tradition? Or is it shameless marketing in disguise?

Probably both. I’m okay with that. Capitalism, you know.

So I’m putting it to you.

Should I order a big box of Just Go Cruising ducks and start hiding them on our cruises?