Even novice cruisers quickly learn about the cruising ducks trend, a wildly popular guest-led scavenger hunt of hiding (and finding!) small toy ducks all over a cruise ship. While cruise lines don’t have official policies regarding the activity, Royal Caribbean has now offered their own endorsement of the fun, quacktastic game.
On Christmas Day, Royal Caribbean posted a brief video on their X (formerly Twitter) account titled “Hiding Holiday Cruise Ducks Onboard” that showcased a number of festive ducks and their tricky and not-so-tricky hiding places.
The 22-second video showed nine different holiday-themed rubber ducks being hidden in various public areas around an undisclosed ship or ships. Hiding places include tucked into planters, balanced on signs, and even nestled on seasonal decorations.
Some of the ducks are tucked well out of sight and would be more challenging to find. Others are placed more out in the open and easier for everyone to spot, no matter how familiar they may be with the game.
While festive music accompanies the video, there is no voiceover and no further hints about whether or not the cruise line is “officially” hiding ducks, how many ships may join in the festivities, or how long the game will go on.
The caption, however, asks “Think you can find these cruise ducks? Drop a comment to accept the challenge.”
The video has been viewed more than 14,500 times and has a variety of enthusiastic comments with both past and upcoming passengers noting their success or eagerness to try to find a duck.
Royal Caribbean has responded to a number of the comments with fun follow-ups such as “Happy hunting!” “Here, Duck, Ducky!” and “One of the lucky few. Happy Holidays!”
This post could mean any number of things. This could be just a seasonal joining in by the cruise line, or could represent a broader trend of crew members getting involved in the cruising ducks game across the Royal Caribbean fleet.
The onboard game brings great joy to many travelers who eagerly bring their own flocks onboard to hide or who hope to build a flock during their cruise vacation with every duck they find.
Holiday ducks sporting winter gear, wearing reindeer antlers, or even decked out in Santa hats have been especially popular on Christmas cruises.
How Different Cruise Lines React to Ducks
While the scavenger hunt of hiding ducks in public areas onboard has grown rapidly and is found on most major cruise lines, few lines have joined in with any official stance.
Disney Cruise Line has requested that guests not hide ducks on their ships, though the toys are permitted to be brought onboard and the game is not “officially” forbidden.
“We kindly request that guests are not allowed to hide items such as rubber ducks in public areas or staterooms,” Disney Cruise Line has said.
Read Also: Cruise Ducks – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know!
Carnival Cruise Line, on the other hand, has gone all in on the ducks. Several times, Carnival has dispelled rumors about duck prohibitions, and has also noted that crew members are welcome to join in the game.
In early November, Carnival Cruise Line even introduced a fun new “Ducky” character onboard for photo ops, adding a life-size face to the fun phenomenon.
The new holiday video is Royal Caribbean’s first semi-official response to the game, and thus far, seems to be a positive endorsement for the fun guests can have with cruising ducks.
