Hiding cruise ship ducks has become a phenomenon: People simply love buying, decorating and hiding ducks for kids (and maybe adults) to search for on ships.
For the most part, duck hiding has been an unofficial thing. It's not endorsed by Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean or any of the other family-friendly cruise lines. But largely the companies have simply looked away.
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Passengers on the other hand have led the way in creating this phenomenon. They've built websites and social-media pages for people to share when and where they will be hiding ducks, as well as enabling them to show off the ones they find.
Duck hiding can be as simple as someone going to Amazon or Michaels and buying small rubber ducks to hide. In some cases, people decorate the ducks and attach cards so the people who find them can share their discoveries on social media.
It started as an underground movement and now has gone mainstream.
And Carnival Cruise Line has fully embraced duck hiding, introducing a mascot that essentially endorses the practice.
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Image source: Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival adds a duck mascot
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald has always supported duck hiding. While the cruise line did not officially endorse it, he spoke warmly of, seemed to encourage, the effort.
Now, he has shared that the cruise line seems to have fully embraced duck hiding.
"I would like to introduce you to a brilliant and fun addition to the ships," he posted on his Facebook page. "Coming soon to your cruise you’re going to see the continuation of the duck phenomenon. Here with Carnival Jubilee Hotel Director Pierre and Hotel Director and Director of Guest Operations Greg please meet ummmm…Ducky the Duck."
Heald did not explain how the new mascot would be used, but he did respond to one post that was so awful he removed it.
"A very hateful comment, Amy. I understand not everybody is going to like this, but to say those words and to chastise the crew in such a way, sorry that’s why I deleted your comment," he wrote.
"This duck is not going to be chasing you around the ship, it’s not going to be in your cabin. It’s not going to affect your cruise at all. So to threaten removal of gratuities because of this is quite honestly nonsense. My advice is enjoy your cruise and if you don’t want to have anything to do with the duck, don’t and instead going to do something that brings you fun and happiness."
Carnival passengers clearly give a duck
The response to Heald's post was overwhelmingly positive. Most passengers seem to love the new mascot and the idea of the cruise line endorsing duck hiding.
"We LOVE the duck!" posted Bonnie Erskine Johnson. "My granddaughters and I (my sister, too) adore finding and hiding ducks. Unfortunately, some people derive joy from being hateful…the ducks aren’t hurting anything and the new 'mascot' is great! We’re on the Vista on the 30th and hope to see Ducky."
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Many people pushed back at Amy's deleted comment.
"Amy needs to stay home for real," Susan Thompson wrote. "No where will be safe from the yellow critters lol. Not only have multiple cruise lines joined in the “ducky” fun, multiple food drive thru’s locally have decorated their windows with all colors and sizes of ducks. Then there are the jeeps with them on the dash.
"It is such harmless fun. I hope to meet Ducky on one of our already booked cruises."
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Samantha Edelman Bloch shared a similar sentiment.
"I can only imagine how Amy feels about the Dr. Seuss parade," she posted. "Little details like Duckie, The Towel Elephant, and the Dr. Seuss characters bring such a big smile to the face of our 7 year old son! (And my husband and me too)."
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