Cruise passengers, at least frequent cruisers, have their traditions.
In some ways, these work like a secret menu at a fast-food chain. Some secrets are more secret than others and people in the know generally want to bring more people into the fold.
On social media, for example, some passengers like to share their favorite modified drink recipes or off-menu drinks that bartenders know how to make.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line makes major main dining room menu change
Royal Caribbean (RCL) , for example, no longer offers the martini menu it used to feature at the R Bar on Allure of the Seas. Instead, that bar just offers the generic menu served at the cruise line's pool bars.
The bartenders can still make those martinis, including the popular lavender martini and the espresso martini, which seems to be the drink of the moment.
And that situation isn't unique to bars. It happens in restaurants, too, where customers order off-menu items or request discontinued items that the chefs might still be willing to make.
Cruise-ship secrets are also not limited to food and drink. There are also all sorts of traditions, but few are as ingrained as hiding ducks on family-friendly cruise lines including Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Carnival makes a comment on cruise ship ducks
The cruise-ship-duck phenomenon has been a popular social media topic and it's growing. It's generally an activity for families with young kids, but all ages get involved.
Here's how it works:
Before the cruise, some people buy rubber ducks to hide once they get on board. Some people decorate the ducks, and some share social-media info on attached cards so the people who find the ducks can share pictures of them.
Many people who find the ducks take pictures and then hide them again. It's a fun, generally harmless, tradition that leads people to explore more on the ships. As long as parents ensure that kids don't damage the ship when they search, it's hard to see a negative to the activity. If you don't want to participate, it's easy to ignore.
That has not stopped some passengers from being irrationally angry about duck hiding. Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald shared a letter from one such angry customer.
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"Honestly 'P' saying 'you will not cruise with us until we stop allowing people to hide ducks' makes me feel very sad, it really does. It also has me wondering, do ducks ever get down in the mouth?" he wrote on his Facebook page. "Hide them, find them, or ignore them. Which one applies to you?"
Carnival Cruise Line passengers respond
Heald's brief post resulted in over 5,300 comments. That's a lot even for Heald's highly interactive page.
Most responders either ignored them or enjoyed hiding and finding the ducks.
"We ignore them. Although I've never actually seen one 'in the wild' on a ship. But people have so much fun hiding and finding them, why rain on their parade?" Didi Concepcion posted.
Jennifer Armstrong agreed, albeit in a sassier way.
"Ignore them but think everyone’s excitement for them is fun. OMG wait!! Can I actually not care about things that don’t affect me??? why yes… yes I can," she wrote.
Most people who enjoyed hiding and finding ducks cited kids as the reason.
ALSO READ: Carnival Cruise Line makes a major main dining room menu change
"My grandkids love cruising and love everything about hiding and finding ducks! Be prepared for them on the Celebration Dec. 8. They are already planning," Jenneatte Wilding wrote.
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And some adults enjoy duck hunting with no mention of kids being involved.
"I absolutely love looking for them and thousands of others do as well. Please keep allowing them. It has become another awesome thing about cruising. I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone would care," wrote Fiona Macbeth Ash.
Related: Royal Caribbean making major pricing change Biden has pushed for
