While hunting for ducks..

[Mademypoint]

Someone or some people decided to take this "find a duck" obsession to the next stage and hid creepy little naked babies around the ship. 

They must be laughing endlessly at the excitement it generated when people found them. 

 

It's NOT a thing....

 

Anyone else found them? Picture added for authenticity. If I'd found any, I would have run the other way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CookieShip]

I agree kind of creepy without the duck tags.

On the other hand, I do enjoy the more unique finds sometimes.

[Epic_Bear]

I think it's a Tiktok thing.  My brother said someone hid a bunch of plastic babies around his office and they were supposed to film themselves finding them for a challenge.  Which caused a email from his boss to go out saying not to do this because they work with confidential information that cannot be on film.

[graphicguy]

Never could understand the "duck" thing, or in this case, "babydoll" thing.

 

But, hey...if it gives you a little chuckle, have at it.

 

I've seen those little "baby dolls"..but I think it was in Hong Kong!

[Pitzel]

I love rubber ducks, whether on cruise ships or not (see my avatar if you don't believe me!), but the baby dolls are CREEPY!

[www3traveler]

I know a number of General Managers who frown upon people hiding ducks.  Crew is to throw them in the trash as they find them.  Waste of time, money (ducks are not cheap) and effort.

[olemissreb]

Go with the flow and collect the baby dolls and use them in homemade king cakes at Mardi Gras...same thing.

[skittl1321]

14 hours ago, www3traveler said:

I know a number of General Managers who frown upon people hiding ducks.  Crew is to throw them in the trash as they find them.  Waste of time, money (ducks are not cheap) and effort.

I've always wondered if the duck thing just makes a lot of work for the crew. How many unfound ducks are thrown away. And now it seems like they are tossed before they are even officially "found".

 

If it's not sanctioned, it's littering, essentially. 

 

I think it's fun, but I can also see how cruise lines don't want it.

[fredflint]

I guess the best place to look for ducks is in the trash?

[UKstages]

i’m not a fan of the whole duck thing. 
 

i’d be more of a fan if they made an effort to actually hide them. typically, they are just placed on stairs and tables; they’re in plain sight. put them under a stack of towels at the pool. put them under a seat cushion in the theatre. mix them in with the supply of shuffleboard pucks or the golf balls at mini-golf. make an effort!

[Asawi]

17 minutes ago, UKstages said:

i’d be more of a fan if they made an effort to actually hide them. typically, they are just placed on stairs and tables; they’re in plain sight. put them under a stack of towels at the pool. put them under a seat cushion in the theatre. mix them in with the supply of shuffleboard pucks or the golf balls at mini-golf. make an effort!

But then you wouldn't see them unless you were looking. Are you sure there aren't ducks in those places as well as the ones in plain sight? 😉 
(I have no idea! I don't get the duck craze and haven't seen any, but then I haven't been looking.)

[schmoopie17]

I think the whole duck thing is Daffy.

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

I've always wondered if the duck thing just makes a lot of work for the crew. How many unfound ducks are thrown away. And now it seems like they are tossed before they are even officially "found".

 

If it's not sanctioned, it's littering, essentially. 

 

I think it's fun, but I can also see how cruise lines don't want it.

Duck hunting on cruise ship is a long time tradition. Like skeet shooting off the ship. 

[skittl1321]

7 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Duck hunting on cruise ship is a long time tradition. Like skeet shooting off the ship. 

I took a number of years off of cruising when I had newborns, but I don't ever remember anyone talking about it on cruise critic when I first started cruising (2008-2015 would have been the timeline on cruise critic.)

 

I don't hide ducks, but I think it's super cute.  I just can understand why ships don't like it. It would be really fun if they'd get on board.  Find a certain duck and win a prize, or just get a branded duck...

[phoenix1181]

13 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Duck hunting on cruise ship is a long time tradition. Like skeet shooting off the ship. 

My first cruise was in 1990 and I never saw or heard anything about ducks.  IMHO, they're a waste of time & money and I can see them being a PITA for the crew. 

 

That said, if the cruise line took advantage of the desire to duck hunt, maybe they should actually hide them as part of a scavenger hunt for the kids...

[eileeshb]

I could understand if folks just hide a few but there are people bringing dozens of ducks onto cruises with them! Finding one should be a rarity not being so many that not finding one is unusual.   

[ziggyuk]

For creepy dolls see these from my visit to Chernobyl 😱

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

I don't care about cruising ducks. On four cruises, I've never seen one, so it's not like they are overtaking the cruise ships. I'm not sure why anyone really cares. Don't like them? Don't hunt for them. Don't grab one when you see it. Want to hunt for them? Have fun! Placing them? Just don't place them in a dangerous place. 

 

NCL could provide their own duck scavenger hunt! For $10, here's a scorecard. Find the ducks. Bring them back. Get this fun sticker to put on your shirt showing the ship you're a successful duck hunter! 

 

Have fun. Your own way. Whatever that way is. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Being a New Orleans girl, I recognized the babies right away.  Originally a dried kidney bean was placed in a king cake to represent the baby Jesus.  The person who got the bean in their piece of cake had to host the next king cake party.  As time marched on, the bean was replaced by small unpainted babies.  
 

when lawyers began running our lives, bakeries no longer baked the baby in the cake, but gave you one that you could insert yourself, if you so desired. 
 

of course, unless the cruise is filled with Louisianians, folks would probably be creeped out about it.  My granddaughter owns a Jeep and it is a thing with Jeep owners to leave ducks on fellow jeepers cars.  I didn’t know that but now I always look at Jeeps near me at stop lights and some are all ducked up!  Fun to watch.  We are taking her on a family cruise (first cruise) in June and she is looking forward to ducking about the ship.

Edited September 19, 2023 by MagnoliaBlossom

[www3traveler]

6 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Being a New Orleans girl, I recognized the babies right away.  Originally a dried kidney bean was placed in a king cake to represent the baby Jesus.  The person who got the bean in their piece of cake had to host the next king cake party.  As time marched on, the bean was replaced by small unpainted babies.  
 

when lawyers began running our lives, bakeries no longer baked the baby in the cake, but gave you one that you could insert yourself, if you so desired. 
 

of course, unless the cruise is filled with Louisianians, folks would probably be creeped out about it.  My granddaughter owns a Jeep and it is a thing with Jeep owners to leave ducks on fellow jeepers cars.  I didn’t know that but now I always look at Jeeps near me at stop lights and some are all ducked up!  Fun to watch.  We are taking her on a family cruise (first cruise) in June and she is looking forward to ducking about the ship.

Please check with the ship's General Manager before hiding any ducks.  Some think it is fine and others do not.

[UKstages]

6 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

I just can understand why ships don't like it.

 

i assume you mean that you can't understand why they don't like it?

 

i can.

 

one word: liability.

 

ducks are most often placed on stairs, which is quite dangerous. nobody expects them to be there.  a passenger slips and falls on a duck, the passenger is not going to go after little becky lou mcduckerson or her mom. they will seek compensation - or sue - NCL.

 

if it looks like a duck and squeaks like a duck, it's probably on some NCL stairway somewhere waiting for somebody to trip over it.

[skittl1321]

1 minute ago, UKstages said:

 

i assume you mean that you can't understand why they don't like it?

 

i can.

 

one word: liability.

 

ducks are most often placed on stairs, which is quite dangerous. nobody expects them to be there.  a passenger slips and falls on a duck, the passenger is not going to go after little becky lou mcduckerson or her mom. they will seek compensation - or sue - NCL.

 

if it looks like a duck and squeaks like a duck, it's probably on some NCL stairway somewhere waiting for somebody to trip over it.

No, not a typo. I am saying I can understand it. Even though I think it's cute, I see why ships don't want it.

Liability, more for staff to clean up, potential brand confusion. Lots of things.

[UKstages]

ah, sorry, thanks. we're on the same page.

[eileeshb]

19 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Being a New Orleans girl, I recognized the babies right away.  Originally a dried kidney bean was placed in a king cake to represent the baby Jesus.  The person who got the bean in their piece of cake had to host the next king cake party.  As time marched on, the bean was replaced by small unpainted babies.  
 

when lawyers began running our lives, bakeries no longer baked the baby in the cake, but gave you one that you could insert yourself, if you so desired. 
 

of course, unless the cruise is filled with Louisianians, folks would probably be creeped out about it.  My granddaughter owns a Jeep and it is a thing with Jeep owners to leave ducks on fellow jeepers cars.  I didn’t know that but now I always look at Jeeps near me at stop lights and some are all ducked up!  Fun to watch.  We are taking her on a family cruise (first cruise) in June and she is looking forward to ducking about the ship.

There’s an Irish tradition for halloweeen that involves baking things into a cake.. ring = you’ll get married, pea = you won’t marry in the coming year, coin = you’ll be rich, stick = unhappy marriage, rag = poor . It’s a Barmbrack, cake or bread is in the eye of the beholder, it’s a fruit loaf that isn’t quite as sweet as a cake but is definitely sweeter than most bread.  I don’t think anyone’s going to start hiding all of those items around a cruise ship. 

[Laszlo]

23 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Duck hunting on cruise ship is a long time tradition. Like skeet shooting off the ship. 

Some things just need to die......