Cruise duck question

[jceric2002]

hi friends

i know DCL policy is that cruise ducks are not allowed. So i am thinking to bring a few ducks ONLY for the purpose of letting our kids find them. Basically i plan to secretly hide them say during dinner to give our own kids some thrill and stave off boredom. Has anyone done this? I will make sure the kids find them so it won't hassle anyone else. Thanks

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

DCL policy and what people do on the cruise are very different things. Theres a whole industry around cruise ducks and some people make a lot of money and use them as stealth advertising for their business and monetized social media channels. Therefore you will get a lot of varied answers, as people dont want to loose their revenue streams.

Many regular cruises just carry on as normal and bring hundreds of ducks to hide on their cruise.

CM's wont tell you this, as they have to present a facade to passengers, but most cruise ducks are never found by passengers and are found and quietly removed and destroyed by CM's.

Basically the answer is you do you, as some people are totally against the cruise ducks and some people have a rules dont apply to me attitude.

 

[Mags2002]

DCL policy and what people do on the cruise are very different things. Theres a whole industry around cruise ducks and some people make a lot of money and use them as stealth advertising for their business and monetized social media channels. Therefore you will get a lot of varied answers, as people dont want to loose their revenue streams.

Many regular cruises just carry on as normal and bring hundreds of ducks to hide on their cruise.

CM's wont tell you this, as they have to present a facade to passengers, but most cruise ducks are never found by passengers and are found and quietly removed and destroyed by CM's.

Basically the answer is you do you, as some people are totally against the cruise ducks and some people have a rules dont apply to me attitude.

As a cast member, I agree with this. Ducks have become way out of control and are not allowed to be hidden or left in places around the ship for safety reasons. It is correct that crew will either dispose of them or give them to a child (or keep them for themselves) if found. Although just because it is not allowed, doesn’t mean that people don’t do it. People are strangely attached to their ducks
Leave them in your fish extender instead, that way your kids still get the thrill of finding them.
On another note, I am hoping that your kids are not bored enough on the cruise that they need to go searching for plastic ducks. Check the app, there are a million more fun things for them to do!

 

[Skippyboo]

So you are going to leave dinner which a big deal on the ship - some involve show aspects to hide some ducks to keep kids from getting board on a ship with numerous activities, movies on demand on tv, movies in theaters and funnel vision, broadway shows , character meet and greets? Dream and Fantasy have their own scavenger hunt with mid ship detective agency.

What about trying to pixie dust people- explore the ship with them and drop some small tokens in people’s fish extenders or put a I like your door magnet. I even have seen duck magnets on Etsy.

I went on the Treasure in Feb . The night before the cruise I stayed at Universal studios hotel and went to Mardi Gras at Universal so I had a bag of beads that I brought onboard that I caught during the parade. My friend and I went around our deck on Pirate night dropping beads into the pockets on FE.

 

[jceric2002]

thanks for your comments, now i am re-considering... maybe bringing ducks not such a good idea after all, even its just for our own kids

 

[laurelew]

Buy fish extender pockets for your door prior to the cruise. I recently came back from my first family cruise and I bought a fish extender for my stateroom and my sister's last minute on Amazon. I'm so glad I did! We received so many pixie dusted gifts in them. My son enjoyed them and so did I. The generosity of other cruisers was truly magical. I am looking forward to sharing some pixie dust love with fellow cruisers on a future cruise.

 

[lanejudy]

You could hide a few in your stateroom, but I would avoid hiding them in public areas.

 

[Dug720]

I'm just sitting here shaking my head at the idea that kids would be bored on a DISNEY cruise.

Celebrity? Possibly - depends on the kid.
HAL? Absolutely! I was bored on there at 44.

But Disney??

 

[John VN]

Being bored is a highlight of our cruising.

 

[Debonna]

As others mentioned, look for your sailing group on Facebook and see if there's a pixie dust sign up sheet. Your kiddos would probably love checking their Fish Extender each day for surprises from others.

 

[scrappinginontario]

OP, if you hide ducks for your children to find, unless they are in your room they will likely be found by other guests before your children can even start looking. Best to hide them around your stateroom if you choose to take them.

 

[jwalk03]

Have you kids look for hidden mickey's instead. That should provide plenty of entertainment. (Along with the 9000 other things there are to do on board)

 

[lanejudy]

OP -- are you going on the Adventure? Unfortunately not a lot is known yet about that ship, but I do find it hard to believe anyone will be bored.

 

[Meriweather]

We did ducks on our Treasure cruise a few weeks ago. Didn't hide them, just sat them places.

Will be doing them on a Royal Caribbean cruise in June too.
They were in our suitcase and were not removed, so......

 

[lanejudy]

They were in our suitcase and were not removed, so......

Ducks aren't banned because families may bring them for kids' bathtime or whatever. But DCL does ask that they not be left in public areas.

 

[Goofy1932]

Edited: already answered.

 

[Mags2002]

We did ducks on our Treasure cruise a few weeks ago. Didn't hide them, just sat them places.

Will be doing them on a Royal Caribbean cruise in June too.
They were in our suitcase and were not removed, so......

Leaving them around the ship, even though “not hidden” is still not allowed. Basically you can’t leave them anywhere outside your stateroom except in a fish extender.
Of course they weren’t taken out of your luggage, DCL has not made them a prohibited item, *yet*.
It’s always amazing to us crew how many people will bend the rules to suit them. smh

 

[dreamer17555]

Leaving them around the ship, even though “not hidden” is still not allowed. Basically you can’t leave them anywhere outside your stateroom except in a fish extender.
Of course they weren’t taken out of your luggage, DCL has not made them a prohibited item, *yet*.
It’s always amazing to us crew how many people will bend the rules to suit them. smh

While I agree with you, I will say this in defense of guests- DCL has done very poorly with rolling this out. I can't find it on prohibited item list nor anywhere clearly stated on DCL.com that placing ducks in public spaces is prohibited (If someone can link me to it I am happy to have a copy). Many people do not consider Plan Disney an official source (to be fair they do sometimes provide incorrect information)

Also guests have asked at guest services and been told over and over that it is fine. Crew members are saying it is fine, saying they too like finding the ducks. This is sending mixed messages to guests. If DCL is going to keep this policy- state it loudly, and clearly. Make sure the crew is saying the same thing to guests- not allowed. Clear communication would solve SO many issues.

I don't care about the ducks one way or the other but I DO have issues with those super tiny ducks (pinky nail sized) as they often look like candy and can be a choking hazard for little ones and even more dangerous if they have magnets on them... but that is a soap box to stand on another day.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Yeah, there needs to be a clear message.....

but if one thinks about it "show" terms, anything that is not supposed to be playing a part in the "show" is technically not needing to be there, hence them being removed.....you could claim they are "lost and found items" or removed for "show" reasons.....

obv, that's not the general reason of their existence, but them being removed makes sense....

 

[Goofy1932]

While I agree with you, I will say this in defense of guests- DCL has done very poorly with rolling this out. I can't find it on prohibited item list nor anywhere clearly stated on DCL.com that placing ducks in public spaces is prohibited (If someone can link me to it I am happy to have a copy). Many people do not consider Plan Disney an official source (to be fair they do sometimes provide incorrect information)

Also guests have asked at guest services and been told over and over that it is fine. Crew members are saying it is fine, saying they too like finding the ducks. This is sending mixed messages to guests. If DCL is going to keep this policy- state it loudly, and clearly. Make sure the crew is saying the same thing to guests- not allowed. Clear communication would solve SO many issues.

I don't care about the ducks one way or the other but I DO have issues with those super tiny ducks (pinky nail sized) as they often look like candy and can be a choking hazard for little ones and even more dangerous if they have magnets on them... but that is a soap box to stand on another day.

But CM's are told ducks are not allowed. Just too many of them either do not want to have a confrontation or they personally like the idea and know that DCL management is never going to know that they personally gave the "okay" to a guest.