Duck hiding has become a cruise ship craze.
Some people spend a lot of time before their cruises buying ducks, decorating them, and preparing to hide them on the ships.
Some duck hiders even create social-media sites and put the address on the ducks or on attached cards so people can share their findings. Kids seem to really enjoy looking for the ducks, but adults — parents and grandparents — like to take part as well.
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The phenomenon is most popular on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney cruise lines, but it happens on any ship where kids are welcome.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) Brand Ambassador commented earlier this year in response to a passenger who was angry about the duck-hiding phenomenon.
"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?"
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That post generated thousands of responses, with most people either participating or being happy to let other people have fun as long as they're respectful of the cruise ship.
Now, Heald has returned with more comments about ducks, and a suggested alternative activity inspired by Taylor Swift.
Image source: Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images
Carnival's Heald calls for friendship bracelets
On his page, Heald from time to time mentions his young daughter (but does not share a lot of details about her since she's not a public figure). He recently said that she made him a friendship bracelet with the name of his recently departed dog, Breeze, which also happens to be the name of a Carnival ship.
That inspired the brand ambassador to suggest that trading friendship bracelets, a popular practice at Taylor Swift concerts, might be something Carnival passengers can bring to its ships.
"You know, I was thinking the other day about the ducks and how popular they are on board," he wrote. "I was also thinking of something else that perhaps would be very nice. I know this is massively popular already at Taylor Swift concerts and of course, I’m not talking about Twerking. I’m talking about friendship bracelets."
Heald suggested that this could become a new Carnival tradition.
"I was thinking, perhaps for those people who have some time at home perhaps you want to make friendship bracelets, and hand them out on board. They can have the name of the ship, they can have the word Carnival or indeed anything else related to the cruise," he added. "You can hand them to people or perhaps hide them as you do with the ducks."
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Carnival Cruise Line customers support the idea
Heald's post, which garnered more than 800 comments, was met with near-universal support.
"On two of our previous cruises, the Fun Squad led crafting sessions where they make cards or little rope bracelets with a ship anchor on them. If memory serves, these were very well attended so I think this would also be a welcome idea for many," wrote Cerise J. Hawker.
Many passengers suggested that making friendship bracelets should be a cruise-line-sponsored on-board activity.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line asks passengers for help
"This could be fun for everyone, and simple and easy to turn into families making these together at home. Carnival should do a few 'test runs' onboard, where people could get together to make some. Definitely be a great activity for the different youth programs that Carnival runs," Randy Hettenbaugh posted.
Sheryl Roach shared some objections to the idea.
"Although a sincerely kind idea, what happens when they break? You know that if found by a pre-teen, he's gonna break the string. Minimum issue would be someone stepping on the beads with bare feet. Maximum issue would be, a toddler choking on one of the beads. I think I'll stick to hiding ducks. Great idea for group gift exchanges, though," she explained.
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