Are Cruise Lines Banning Cruising Ducks? Current Rules
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Time to read 5 min
Hiding rubber ducks around cruise ships has become a surprisingly big part of cruising for many families. Bring a few ducks onboard, attach a tag, hide them around the ship and wait for someone else to find them. Simple.
But not every cruise line is quite as enthusiastic about the tradition.
Marella Cruises has become the latest cruise line to ask passengers to stop hiding ducks around its ships, joining Disney Cruise Line in restricting the activity. Royal Caribbean has also introduced restrictions in some areas of its ships.
Carnival, meanwhile, remains very firmly Team Duck.
So, are cruising ducks gradually being shown the gangway?
Marella asks passengers to stop hiding ducks
In August 2026, Marella Cruises began asking passengers not to hide toys, novelty items and other personal belongings around its ships or at the destinations it visits.
Notices distributed onboard explained that while the activity is intended to be fun, items left around the ship can become hazards and are generally disposed of by crew.
Marella also linked the request to its efforts to reduce plastic waste, pointing out that deliberately leaving plastic items behind doesn't really fit with that goal.
It's not technically a fleet-wide ban on passengers bringing rubber ducks onboard. The message is simply that Marella doesn't want passengers leaving or hiding them around the ship.
Interestingly, Marella has also asked passengers not to decorate their cabin doors with magnets, flags, banners, posters and other decorations.
Disney doesn't allow duck hiding either
Disney Cruise Line has a clearer rule.
Passengers are allowed to bring rubber ducks onboard, but Disney's policy is that guests aren't permitted to hide them in staterooms or public areas for other passengers to find.
The restriction isn't specifically about ducks. Disney doesn't allow passengers to hide items around its ships generally.
So you can bring your duck on a Disney cruise. It just needs to stay with you.
Royal Caribbean: ducks are okay, but watch where you hide them
Royal Caribbean hasn't banned cruising ducks across its fleet, although it has placed restrictions on where passengers can hide them.
In particular, Central Park areas on Oasis and Icon-class ships have become duck-free zones after passengers hiding and searching for ducks reportedly caused damage to plants.
Rubber ducks themselves aren't included on Royal Caribbean's published prohibited-items list.
And the relationship between Royal Caribbean and cruising ducks gets a little confusing from there.
On Anthem of the Seas, which sails from Australia, rubber ducks have even appeared as prizes in the SeaPlex arcade claw machines. Passengers can win them and hide them around the ship for other guests to find.
So this appears to be much more about where people are hiding ducks than Royal Caribbean having a problem with the tradition itself.
Carnival remains firmly Team Duck
If you're cruising with Carnival, your ducks appear to be safe.
Carnival has previously published its own packing advice suggesting passengers bring rubber ducks to hide onboard, describing it as a tradition where guests hide ducks around the ship for future cruisers to find.
And when a fake Carnival letter circulated on social media on April Fool's Day 2026 claiming that Carnival was banning cruising ducks, it caused enough of a stir that Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald stepped in to clarify the situation.
The supposed ban wasn't real.
Heald told passengers they could absolutely continue hiding ducks and encouraged them to keep enjoying the activity.
Given how popular cruising ducks are among Carnival passengers, that's probably welcome news for quite a few families.
What about other cruise lines?
For several other major cruise lines, including Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, we couldn't find a current published policy specifically banning the hiding of cruising ducks.
That doesn't necessarily mean every ship or crew will treat them exactly the same way, and passengers should always follow any instructions provided onboard.
It does, however, show just how different the approach can be between cruise lines.
At one end you've got Disney saying don't hide them at all. Marella would also prefer you didn't.
Royal Caribbean seems happy enough for the ducks to stay, provided passengers aren't trampling through the greenery to find them.
And Carnival? Bring the ducks.
Could more cruise lines restrict them?
The concerns being raised aren't really about rubber ducks themselves. They're about plastic waste, items being left around ships, potential hazards and passengers hiding them in places they shouldn't be.
And this is probably where a bit of common sense goes a long way.
If you're hiding ducks, keep them in sensible public areas where they can be easily spotted and retrieved. Don't put them somewhere that requires people to climb, reach into machinery, disturb plants or enter crew-only areas. And definitely don't leave them behind at beaches or ports.
Cruising ducks are supposed to be a bit of fun, not an environmental problem or an unexpected task for the crew.
For now, though, there certainly isn't an industry-wide ban on cruising ducks.
Whether there should be might be a much more interesting question.
What do you think? Are cruising ducks a harmless bit of fun, or has the whole thing got a little out of hand?
Hi, I'm Kate!
I'm the creator of Voyage Ready and a BAS Agent and bookkeeper from regional NSW who loves cruising and travelling with my family (and occasionally working from a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean). I particularly love longer cruises with plenty of sea days, exploring new places at our own pace and finding practical ways to make family travel more affordable and less complicated.
Who is behind Voyage Ready?
I’m Kate, a BAS Agent and bookkeeper from regional NSW who loves travelling with my family. Most of the travel and cruise content on Voyage Ready comes from places we’ve actually visited and things we’ve tried ourselves. I’m particularly fond of longer cruises with plenty of sea days, and I occasionally work from cruise ships as well.
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