You'll want to steer clear of Central Park the next time you plan on hiding ducks aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Although the duck hunting phenomenon has taken the cruise community by storm, Royal Caribbean is drawing the line at disturbing the ships' live plants.
A guest sailing aboard a Royal Caribbean vessel shared a photo of a new sign posted in the outdoor neighborhood in the Cruising Ducks Facebook group. The sign is politely asking passengers not to hide ducks in the plants.
"Please help us protect our plants," the sign reads, "This is a duck free zone. Please don't hide ducks in Central Park."
Found exclusively on Oasis and Icon Class ships, the lush Central Park neighborhood features thousands of real plants and trees that require daily maintenance. On Icon of the Seas, for example, there are over 33,000 plants.
An intricate system of irrigation, fertilization, lighting, and drainage is in place to keep the plants alive and healthy. However, duck hiding makes the onboard horticulturalist's job even harder, as passengers purposely reach into the plant beds to retrieve them.
In some cases, children may push, shove, and stomp through the plants in search of ducks, damaging the fragile landscaping.
Positive reaction from cruisers
Many users in the Cruising Ducks Facebook group expressed their support for this restriction, agreeing that the Central Park neighborhood should be off-limits to duck hunters.
"I am glad they put them out. I have seen people rip plants out getting ducks," commented one user.
Another added, "Thank goodness. These people tear up these plants. I had a balcony [overlooking] central park and just watched them annihilate the foliage."
"The workers told me they have to do so much extra upkeep to keep the plants alive and looking good from kids (and adults) walking through the bushes and trees and moving branches and plants back and forth to hide or look for ducks. [I'm] so glad [they're] finally doing this. Tons of places on the ship to hide ducks," wrote someone else.
Other places to hide ducks
Choosing safe and respectful locations that don't interfere with safety protocols or the ship's delicate fauna is important for duck hunting to remain the popular tradition that it is.
Outside of Central Park, there are tons of other places to leave rubber ducks that are less destructive. For example, cruisers often hide them in stairwells and elevators, behind lounge chairs, or tucked into fake plants.
Your best chances of finding ducks are early in the morning or late at night, when other passengers also aren't on the hunt!
And if you don't see a duck in a particular location one day, it pays to revisit. You never know when one might appear.
Read more: Why some people hate hiding ducks on a cruise ship fad
