CruiseStar
"Where can I get cruise ship rubber ducks?" is one of the most common questions in cruise planning groups, usually asked a couple of weeks before a sailing when someone realizes their kids will want to join the duck hunt. The answer depends on how many ducks you want, how much you care about them looking special, and whether you want to spend money at all. Here are the five sources that consistently work, with the trade-offs of each.
1. Buy cruise rubber ducks in bulk online
The most common route is a bulk order from a large online marketplace. Search for "mini rubber ducks bulk" and you will find bags of 50 to 200 ducks in a range of colors and themes. Prices usually work out to well under a dollar per duck, and shipping takes a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the seller.
A few things to look for. Two-inch ducks are the sweet spot: small enough to hide easily, large enough to notice. Themed sets (pirates, superheroes, holidays) make your ducks memorable, which matters if you want people to post about them. And check whether the ducks are sealed or have a hole in the bottom. Sealed ducks survive the pool deck better.
The downside of bulk ordering is that you end up with a lot of identical ducks, and if you are only sailing once this year, you may be storing 150 leftovers in a closet. Some cruisers split a bulk order with friends or a roll call group to avoid that.
2. Craft stores and dollar stores
If you need ducks this week, physical stores are faster than shipping. Craft chains usually stock mini rubber ducks in their party or kids craft aisles, and dollar stores often carry small bags in the toy section. Expect to pay a bit more per duck than a bulk online order, but you can see exactly what you are getting and pick up tag supplies at the same time.
This is also the best option for people who want to decorate. Grab plain ducks, some permanent markers, and a hole punch for the tags, and you have a rainy afternoon project before the trip that doubles as a way to get kids invested in the hunt.
3. Cruise duck Facebook groups
The cruise duck community organizes itself almost entirely through Facebook. There are large general groups dedicated to cruising ducks, plus smaller groups for individual cruise lines and even specific sailings. Members post photos of ducks they have hidden and found, share tag templates, and occasionally trade or give away ducks.
These groups are the best place to learn the culture before you sail. You will pick up the unwritten rules quickly, see which hiding spots are popular, and find out whether anyone else on your sailing is planning to hide. Some groups also run duck swaps, where members mail a handful of decorated ducks to each other, which is a fun way to get unique ducks without buying a bulk bag.
The Facebook route is not really a place to acquire ducks in volume. Think of it as where you get tag ideas, community, and the occasional special duck.
4. Find them onboard
The original way to get a cruise duck is to find one. On any mainstream line, and especially on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC ships sailing from US ports, there will almost certainly be ducks hidden on your sailing. Check stairwell landings, railings, planters, and the ledges around public art in the first day or two.
Most ducks come with a tag that tells you whether the hider wants you to keep it or re-hide it. Either way, you now have a cruise duck, and if you re-hide it you have taken part in the tradition without buying anything. Kids often end a week-long cruise with a small collection built entirely from finds. Our post on rules, etiquette, and hiding spots has more on where to look: cruise duck rules and etiquette.
5. CruiseStar's free NFC ducks
CruiseStar gives away ducks for free to engaged community members, and these ducks do something a bulk-bag duck cannot. Each one has a built-in NFC tag. When someone finds it and taps it with their phone, the duck is added to their Duck Deck in the CruiseStar app, complete with a rarity: Common, Rare, Epic, or Legendary. Finders can still keep or re-hide the physical duck exactly like a traditional cruising duck, and the tag keeps working for the next person.
To request a batch, use the free cruise duck request page. We prioritize sailors who are active on CruiseStar, meaning people who rate and review the ships they have sailed and log their trips. If you are approved, the ducks are shipped to you at no cost before your cruise. There is a full explanation of the program and the in-app duck hunt at free cruise ducks guide.
This is the right option if you like the idea of ducks that connect to something bigger than a single sailing. A duck you hide on a ship this fall might be tapped by dozens of different sailors over the following year, and each of them gets a little notification that connects back to the hunt.
Which option should you pick?
- You want a lot of ducks cheaply: bulk online order
- You need them in the next few days: craft or dollar store
- You want unique ducks and community: Facebook groups and swaps
- You want to spend nothing and just enjoy the hunt: find them onboard
- You want free ducks that plug into an app-based collection: CruiseStar's free NFC cruise ducks
Plenty of people combine approaches. A typical family might bring 30 bulk ducks with homemade tags, a handful of CruiseStar NFC ducks for the Duck Hunt, and come home with a few finds of their own.
Whatever you buy, add a tag
A duck without a tag is just a duck someone left behind. A short tag turns it into a game. Include what it is ("You found a cruising duck!"), what to do (keep or re-hide), and where to share a photo if you want one. If it is a CruiseStar duck, the tag can be short because the tap does the explaining: anyone without the app lands on [CruiseStar home page](/) and is invited to sign up, and anyone who already has it sees the duck appear in their deck at CruiseStar Duck Deck.
If you are curious how the whole thing started and why rubber ducks of all things became a cruise tradition, read our short history at history of cruising ducks.