About Cruising Tiny Ships

My first cruise was May 2025 on the Celebrity Beyond. While researching beforehand, I discovered Cruising Ducks—a fun tradition where people hide rubber ducks around the ship for others to find. That sparked an idea, and things quickly snowballed:

• I should 3D print some ducks.

• Actually, printing little "Benchy" ships (a 3D printing thing) would be more fun.

• Even better—I should design a mini version of the ship I'm sailing on!

• I’ll print the cruise details on the bottom.

• I should create an Instagram account to track them.

• Why not add NFC tags so people can easily find the Instagram page?*

• And just in case, I should make a website with instructions and extra info.

*Sadly, it turns out NFC tags don't work while in airplane mode so that ended up being a complete waste during the cruise!

I focused on a couple of standout features of the Celebrity Beyond: the X on top (a signature of the X-line ships) and the Magic Carpet, the bright orange platform that moves up and down the side of the ship. I modeled it all in Fusion 360.

My Cruising Tiny Ships were a huge hit on my cruise. People recognized me around the ship even! I brought 130 of them and also printed tiny "micro" versions which I brought 165 of! That was definitely one of the highlights of my entire cruise.