Cruise ship worker explains hidden sex meaning if you see someone wearing a black ring

A cruise ship worker has explained one of the hidden sex messages you could encounter while sailing on the open seas - but has warned about taking it too literally to avoid things getting awkward fast.

Cruise ship holidays are loved by millions of people across the world every single year. From taking the whole family on board to leaving the kids at home and heading on to the open water on an adults-only cruise, there is an itinerary out there for everyone of every background.

That includes those who enjoy a 'spicier' side to their cruise ships. We're talking red rooms, naked pool areas, and risqué door decorations.

Those kinds of things are usually reserved for so-called 'spicy' cruises, where you're going to encounter a lot of adults from a certain community.

But it doesn't mean they also won't be on a normal ship.

Lucy Southerton is a former cruise ship worker of 10 years having got her first job on board a vessel at the age of 19.

Lucy spent a decade working on cruise ships (YouTube/@cruisingascrew)

Fast-forward a decade, she has made the decision to leave the cruise ship lifestyle for the time being. But she still offers an insight into the cruise ship world for both passengers and those who are interested in working on them.

Lucy has taken to YouTube to open up about her time on a ship she once worked on.

And while it was an adults-only ship, one segment saw her speak about something you're more likely to find on a spicy cruise: swingers.

Walking down one of the ship's corridors, with cabins lining each side, she came across upside-down pineapples stuck to at least three doors.

For those living under a rock, there's a very obvious meaning behind decorating your cabin door with upside-down pineapples and being a so-called 'pineapple person'. And that is you're looking to explore getting intimate with people outside of your marriage or relationship.

"I found three pineapples just at that end of my corridor so God knows how many pineapple people were cruising," Lucy said.

"One of my new friends from the solo meet ups actually said she had noisy neighbours and they had these door decorations. And once I explained to her what these door decorations meant, she understood the noises."

Lucy outside one of the cabins with inviting decorations (YouTube/@cruisingascrew)

But while upside-down pineapples are a lot more well known outside of the swingers community - which some people wearing clothing or jewellery with the symbol too so they can be easily identified as part of the community - there are a few other symbols you might be coming across without even realising.

In a video from 2023, Lucy explained one other symbolic gesture that also concerns jewellery.

"One other that I've heard is there's a black ring on your right hand," she said.

"But that's a little bit more inconspicuous because can you imagine if you went up to someone and you're like, 'Hey, I can see that black ring on your right hand' and they are like, 'Yeah, it's just a black ring'."

Talk about awkward, right?

"You can never really be sure whether that's just something they like to wear or if it's a signal," Lucy warned.

So if you're interested in that kind of thing, maybe look a bit deeper than a black ring. Failing the pineapple, there are other ways to figure out someone is game, such as pink flamingos or even pampas grass.