Cruise ship passengers are just realizing what upside down pineapple signs on doors mean

People have warned a vacationer to ‘keep walking’ after they spotted ‘cute little pineapples’ stuck on cruise ship doors.

In most cases, pineapple emblems and ornaments are just aesthetic tributes to the tropical fruit, indigenous to territories such as West Africa and Latin America.

In a pop culture setting, you may land on Nickelodeon’s Spongebob SquarePants, whose titular cartoon character famously lived in a pineapple under the sea.

But when it comes to adult cruises? Well, the herbaceous perennial takes on a whole different meaning as one seemingly innocent TikToker found out.

A woman named Dominique (@blogionistatravels) had been using social media to document her first experience onboard a cruise ship.

In one of the videos, she remarked how she’d discovered some interesting decorations adorning various cabin doors.

In the 15-second clip - which has amassed 21 million views since it was posted in September 2022 - the travel blogger panned down a living quarters corridor.

On the doors, it appeared various pineapple stickers had been tacked on.

In overlay text, the woman wrote: “When you’re on your first cruise and you see that everyone has these little cute pineapples on their door.”

After watching the video, viewers have taken to the comments to have their say on the pineapple stickers.

One TikTok user wrote: “The welcome one with the butterfly makes me think it's a sweet old lady that thinks ppl just decorate with pineapples on cruises & want to decorate.”

A second typed: “Still waiting on name of cruise… for a friend of course.”

Another said: "It could just be the cruise put them there. It’s the international hospitality symbol."

Someone else commented: “Ooop don’t go in unless you want to mix things up if you know what I mean.”

One viewer shared: “I remember the time I decorated our tent site in pineapples and learned at 2am what message I was sending. Mortified! I stick to watermelons now!!”

“Baby just keep walking,” recommended another.

According to Cruisehive, pineapples are commonly employed symbols to signify individuals are interested in swinging.

Usually, these subtle motifs are placed upside down to act as a secret code for swinging, swinger parties and wife-swapping.

Interestingly though they’re not the only sign that swingers - a person who engages in group sex or the swap of sexual partners - use to sniff out others.

Many swingers on vacation will wear black rings while married couples sometimes choose to place their wedding band on their right hand instead of their left.

If you’re not really into being discreet about your sexual preferences then there are actually dedicated adult-only swingers cruises you can book onto.