Today was another day at sea, but also one with many things happening. Sometime around 8:30am, we heard one long blow of the ship's horn, indicating that we had crossed the Equator. We have left the Southern Hemisphere, and are now sailing in the Northern Hemisphere.
So to commemorate this event, a King Neptune Ceremony was held at 10am under the Lido Dome poolside. If you have ever had the chance to cross the Equator on a ship, this is something you need to see at least once. We have gone to these events many times, so today, we chose to enjoy the aft pool while it was quiet for a while. Denise did attend the show, with the intent on taking photos from deck nine. However, the roof was mostly closed, claiming the wind was too strong. Well, many other folks showed up, and they succeeded in getting the crew to open the dome up. We did hear that the ceremony was well done by the cruise director, Justin, and the "kiss the fish" part was funny as always. Of course, when the party was over, the Seaview Pool was totally full of sunbathers.
There was something happening back there we have never seen before. Some people had dragged the umbrellas and the stands to the back section of the deck. When the wind blew hard enough, these umbrellas were falling over. In our humble opinion, this is an accident waiting to happen. Someone is going to lose an eye or worse. When the couples left for an hour for lunch, leaving these umbrellas unattended, they blew over, so we asked the attendant to remove it. He did, but when the couple returned, they brought it back. Now all of the tables where the umbrellas belonged had no shade. There is always plenty of room under the overhang to sit at a table in the shade, so why drag the umbrellas out in the sun? Go figure.
This day was also dubbed "Orange Day" to point out the link between HAL and the Netherlands. The history dates back 150 years, and because orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, it has always be worn on special occasions. So this evening, the guests were asked to don the color orange. To help those who did not bring anything orange, the shop onboard was selling orange t-shirts with the HAL logo printed on them. And these were reasonably priced as well. We did see a few of them being worn all day.
At 7pm, we had another party in the Crow's Nest with the Captain and hotel director, Craig Oakes, and other staff officers. It was titled "King Neptune's Trident Dunkin' Drinks Fest" for the shellback members of the President's Club. It was held in the Captain's Corner with the foldable wall drawn separating us from the bar area. Thomas, the food and beverage manager, the beverage manager, and also Philip joined our small group. Cocktails of our choice were served, along with canapies on three-tiered plates. As many of our group had already eaten dinner, little of the food was consumed. But the company was good as always. Captain Jeroen is very easy to converse with, and he moved between the groups to be fair with all. We stayed until almost 8pm, then left for dinner, arriving a bit late. Tama and Dede knew we were at a party, and promised to save the table for us.
The dining room was decked out with orange seat covers and orange lights on the serving tables. And dinner was really good with the best avocado tacos for appetizers. They were crispy and tasty with salsa and shredded lettuce. Honestly, we could have ordered doubles, and called it a night. But we added crab cakes with grits, and one order of the barbeque ribs. Both were good, but the ribs would have taken the prize. Sometimes they are dry and chewy, but tonight, they were tender and very meaty…..full of sauce too. And there were enough ribs to share. It is really interesting how these menus are so diverse, with few repeats, except for the alternates. It is a tough act to follow when we go home.
Then at 9:30am, there was an Orange Party in the Crow's Nest, celebrating the Dutch heritage in a festive sea of orange, of course. Bet more people went to that instead of the singers and dancers with the show Amour.
The Captain mentioned that tomorrow might bring some rain, but more important, he hinted that the sea conditions might be changing. Guess we will find out soon enough…….
Bill & Mary Ann
