Last night around the wee hours of 3am, the ship passed the Equator and the International Dateline. This is considered a Golden Crossing with the coordinates of 0 degrees North and 160 degrees West. Which makes us worthy of being Golden Shellbacks, which we already are more than once. In fact we also passed the Emerald Crossing earlier this year when we were at the Equator and the Prime Meridian off the coast of West Africa. There was supposed to be a buoy on the exact spot, but it could not be found. Must have sunk.
Anyway, the King Neptune Ceremony took place at the Seaview Pool, although we thought for sure it would be held in the Lido Pool as it usually is. So after the Captain's talk, we went to the back and took seats at a table along the starboard railing. That's when we noticed that the area was being transformed into the stage for the big show. Chairs were being brought to every level for the folks to watch the event. And shortly, the area filled with guests…vying for the best spot. We had not intended on staying for it, since we have seen so many of these shows, but since we had good seats, we did not want to give them up.
At exactly 2pm, the ship's horn blasted to commence the ceremony with King Neptune and the Mrs. along with the judges (officers), and the judge (Kimberly). The pollywogs were the crew members and the show seemed to go on and on. We did not actually see the fish that they had to kiss, but our buddy showed us a photo of the ugliest monk fish that her friend took. Instead of being mounted where we could all see it, the fish laid in the bottom of the display.
The best part of the show was when the Captain was invited to jump in the pool. And he did just that, followed by every officer that participated. It was rather amusing, since we have only seen one captain do that over the years. At that time, it was on a Princess ship, and they had the captain walk the plank. Kimberly had to admit she was a pollywog, so she really got slimed and dumped in the pool. The crowd loved it as they did today. Later in the afternoon, we all received certificates of the event, dated and signed by Captain Paul.
By the time it was finally over, we figured we had sat outside for almost 2 ½ hours. And we did get a bit toasted despite the sunscreen. Still it was worth it to secure our place for the show.
On the way back, we picked up some food from the Dive-In and enjoyed it in the coolness of our room. The remainder of the afternoon was spent with photo sorting and reading a good book.
Taking a later walk, we watched the sun go down, or at least the sunset without seeing the actual sun go down. There was some nice color, but not the fabulous sky we have come to expect. The weather remained warm and muggy all day and into the evening. Lucky for us, the seas have been calm.
Dinner had a few new items such as shrimp and cheese quesadillas. Salads followed with mains of the everyday chicken plate and a fettuccine with pot roast bolognaise sauce. Both tasty although they could have been hotter. We keep forgetting to ask our waiters for hot entrees.
The World Stage had a movie at 8pm instead of live entertainment, which was Amelia. This is also on the TV, so we don't know how full the show lounge would be. We passed on the movie, since the sun really zapped us today. We still have a couple more sea days before we arrive to Pago Pago. Also, we received an invitation to an exclusive party for President's Club members, Pinnacle, and Neptune suite guests tomorrow at 8:15pm in the Atrium deck three.. We found it odd to be asked at that time of day, because that is our dinner time. Perhaps we can sneak into the dining room earlier and be done by 8:15pm. Our waiter Mario said that would work for him and Risman. Time will tell.
Bill & Mary Ann
