Sea Day – Jan 28
Finally got caught up on the blog this morning.
We skipped the pizza in Alfredo’s today and had the Indian
Buffet in the Lido. It was pretty good. Desserts continue to be a
disappointment.
At 3:00 today they had a Crossing the Equator Ceremony today
for the Polliwogs. Those who have not crossed the equator are referred to as
Pollywogs while those who have are Shellbacks and are eligible to participate
in the Crossing the Line Ceremony.
We are already Shellbacks, but on this trip, we became
Golden Shellbacks. A Golden Shellback is one who has had the honor of crossing
the equator where it dissects with the international date line in the Pacific
Ocean. Whoo Hoo!
King Neptune and his royal court preside over the trails of
the Polliwogs who have committed some kind of crime. Being on a cruise ship they
are normally things like gluttony or causing some sort of mischief about the
ship. Of course, they are all pronounced GUILTY! Cole, our Cruise Director was
the judge. After the court is seated the Polliwogs (0nly a small sampling of
them since there were so many) are paraded in for their trial and punishment.
(normally, foods like whipped cream or Jello poured on them)
The Judge calls out “Be it now proclaimed by the Call of
Conch and Nautilus throughout the latitudes and longitudes of our Oceans Domain
that we, Neptune, Ruler of the Seven Seas, King of the Secret Currents, Lord of
the Boundless Waves, Master of the Tides, High Constable of the Coral Caverns
and Outermost Reaches of the Deep, do hereby sanction and affirm that our most
noble Crossing of the Equator has fallen upon us” (or something similar)
There is also a surgeon that disembowels a couple of the Polliwogs.
(fake sausages and spaghetti fly)
Crew members yet to become shellbacks were also brought
before the judges and subjected to the same messy treatment.
The only thing that was left out of this one was the kissing of the fish. It’s usually a real fish (often left out in the sun the whole time). Normally, all the Polliwogs on the voyage can line up to do that for the photo op, but no one did that. Also, normally everyone is thrown in or they jump into the pool, but this time only a few did. We have seen captains jump in at the end as well in the past. I imagine it had to do with a larger ship and more than usual number of Polliwogs partaking in the ceremony.
Even though Cole has been over the line many times,
unbeknownst to him his boss (Queen Aphrodite) arranged for him to be tossed in.
He took off his judge’s robe and “resisted” as long as he could.
We didn’t have great viewing for the best photos. We had great
spots, but 2 tall employees stood beside the kiddie pool blocking our view of
the King’s Court. Ah well…..
We had dinner in the dining room and this time the mother and son joined us. We thought they had moved with the waiter as the other couple did. The service is still abysmal. He is learning that I want diets cokes with lots of ice. (they have been coming late and warm with no ice) He forgot one of my appetizers. Maybe it will improve. (none of it's the end of the world...LOL)
We went to the Disco Music trivia. Missed 4 and came in second. No cheap ship champagne for us.
We watched part of the Love Boat Party where couples have to perform tasks and get voted off one by one. Always fun to watch.
The show this evening was Doug Funk, a comedian. It has been years ago, but we have seen him before. He is hilarious and the crowd seemed to enjoy him.
Tomorrow is another relaxing sea day.
