Equator Day

 

It was day 31 of our epic quest, and it was equator day, Saturday, February 5.  We were crossing the equator for the second time so far on our Magical Mystery Cruise.  Perhaps because of the nine sea days in a row they made a much bigger deal of it this time.  The newsletter they print for us each day which includes all the scheduled events for the day usually includes information about our port of call.  During these 9 consecutive days at sea they inform us of other things like the rituals surrounding crossing the equator.  Sailors who had already crossed the equator were called (Trusty) Shellbacks.  Those who had yet to cross were (slimy) Pollywogs or Wogs.  We did not do the full slate of events which used to include a role reversal the day before the crossing where Wogs took over the ship and the “punishment” for this the next day as King Neptune and his entourage mete out sentences.  The initiation could be quite brutal and some sailors were reportedly killed during the initiation.  In our ship announcements we were told that King Neptune had been kept in quarantine in Bora Bora so he had called in his announcement.  We all received certificates in our rooms later in the evening.  They also told us we should look over the ship’s railing to see the red line marking the equator and would enjoy feeling the bump when we crossed it.  Yes, nine days at sea seem to take a toll on people’s sanity.  Actually that is not really true.  Think of being at a convention in a luxury resort.  You attend sessions you are interested in all day long, eat as often as you would like at high class restaurants, and retire to your hotel room in the evening after a professional entertainment performance of some sort.  Rough life.  The one thing you notice is that the ocean is very big, and very empty. 

As you know we brought Mooses and Tiggers on the trip with us.  It took our room stewards a while to figure it out, but since they figured it out great fun has been had.  I will share some of the pics with this post. They tend to spend more time on the poses than we do.  They don't have helium balloons.  Double sided tape.  Enjoy.