Crossing the Equator in a few minutes…Hilarious King Neptune Celebration poolside…

King Neptune is getting ready to start the Equator crossing ceremony.

Soon we’ll be crossing the Equator and the ceremonies poolside is about to begin. We’re sitting at a table near the pool with new friends with Pat and Charles from Missouri, USA and having a blast.

The dancers heading out to the main area.

From Wikipedia, here’s info on the crossing of the Equator:

“The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the British Merchant Navy, Dutch merchant navy, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, Russian Navy, and other navies that commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the Equator. The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a “folly” sanctioned as a boost to morale, or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed (Trusty/Honorable) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs (in 1832 the nickname griffins were noted.”

There he is, King Neptune, the festivities have begun.

Soon the polliwogs will participate by the swimming pool as a celebration of our crossing the Equator. I’d never heard of a pollywog until this cruise which refers to those who’ve volunteered to be indoctrinated through a ritual that includes breaking eggs on their heads and tossing them fully clothed into the pool.

The human resource manager getting “egged.”

As the participants kneel to have the raw eggs broken over their heads the crowd is roaring and laughing over the fun antics. It couldn’t be more fun. At the moment, the hosts of the party just dumped cups of flour on top of the heads of those that had been egged. The crowd roars some more.

One of the hosts of the ceremonies, the Cruise Director.

The inclusion of various staff members in the festivities only adds to the frenzy of the crowd; the human resources manager and various ship officers. It makes us all laugh at how it must have been Roman times when people were mocked in the square especially when the staff members are being beaten with wet pasta.

It appeared that every passenger was watching the festivities.

Why is it we humans get a kick out of such festivities, I’ll never know. Perhaps, part of our humor is over the fact that we’re just happy it’s not us out there being egged, floured, and beaten with wet noodles. In any case, it’s rather humorous and neither of us is exempt from this good humor.

The “kiss the fish” ceremony.

Now, the environmental managers are having to “kiss the fish” which is hilariously followed by more egg breaking and flour dumped on their heads and down their shirts, and finally, full bowls of cost red pasta sauce dumped over their heads.

The second cruise director getting egged.

Now, passengers are volunteering for the final part of King Neptune’s Equator ceremony as a dozen seniors and a few younger passengers kneel on the floor to be indoctrinated as “pollywogs,” as those who are experiencing crossing the Equator for the first time in their lives. 

Getting “floured.”

Again, the broken eggs, the flour and the wet pasta, and finally, the red pasta sauce and the crowd is going wild.

Getting “pasta noodled.”

Today, we share these photos, tongue in cheek, admiring the brave souls who volunteered to be spectacles of themselves. The final volunteer was one of the cruise directors who are hilarious and a great sport.

Pasta and pasta sauce on the head of a brave passenger. The Cruise Director getting floured.

As of this moment, we have crossed the Equator and are in the southern hemisphere for the next almost two years to come. The adventure has just begun!

What a brave guy!

Photo from one year ago today, May 28, 2014:

An ocean view in Madeira, Portugal one year ago.  It was at this time one year ago we began making some new plans for the future. Please click here for details.