Crossing the line with King Neptune

‘Be it now proclaimed by call of Conch and Nautilus throughout the Latitudes and Longitudes of our oceanic domain that King 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 uttermost recesses of the deep, do hereby sanction and affirm that our most noble cross of the equator be bestowed on you and hath on this 23rd day of August 2011 onboard the m/v Dawn Princess crossed the equator.’

We returned to our stateroom last night to find impressive certificates laid out on the bed to recognise our crossing of the equator at 8.15 pm., although we didn’t feel any bump....

The crew and passengers on any ship are clearly divided into two distinct groups - the ‘pollywogs’ who have never crossed the equator and the ‘shellbacks’ who have crossed before. The rite of initiation of the pollywogs in a custom on any ship - usually ending with the Captain of the vessel being dunked in the pool ... and is always a great excuse for some fun ..... when we crossed the line soon after leaving Australia, bad weather forced the ceremony to be abandoned .... but today was a perfect day for a bit of fun on the open decks. Our pollywog friends, Joanne and Garry,  had never crossed before this cruise, so they were ‘victims’ of the delights of King Neptune and his ‘lovely’ escort. 

The outer decks were crowded by onlookers as large plates of spaghetti, brightly coloured cake frosting, sausages, chocolate sauce, tomato paste, flour whipped cream, porridge and whole eggs are used to initiate the pollywogs ... as well as the mandatory practice of 'kissing the fish'......they were really good sports .... luckily they headed the advice to wear old clothes .... reminds me of that TV commercial for stain-proof carpet  .... Ooh, Mr Hart, what a mess!!!!! Crew from the bridge, engineers and even the dancers didn’t miss out on the ministrations of King Neptune. Unfortunately, Captain Vinnie was busy (someone has to steer the ship), so the chief Engineer Thomas ended up in the pool.  The photos tell the story .... lots of laughs.

Cheers