Sea Day crossing the Equator

Teddy found out early that the machine in the resistance pool was down so no laps for us today. Oh darn. So, since I couldn’t swim, decided it was a good day go do laundry since we’ve been on board just over a week now. I knew everyone else would have the same idea but still, I got lucky with a machine and then waited so I could use it again for the second load and not lose it someone else. It’s a good thing there’s a Laundromat on each level on Princess because our tablemates sent their laundry away to get washed and/or cleaned and got a bill for $67. That’s three bottles of wine!

We cross the equator tonight sometime between midnight at 1:00 a.m. However, the Cruise Director quite rightly suspected few people would line up around the pool at that time so they had the crossing ceremony at 11:15. It’s quite a production. The tradition is for “pollywogs” (those who’ve never crossed the equator) to become sludged, after which they turn into “hardbacks”. Since all pollywogs on the ship couldn’t be sludged, they chose 6 couples, who may not have know what they were getting into.

The sludging ceremony consists of this: one couple is sitting on the edge of the pool. They are pronounced guilty of a made-up crime (like switching luggage tags), after which all the spectators loudly pronounce them guilty. Then they are made to kiss the fish. Yuck. This is a whole fish minus its head , with the cavity filled with whipping cream. The victims had to end up with cream on their face or they had to kiss the fish again.

Then the staff crack eggs over their heads, squirt whipping cream all over their faces and down their t-shirts (which they’re wearing over their swimsuits), drape cooked spaghetti over their hair, throw red jello at them, and pour chocolate all over them. It’s a horrible mess, and then they’re pushed into the pool to clean up. They all went quite willingly into the pool.

Much later I walked by and saw the pool was drained and 3 workers were in there with long pole brushes scouring the pool and deck. And we all got a certificate delivered to our room stating we have “accepted with good humor and withstood with fortitude the most rigorous initiation into the Ancient Damp Rites of the Aquatic Court.”