Crossing the Line

A ceremony for sailors crossing the equator for the first time has been part of maritime history for a long time. When the ceremonies were first conducted, they were physically challenging and could even be painful or embarrassing to the Sailors. Today, the event is voluntary and is undertaken more for entertainment purposes. I am sure my JE74 Navy classmates can tell tales of their first crossing and the ceremonies which resulted in sexual harassment complaints and PTSD.

Cruise lines of course perform a somewhat milder version of this ceremony involving some fish kissing and a giant food fight on the pool deck along with multiple warnings and entreaties for participants to NOT wash themselves off in the pool as this causes a 24-hour headache, while the pool is emptied and cleaned.

Anyway, we crossed the Equator on our way north to Singapore around 10:30 pm so the ceremony was held earlier in the day to fit in between trivia and ballroom dance classes.

The Cruise Director acts as MC and warms up the crowd before the show.

And then here are some of the messy bits edited out from the 20-minute video of the full ceremony I will post when a fast, stable internet connection is available.

Not sure if we will just squeak above the artic circle later on the cruise in which case there is another ceremony with much colder liquids being used.