Travels with Irene

On Sunday afternoon, Jan 11, a large crowd gathered at the Volendam’s Sea View Pool on Deck 8.  Passengers, crew members, and the ship’s officers sat and stood in the tropical heat awaiting the King Neptune Ceremony aka The Line Crossing Ceremony. 

For centuries, the traditional maritime ritual of crossing the Equator for the first time has been celebrated with festivities and tests to prove the sea worthiness of newbies, the Pollywogs.  If the sailors pass the initiation rites and the mock court approves, they can enter King Neptune’s realm.  Now called Trusty Shellbacks, they are truly trusted subjects of Neptune, the Roman god of water.       

I first heard about this from my granddaughter who is an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard when I saw her ornately framed certificate on a wall of her home and she explained what the ceremony is like for someone in the Navy or Coast Guard.  Granted, on a cruise ship, celebrating crossing the Equator for the first time is a bit different.

The ceremony started with the ship’s Officers being seated in a “court”.  King Neptune arrived, along with his wife.   All the crew members who had never crossed the Equator since they had joined the ship’s staff paraded in front of the king. 

With a loud voice, King Neptune shouted out the “crime” each one was being charged with, crimes like a dining room server placing the napkin-rolled silverware an inch out of line, or a room steward folding a towel crookedly.  Then each of them had to kiss a fish held by a mermaid, and crawl in front of a team of “shellbacks” who smeared them with colored whipped cream.  The “court” of officers voted whether they had to bake in the sun or swim in the pool.   

When all the newbies had been charged and convicted, they could jump in the pool as King Neptune announced they were now Trusted Shellbacks in his kingdom.  The deck was filled with the cheers of the passengers watching,  the smiles and shouts of the crew, and laughter from all.

As for me, all I had to do was kiss the fish, and I got my certificate.  I’m now a Trusted Shellback, a title I proudly claim.  Into the Southern Hemisphere I go….onto new adventures in an area that is 80% covered by water.   I’m ready!