Good morning! Yet again, it is time for a sun rise and I am having issues getting out onto the balcony! I think there are two things against me – I am trying to be QUIET and the wind is blowing AGAINST the door! So around I go clockwise and counter clockwise listening for that click and push on the door and it does not open. About to give up and then it opens! Give me a break! It is a balmy 30 degrees outside and HUMID this morning on the South Pacific! I almost should break out into song, however that will end badly and it does say next to the railing to not throw anything overboard, including humans! We need Andrew to get his beauty sleep now!
What a lovely morning to sit on the balcony! I sort of feel like Marilyn Monroe though as the skirt from my dress insists on flying high! However no one is around to see so that is okay I guess. It was interesting today that the sky is blue however the sun has not fully risen yet! Finally it peeked above some clouds on the horizon to show its lovely face!
At 10:30 am I went to the King Neptune Party on the stern of the ship, on the Lido Deck 9. This is where the Adults pool only is located along with a lot of sun chairs – where you will NOT find me sun bathing! It was jammed with people while I arrived however I was lucky to sneak into a spot sitting on my walker right behind the roped in area where the Captain and the other Officers sat. In this ceremony, which in my impression was fun for the staff but took a bit too long, there was a Judge, played by the Assistant Cruise Director, King Neptune, played by the Cruise Director and then King Neptune’s Queen played by a female – not sure who she was! They had a script to read which was actually quite funny and full of puns and “sea” references. The PURPOSE of this ceremony is to celebrate the crossing of the Equator.
The “official explanation” according to Google is: “The Neptune ceremony, or “Crossing the Line,” is a maritime tradition where sailors who cross the equator for the first time (known as polliwogs) undergo an initiation rite to become a seasoned sailor (a shellback). The ceremony typically involves a humorous and sometimes messy process presided over by “King Neptune” and his court, where initiates face various ordeals like being dunked in water, having their heads shaved, or being subjected to other comical and humiliating tasks.
Needless to say, it WAS entertaining! There was a whole line of about 30 “polliwogs” lead onto the deck by some “pirates” and they were introduced in groups such as the “Bartenders” or “Housekeeping” or “Engineering” to receive their treatment. In this case the judge and King Neptune ordered they first kiss the fish heads (they were huge) propped up on the table at the end of the pool, then they had to lay down on some tables and be covered with sea foam, before coming to kneel down in front of the Captain and officers. At that point in time, the Judge, King Neptune and the Queen did a commentary about the polliwogs in front of them and some of their “bad behavior”. Then the Judge asked the Captain and Officers to “judge” them with either a thumbs up or thumbs down. A thumbs up meant they could jump into the pool! A thumbs down meant they had to sit on the side of the pool and bake. I took several videos of this process however the one of the “entertainment (band and dancers) staff” was the best in my impression! Especially when they called out the black piano player for his antics on stage and then the Queen made a comment about him (he is covered in yellow foam) needing to being spared! Thumbs up or down?
Now, after watching numerous groups of polliwogs come up for judgment, it was time to end the ceremony!
The staff, who normally do not get to swim in the rear adults only pool obviously enjoyed themselves! I then proceeded to do some “paperwork” or as Adi, our Dining Room waiter calls it “homework” which I had neglected to complete the previous night as we had dined in our stateroom due to my migraine (which is much more tame today). First off I went to the Canaletto Restaurant, where we had reservations for this evening, to let them know that I needed a gluten free meal. The hostess and one of the waiters were there and they assisted me with the menu and I was able to pre-order my dinner so the chef knew what I was intending on eating. Then I ran down (well I just took the elevator instead) to the Dining Room as I thought we would need to let them know about lunch. However I found out they were serving brunch instead, and as I was not really that hungry, I suggested to Susie, the special diets hostess who is generally on duty, that perhaps we would pass on the brunch.
I then found Andrew and he had just watched the Port Talk on Apia, Samoa where we will be in a couple of days. As we are taking a tour, there was not much to learn as the tour is going to take up most of the time we are in port. We then agreed we did not need anymore food and settled into the afternoon in our lovely stateroom! There was a Whitecaps soccer game for Andrew to listen to and I had some activities to do along with taking a much needed nap! Soon enough, the Whitecaps had won, the Canucks had also won in OT, so Andrew was happy and while I was having a discussion with my laptop regarding uploading videos, we realized it was now time for our dinner reservation! We got spiffed up and went upstairs to the Lido Deck, where the Canaletto restaurant is located, for our dinner!
I had reserved a window seat, however we soon found out that at 7 pm the sun has basically set – so the view did not last long! I had a beet and goat cheese salad, which was the same as Andrew had other than he got Gorgonzola cheese instead. I do not particularly like that type of cheese. Then Andrew was served a spaghetti dish with prawns and clams where I had the sea bass with eggplant. Both the starters and main meals were very good! We finished off the night with a demi-tasse cup which had vanilla gelato in it with espresso poured over top for dessert! Andrew had to finish mine as there was a bit too much coffee for my liking…. 🙂 I am sorry I forgot to take a picture of our dessert – I did not want the gelato to melt!
After our meal, we took a nice walk to the Dining Room to see our regular waiters so I could fill out my menu selections for the following day. We now have been at sea for 14 days and the menus are starting to rotate again I find and for tomorrow nights menu there is a problem – I do not like any of the Main dishes! Time to pull out the old backup dish – chicken with veggies! On that note, I am finding HAL a little light on the veggies. It must be hard to keep vegetables in a large quantity fresh on board a ship. As you can see from my dinner last night – there was not a lot of vegetables present – there were more cut up eggplant under the fish, however they are very light on veggies unless you ask for more! These types of meals suit Andrew more than they suit me who looks for more of a balance on my plate…
Tomorrow is our last day at sea, prior to crossing the International Date Line and arriving in Samoa! Looking forward to this momentous occasion!