4 Days at Sea and we Cross the Equator

What's there to do on the ship during sea days?  Lots!!  Every evening there is a brochure delivered to the stateroom that outlines all the activities hour by hour throughout the next day.  Just pick and choose what sounds good to you.  There are seminars to attend on various subjects, games to play such as Trivia, Bingo, Bridge, dance classes, fitness classes, ice carving demonstrations, fruit carving demonstrations.  There's afternoon tea time, complete with scones and cream...yum...wine tasting parties, art auctions, ping pong and shuffleboard tournaments....and of course the pools where one can just laze the day away reading and snoozing a little.  In the evening there is always entertainment in the theatre and at least one of the lounges.  Guest entertainers come on board for about a week and do at least a couple shows.  There are string quartets and pianists playing for our listening pleasure.  And if you can't think of anything to do, there's always something to eat!  Yes, it's a hard life here on the ship!  LOL

We try to get our exercise in after breakfast by running on the deck that goes all the way around the ship.  Three times around equals one mile.  It’s sometimes a challenge to maneuver around the many people also trying to get in some exercise by walking, but we do okay.  It’s extremely windy at the bow of the ship and very humid outside, so it doesn’t take long to feel we actually got some exercise.

So, then it’s time to eat again (lunch) and then we usually settle down on loungers and read/get sleepy/people watch.  The ship personnel always have some sort of maintenance going on that is interesting to watch.  One day 2 crew members, one male, one female, were cleaning light bulbs on the aft deck.  The female held the squirt bottle and some official papers and the male held a long stick with a rag wrapped around the end.  The female would pass the squirt bottle to the male to wet the light bulb and then he would “mop” it.  One time the female grabbed the squirt bottle and mop stick from the male and redid what he just worked on.  Satisfied that it was now done correctly, they referred to their official papers to find the next light bulb and moved on.  Another crew member was busy cleaning the white plastic frames of the lounge chairs with a brush that was just slightly larger than a toothbrush.  There are hundreds of lounge chairs.  I’m sure he had an exciting day.

This morning at around 4 am the ship officially crossed the equator.  There was a ceremony held on the ship (later in the morning) to mark this occasion.  A naval tradition I think.  King Neptune and his Queen hold “court” to pollywogs (people who have never crossed the equator).

King Neptune & His Queen

 

Five people volunteered for this ceremony and hundreds gathered around the pool in the aft of the ship to watch.  They had to kiss a fish and then were lathered with raw eggs, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and spaghetti noodles. 

Kissing a fish

Getting messy

 

If they survive all this, they now become “shellbacks”. 

Officially they are now "Shellbacks"

 

We will each receive a certificate officially stating we have crossed the equator.  It’s a silly, but fun, activity on ship.  Guess we will do it again when we cross the equator on the other side of South America.

We have attended a couple of port lectures that tell us what to expect and see in the Brazilian ports.  It’s Carnival time and we will be amongst millions of people as we venture out from the ship.  We will always be with a group of people (and a guide) and we are so ready to step foot in Brazil!  Tomorrow....Fortaleza, Brazil.