Crossing the Equator

Day 11 of 164 days around the world cruise.

We left Honolulu on Day 8 and we are now sailing on day 11 to our next port in Bora Bora which is, as Siri tells me,

2645 miles as the crow flies. This will take five days.

Today is the day we cross the equator on our way to our second port Bora Bora. For those that have not experienced an Equator crossing on a ship there is quite the ceremony that goes on. You need to obtain King Neptunes blessing and permission to cross. Kissing a fish is part of the ceremony but these days the fish wears a mask and you salute him instead to stay safe. You also must be punished if you don’t obtain permission to cross. Before your first crossing you are considered a Polliwog but after the crossing you become a Shellback. Consider yourself lucky to experience this as a cruise ship passenger rather than a sailor as their ceremony can be quite gross and grueling. But on a cruise ship it is all fun. This is our eighth crossing so I guess we are salty old shellbacks at this point.

By the time we reach Bora Bora we will have spent 11 of of our first 14 days at sea. So what do you do onboard during sea days? Well you can do as little or a much as you want. Sit in the sun, walk the promenade, work out in the gym (not me), attend an enrichment lecture, go to art class, take in a cooking class, read a book, make new friends, take a nap, watch the water pass by, look for birds and marine animals, listen to music, go to the spa, watch a movie, edit and write a video blog, of course eat some great food, or doing nothing at all. Not a bad way to spend a few days in between ports!