At Sea Enroute to Pago Pago February 12-13

An interesting couple of days at sea!  On Sunday, we attended church – we sang the first hymn in the northern hemisphere and the last in the southern hemisphere (we crossed the equator at 11:54 am on February 12, 2012).  And rousing hymns they were:  Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him; Who Would True Valor See; O God, Our Help in Ages Past; and of course Eternal Father, Strong to Save, AKA the mariners’ hymn.

Crowd gathers by pool

Neptune issues decree

Official Equator Certificate

A ceremony was held on the ship for anyone desiring special recognition of their transition from Pollywog status (someone who has yet to cross the equator) to Shellback status – the term for people who have crossed the equator by ship. The ceremony included a decree by Neptune (who evidently must approve anyone entering the southern hemisphere) that we must be punished for not requesting his approval….we delegate receipt of this punishment to others.  This involved kissing a quite dead fish, being splashed with food trash (orange peels, jello, etc.) and finally being ceremoniously shoved into the swimming pool.  This apparently is something done on all cruise ships that cross the equator.  Silly fun that resulted in the pool being drained, scrubbed, disinfected and refilled.

Early morning, while we circle the deck as part of our daily exercise regime, double rainbows dip into the ocean; later, the ship harpist plays Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  We walk and discuss whether there are intended biblical connotations to Jiminy Cricket and the Disney song "When you Wish Upon a Star."  At dinner, the string quartet plays the song.  Coincidences or not, a bit too Celestine for us.



Doldrums

The lectures continue, classical music abounds and there is always laundry.  Life on a cruise ship isn’t complicated or, other than random laundry-room encounters with aggressive public-laundry neophytes, stressful.



The ship is sailing over the Nova Canyon Trough all day this Sunday.  It is over 5000 meters deep.  We are in the doldrums so the seas are very calm and Captain Wells has us cruising at 21.3 knots.

 
The Masquerade Ball was last night.  We donned the masks we made in Venice during our Italy tour a few years back.  The women are in their beautiful gowns, the men in their tuxedos, all wearing equally interesting masks.  One man’s mask is quite different, unexpected and innovative, a simple paper bag, with eye holes, situated over his head.  Some experienced, great dancers are on this ship – not exactly dancing with the stars yet people really enjoying the ball.  There are daily dance lessons on the ship as well, making this is a real opportunity to learn and use new talents.

Masks for the Masquerade Ball

Nautical Terms:  The Crossing the Line Ceremony is an ancient tradition intended to commemorate a sailor’s first crossing of the equator.  The International Date Line is an imaginary line running North and South along the 180^th meridian of longitude but with some adjustments to avoid dividing certain island groups otherwise bisected by it.  It is the geographical point at which the time zones GMT + 12 hours and – 12 hours meet, bringing about a 24 hour time change. 

Cruise Musings:  People are People.  Even on a cruise we must be reminded – Don’t hog the exercise equipment when there are people waiting; don’t expect to save pool deck chairs all day, even when you aren’t there; don’t flush junk down the toilets; don’t leave your balcony door open when the temperature outside is 88 and the air conditioning is running and as always – don’t smoke in your room because everyone can smell it in the hallways.  Along with singlehandedly steering the ship – okay, he has a few helpers – the captain must periodically remind us of these prohibitions in the Daily Programme or during his noon reports over the public address system.

Tomorrow the ship arrives in Pago Pago, American Samoa, around 7:30 a.m.  The day after tomorrow, February 14^th, will be February 16^th for us since we will be crossing the International Date Line.  New nighttime constellations and a glaring hole in our calendar, all in one week!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!