Crossing the Equator

We are on a 28day Cruise where we will cross the equator for the first time. Anyone know if HAL does anything special for us Pollywogs that are about to become Shellbacks after we cross the Equator?

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Yes, there is the King Neptune ceremony. The pollywog crew members get slimed:

https://twocruisingsisters.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/officially-in-the-southern-hemisphere/

Yes...a fun ceremony.

You should receive a certificate.

A fun time for the guests to watch, but maybe not initially so much for the crew that are selected to be inducted.

Sometimes, after the ceremony, some of the other participants end up in the pool. On the original Royal Princess, during the ceremony off the coast of Brazil, our Captain, Captain Burgess ended up in the pool, shoes and walkie-talkie and all! (He was a very gregarious and guest oriented Master.)

We have attended the King Neptune Ceremony several times. A lot of fun. Several times the captain, hotel director and a couple of other officers were "gooed" and thrown in the pool.

We did not always get a certificate.

We have attended the King Neptune Ceremony several times. A lot of fun. Several times the captain, hotel director and a couple of other officers were "gooed" and thrown in the pool.

We did not always get a certificate.

I would think you only get the certificate the first time?

After the King Neptune ceremony, the passengers will also have an opportunity to 'Kiss the Fish!', and have your picture taken. It's a lot of fun, and you only cross the Equator for the first time once---so kiss the fish!

I've gotten a certificate every time I've crossed. Guess it's easier to give a certificate to everyone, than to try to figure out who doesn't need one.

Everyone, every time. They vary a bit so you can collect quite a few and not necessarily have identicals.

A fun time for the guests to watch, but maybe not initially so much for the crew that are selected to be inducted.

 

Sometimes, after the ceremony, some of the other participants end up in the pool. On the original Royal Princess, during the ceremony off the coast of Brazil, our Captain, Captain Burgess ended up in the pool, shoes and walkie-talkie and all! (He was a very gregarious and guest oriented Master.)

The HAL crew pollywogs generally don't mind participating and if someone wants to opt out, they can. The "slime" isn't that bad (mainly pink and blue Merengue-based liquid), as least not compared to the vile stuff used on naval ships,

The plan is to get every, or as many as possible, ship department represented by at least one wog, and to find the ugliest fish in one of the ports prior to the ceremony.

In addition, the ship's senior management, the five who sit in judgement; thumps up (on the edge of he pool) or down (in the pool) rarely wind up in the pool themselves afterwards, unless they're really good sports. From personal experience, other officers who hang around too close to the pool afterwards, aren't so lucky ;p

Neptune ceremony on Statendam

Neptune ceremony on Amsterdam

On the Zaandam last year (South America) we crossed the equator at night and there was an announcement that there would be no ceremony. A bunch of us stood around a TV in the Crow's Nest ant took pictures of the ship's course. I don't remember if we got a certificate.

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Great pictures!

Thanks for sharing.

The first time we crossed they asked if some of the passengers wanted to be part of the ceremony & I stepped up. Got slimed, thrown in the pool, had a great time. We have now crossed the equator 8 times, the certificates are a nice remainder of our travels. All the other crossings where for crew only.

Allan

The first time we crossed they asked if some of the passengers wanted to be part of the ceremony & I stepped up. Got slimed, thrown in the pool, had a great time. We have now crossed the equator 8 times, the certificates are a nice remainder of our travels. All the other crossings where for crew only.

Allan

I’d love to take

Part!!

If one ever has an opportunity to witness this event, make certain that you get to where it is going to be held very early in order to get a good spot to see and to take pictures.

If one ever has an opportunity to witness this event, make certain that you get to where it is going to be held very early in order to get a good spot to see and to take pictures.

Good advice!

We crossed on Maasdam in 2016. Photos on my live blog, posts 215-217 (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51268254&postcount=215 ; https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51268270&postcount=216; and https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51268279&postcount=217 )

I was on the upper deck, not close up like Copper 10-8 on Amsterdam, but it should give a good idea of what it is.

We did get shellback certificates.

Dave

There are usually 2 ceremonies, one for crew and one for children. One or two adult guests are chosen to represent all the guests and are included in the ceremony for the crew.

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I'm looking at 2 different voyages that cross the equator. One voyage has it listed that it crosses the equator in the detailed itinerary and the other one never mentions it . Will the one ship have a ceremony and the other one not have one ? Don't know why the one ship does not have it on the itinerary . Curious .............

We crossed the Equator 4 times on this years world cruise but the only King Neptune ceremony was held after the last crossing. Passengers on earlier segments missed out. The last crossing of the Equator was at the Prime Meridian which elevated us to Emerald Shellbacks.

Our SA cruise on The Maasdam in March we had an awesome party and received our certificates in our room.

Denise :)

While equator ceremonies are fairly common on my first Prinsendam cruise we had a similar ceremony for crossing the Arctic Circle. There was no slime involved but the participants (including me) got dunked in the pool.

In addition to certificates there was an appropriate reward for the participants, an insulated coffee mug that accompanies me on HAL cruises to this day.

Roy

We crossed the Equator 4 times on this years world cruise but the only King Neptune ceremony was held after the last crossing. Passengers on earlier segments missed out. The last crossing of the Equator was at the Prime Meridian which elevated us to Emerald Shellbacks.

Strange, we did a crossing at the Prime Meridian on the Prinsendam 5 Apr 2008 and am now an official "Royal Diamond Shellback" . Wonder why the different names. Any way it was a ceremony, brings back good memories.

Allan