From Pollywogs to Shellbacks

                      What does a fish,a bottle of Aquavit and a dip in the pool have in common? 

                                                                The Equator

January 19, 2023 The Viking Neptune will cross the Equator and will begin sailing in the Souther Hemisphere.  

The fish! (Socially distanced and masked)

The Aquavit

The Norwegian God Aegir found us sailing in his sea and demanded those not shellbacks need to be judged for their deeds and punished.  On our ship, there were staff who had never crossed the line and a litany of their wrong doings were read aloud for us to make a judgement on. The ship’s captain and first officers were able to over rule our decision but of course when they heard the charges they too found the staff guilty. As a punishment, the staff kissed a fish, drank the aquavit and jumped into the pool ,fully clothed.  

My viewpoint above the pool area

The Captain and senior staff

Staff in the pool

The staff in the pool for their punishment

Albert decided to join the the fun. He jumped in and I was able to see him with his shot of Aquavit

Getting close to the fish

Kissing the fish and becoming a shellback!

When we came back to our rooms after dinner the above certificates were waiting for us. We are now official Shellbacks and can forever more say we’ve crossed the Equator! As of today we continue to sail the South Pacific Ocean heading to Bora Bora and Paradise.