- The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
- Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
- Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
- Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
- Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
- Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
- Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
- Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
- Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8, At Sea
- Day 9, At Sea
- Day 10, At Sea
- Day 11, At Sea
- Day 12, At Sea
- Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, At Sea
- Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Day 22 – At Sea
- Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
- Day 24, At Sea
- Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
- Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
- Day 27 – At Sea
- Day 28 – At Sea
- Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
- Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
- Day 31 – Napier
- Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
- Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
- Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
- Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
- Day 36 – At Sea
- Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 39 – At Sea
- 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
- Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
- Day 41, At Sea
- Day 42, At Sea
- Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
- Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
- Day 45 – At Sea
- Day 46 – At Sea
- Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
- Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
- Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
- Day 50 – At Sea
- Day 51 – At Sea
- Day 52 – At Sea
- Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
- Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
- Day 55 – At Sea
- Day 56 – At Sea
- Day 57 – At Sea
- Day 58, Puerto Princesa
- Day 59, – At Sea
- Day 60, Manila, Philippines
- Day 61, Manila, Philippines
- Day 62 – At Sea
- Day 63 – Hong Kong
- Day 64, Hong Kong
- Day 65 – At Sea
- Day 66 – At Sea
- Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
- Day 69 – Siem Reap
- 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
- Day 70 – Singapore
- Day 71 – At Sea
- Day 72 – Phuket
- Day 73 – At Sea
- Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
- Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
- Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
- Day 77 – At Sea
- Day 78 – At Sea
- Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
- Day 80 – At Sea
- Day 81 – At Sea
- Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
- Day 83 – At Sea
- Day 84 – At Sea
- Day 85 – At Sea
- Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
- Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
- Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
- Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
- Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 92 – At Sea
- Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Day 94 – At Sea
- Day 95 – At Sea
- Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
- Day 97 – At Sea
- Day 98 – At Sea
- Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
- Day 100 – At Sea
- Day 101 – At Sea
- Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
- Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
- Day 104 – At Sea
- Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
- Day 106 – At Sea
- Day 107 – At Sea
- Day 108 – At Sea
- Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
- Day 110 – At Sea
- Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Day 112 – At Sea
- Day 113 – At Sea
- Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
- 2018 World Cruise Entertainers
Day 99 – Crossing the Equator – April 13th
The Crossing the Line ceremony was scheduled for 10 AM by the LIDO pool. I arrived at 9 AM to get a good seat to shoot video. I was in the second row.
Here is a video highlight reel
Michael, Connor and Grahame, from the HAL Orchestra, were setting up under the small Gazebo near the pool. The HAL Orchestra guitar players, Emilio and Mati, were Pollywogs and we would see them later when they went thru the ceremony. A large frozen fish was in place between the Gazebo and the stern end of the pool. This fish was brought aboard in Fort Lauderdale and kept frozen until today specifically for this ceremony.
Off to one side, a metal cage, that is used to load luggage on and off ship, was set up for use as a holding cell for the Pollywog prisoners while waiting for their turn before King Neptune.
Set up along the stern end of the Lido pool were 5 folding chairs for King Neptune’s Court. They would pass judgement on the various Pollywogs who would be brought before them for justice.
Most of the seats were filled by 9:45 AM and by then the available railing space above, on Deck 9, was filled, too.
The ceremony started at 10 AM sharp with the Pollywog Parade. With the HAL Orchestra’s trio playing an appropriate pirate themed dirge the slimy Pollywogs were led around the pool by the Trusty Shellbacks. Afterward the second lap around the pool, the Trusty Shellbacks herded the Slimy Wogs into the holding pens.
King Neptune’s Court, which consisted of the Captain and 4 of his senior Officers, marched across the Lido deck, took the seats by the pool and the ceremony was underway.
Every ship’s department had Pollywogs in the holding pen. They were brought up to face their justice in groups of about 5 Pollywogs at a time. Trusty Shellbacks led them to the edge of the pool facing the Captain and his court. After they knelt, Hamish, the cruise director who served as the Magistrate, would read a list of humorous charges. Following the reading the of Charge Sheet, each Pollywog was required to “Kiss the Fish” and they proceeded to give the formerly frozen fish a smack on the fish’s lips.
Their next stop was the ‘surgeon’s tables’ where they were coated with a semi-liquid meringue looking goop by King Neptune’s “medical staff”. Once they were completely covered, the Captain would pass judgment with a thumbs up or thumbs down. A thumbs down meaning they had to get dunked into the pool and remain there for the rest of the ceremony. Those with a thumbs up were forced to sit in the hot sun. It was really a better deal to get a thumbs down as they could stay in the cool water and wash off the goop rather than have the goop dry on their skin under the hot sun.
After careful consideration, the Captain and his court would give a thumb up or thumbs down and the Pollywog would either leap into the pool or slink off to the other end of the pool to await the end of the ceremony.
As the ceremony was wrapping up, Clare Gill, one of the HAL dancers, who was serving as King Neptune’s mermaid assistant, thought she was off the hook due to her proximity to power. The tide turned quickly as she was called to account for her pollywog crimes. Showing no mercy, the court found her guilty and into the drink she went.
Following the ceremony many of the ship’s staff posed for the following photo by the gazebo here:
The internet remained out of service all day.
Queen’s Lounge
Jo Little was back in the Queen’s Lounge for an encore performance. She was very funny and has a great voice. Her performance which blends comedy and singing is unique and well worth your while.
