Part 12: Neptune Day!!!

captain jeremy as king neptune!

It was a little quicker than I imagined it would be, but it was the funniest day of the voyage. Usually The Voice wakes us up at 9:15 every morning with the morning announcements, but on Neptune day we were woken at 8 by the crew parading up and down the hallways banging on pots and pans. We were herded up to the 7^th deck for opening ceremonies where we were told that we would be transformed from mere pollywogs into the much more respectable shellbacks (A shellback has crossed the equator on a ship – a pollywog is a landlubber). King Neptune was there, who was our very own Captain Jeremy, painted neon green and wearing a Speedo and a wig. I feel inclined to mention that our captain is an EXTREMELY proper British guy with a clean accent and who we have never seen wearing anything other than his white uniform. Our deans were also all dressed up and the LLCs were as well. They organized us into lines and when we reached the front, we were made to stand in the shallow part of the pool and shut our eyes and mouths as the crew poured green slimy fake fish guts over our heads. We then jumped into the water to wash it off and climbed out to kiss the very real dead fish and then the ring of King Neptune. I forgot to do this last bit and as I tried to walk by the King, he pushed me back into the pool. We then had the option of getting into line to have our heads shaved which is the most famous part of the tradition. I opted out, but around 50 or 60 people didn’t, a third of which were girls. My roommate was one of them. A week later, she has fuzz a few centimeters long. To celebrate our new status, there was a BBQ, which I didn’t attend because Ilana was having a birthday celebration in the specialty-dining room. I don’t know what I was expecting specialty dining would be, but it surpassed my expectations. Every day on the ship is very casual, but for specialty dining we have to get dressed up and it is like going to a very fancy restaurant. We got a menu that offered us 2 or three options for each of the five courses complete with champagne and sorbet as a palate cleanser. 

brave soul!

dean of students!

kissing the fish!

my roomie pre shaving!