It might not seem like a big deal to cross the equator, but it really is. Crossing the equator in a ship is an event that has been celebrated for ages aboard vessels of all kinds. As the entry on Wikipedia notes, “The line-crossing ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a person’s first crossing of the Equator. The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a “folly” sanctioned as a boost to morale, or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long, rough voyages. Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are common in the Navy and are also sometimes carried out for passengers’ entertainment on civilian ocean liners and cruise ships. They are also performed in the merchant navy and aboard sail training ships.”

Just like Wikipedia says, we had a line-crossing ceremony to commemorate the passing. Our cruise director, Dottie, was the master of ceremonies and had quite the witty speech to kick things off.

Roughly a dozen crewmembers who had not yet crossed the equator went first – mostly casino staff members surprisingly. Each person had to kiss a giant tuna and then King Neptune would pour some ice water over their head.

Then it was our turn.

I went first. Galen (the guy holding the fish) held the giant tuna right at me and I kinda sorta kissed it. Then the water, and yes, it was cold. You can see some ice cubes in the photo.

Then it was John’s turn. This time Galen got a little too frisky with the tuna and one of the fish’s teeth caught John in the lip. Boy did it bleed! Like a true trooper though, John went right over to King Neptune and got doused with ice water still. Check out his lip!

Afterwards, we each got a quick photo with Keenan the mermaid. Keenan is one of the entertainment staff and he definitely has the most presence of anybody.

The boys didn’t partake in the excitement (not sure why) but everybody regardless of participation in the ceremony part received a certificate commemorating our passage. All around, it was a memorable time.

And for the record, John is fine. He got a tetanus shot ‘just in case’ and received a lovely box of chocolates (that Ryan and I are eating). It seems like every single staff member knows about the incident and has expressed concern for him. It’s already much, much better.