Crossing the Line/King Neptune’s Court

[watsonbeau]

Not cruised on Princess before - Cunard mainly - but would love to do the South Pacific/ Hawaii/NZ - and Princess look to have some reasonably priced itineraries that appeal - though long flights as in UK 😐

 

What do Princess do on crossing the equator - do they hold the traditional court/ceremony/party ? Thank you 

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

Yes. Guess it's the "traditional" one. Volunteers are smeared w/all kinds of disgusting looking things (including fish). When they're done being smeared, they're allowed to jump into the pool to clean off the yuck.

After the ceremony, there'll be a certificate in your cabin that attests that you crossed the line.

We did a once & done...observation only.

[reedprincess]

58 minutes ago, watsonbeau said:

Not cruised on Princess before - Cunard mainly - but would love to do the South Pacific/ Hawaii/NZ - and Princess look to have some reasonably priced itineraries that appeal - though long flights as in UK 😐

 

What do Princess do on crossing the equator - do they hold the traditional court/ceremony/party ? Thank you 

 

 

 

Yes, they have the traditional Neptune's Court, crossing the line ceremony, food fight, and you get a certificate designated you a shellback... It's messy and fun, on the lido pool deck, get there early for good seats or sign up to be a participant.. .

 

[capriccio]

We attended the first time we crossed the equator and felt no need to do it the next time. 

[Cabunit]

If by "traditional" you mean as practiced by the Royal Navy or US Navy, then the answer is "no - not even close."  It's primarily a form of entertainment that draws some of its content from the borders of the military ceremony.  As noted above, a few volunteers are lightly abused with food and a food fight may break out.  But the bulk of the passengers can claim to be shellbacks without participating in anything.  All in good fun. 

[watsonbeau]

Sounds fun to watch 😎. I think being an observer will be more than enough. Thank you 

[paul929207]

As I recall there is also a ceremony when the international date line is crossed

[JF - retired RRT]

50 minutes ago, paul929207 said:

As I recall there is also a ceremony when the international date line is crossed

Correct. Not as much craziness, though.

[skynight]

Have done this on Princess 4 times pre-covid. In the past they rounded up around 6 passengers to represent all the passengers on the ship. They also found a few crew members. If you wanted to take part you really had to let the CD know on day 1. There was an announcer, a crew member dressed up as King Neptune with some CD staff as members of his court. There was a show/ceremony on deck around the pool. Believe the band was also present. It was interesting, but really just another deck party. All passengers received a certificate in their cabin.

This could all change post covid.

[OccasionalSanta]

On our cruise from New Zealand to L.A., they had all the crew members that had never done the crossing before involved in the equator crossing rite. about 30, as I recall.

 

There was also part of the ceremony that involved kissing a fish (I don't remember why)  Mrs. OS kinda wanted to do this, but there was a very long line for it.

 

Also...  There was no ceremony for crossing the date line (except that we had two consecutive Thursdays) which we technically crossed three times on the journey.

Edited April 12, 2022 by OccasionalSanta
added information

[Thrak]

I have no desire to "kiss the fish". It was dumb enough before C19. I can't imagine continuing the "tradition" now that C19 is around. We went to the "ceremony" and watched but didn't participate.

[skynight]

54 minutes ago, OccasionalSanta said:

There was also part of the ceremony that involved kissing a fish (I don't remember why)  Mrs. OS kinda wanted to do this, but there was a very long line for it.

I remember a few things that were done, kissing a fish, being slimed with pudding and spaghetti, one of those operations where they pull all kinds of stuff from you, dunk in the pool. Maybe I'm missing some. 

Of all the events I witnessed none were exactly the same. All made a mess on deck for the deck staff to clean up.