November 30, 2022: Day 1 of 3 Days at Sea
This is day one (of three) of days at sea as we work our way from São Tomé to our next port of call, Walvis Bay, Namibia. No need to wake up early so no alarm was set and we both managed to sleep until about 9AM. Yvonne admits she has been sleeping pretty well since being on board and I suggested that maybe we should spend more time cruising which she quickly dismissed as not a good idea.
Because we had crossed the equator last night the ship performed the rituals normally done when one crosses the equator this morning on the pool deck. This ritual goes back to long ago as sailors were “baptized” on the event of their first crossing. Known as “pollywogs” before making the crossing they were baptized and made into “shellbacks”, people who have crossed the equator previously. King Neptune presided over the event which in modern days involves being doused with ice cold water and kissing a fish! John, our cruise director, donned the proper King Neptune attire, and was accompanied by the production staff dressed in appropriate nautical/ seafaring gear to oversee the ritual with much fanfare (music by Queen) and noise. Surprisingly there were about 30 people who admitted this was their first time crossing the equator and dressed appropriately (swim suits) to be “baptized” by King Neptune himself. It was all in great fun. Yvonne and I have had the privilege of multiple equator crossings so we simply watched the proceedings.
Before we knew it it was late afternoon and time for trivia, and because it was a sea day our whole team was there and we managed to finally win the event, although we only got 12/15 questions correct. It was a hard quiz!!
We cornered Terry & Barb Toth, whom we had met earlier in the cruise, and suggested having dinner together which we did. Terry has led a fascinating career as a musician (
degree in music- trumpet), magician, editor, vineyard owner, and publication consultant including setting up the 401K program literature/training for GE. Talk about a varied career!
Foggie Flax, the UK comedian, impersonator and singer, performed another show after dinner. His impersonations of sounds and singers was outstanding. He kept us enthralled and laughing throughout the show.
This ended another “tiring(😀)” day of cruising. Good night, all…