The MV World Odyssey has officially crossed the equator, and that can only mean two things, it’s Neptune Day for the Spring 2017 Voyagers and it’s time to kiss some fish.
King Neptune (Captain Kostas) and Queen Minerva (Assistant Executive Dean Sunny Lee of UC Berkley), along with their royal court, kicked off Semester at Sea’s traditional Neptune Day festivities by marching through the halls, proclaiming to all voyagers that the time to graduate into full-fledged “Shellbacks” had come. (Shellbacks are Voyagers who have crossed the equator and gone through the Neptune Day ceremony. Future Voyagers who haven’t yet crossed the equator are known as “Pollywogs.”)
The ceremony commenced with an opening address, followed by the opportunity for student, faculty, and staff to complete the transition from pollywog to shellback by getting doused with “slime” and jumping into the pool. Then it was time for Voyagers to plant a big one on a fish, kiss King Neptune’s ring, and, for the particularly brave, get their heads shaved.
Check out some of the highlights of Spring 2017’s Neptune Day below.
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