No Longer Pollywogs

Apparently the ceremony – in some form – dates back to the late 1400s but it wasn’t really “a thing” until the 1700s. Charles Darwin wrote about his participation in 1832 while on the HMS Beagle. The ceremony morphed into a pretty brutal hazing event at one point, but now it’s more of a fun, memorable rite of passage amongst sailors who are commemorating their first sailing across the equator. Sailors, and cruise ship passengers.

The ceremony involves a loose storyline of Pollywogs (people who have never sailed across the equator) seeking the favor of King Neptune for safe passage. There’s a trial in which the Pollywogs are accused of various misbehaviors and are found guilty by the attending Shellbacks (people who have crossed the equator before). 

The Shellbacks exert punishment on the Pollywogs until King Neptune decides they have properly atoned for their bad deeds. There is much celebration and, in the case of cruise line passengers, photo ops and commemorative certificates. One US Naval Officer I know suggested his ceremony started in the weeeee hours and lasted until nearly lunch. Our ceremony was about 45 minutes and ended just as the buffet was opening. 

We weren't going to buy any overpriced
Princess photos and yet...

Rob and I (and Piglet, who shall have his own certificate thanks to photo editing trickery, no thanks to the Guest Services Desk who has no sense of fun and whimsy) became Shellbacks on June 9, 2026. We celebrated a bit before noon and it was HOT. And humid. Without much shade to be found.

We were slathered with SPF 50 and 
we still felt exposed. So we repurposed
a pool towel and a napkin on the fly.
Equatorial sun is no joke!

Two tables of colorful goop and a dead fish were set up, along with a LOT of plastic sheeting and towels placed on a large swath of the Lido Deck to assist with clean-up. A number of the ship’s junior crew (i.e. those who were voluntold they would be participating) dressed up in togas and formed The Court. Two others dressed as King Neptune and Queen Neptuna. Our cruise director was a lawyer of sorts. The Captain dropped by and gave a short speech.

The Queen and King

About 50 passengers volunteered to be tried. They were all found guilty of their misdeeds, which included complaining a lot, pushing all the buttons on the elevators, and going back for fourths at the buffet. As punishment, the Court threw goop and noodles and flour at them in a one-sided food fight.

The Court and good-sports 
passengers. We were not among them.
Someone needed to take photos, right?

It might have been pudding or whipped
cream. And then cooked noodles, topped
with flour to make it all stick.

The Court kicked into Revenge Gear when the Pollywogs among the ship’s Officers lined up in front of King Neptune. With the-tables-have-turned gusto, the Shellback junior crew doused their superiors in foodstuffs without any effort to contain their glee. This was after the Pollywogs had been forced to kiss the dead fish.

The fish was very floppy. And oozy. ICK!

The most proximate swimming pool
was closed the rest of the day for
extensive cleaning.

The ceremony ended with King Neptune proclaiming all in attendance to now be Shellbacks, regardless of whether they were wearing pink pudding and spaghetti. Rob and I quickly retreated to the blissful air conditioning of Sabatini’s for an international wine tasting event and to toast our newly bequeathed Shellbackery. 

Huzzah!

Back in our natural habitat.
The Austrian Grüner Veltliner was
my favorite. Rob liked the Italian
Nebbiolo.