Arctic Circle Ceremony

On Sunday June 1st we crossed the Arctic  Circle at the approximate latitude 66°30′ N. As Captain Michael pointed out, it’s a line on maps but there’s no line out there in the ocean indicating when we crossed. We actually crossed with little fanfare. The daily newsletter did note that there would be no sunset that day. Since then we’ve enjoyed continuous daylight with the newsletters noting “midnight Sun” instead of sunrise and sunset times. In the meantime we’ve visited Tromsø and Honningsvåg, Norway and even as far north as Skarsvåg on Magerøya Island, the northernmost land mass in Europe. Then just after midnight this morning the two of us were out on Deck 5 with our sunglasses on taking pictures of the sun still above the horizon. Today aboard ship we had our Blue Nose Ceremony to celebrate our crossing into the Arctic Realm and invoking the protection of Neptunus Rex from the hazards therein. We were there to support the brave souls to opted to throw themselves into the icy waters of the swimming pool, or to have icy water poured down their backs. We participated with drinking a Blue Kamikaze, having our noses painted, and posing for a photo with the God of the Sea. We weren’t positioned to have a good view, but this short YouTube video of a similar celebration gives a sense of the celebration of venturing into the far north. We’ll both be coming home with certificates of our Arctic Circle Crossing. Yes! This is fun!