Crossings have become a right of passage in yachting.
Captains typically end up wearing a bedsheet & become King Neptune while first time crossing crew are subjected to all sorts of initiations! I always find it a great time for the crew to bond before another busy season & depending on your watch schedule, get some serious naps & tanning sessions in.
The last Atlantic crossing I did (and fingers crossed, my last…I got quite seasick!), we had an awesome half-way crossing party that I had to share with you guys.
The boys wore bras, everyone sang Madonna, McChickens made an appearance & we capped it off with a savage food fight.
Theme.
I suggested to the crew that we do a CROSS-DRESSING theme as we were crossing over from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. Plus, this theme was super easy to do as the crew just swapped clothes with one another & there was no need for anyone to spend any money on costumes.
This alone was a sight to see…
Activities.
The second stewardess onboard spent a few weeks organizing a brilliant trivia game. It included a huge variety of topics from movie quotes to song titles. What made it so great was that she chose topics everyone could relate too and made sure to include songs there were both older & younger. Other games you could play: charades, cards against humanity & pictionary! All are really easy to organize on board and don’t require buying anything.
We chose these games as they don’t require much movement if it is rough, if its flat calm seas, the options for games are limitless.
Snacks & Drinks
We served jugs of virgin mojitos & iced tea lemonade. With being at sea, we weren’t able to drink, however, it was awesome to sit together over some mocktails laughing at our outrageous costumes. We left the snacks up to the deck crew who had pre-planned a “treat” for the crew. They bought 30 burgers (Big Macs & McChickens) at McDonald’s on our final day in Gibraltar as we were fueling before departure. They popped them all in the freezer & the Chef put them into his convection oven before serving. It was weird & oddly good?! (Kind of embarrassed to admit that!)
Grand Finale
Our Head Chef wanted to look after the initiation & he completely rose to the occasion. Every crew member that had never completed an Atlantic Crossing before was blindfolded & lead out to the Aft Deck. Once they were all kneeling down, we were supposed to ask them to confess their sins before King Neptune, but the engineers got excited and started throwing eggs at all kneeled crew before they could talk. From there, flour & white vinegar was poured on every crew member! A few eggs missed the crew & rolled around on deck, only for the newbie crew to find them and start through them back – even with blindfolds on, they still managed to hit a few of us!
The best part about this crossing party was that it really bonded the crew before going into a crazy busy season. It gave us all a chance to let our hair down, relax, have a good laugh & really enjoy the 2 weeks that we had onboard without guests! A few other themes I’ve seen done in the past…
- Everyone has to dress up as a letter of the alphabet, the first Atlantic crossing fo the vessel is letter A, the second crossing is “B” theme & so on.
- Pull a crew member’s names out of a hat & you have to dress/talk/act like them for the day while the rest of the crew guesses who you are.
- Famous singers – one of my old stewies just dressed up as Madonna on her crossing & looked fabulous!
- Safari Theme – Dress up as your favorite animal.
Here’s hoping everyone has smooth crossings this season & gets to enjoy a fun dress up party!
Big hugs!
Gem xo
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