Today was our fifth day crossing the Atlantic Ocean on board the Costa Favolosa and the day we sailed across the equator.
Today, I woke a bit later than usual, at around 8 am. I took a shower and went to get something to eat at the buffet restaurant on deck 9. I had a full English or as close to it as you can onboard a cruise ship. Sausage links, crispy bacon (which I think is terrible), baked beans, cheese, ham, fried potatoes and a fried egg, all washed down by tropical fruit juice.
Crossing the equator.
After breakfast, I sat around the pool reading my Kindle until about 11:45 am. The ship was due to cross the equator sometime around 12:15 pm, so I walked to deck 10 and found an empty jacuzzi that looked out across the back of the ship to the sea. I climbed in the jacuzzi, where I stayed whilst the ship crossed the equator. I was disappointed that no announcements were made over the tannoy telling us as we went over the equator, but there was a pool party in the main pool on deck 9.
Once the ship crossed the equator, I sat on a recliner and read my Kindle for a while before going back to the buffet at around 1:30 pm. I had a salad with some grilled fish for lunch. I spent the rest of the afternoon around the pool at the back of the boat until around 3:30 pm, when I went back to my cabin for a shower before going to the quiz at 4:30 pm.
Gail, Mal, Dwight, and Tessa joined me on the quiz. Once again, we didn't stop laughing, and I enjoyed attempting the quiz while drinking several cocktails. When the quiz finished, I sat chatting with my friends for a while before they went back to their cabins. I went to the piano bar and sat, listened to the music, drank some more cocktails and read my Kindle until dinner time.
At 7 pm, I went down to dinner and had seared prawns and ravioli stuffed with ricotta and mint. I had pork with roast potatoes and vegetables for my main, and for my dessert, I had a Brazilian-style roulade with dulce de leche.
After dinner, I went to meet Gail, Dwight and Tessa to watch the show. When I got there, a lady was sitting at the end of the row, so I moved past her and sat at a table next to her with Gail, Dwight, and Tessa. She immediately started complaining that I was too close to her and that she was sitting at her table and saving a seat for someone. I told her that I would only use my table and that she could still have a seat as I wasn't at her table. She continued to argue with me, and I told her she could have the table I was at as well. I left and went back to the quiet bar at the back of the ship. There is a slight chance that I may not have been that polite, though.
When I got to the bar, I met Marcus, and we sat chatting and had a few cocktails and beers. I jokingly messaged Ann and Rosa, telling them I had been thrown out of the show for fighting, and a short time later, they joined Marcus and me in the bar, wanting to know what happened. I told them about the woman but then told them I had just left and that there had been no fight. We sat talking and were soon joined by Gail and Dwight. Gail and Dwight then told me that after I left, the lady with whom I had argued had also left. Her expected friend, a man, had arrived, and when she told him she had saved him a seat, he told her he was sitting with some friends, walking straight past her and sitting with some other people. After her date refused her invitation, she got up and left the show as well.
We all sat chatting, and my companions all left one at a time until it was just Ann and me. We sat drinking until around 1:30 am, and then we left and went back to our cabins. When I got back to my cabin, I found that a printed certificate had been placed on my bed, indicating that I had sailed across the equator. I thought that was quite nice and would be nice to keep, but in reality, it will probably just be stuck in a drawer and forgotten when I get home.
Photos from day 10 of my holiday, the day we sailed across the equator.