#date line

They estimate the rocket should be free by approximately ... uh ... well, in about two hours.

Date Line [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

Thursday 20th February 2025 Again - At Sea (Not Pago Pago Either!)

Ever wanted to re-live a day of your life? Well, this is how to do it! Having gone to bed last night (Thursday), we awoke to discover that it was Thursday morning again! During the night, we crossed the International Date Line which passes directly between Western Samoa and American Samoa.

Well actually, we crossed the line yesterday afternoon but that’s the ‘flexible’ nature of things I guess. I Let me explain….

Here is a view of the Earth looking down on the North Pole, the sun illuminating the day-side, Europe and the Mediterranean at the top (upside down) and the Pacific at the bottom.

The Earth revolves clockwise once every 24 hours, so as you go around the globe, the time of day varies by 1 hour for every 15 degrees ie 360 degrees in 24 hours; in the diagram, the UK is at the top in the red box and it’s mid-day while we are at the bottom in the Pacific, 12 hours ahead at midnight on Thursday.

As you can see, while on one side of the Date Line it’s midnight Thursday, it’s still only first thing on Thursday morning just across the Date Line. So as we crossed the Date Line going anti-clockwise, we moved to a point where it was still only early morning on the same day, Thursday. Got it? Of course, if we had gone the other way across the Date Line, we would have lost a day, rather than than gained one!

Strictly speaking, in astronomical terms, the Date Line should be the 180 degree line (the vertical yellow line on the map above) but of course it isn’t as simple as that! Matters are made more complicated by various countries with islands spread across both sides of the 180 degree line who have chosen (usually for convenience) to be in single rather than multiple time zones which is why, for instance, the International Date Line takes a weird route all around Kiribati - pronounced “Kiribass” by the way! Still, I hope this has shed some light on the matter of the International Date Line.

Anyway, back to today – or yesterday, whatever! It was another grey start, with more rain, the decks closed and the ship rattling along at 17 knots.

Sadly, aside from a movie being shown in the Theatre at 10am, there wasn’t much in the daily programme – unless you count the ‘Fireside Chat with Ray Bailey’ (the dreadful ‘destinations speaker’) and ‘Axe-throwing in the Atrium’! No, they’re not real axes; it’s just a variation on ‘chuck a bean-bag’!

So here are a few photos around the ship I don’t think I’ve already posted.

The Atrium – for ‘axe-throwing’ amongst other things! Impressive but running 9 decks high through the ship, it’s a giddying space and the criss-crossing nature of the stairways can leave you feeling you’re in one of those optical illusion drawings with staircases leading nowhere!

The Library, off the atrium; a nice space with even more book-cases than shown here and a wide choice of books to read. With all these days at sea with no landfall, one might have need of it!

Café Connections, another space off the atrium and just outside the upper level of the theatre. 24hr self service tea and coffee plus changing light nibbles throughout the day. Quiet here, first thing in the morning but after 10am, it’s hard to find a seat.

Setting up ‘camp’ after breakfast in the Horizon Lounge with our books etc, it comes to something when the ‘Dancersize with Marta’ class at 9.15am gets new members on Day 11 of a 15 day cruise!