All Aboard the MV Explorer

Current Location: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Trinidad in the Atlantic Ocean

We’ve been sailing for almost 5 hours now and I still have yet to share anything since when I boarded the ship yesterday at 2:30 pm. Everything’s going by so fast with a million things to do that it’s hard to find time to sit down and write about it. I wish I could share every moment and every picture with you (Unfortunately, all pictures will have to wait until I find an internet café due to bandwidth restrictions on our internet onboard).

A quick explanation on the delays in posting: on board our vessel, the MV Explorer, we have access to 2 hours worth of internet for the whole trip (or 50 MB worth of data exchange – which runs out much faster than 2 hours). By the time I post these last few blogs, they will probably be quite late, but I hope to conserve internet time so I can still be posting at the last port. Knowing me, I’m sharing too much now, and there will be so many interesting things from all the excursions at each port!

Can I just tell you how incredibly exciting seeing our vessel made me? Well, that was nothing compared to when I finally got inside. The ship is beautiful, more than I expected. It’s funny to hear different perspectives because for those who have traveled on cruises before, this ship is 1/3 the size. When I got here, somehow I was upgraded to an outside room with a window. It’s amazing to be able to look outside right from the room and see the water or the port. The room’s are bigger than I thought they’d be with so much drawer space. I only ended up bringing 1 duffel bag and a backpack, and I don’t even fill the space provided. The rooms (at least for Deck 3) have more amenities than I need including a mini-fridge, light switches so you don’t even have to get out of bed, and individual bathrooms with showers that in my opinion are spacious for a ship. Of course, this is all perspective. The only other ship I’ve lived on (for a week) was a military vessel, and they don’t exactly build those for luxury.

Besides the room, I got to meet wonderful work study students on my first day on board. We all had the privilege of boarding a day earlier than the other 300-some students so a boarding line was non-existent and the whole process was really stress-free. The big surprise for me was that I’m not an RA! This short-term voyage does not have RAs (Living Learning Coordinators are acting in the RA role) so I am working with Student Life and the Activities Desk on board. I’ll write more about that later because my first shift is tomorrow, but I did get to put my RA skills to work helping make the bulletin board for Deck 4 on the first night.

To summarize today, it was long. As work study students, we helped with the check-in process for all the students and at times it meant sitting and doing nothing or working outside in the sun coordinating the line of students coming through the security process. I enjoyed it all though. I am still incredibly grateful to be here at all and experience every detail of this voyage.

In the afternoon, the whole study body had orientation which was a lot of lecturing and explanations about safety, expectations, and the important people we need to know. The highlight was definitely the life boat drills. There was a dress code – long sleeves, pants, closed-toed shoes and a hat, and we had to wear our bright orange life jackets from our cabins. We evacuated the ship and lined up next to our assigned life boats. Now, forget what you see in the Titanic because these life boats are legit. They are motor powered enclosed vessels that hold 100 passengers. I’m feeling pretty safe.

We started to sail around 5:30 just as dinner was starting. Tugboats pulled us away from the dock and before long the captain was testing the thrusters and the engines were picking up speed and taking us faster and faster away from the Bahamas. As far as my sea legs, I’m still adjusting. Sitting in the Union for the last bit of orientation was rough. I started to feel nauseous and my stomach was uneasy after a big dinner. However, I’m also working of a few hours of sleep because our day started at 7 am, so I am sure after a good night’s rest tonight I will be much improved.

Classes start tomorrow! (And I have homework/reading assignments for each already)

If you’re interested in keeping in touch, send an email my way at alkotewicz@semesteratsea.net. That email won’t dock my internet time and is only valid during the voyage, but it’s the best way to reach me.

Allison