I've heard Enrichment Voyages are a different animal.
Enrichment Voyages are Semester at Sea’s version of a cruise, a combination of
entertainment and education. I’d been asking around to folks who had done them,
but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. From the moment we checked back in to
the ship, I knew things were going to be different. The boys, their mom, and I
decided to create a list of all of the things that were different between
academic semesters and Enrichment Voyages. I've also added in a few of my own.
Since I won’t have internet for a few weeks (see number 3), please consider
this a (relatively) comprehensive list.
1. The
Age Old Question: Sailing as a Resident Director with a ship full of 20
somethings (or 18, 19, and even 17 year old somethings) has a tendency to make
you feel old. Really, really old. Every time we play that game, “I was in ____
grade when this song came out,” I lose. But walking into the welcome session
tonight for the Enrichment Voyage, I felt that I definitely would have won that
game. In the past 24 hours, the average age of passengers on the ship increased
by at least 40 years. They had an event for single travelers to meet and mingle
in Glazer Lounge. I was slightly curious, so I poked my head in the door. Once
I saw that everyone in there were old enough to be my parents, I took a sharp
left and pretended like I was really headed for the bathroom the whole time.
Talk about embarrassing.
2. Food,
glorious food! The first change I noticed was the quality of the food. I’d
heard that the food budget was 30% bigger for Enrichment Voyages. Ergo, the
food should be 30% better. When you've been eating pasta, pork, and potatoes
for the past 106 days, anything is an improvement. I walked into the Garden
Lounge and the first thing I noticed was the fruit! Fruit! On the ship! It does
exist! Piles of apples, oranges, and bananas as far as the eye could see. It
was wonderful. Downstairs in the Deck 5 Dining Hall, which is usually a buffet
line, is set up like a fancy dinner, complete with 10 utensils per place
setting (we counted) and a menu where you can select your own five course meal.
I feel under dressed just being there.
3. Communication
Challenges: As a Resident Director, we got a limited amount of internet. It was
15 times the amount that the students got, but limited none the less. On the
Enrichment Voyage, you have to pay for internet. Which I pretty much refuse to
do. In order to keep up with job things, I had my personal gmail synced to Microsoft
Outlook on my laptop. Instead of just downloading the emails that are currently
in my inbox, it proceeded to download every email that I’ve ever sent or
received. Since 2005. When I opened my email account. Email number 2548
currently downloading…
4. Cheers:
There are a couple of different options if you’re looking to buy snacks on the
ship. There is a Piano Bar that sells coffee and junk food and also a Pool Bar
that sells burgers, fries, pizza, and ice cream. The snack food and French
fries have all but disappeared. In their place? Booze. And lots of it. There
seems to be quite a focus on alcohol this voyage. I felt that about my last
voyage, but it’s usually because Resident Directors are on the receiving end of
the after effects of college students drinking too much alcohol. At the welcome
session, they made a point to inform everyone that just by paying to sail on an
Enrichment Voyage, you, in turn, were helping to fund Semester at Sea for
students during the academic semester. He said, “With every beer you drink,
you’re helping support a college student.” I spent a good percentage of the last
voyage watching other people drink at pub nights, talking about alcohol policy,
trying to avoid hearing horror stories about drunken shenanigans in port, or
living in fear that I was going to be sentenced to babysit in the drunk tank at
2am. I am getting mixed signals…
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