Good Morning from my home!
This is the last place that I want to be right now but here I am. As I write this I am back in my bedroom when I was supposed to be sailing to my 12th country this year. Unfortunately due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as we all have grown to know and hate. My study abroad on Semester at Sea has been canceled and we were all sent home over a month early.
This voyage was something that I truly could have never imagined in my wildest dreams. It was a dream of mine since I was a freshman in high school. When I found out about this program I had been dreaming and working towards it ever since. I knew that this would be something I did during my college education and for years I watched others take this incredible journey and counted down the days till I got to step foot on the MV World Odyssey. I couldn’t wait to sail the world and discover places that have been on my travel bucket list for so long!
When the day finally came, things were more normal than ever. On January 4th, 2020 I stepped on the ship for the first time and honestly I had to pinch myself! There was no way this was real. The first week at sea was a dream come true! We were on our way to Hawaii. Our day in Hawaii, although a bit rainy, was so awesome. Then we started sailing to Japan our first international port.
Arriving in Japan was so amazing. It was January 24th when we arrived and for the most part, things still didn’t seem like they would go as south as they did. We were told as we arrived, there was a new virus in China that is very deadly and is spreading very fast. They told us they would be evaluating China and are considering skipping out 6 day stop there.
After a few days in Japan, we got an email that China had been canceled and we were going to be staying in Vietnam for 12 days instead of 6. As this was quite sad, and I was really looking forward to seeing the Great Wall of China, I understood their decision and Vietnam is one of my top countries I wanted to see, I was okay with the change.
After an amazing 12 days in Vietnam, we boarded the ship for 3 days at sea and then docking in Malaysia, or so we thought. That night we had a meeting in the Union and they canceled both Malaysia and India due to the Coronavirus spreading widely throughout Asia. This was the hardest change for me because I had been looking forward most to India. I cried more than ever this night. It felt like my whole trip was falling apart. We had skipped 2 more countries and in return for this, we are only getting 4 days in the Seychelles and 3 in Mauritius. One of the hardest parts about this change was that Seychelles couldn’t even compare to the culture of India and Malaysia that we were missing.
After sailing the longest 13 days ever it was time for pre-port. Less than 12 hours before we were supposed to arrive in Seychelles, the government of Seychelles denied us access. This was the first country that said we were not allowed to visit. All of the other cancelations were done by Semester at Sea. As I thought it couldn’t get worst, Semester at Sea decided that since Seychelles is a small island and they denied us access, they assumed Mauritius would follow and Semester at Sea decided to cancel Mauritius too and go straight to South Africa.
People were complaining and asking if Semester at Sea even asked Mauritius their opinions on the situation and if we would be able to enter. Due to this, they asked and we were allowed to go for one day. This day was amazing and I had a lot of fun. We then got back on the ship and just floated for three days while the asked if we could come back for 5 more days. Thankfully they allowed us to spend 5 days here because Mauritius was amazing.
I will talk about mental exhaustion later, but this was such a break from the stress of the ship and it was beyond needed. Except as we all know by now, nothing is guaranteed and honestly, I had stopped planning things until my feet hit the ground. On the 5th day in Mauritius, we got an email saying, the voyage was now ending on April 12th instead of the 20th. They were also canceling Ghana and Morroco and giving us 2 days in the Canary Islands. At this point, I was on my way to a dolphin tour and honestly have no more emotions to give to this program. I am so sad and so mad that I don’t even know what to think anymore. Over half of my voyage had been a disappointment.
When we got back on the ship after our time in Mauritius, we got word that our voyage would be ending after South Africa. Then just a day later we got word we were docking in South Africa and we had to fly straight home. They canceled a lot of the things that most voyages get such as the staff and crew talent show and alumni ball.
This was the first time that all of my anger for the ship and the things that were happening disappeared. I no longer was mad, I was sad. I wasn’t ready to leave even though the past 2 months I’ve been so drained and all I wanted to do was go home. I was worried I didn’t make the best of the worst. I was worried I spent too much time being sad, crying, and being angry with the ship. I didn’t want to leave with regret. With all this going on I didn’t know how to comprehend.
This semester has been the worst semester of my life. It was filled with false expectations and lots of disappointment. This semester was not what I wanted, not what I paid for and honestly one of the hardest situations I have ever been in. Despite all of this it has also been one of the best semesters. I got to sail on the ship I’ve bee dreaming of for years, I got to make some of the best friends ever, and I grew so much as a person and learned how to deal with things I’ve never had to deal with before.
Coming home and being back home in quarantine with everything closed and strict government orders to stay at home has honestly been so hard and I have found myself often just as sad as I was on the ship if not more depressed. I don’t know what to do but all I know is I have to move on and keep my head up looking into the future.
Soo to make a long story short here is the semester broken down in a few parts…..
Itinerary Changes
Original Itinerary:
Depart San Diego to Ensenada by Bus – Jan 4th
Hawaii – 1 day
Japan – 5 days
China – 6 days
Vietnam – 6 days
Malaysia – 6 days
India – 6 days
Mauritius – 1 day
South Africa – 6 days
Ghana – 5 Daya
Morocco – 4 days
End in Amsterdam – April 20th
Total in Port Days: 46 days Total at Sea Days: 59 days
What we got:
Depart San Diego to Ensenada by Bus – Jan 4th
Hawaii – 1 day
Japan – 5 days
Vietnam – 12 days
Mauritius – 6 days
End in South Africa – March 14th
All classes were finished online after returning home.
Total in Port Days: 24 days Total at Sea Days: 46 days
Mental Exhaustion
In no way was this semester an easy one. With all the changes, disappointment, and long days at sea, by the end, I was so mentally drained that it was hard as hell. I honestly found myself with no motivation, no will to get up and workout, I could cry on cue at this point as well.
I was not the only one who felt mentally drained from the voyage. There were thousands of tears falling after each itinerary change, and the councilor’s office was full. It was truly such a hard semester for many students including myself who had spent years saving every penny I could to be able to afford this voyage. I had worked my tail off to be able to step foot on the MV World Odyssey and when all this went down it felt like the years of hard work didn’t pay off.
The semester was not easy in any way and I do feel that the way Semester at Sea handled all of the cancellations made students more depressed and even more angry with the organizations. This brings me into the next topic of money.
Finances
This trip was not one that was cheap in any way.
For me I was in the cheapest room so tuition was $23,999. Tuition can be upwards of $32,000 for many people.
Even at the lowest tuition, this voyage costed more than just the price tag Semester at Sea put out. There are a lot of other fees such as visas for China, India, and Ghana, which cost $800, along with shots and malaria medication that cost $500 with insurance. On top of this Semester at Sea charged us an $975 for gas. With a new total of $26,274 at the minimum. This does not include the prices of programs that one signs up for through Semester at Sea, which are quite pricy. If one doesn’t do any field programs, you are responsible for all expenses in-country. To say the least this program is a huge investment.
Due to all the itinerary changes we did not use a single one of the visas, or any of the malaria medications. We didn’t even need the yellow fever shot. These things were not Semester at Seas problem and thankfully two of the visas are open for 5 or more years but still over a thousand dollars we didn’t need to spend.
Not only did we only sail to South Africa cutting out many days of fuel we were still charged the initial $925 along with the full $975 extra they added on once we arrived on the ship. Despite the ship needing to get back to Germany after we got off I don’t believe that it was fair for us to have to pay for that.
We finished our classes online. As an online student myself, I pay only $5,000 a semester and this is average for many online programs. Tuition for Semester at Sea was about $21,000 but we did a month of it online. Along with this in this tuition they included $100 per class for required field classes (3 per student) and of course transportation to the 12 ports. We did not get a cent of this back despite missing 7 ports, 22 days on land, 13 days at sea and tons of field classes misses. I personally didn’t get to do 2 of my field classes.
The only thing that they gave us money back for was the month of room and board that we did not get which for me was only $580.
Along with this when we ended in South Africa they did not provide any financial help to get us home when many universities have helped their students come home.
So for a program that was only half of what we paid for (if that), I received $580 back. Ridiculous!
I understand that this was something that no one could have predicted and truly was not their fault but it is very hard to go home now with no job and no money. Semester at Sea has offered all the students on this voyage $10,000 off a spring semester and $15,000 of a fall semster in the next 3 years. I believe this offer is Semester at Seas attemp to act like they did the right thing. Even with this off the program costs another $10,000 at the least and many students are not able to pay for this. Despite the financial burden of Semester at Sea, there is also an acamemic burden for many. Many students can’t fit two study abroads in their schedule and there is a handful of students who will graduate and wont be able to enroll again. Along with that, this is an offer that is quite common and not something that is a financial burden for them considering before I sailed on Spring 2020 they offered all students $10,000 off to switch to the fall since they had too many students on Spring and not enough on fall. With all this in mind, they know that only about 20% if that will study abroad with this discount making it even less of a financial burden on their organization.
With all this being said I understand that this is a really hard time for everyone. The world is truly hurting! I am grateful for the voyage that I got and the friends that I made. I am grateful that I was able to go to the few countries I did, and I truly did have a blast in all of them. This voyage has taught me a lot and is truly one to remember.
I’m not really sure how to end this, but I hope everyone is staying safe and inside.
I would love to answer any questions about Semester at Sea for future voyagers or about this voyage.
All for now,
xoxo Gina