Way, way back in 1966 I had the very good fortune to attend Chapman College's University of the Seven Seas program (now called Semester at Sea and run by the University of Virginia).Our ship back then was the MS Seven Seas, a converted "pocket" aircraft carrier from WWII (the USS Long Island). It managed to chug along at 12 to 14 knots (or there abouts), slow, yes, but it got us all the way around the world with only one breakdown.
The new ship is the MV Explorer and it glides along at 18 to 20 knots when it is just cruising and can jet out (when it has to) at over 30 knots. Fast, sleek, clean. Beauty.
In the Spring of 1966 there were just a tick over 300 students on the ship. The Spring semester that just ended had right around 700 students. More students, far better ship, but the stories are the same. Attending the University of the Seven Seas, World Campus Afloat or Semester at Sea is a life-changing experience.
There's no place on a map that doesn't seem like a reasonable place to go once you've spent a semester at sea. Ask my wife, Judy. After 33 years of being married to me she is always shaking her head when I take off on some back road that is only hinted at as being a road on the map.
When the opportunity to book passage on the new ship came up last year, I jumped at it. The University of Virginia and the Semester at Sea program did a smart thing, they took that down time between semesters and made good use of it with Enrichment Voyages that allow former students (and cruise passengers in general) to take a two week trip on the ship as just ordinary cruisers (no grades, no finals, no pressure).
We had so much fun last year that we are going again. On May 22 we embark upon our second Enrichment Voyage. I thought it might be fun to compare the old with the new, especially since this year marks the 100th voyage of Semester at Sea (in its various forms).
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