[ 06-08-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

[ 06-07-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

On the side note, another ship carrying students will be transiting the locks. Cal Maritime's Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR will be heading westbound. Below are the times (central time) according to the school:

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Originally posted by steeplechase:
Why is there nobody on deck is she empty?

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
On the side note, another ship carrying students will be transiting the locks. Cal Maritime's Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR will be heading westbound.

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TS Golden Bear during night transit in Miraflores Locks

[ 06-08-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by RANGERVR6178:
They were probably all in class!

I did the Summer 2009 Europe/Africa voyage, best experience ever!

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RANGERVR6178,

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I never hear much about the SAS, would you care to write in detail? Quite curious, although that window of opportunity is long gone for me.

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Sure thing! I sailed back on the Summer 2009 voyage. Our trip was 90 days sailing from Halifax to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt and Morocco. They used to only do three voyages a year, but since then it has now grown to 5 or 6.

Spring and Fall are typically 100-105 days, Summer is 70-75 days, "Short Term" is 30 days, and then two Enrichment Voyages, each 12-16 days to fill in the gaps between the longer voyages.

The ship still is very much "Royal Olympic" with some extra touches added over the years, but most of the decor resembles it's previous history. Some areas have been removed and turned into educational spaces. For instance the casino is now the library and computer lab, card room and cigar room are now class rooms, and other various small modifications as well. Cabins are basically as Royal Olympic left them, along with hallways, elevators, artwork, ect. Some rooms have been renamed after special voyages and donators as well.

It actually is the perfect ship for this program, not too large to fit into some of these intimate ports, but not too large for its own good. One thing that is a downside is the flat bottom of the ship, causes it to constantly rock in even the smoothest waters. Made for an extremely rough crossing on the Atlantic!

I could go on for hows about how wonderful the program is and how much I got out of the experience, but I'll let you ask any other questions you might have. For anyone looking for a tour, check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pA_I2GrwpQ

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Originally posted by RANGERVR6178:

I could go on for hows about how wonderful the program is and how much I got out of the experience,

It's a long video, but really shows the ship in it's prime and how the onboard community becomes so close knit!

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Wow, looks like a lot of fun. I would imagine with such small cabins for a whole semester, roommate situations require a lot of diplomacy.

Is the food service cafeteria style? I imagine they did not have waiter service in the dining rooms.

Did the faculty eat separately?

Was there much classroom time or mostly out in the field?

I would imagine the disco would be packed, as well as the athletic facilities.

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Is the food service cafeteria style? I imagine they did not have waiter service in the dining rooms.

Did the faculty eat separately?

Was there much classroom time or mostly out in the field?

I would imagine the disco would be packed, as well as the athletic facilities.

It is nice to be on a ship where the format and activities are for personal development, rather than insult your intelligence with constant cash extraction catering to the least common denominator.

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I laughed at your last sentence... very true!

Food is served in the main dining room, and also the "Lido" bistro. Both are buffet style and the food was nothing to write home about. Not horrible, but not awesome. Lots of rice, pasta and potatoes. I'd assume this is because the schedule is so "random" they might need to provision longer due to the exotic places the ship sails to?

Faculty dine with the students, they actually have an onboard "extended family" program where faculty adopt students into a family to eat dinner with. My family met once a week, it was great! Otherwise, everyone eats together. Makes an interesting lunch to eat with your professor and then head right to their class!

Class is only scheduled on sea days. I found the classes very challenging, especially since you are essentially doing an entire semester in 20-25 sea days (each port is 5-6 days). Lots of papers and since there is only paid-for internet it forced you to use the onboard library. Eeek.

-Russ