Our Semester at Sea Voyage: By the Numbers

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Everyone loves a good recap post, right? It seems only fitting that the end of my Semester at Sea coverage happens to fall on the day I leave for my next stint at sea. Still, in a nutshell, here’s the Fall 2011 voyage from my perspective.

Number of days at sea: 116 (including staff training)

Number of countries visited: 14 (plus fuel stops in the Canary Islands and Singapore)

Number of nautical miles covered: 25,000

Favorite port(s): India, Vietnam/Cambodia, Japan

Least favorite port(s): China, Malaysia

Visas needed: 4 (Ghana, India, Cambodia, China)

Number of vaccinations received: 0

Number of SAS posts written: 70 (!)

Favorite ship events: Neptune Day, Sea Olympics, talent show

Number of Skype dates with Ella: 5

Number of planes taken: 7

Number of camels ridden: 0

Number of photos snapped: 9196 (not including deleted images)

Number of massages SVV had: 19

Number of hurricanes weathered: 1 (Irene)

Number of countries in which we achieved expert haggling status: 7

Number of goats wearing fanny packs: 3

Number of globes procured: 6

Number of squat toilets used: too many to count

Number of hammocks enjoyed: 1

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In the interest of closure, I wanted to sum up my favorite parts of our four-month fall voyage in a slideshow of and for all my ship friends (set to the musical stylings of who else but Taylor Swift). I posted hundreds of pictures of the beautiful places we visited, but wasn’t always so reliable about featuring the people who truly made this experience awesome. So without further ado, here they are (or at least, most of them):

Thanks, Fall 2011 voyagers! Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you all and the good times we shared. Ubuntu.

COMMENTS
  • May 2, 2012

    Wow, love the recap and the video is fun. Bon voyage for the new trip, can’t wait to read about it!

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      Thanks, m’lady! I’ll be posting all the relevant Enrichment Voyage links on the blog tomorrow for those who want to follow along. Otherwise, the recaps will probably start in early June when I’m back (have pre-scheduled content going up through then as I have a feeling I’ll be a busy bee while back on the ship!).

  • May 2, 2012

    19 massages had by SVV! That’s some serious work he was doing! I love the goats with fanny packs. And I can’t believe that you’re already back at sea again. Time flies, huh?

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      Yep, he was famous on the ship for being “that guy.” What can I say? I married a diva.

      • May 2, 2012

        Hey! You’ll notice that Akila said I was doing “work.” By which she means body work. Which is a real thing. ermm..

  • May 2, 2012

    And now you’ll meet more wonderful people and see more exotic places. Can’t wait to see the photos of this journey. Bon Voyage.

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      Yes, and one of my best friends from Tennessee is going with me this time! And I know a few others working on the ship, so it will be fun in a much different way.

  • May 2, 2012

    Haha, I love this post. SVV really lived it up with all of those massages 🙂 I love that map–it’s really incredible how many places you were able to visit in just one semester. Sorry about the squat toilets…my only experience with them was one on a ferry in Istanbul. Not too fun trying to figure out how to use it on a moving boat.

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      I actually don’t mind squat toilets at all if the stall is fairly clean. But guys really have it easy, don’t they? No practice needed!

  • May 2, 2012

    Love a recap post! I want to know what expert haggling status is. We’re in Morocco (just arrived!) and need help 🙂

    • May 2, 2012

      For that part of the world, initial bid is a disinterested question on how much. Second bid involves laughing at their ridiculous price. Third bid requires an insulting quote of at most 20 percent of their asking. Final price should be 1/3 their ludicrous first price.

      Also, you MUST negotiate. It’s a culture thing and is a huge time killer but is all part of the commerce dance.

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      I’ll have to send you to the SVV School for Haggling when you return to the motherland. It truly is an art! It’s a fine line between being offensive and being respectful–but in most cultures NOT trying to bargain is what offends most. Morocco was our first stop on our voyage, so a great place to work on our bargaining skills. Can’t wait to see how you guys fare…

  • May 2, 2012

    Wonderful summary and what an excellent opportunity! Looking forward to your posts from the next one.

    • May 4, 2012
      Kristin

      Thanks, John! Glad to have you following along =)

  • May 2, 2012

    It seems it’s been an unforgettable travel…how I wish to be there!

  • May 2, 2012

    That’s like a massage every 6.1 days (read:I’m insanely jealous)! But maybe total relaxation is the key to world class haggling …? Hope you have a fantastic time again and I can’t wait to read your posts! 🙂

    • May 2, 2012
      Kristin

      True–what he spent in massages, he saved in haggling! A good trade-off, I think.

  • May 2, 2012
    Brandy

    Great recap post! I’m still kicking myself for the fact that I never did this when I was in college. I thought I’d hate being on a boat for that long. Have fun on your next voyage!

    • May 4, 2012
      Kristin

      You should go now as staff like I am! The seasick patches have been a godsend for me and all this time at sea, as I can’t even take a ferry normally without yakking. And I didn’t get sick once during the four-month voyage!

  • May 4, 2012

    19 massages = love.

    How many did YOU get???

    • May 4, 2012
      Kristin

      Good question! I probably had six or seven on the ship, two in Vietnam (because so! cheap!) and one in Shanghai, so I’d estimate around 10. Next time, I hope to give Scott some actual competition 😉

  • May 6, 2012

    This is the perfect recap and I’m super impressed your dude managed so many massages. He really worked hard at being a pampered sea-husband.

  • October 12, 2012
    Sammy

    19 messages for SVV and 6-7 for you, I certainly hope you got a staff discount! 🙂

    • October 12, 2012

      Ha! Not even. We paid full price, though we usually got the half hour, not full (which I think ran around $25).

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