Semester at Sea: Study Around the World

As the Director of Global Routes, an innovative high school and college abroad program in it's own right, facilitating profound international experiences, I can honestly say I would not be here without my own transformative experience on Semester at Sea. I can not say enough.

In 2002, I walked onto a ship in Vancouver as a typical fun-loving college boy, and stepped off in Florida, 100 days later with a deep understanding of empathy, compassion, global issues, and my role in the world. I went on to pursue a career as a global educator,

The faculty were outstanding. The community was extraordinary, and the fine level of support and freedom in-port was out of this world. If you're reading this, and considering a semester in England, or Spain, or France, or New Zealand, change your plans and jump on board SAS for a rich tapestry experience that will forever alter your perspective of the world and your place in it.

As soon as I heard of Semester at Sea, I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. My voyage had the opportunity to visit 11 countries while taking classes on the MV World Odyssey; who else can say they have done that? There was lots of work leading up to it, and of course I had my doubts that it would live up to my dreams. But it did that and more! The community on the ship is one that you cannot experience with any other program. This is absolutely the best way for college students to study abroad.
My advice to anyone considering Semester at Sea: DO IT. Do not think too much about it, just go and everything will work itself out, and most importantly: you will have the trip of a lifetime.

Semester at Sea takes you to 11 countries and 4 continents, giving cultural immersion, a new global perspective, and a truly global comparative experience. For me, it was absolutely life changing. I learned more in one semester about myself and the world than I ever had in my life. It is true hands-on, experience-based learning. It isn't simply studying from a textbook and then forgetting everything a month later. All my SAS experiences will stay with me forever.

SAS taught me that there is so much that we don't know about the world. There is so much left to learn. Other study abroad programs make you come home and say "that was fun," but Semester at Sea makes you say "What's next? How can I change the world for the better?" You truly leave inspired.

If you are looking for a study abroad program to challenge your views and expose you to the unknown, do Semester at Sea. Learn what the US education system doesn’t teach us. See the things the US media doesn't report on. Do rather than just see. Connect with the cultures you interact with across the globe and begin to understand how we fit into this large world.

My hope is that more students will look into Semester at Sea. For me, I decided to seize the opportunity, knowing once I graduate and begin work, I may not have this opportunity again. A lot of people’s dreams to see the world, and Semester at Sea makes it possible.

Semester at sea was BY FAR the best semester I have ever had! Meeting 600 students can be a little overwhelming but you quickly find your friends and hang out with everyone! We were able to experience so many different parts of the world and all with your new best friends! To be completely honest, you will have some of the worst experiences but also some of the best. I made friends that will last a lifetime and came back with some crazy stories to tell.

I absolutely loved my time on Semester at Sea. It is a great way to see the world in such a short time frame. I have met and made friends with people from all over the world. I highly recommend this program to anyone that is remotely interested in studying abroad. This program does a great job of ensuring everyone's safety and making sure students feel prepared to enter each of the countries on the itinerary.

I chose Semester at Sea because I couldn't decide on just one location to study abroad and since I'd never traveled internationally before, this program provided the optimal blend of support, freedom and adventure. The price of the program was a bit more than others but they offer a ton of scholarships and even work-study options on the ship, plus the price includes 3 meals a day, weekly laundry service and 24/7 access on and off the ship whenever we were in port. Classes were only held when the ship was at sea, meaning whenever we were in port (usually 4 - 6 days each country) we didn't have class and were instead encouraged to make the world our classroom. The faculty were incredibly interesting and passionate about their field, many came from ivy league campuses, providing unique learning opportunities that other traditional study abroad programs can't offer. Prior to each port we were briefed on the in's and out's of the country, we talked about significant sociopolitical factors that may affect our experience, and provided with advice, reading, local tips and other resources for having a meaningful experience in each country. If I could give one piece of advice to future participants it would be to take ownership of your own experience, don't be afraid to take risks and do something that takes you outside of your comfort zone. It's easy to stick with a crowd of 600 other American students in every country, but the real ah-ha moments happen much further outside the confines of the SAS bubble. Find a friend or two and go on an adventure in every country, stay in hostels instead of on the ship, go hiking, meet people, use your broken language skills, smile, be patient, and stay positive.

This program is totally unique and amazing! After going your life will change. You get to go to so many countries in a short amount of time. You will meet great new friends. It has a reputation of being all about partying. Some people are like that but most people aren’t. You probably won’t get a lot out of the classes, but my university gives students Pass/Fail grades for all study abroad credits. It is hard to pack for because you will go to very hot and very cold countries, but there are a lot of articles and YouTube videos about semester at sea and how to pack, etc.

We were travelling as a group of four (all students) and we were all really excited for our desert trip during SAS, we used Morocco Excursions Company, but not quite sure what to expect. We did the four day trip from Marrakech to Fes and it was fantastic. I would highly recommend doing at least four days as we thought that covering the same distance in three days would be a bit too much driving each day.

In terms of reviewing the trip itself, it couldn't have been any better. The places we saw were absolutely breathtaking – the stunning ksar of Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate (the "Hollywood of Morocco"), the Erg Chebbi dunes, the Todra Gorge and many other amazing places. Morocco has such a diverse range of landscapes and we saw so many of them on the Morocco Excursions trip.

The best thing though was the places we stayed on the trip. Although we paid for the budget option, we were really impressed with the quality of accomodation. Our rooms were large and spacious and the breakfast/dinner provided was very good. The locations were incredible though. In Merzouga, we stayed right on the edge of the sand dunes, which was absolutely breathtaking. Whilst dunes are the stereotypical image of the Sahara, they are only found in two places in Morocco and to have them just two hundred metres from your hotel window was so unexpected and a really fantastic experience.

Our guide, Aziz, was friendly, funny and insightful. He was also an excellent driver and over four long days of driving we never once felt unsafe with his driving skills. He definitely made our trip better than it would otherwise have been and his helpfulness and local nous were much appreciate by us all. Likewise, Hassan was really responsive to all of our emails and was very helpful with any questions we had before the trip.

We had a fantastic experience with Morocco Excursions and couldn't recommend them more.