Sailing Into Semester: Irritating Truths From My University Cruise Ship Adventure

• Carli Fogel, hailing from Florida, talks to MailOnline about her experience during the Semester at Sea program.
• EXPLORE FURTHER: The Hidden European Towns Where Expatriates Can Live Comfortably on Less

College is frequently a period to broaden your perspectives.

And that's certainly the case for students who sign up to the competitive Semester at Sea The program allows participants to embark on a global journey for a semester aboard a cruise ship.

Two times each year, the MV World Odyssey, a vessel measuring 590 feet or 179 meters long, becomes a mobile residence for scholars and educators from every corner of the world.

However, what is it truly like to study out at sea?

MailOnline caught up with former Semester at Sea student, Carli Fogel, to find out.

Carli, from Florida , finished her semester with Semester at Sea in 2018 and refers to the experience as 'the most incredible four months' of her life.

She says: 'We departed from California and we stopped in Hawaii and then went to Japan , China , Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, India , Hong Kong , Mauritius, South Africa , Morocco, and Portugal."

However, even though it may seem like an extravagant method of learning, Carli discloses that the vessel was anything but opulent.

She shares, "I stayed in a room with one more girl. The spaces were extremely compact, almost absurdly so. All you got was a minuscule window that overlooked the water."

'I most certainly felt queasy from sea sickness and found it quite confining. Several individuals came down with a stomach bug, and fortunately, both a doctor and a nurse were aboard.'

As an avid traveler, Carli shares that she has been determined to participate in Semester at Sea ever since she was 12 years old, after meeting a family friend who had finished the program.

However, she was not initially convinced about the ship aspect.

She clarifies: "I hail from Florida, known as the cruise capital, yet my folks detest cruises since they prefer not to unwind during vacations."

I never actually took cruise trips during my childhood. My main interest was visiting various countries, not living aboard a ship. However, it ended up being the vessel itself that became the highlight of the experience.

Surely the destinations were incredible, but the vessel felt like home. A sense of community formed among those aboard.

Although Semester at Sea continues operations now, Carli mentions that contemporary students will miss out on one of her favorite aspects from her voyage.

There wasn't any Wi-Fi onboard during my trip, which turned out to be the best bit," states Carli. "It truly felt like being disconnected from everything, so you had no choice but to stay away from your phone.

'Being active on social media wasn’t an option for you; instead, you needed to focus entirely on your surroundings. All of your knowledge came from textbooks. Whatever you picked up in class would later correspond with what you experienced during educational outings.'

The lack of WIFI meant that Carli and her friends weren't often able to plan their days on land which led to some spontaneous adventures.

She reveals: 'Unless you had a field trip booked with the ship, not much was planned. You ended up doing unexpected things that you would never have given yourself time for if you had a planned a trip using the Internet.

The children aboard ships these days are busy making TikToks, which I find adorable, yet somehow also off-target. In the past, without Wi-Fi, we had more opportunities to truly get acquainted with one another, creating almost an ideal community.

If a cohort of students found the teaching approach unsatisfactory, they had the opportunity to take over and conduct the course themselves. The journey was incredible, yet the community operated with a high degree of democracy, which I doubt I will encounter again.

One of Carli's cherished moments during her Semester at Sea journey was when she successfully convinced the ship's crew to switch off the top deck lights for 15 minutes right at midnight.

"There were numerous students sprawled out on yoga mats on the deck, gazing at the stars collectively. This might have been the highlight of my life," she shares.

Moreover, even with the difficulties posed by the small space and feeling queasy from the sea, Carli states that "it was all completely worthwhile."

She concludes, 'It truly transformed my life and shifted my ideas about where I wished to reside and the kind of work I aspired to do.'

I eventually resided in Tel Aviv for about four to five years before frequently exploring Europe.

I formed lifelong bonds that I would never trade globally.

If you can deal with the instability of the ship, certainly go for Semester at Sea; it’s an easy decision.

Read more