EXCLUSIVE I went to university on a cruise ship - here are the most annoying things about spending a semester at sea

Daily Mail​

24-05-2025

University is often a time to expand your horizons.
And that's certainly the case for students who sign up to the competitive Semester at Sea programme, which sees them spend a term travelling the world on a cruise ship.
Twice a year, the MV World Odyssey, a 590 foot/179m ship, transforms into a floating home for students and faculty from all over the globe.
But what's it really like to study at sea?
MailOnline caught up with former Semester at Sea student, Carli Fogel, to find out.
Carli, from Florida, completed Semester at Sea in 2018 and describes the experience as 'the best four months' of her life.
She says: 'We left from California and we stopped in Hawaii and then went to Japan, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Hong Kong, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco and Portugal.'
But, while it might sound like a glamorous way to study, Carli reveals the ship was far from luxurious.
She says: 'I shared a room with another girl. The rooms were really small, like crazy small. You just had a tiny window that would look out on the water.
'I definitely got seasick and it was claustrophobic. A bunch of people got a stomach virus and there was a doctor and nurse onboard.'
A keen traveller, Carli reveals that she'd been set on doing Semester at Sea since the age of 12 when she met a family friend who had completed the programme.
But she wasn't originally sold on the ship element.
She explains: 'I'm from Florida, which is the home of cruises, but my parents hate cruises because they don't like relaxing on vacation.
'I never really went on cruises growing up. I only wanted to do this because I wanted to go to the different countries, I didn't want to live on a boat. But then it turned out the boat was the best part.
'Of course the countries were amazing, but the boat was home. You create this community onboard.'
While Semester at Sea is running today, Carli explains that today's students won't experience one of her favourite parts of her trip.
'There was no WIFI on the ship when I went which was my favourite part,' says Carli. 'You were really off the grid and you couldn't be on your phone.
'You couldn't be on social media and you had to be really present. Everything you learned, you learned from textbooks. You'd learn something in class and then you'd go on a field trip that matched that learning.'
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 kids on the ship nowadays are making TikToks which is cute, but to me, it misses the point. When you didn't have access to WIFI, you really got to know people and it was a little utopian society.
'If a group of students didn't like how a course was being taught, they were then able to teach the course themselves. The travel was amazing but the community was very democratic, in a way I don't think I'll ever experience again.'
One of Carli's favourite memories from Semester at Sea was when she managed to persuade the ship's crew to turn off the top deck lights for 15 minutes at midnight.
'There were hundreds of students lying on yoga mats on the deck looking at the stars together. It was probably the best moment of my life,' she says.
And, despite the challenges of a tiny room and seasickness, Carli says 'everything was so worth it.'
'It really changed my life and where I wanted to live and the work I wanted to do,' she finishes.
'I ended up living in Tel Aviv for four to five years after and then I travelled in Europe a lot.
'I made everlasting friendships that I wouldn't change for the world.