Semester at Sea

SEMESTER AT SEA

Semester at Sea is a study programme on cruise ships for university students, with University of Virginia as the academic sponsor. Currently Semester at Sea has one ship as the floating university, Explorer. Students from all parts of the world are welcomed to apply for studying aboard and travel to different continents.

There are the spring semester, the summer semester and the fall semester annually. The ship travels around the world in January and in September respectively for about 105 days, visiting more than ten ports in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. In summer, the voyage lasts for a shorter period (around 65 days) and usually sails to the Mediterranean or the Latin America only.

Ship(s) in Operation


Ship	Explorer
Entered Service	2002 April
Builder	Blohm + Voss Shipyards, Hamburg (Germany)
Original Cost	US$175 million
Registry	Nassau, The Bahamas
Gross Tonnage	24318 tons
Length x Beam x Draft	180.4 x 25.5 x 7.3 (m), 591.7 x 83.6 x 23.9 (ft)
Speed	28 knots
Passenger Decks	6
Number of Cabins (Inside/Oceanview/Balcony)	418 (126, 268, 24)
Passengers (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	836 / 920
Passenger Space Ratio (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	29.09 / 26.43
Total Crew	230
Crew to Passenger Ratio (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	3.63 / 4.00
Navigation Officers	European
IMO Number, Call Sign	9183518, C6TN4
Sister Ships	Costa Voyager (Costa Cruises)
History	2002-2002: Olympic Explorer (Royal Olympic Cruises) [planned but never operated] 2002-2004: Olympia Explorer (Royal Olympia Cruises) 2004- : Explorer (Semester at Sea)

Former Ship(s)


Ship	Universe Explorer
Entered Service	1958 September
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula (USA)
Original Cost	US$25 million
Registry	Panama City, Panama
Gross Tonnage	23500 tons
Length x Beam x Draft	188.2 x 25.7 x 8.3 (m), 617.3 x 84.3 x 27.2 (ft)
Speed	18 knots
Passenger Decks	9
Number of Cabins (Inside/Oceanview/Balcony)	371 (78, 293, 0)
Passengers (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	742 / 850
Passenger Space Ratio (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	31.67 / 27.65
Total Crew	365
Crew to Passenger Ratio (Standard Occupancy / Full Occupancy)	2.03 / 2.33
Navigation Officers	European
IMO Number, Call Sign	5050567, 3FMF2
Sister Ships	(ex-) Enchanted Isle (Commodore Cruise Line)
History	1958-1969: Brasil (Moore-McCormack Lines) 1969-1972: [laid up] 1972-1974: Volendam <II> (Holland America Line) 1974-1975: [laid up] 1975-1978: Monarch Sun (Monarch Cruise Lines) 1978-1984: Volendam <II> (Holland America Line) 1984-1984: Island Sun (?) 1984-1985: [laid up] 1985-1987: Liberté (American Hawaii Cruises) 1987-1988: Canada Star (Bermuda Star Line) 1988-1990: Queen of Bermuda (Bermuda Star Line) 1990-1995: Enchanted Seas (Commodore Cruise Line) 1995-2004: Universe Explorer (World Explorer Cruises / Semester at Sea) 2004: sold for scrap in Alang, India

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