Dear Prospective Cruise Participant,

Let me start by saying this: if you go on cruise, go for the cruise and not just for the ports. When I signed up for this adventure I was excited about going to all these exotic places like Hong Kong and Yap, but I never really thought about the fact that I would be on a 500 ft ship, night and day, moving across the world at less than 15 mph. The longest time we ever spent in port was four days, so realize that you are going to be spending most of your two months in a steel world that contains less than 350 people.

If you go on cruise, go because you love, or want to love, the ocean. Go because you want to live in a place where sunset is the evening entertainment and working on your tan is top priority. Go because you've never seen flying fish or the indescribable beautiful blue of deep Pacific waters. Go because you want to get away from your normal SLO routine.

Cruise is a great opportunity to meet new people and make close friendships. I roomed with CMA cadets and I think my cruise was better because of it. I made more friends in my first week at CMA than I did in my first two quarters at Cal Poly. Cruise is also a sample of a more structured lifestyle. If you have authority problems, you might not want to go. CMA is an academy more than a normal CSU system school. You have to stand at quarters (it's sort of a daily roll check), participate in drills, and participate in CC duty (kitchen cleanup) and Clean Sweep Down. You also have to wear a uniform and in port there are curfews. Most of these things are there for the general safety of all the crew. On the up side, Cal Poly's uniform is (at the worst) a polo shirt, khaki pants, and white tennis shoes. In port we got the same curfew as the Seniors. Personally, the "military" side of CMA never bothered me, especially when I saw what my roommates had to put up with every day.

If you're thinking about going on cruise, don't think . . . just go! You'll be glad you did. Cruise was one of the best experiences of my life. I met tons of wonderful people, I got to see all sorts of amazing things in exotic places, and I fell in love with the sea. Just remember that nothing is perfect and sometimes things can get a little confusing, but if you keep an open mind you'll be just fine.

P.S. Have fun on cruise and don't buy a bike in port! Trust me, it's not worth it!