So you are thinking about coming on the Cal Poly at Sea program but you aren't sure what to ask and what it will be like and if it is the right decision for you. I am writing a letter of simple thoughts, letting you know what to expect. I am not sugarcoating this letter, just telling it like it is. First of all, once you decide to go on the cruise try to fill out all your forms early. This saves a lot of time and stress. Now for what to expect. Before going on the actual "cruise" part you will attend three days of orientation and training courses to prepare you for the "sea-life". You will learn how to don life-preservers, flip over life rafts, row life boats, put on fire fighting gear and immersion suits, learn about safety on the sea, and basically get acquainted with the ship. When I thought about coming I was curious about the following:

Facts about your room and the ship.

The cabins were actually much bigger than I expected. You share a room with two other people in a triple bunk. The bunks are made out of metal so you might want to bring mini-magnets to attach photos or letters. You can tape photos also, but you will have to scrape the tape off at the end. The top bunk usually has the better window view (depending on the orientation), but the middle one is easy to get in and out of without stepping on your roommates. You will have a sink and a medicine cabinet/mirror outside the bathroom. You will have a desk with three long drawers on the side, and a dresser with long flat drawers about an arm length and a half wide and an arm length deep and eight inches high. This dresser also has a drawer for your life preservers. Above this dresser is another mirror. There is a desk light, bunk bed light (to read by), room light, light above each mirror, and a fan. The rooms also have controllable air conditioning. Suggestions: bring a shower mat as the floor is dirty, a shower caddy to hang on the shower faucet, a long shower curtain in case the one provided doesn't reach the ground, a bathroom mat/rug, a room rug, welcome mats, and air freshener. You provide your own sheets, blankets, pillows, and comforters. You are required to put a fire-resistant bed covering over your comforter, but this will be provided and explained. There are also two chairs in the room and three lockers. The lockers are floor to ceiling and provided more than enough room for me, but when you start to add up the souvenirs you may purchase in port it can get packed. Bring your own combination lock! What else about the room? Hmmm ... you share the bathroom with one other room. Oh yes, I am 5'3" and the bed was perfect. No problems. Several of our friends are 6' and over and they are squished. My point is that the bed length is made for a 5'7" person ... any taller and it will be quite cozy. Anything else about the room you want to know about, and I mean anything, you can email me at the address provided below.

The ship is like a city on water. There is a computer lab with twelve computers and a printer, a gym which has four rowing machines, three treadmills, a punching bag, wrestling mats, tumbling mats, all sorts of free weights and weight machines - it should be fine for whatever you wish. If you walk through the gym and open the door across the way it leads to the reading room and library. Here is a great hint: these couches are super, super comfortable!!!! Lots of leisure books are available on the honor system, there is a VCR and television set for the educational material, or videos for class, or midnight videos (if people are studying the television is of limits). the reading room is comfortable and is open 24 hours. The library also is perfectly satisfactory.

There is a lounge with a VCR/television, couches, chairs, tables, and a refrigerator where you can leave food. Every night there are three movies to choose from on "cable" at 1900 and three more movies to choose from at 2100. Every day you will receive a daily newsletter containing the movie list, position on the water, weather forecast, menu for the next day, lost and found items, important port info or ship info, announcements for class, funny tidbits, and birthday announcements. As far as the news goes, there is also a satellite printout of world news. There is also the Ship "Store", called Pirate's Cove. You can get candy, junk food, ice cream, rent videos and DVD's for 50 cents (and they have a great selection of videos - hundreds of them), games to check-out for free and all sorts of interesting stuff. The couches here are comfortable as well.

You will get used to everything on the ship fairly quickly. Usually it will take you a couple of days to master the maze of the ship, but you will be fine. The scariest parts of the ship are the doors. They have smashed lots of fingers and bruised lots of arms. They are heavy and often have a lot of wind force slamming them shut if you aren't careful. My suggestion is don't rush through the doors, you WILL get smashed if you do. Just take your time and don't let them slam. They can be unpredictable, especially when the seas get rough.

Life at Sea:

You will see some incredible sights. You will never get tired of the sunrises and sunsets, and the water changes colors and patterns every day. You will even see some wildlife and you can fish occasionally, sign permitting. The stars are simply breathtaking. You will discover what it is like to live in a 500 foot city with three hundred people, and they will discover what it is like to live with you . Remember, everyone has their quirks and annoying habits ... just learn to live with it.

Eating dinner can be quite entertaining. Our cruise apparently experienced the worst weather ever and the most wave action ever before. So we had quite a few nights with trays ending up in laps and laps ending up in trays. Always these "humorous interludes" are met with laughter and a handful of napkins to the poor unfortunate victim. You will also learn to be rocked to sleep and rocked awake. Showers can end up to be a challenge and most importantly, watch the doors and staircases. You will find it fun to walk around the ship and experience the different motions. Lots of people got seasick on this cruise, but don't expect your cruise to go like this. You will not have to enter the "roaring 40's" latitudes between New Zealand and Australia.

Daily Schedule:

I will give you my daily schedule for a Monday so you get the idea. Keep in mind that I took 18 units; most take 12 or 16.

0600 wake up and watch the sunrise.
0630 breakfast (the galley is open from 0630-0800)
0800-1000 class
1000-1130 homework
1130 lunch
1230 Quarters (here they "take roll" to make sure you didn't fall overboard, and they tell you important information)
1245-1315 Captain's Hour. On Mondays this is a class taught by CMA (Cru 195). You will have a number of different CMA staff and officers teaching you about their job or interesting facts about the sea. Topics include piracy, knot tying, ballasting, etc.
1330 class
1500 gym workout
1600 clean sweep down (sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning out trash, scrubbing walls, all basic maintenance for a designated section). You will do this with your division together an it is only fifteen to twenty minutes of cleaning - no big deal.
1630 class
1730 dinner
1800 whatever, evening is free time until you decide to go to bed

Duties:

As a member of this program you are also co-currently enrolled in the CMA and are thus a crew member of the ship. As a member you are required to do a few duties (none of which I minded):

You do a two-hour engine watch (check out the ship's engines and follow the engineers on their job) and a two-hour bridge watch (check out radar, find latitude and longitude, and even steer the ship!).

You also do two days of C.C. On these days you help out in the mess deck, washing dishes or keeping the napkins stocked and tables washed etc. Every other day your division will clean a certain section of the ship for twenty minutes (the C.S.D. mentioned above). Every day your bed must be made by 1115 and your room must be clean. The P.D.O. checks the cabins every day but Sunday.

Every Thursday there is an Emergency Drill with a variety of topics including: Triage and Trauma, Pyrotechnic Demonstration, Fire Fighting Demonstrations, Abandon Ship Drill, etc. etc. This will take about half an hour to an hour. We had to use the rescue boat once, so this is important stuff.

By the way,

A lot of the stuff you need to know you will (hopefully) learn at your informal meetings before cruise. I can't stress it enough - ask questions as much as you want! As many as you can think of. The more you know before going on this trip, the better.

Before leaving the ship at the end of cruise you help clean the ship to get it ready for the next cruise. There is another cruise doing the same itinerary, only backwards, after your cruise ends.

The CMA cadets were all terrific. By the end of cruise you will think of them as friends. After all, you may have different classes but they are going to school too, and are living through the same experiences at sea as you. They don't have as much time off in port as us (We get three days and they get one and a half) and they have A LOT more rules and regulations than us. We have it easy, really.

I really had an incredible time. I am more than willing to answer any questions you have, or talk to you if you want to learn more about it. I suggest that you read several letters. Many people thought his program was like a Cruise Ship, and it's not. This is a program where you go to school and learn to be a shipmate with others. You will have an incredible experience. The counties you will visit will be amazing, and you will learn more about yourself than you realize. I think if you are interested in visiting other countries, ready to try an adventure, and are willing to participate as a crewmenber aboard the ship, you will have a great time.

Have a great cruise and I can't wait to hear how it went! Email me at (vrivera@calpoly.edu)