Life on the MV Explorer - June 10-15

Since I've been basically restricted to the ship since Wednesday afternoon June 11 when our Orientation meetings began, I thought I would spend some time writing about life on the water. It may not be as interesting as pictures of Pompeii, Athens and other sites but for the past 4 days my view has been of the Port de Halifax and the harbor.

We've been pretty steady in harbor (the New York harbor was rockier) but we have all been told that crossing the North Atlantic can be quite rocky. And the biggest mistake they made was telling us that the ship is "unsinkable." Now where did we hear that before?

Anyway, I thought I'd give my impressions of ship life now, sometime in July, and again in mid-August. They will no doubt change as the voyage progresses. So here goes.

The Ship
We're on board the fairly new MV Explorer (we learned that MV stands for motor vessel as opposed to SS which stands for steam ship -- which the ship is not) which the Captain says is the fastest cruise ship in the world. It is 591 feet long and 83 feet wide. We make our own water and electricity though I don't know how. There are about 200 active crew and about 300 total crew employed. The Captain and his staff are quite diverse -- the captain, Jeremy Kingston, is from England. The rest of his staff is from Greece, Italy, Germany and Romania. We had a tour of the bridge yesterday (see pictures below) which was interesting. We were all surprised to see that the steering wheel was so small!




Apparently the ship runs on auto-pilot much of the time. We burn 70-80 tons of fuel per day when we are at sea and about 8 tons/day in port. Fuel now costs about $560.00 per metric ton as opposed to $180.00 per metric ton a few years ago. This is not the same fuel we use in our cars... it is more like very crude diesel. (Note that I have no idea what I am talking about; I am just repeating what we were told.) The panel below is one of several which allows the crew to monitor the ship in various ways at all times. There is an elaborate fire panel which tells the captain and crew exactly where a fire is (should one break out) and allows them to close fire doors. There is an elaborate alarm/sprinkler system.

The crew runs drills all the time. Today we watched them lower the life boats while Karen Ryan tried to talk aminst various loud alarms. There are always medical drills (code blue).

Once in port we use the gangway to get off the ship. How steep it is will vary from port to port; it currently runs from Deck 5 and has 49 steps!

My Cabin
After two moves I was finally able to settle into my permanent cabin (it's not a room) which is beautiful. I am on the much desired 7th deck (not floor) in a lovely suite. I have two closets, lots of storage, a double bed and a "living area." Below is the hallway to my room, my room door (all the 7th floor suites have names), and my sleeping area.



I also have a private balcony with two recliners, two chairs and a small table. The crew cleans the rooms and makes the beds everyday -- I couldn't ask for more. My neighbor to the left is Karen Ryan, to the right is LaVahn Hoh and his wife. Allen Lynch is right across the hall, Gordon Braden is two doors down from me and Julian Connolly is around the corner. It's very different to walk out of your "home" and see all these people in the hallway and at meals but it's also quite nice. Everyone sits in tables of 4 to 6 and we all make room for anyone who wanders over (more on the food below). Because of this I've had the chance to meet many of the Faculty from other schools which has also been fun. We're starting to "bond" and it seems to be a fun group.

Food
When we first arrived on Sunday we were with an SAS alumni group that stayed on board until Tuesday. The food was quite good. Since then, the quality has declined a bit but the logistic of feeding 1,000 people per day with no food coming in is a challenge. It's certainly edible and some is even quite good. I've had a bit of a challenge finding gluten free foods so I've mostly been eating salad, fish, potatoes and cooked vegetables. We have omelets and fresh fruit at breakfast and they're pretty good. And, I bought three bags of gluten-free corn flakes. Yum!

The meals that we ate out in Halifax were excellent. Last night we found a wonderful place called McElvie's. Eight of us went there and Mary Carlson (U.Va.) had a great desert (see her glee below; note my emphasis on deserts). I had to pose with the wooden carving at the entryway.



Other Spaces
Most of us don't spend much time in our cabins. There is a large lecture room called The Union which is where we have been meeting for our Orientation meetings (these started on Wednesday at 4 PM and have been pretty much non-stop ever since). The space is quite nice. See anyone you know in the picture just below?


There are nine classrooms; eight are on the Deck 6 and one (mine -- Classroom 9) is on the Deck 5. There are two dining halls (on Decks 5 and 6 -- one is large and one is medium). There is also a computer lab;

library;

and a large Faculty/Staff lounge in which students are absolutely prohibited (it's where I am writing from right now). It has numerous tables and chairs and an open bar with snacks (for pay) from 9-11. It's also wireless and has large windows all around the periphery.

There is another snack bar on Deck 6 with a piano and tables and chairs. There's also a place on Deck 5 called Tymitz Square (named after John Tymitz, a major ISE founder) and there one finds the Purser (open 24/7) and the Field Office. It's a good place to meet people when you're planning an outing though that too may change with the addition of 600 people.

The Students
All I know so far is that there are 583 students coming on board on Sunday making this the largest summer voyage ever. Of these 583 students, about 20 (21 to be exact) are from U.Va. Most of the schools have only one student attending. As a group, 74% (yes, 74%) are female. ISE (Institute for Shipboard Education) tells us this is a little high but that a 70-30 split is quite common for study abroad program. We have decided this is either because females are more adventurous or simply smarter (a known fact).

For those of you in Garrett who are reading this and know Kyle, he boarded today. We had dinner together along with LaVahn, MF and Bill Wilkerson from the COMM School who joined us late last night.

I have 36 students in my ANTH 101 class (Introduction to Anthropology) and 22 in my ANTH 386 class (From Egalitarian to Empire). Classes start on Tuesday, drop/add goes until Tuesday at midnight via a new online system built by Paul Madden (formerly of Garrett Hall). Any problems get mediated by our faithful and capable Registrar, Laurie Casteen (go Laurie!).

Students take two classes plus the Global Studies class which is being taught by Allen Lynch with the help of 4 GTAs (all from U.Va.). For the first time ever, Global Studies will be taught in two sections so that all students can be in the same room (it used to be piped into another classroom). Thus, Allen gets to teach the class twice.

That's all for today... I will likely update this post as we begin to sail to Norway. We will be at sea for 9 days straight and pass land once. Wish me luck!