So today was the big day! The start of the adventure of a lifetime. My loading time was scheduled for 8:00am because my last name starts with 'B.' I woke up early to make sure I had everything packed and ready to go. I had the bell boy scheduled to pick up my bags at 7:30 and had a taxi waiting for me. It was an easy check out and I headed to the port.

The port was maybe 6 minutes away but the Canadians have great ways of ripping off visitors such as charging extra for going to the port. So my short cab ride was $25. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

I was there at about 7:40 so the line was still short. I got my space in line and was about 20 people back. Little did I realize how fortunate I was to be there early. By 8:00 the line was already getting pretty long and I couldn’t see the end from where I was standing. They finally opened the doors to the check in process and slowly people began to move.

Once inside the building I continued down the line and got stopped by a lady who was interviewing students. She asked me a few questions and got a picture of me and I continued on my way. As I was getting my ID card and turning in my passport, I come to find that I have no picture on my ID. I guess the pictures that I sent in weren't good enough for them….? Anyways, that meant I would be escorted through security and onto the boat by a staff member so that they could hold my passport.

So first my bags went through the giant screener. They took at least 3 minutes and 3 people looking at each bag. Of course they pull my bags aside to open and search. After about 15 mins of them looking around and finding NOTHING, I continued to the next step. Time to put carry on bags through a scanner as well as walking through a metal detector. Possibly the most stringent metal detector ever. And again, I made the metal detector beep, so they used the hand wand scanner. And then again, it goes off so they did a full pat down. Thanks to the wonders of the underwire in my bra as well as the button on my jeans made the scanner beep. So I finally passed and was able to board the ship and my escort was allowed to leave me. I board and am greeted by numerous people including the executive dean, staff, and students.

Next I was able to take a picture and have my ID card remade. Next I went through the rest of the tables for check in. It was a smooth process and I managed to not have any problems this time. Finally it was time to find my room. My cabin number is 4133 in the Arabian Sea. Each floor is named after a different sea. I really like the location of my room because its right next to the stairs leading up to the rear areas of the ship. It’s a really convenient location.

The rooms are pretty darn small, but it doesn’t really matter since I know I wont be spending much time in the room. The beds were the most shocking, they look like twin size beds, but they are much narrower than twin size beds. My roommate had not arrived yet, so I decided to unpack and get settled into my space. My mom likes to call it "nesting," but I like to call it decorating.

Once I finished I decided it was time to start exploring the ship and meeting people. Everyone on the ship is really friendly and really open to meeting new people. Decks 2, 3, and 4 are all cabin floors. On the 5th deck, there is the main dining hall as well as some classrooms, all located in the back of the ship. In the front, it the main lobby and other cabins. Deck 6 is the most busy floor with the most places to go and see. In the front is the Union, which holds about 350 people. Along with that is the campus store, library, computer room, piano lounge, a second dining room, and a great deck to sit on outside. And finally on the 7th deck in the front is a deck to walk around on and the faculty lounge. In the back is the pool, gym, wellness center, and a netted basketball court.

Around 11:30 lunch was served and I had my first meal on the ship. They had some sandwiches, salad, soup, beef casserole, mashed potatoes, and veggies. It was a pretty good meal and I have hope for survival on this ship!  The afternoon consisted of more wandering as well as meeting more people.

It took until 3:00pm to load everyone on the ship. The plan was to have everyone on by12:00pm, but that definitely did not happen. The fire/lifeboat drill was at 4:00pm and was that an experience. Everyone in the ship had to return to their room and change their clothing into pants, long sleeves, and closed toed shoes. Then everyone grabbed their bright orange life vests and headed to their muster station. My station is located in the main dining room, so I was getting over heated being dressed like this since its very warm on the ship. They made us stand in straight lines with women and children in the front of the lines and the men in the back. Then we had to stand their in silence while they read everyone's name to make sure we were all there. Then we stood there more and then some more. After 45 minutes of standing, the captain came in to check the room and make sure it was appropriate. Finally they did a demo on how to put on your life vest even though everyone already had their life vests on….

Once that was over it was time for the ship to leave Halifax. So I ran back to my room and got my camera and then headed to the front of the ship to the observation deck. It had great views and they blew the horn numerous times trying to scare away pirates! (not really but there were small boats around with fake pirate flags)

Next was dinner time where I sat with my roommate and a few of her friends. My roommate's name is Lindsay and she's from Colorado. Its been really amazing already to meet people from so many different places. Its kind of what you imagine when you go to college, meeting all sorts of people. (not at all like what I experienced at UC Santa Cruz)

After dinner was time to relax and just hang out. I went up to the spa to get the price list and then went to the computer room to get my e-mail and internet set up. It didn’t take me long to do once I was able to get a Wi-Fi connection.

Then I went to find a place to sit and work on this blog! So I moved to the piano lounge on the 6th floor. At 8:00 they were going to be starting the orientation meeting. This was a meeting that everyone on the ship had to attend. The main room for these types of events is the union, but it only holds about 350 students. So students are allowed to sit  in the classrooms as well to watch the broadcast of the meeting. The piano lounge counts as one of these places so I didn’t have to move from where I was sitting.

The executive dean made some announcements and went through some statistics about this voyage. I listed them below, or at least the things that I thought were interesting. Then there was some rambling on about things that really aren't important.

This whole meeting went on and on introducing faculty and staff and the captain and his crew. Finally the meeting ended at about 9:15 just to go straight into our hall meetings. Luckily my meeting was in the same room that I was already sitting in so I didn’t have to get up and move. It was the most pointless meeting ever and reminded me of freshman year. They made us play a weird ice breaker game where we had to take a shoe off and someone else would get a shoe and come over to meet you. This lasted until 10pm when they finally release us for the night.

I got myself a snack of some chips and a ginger ale because the ship sure is a rockin. Im probably going to call it a early night just because tomorrow is full of meetings and lectures that we have to attend all day long.

Over and out!



708 undergraduates - largest number ever on a SAS voyage
        23 countries
        49 states
                21% from California
        280 different universities
28 graduates
105 faculty staff and dependents
1.5 -90 years old on the ship
191 crew members
1047 people on the ship total.

75% female
25% male

 11764 miles

"Most of you are friendless" -Executive Dean
        Great quote from the dean during his speech. He later went on to talk about how we were all going to make so many new friends!