A Typical Day on the MV Explorer

I have spent a lot of time talking about what I have done in countries, but what is there to do on the boat?  All of the students on the ship have to take 4 classes.  Many people have mostly easy classes that don't involve a lot of work, but lucky me, that is not my case.  I am taking Marine Biology, International Law, Cognitive Psychology, and History of Modern China.  All of these classes involve spending hours reading the textbooks.  The professors have to try to cram a whole semester's worth of education into just 23 days of class.  It is insane.  At BW, I do not come close to reading an entire textbook over the course of four months, but on the ship, I am almost finished with two books, and we did it in just 23 days.  The course load I have takes up most of my time on the ship.

The cabins on the ship are nice, depending on the amount of people you have in them.  A double, which is standard, comes with two beds, three closets, a TV, dressers, a desk, and wall mirror.  If there are only two people in the room, it is rather cozy.  Many people are in triples though.  A triple is just like the double, but a bed folds out of the wall.  That many people in the room makes it a little uncomfortable and cramped.  My room is a quad, so there are four people that stay here.  The only difference is that the quad has two rooms, and not bunk beds.  We have the standard double room, and then an adjoining door which leads to two more beds, another desk and dresser, and two more closets.  Our room has the most space, and we paid the least amount of money for it.  I love it!

Food on the ship is pretty bad.  Everyday for lunch and dinner there is a type of pasta, a type of fish, a type of beef or chicken, a type of soup, salad, rolls, and vegetables.  Having this type of meal two times a day everyday gets very repetitive, and we welcome the peanut butter and jelly that is also put out.  PB&J is the go to food when we can't stand to eat the same food anymore.  I eat PB&J pretty often now.  Meals are offered in two places on the ship during specific times of the day.  Breakfast is pretty bad.  There is normally pancakes or french toast, sausage or bacon, biscuits and gravy, a type of egg, fruits, yogurt, and breakfast pastries.  It sounds like it might be good, but the way the food tastes and is cooked for all 800 of us is terrible.  You can order food from the Deck 7 grill or the Snack Bar on deck 6, but it can get pretty expensive, especially if you eat there often.  I have only done it once.  I got a burger, and that too was not so great.  There is also something called special dining, which costs 30 dollars a person, but the food is supposed to be the best on the ship.  It is a gourmet meal cooked by the chefs.

There seems to be a lot to do on the ship, but I feel like there isn't really anything for me.  Other than going to classes, you can hang out with your friends in the piano bar or up on the deck.  There are also plenty of clubs to join, but I did not have an interest in any.  I had joined a community service group, but they have not done anything yet.  Other groups include a passion group, balloon animal group, a singing group, a church group, and the list goes on.  There is a gym on the ship, but it is rather small.  It is often full of people who spend their time working out.  There is enough space in my room, that I just do workout videos in the room.  Just recently we had Neptune day, which was the day we crossed the equator.  I made a post about it previously.  We also just had the sea olympics.  All of the rooms on the ships are located in certain "seas."  My cabin is in the Baltic Sea, and other seas include the Red Sea, the Bering Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Sea, etc.  The seas all competed against each other in different events from a ship wide relay race, to hula hooping, rock paper scissors, Sudoku, backwards spelling bee, jeopardy, and more.  It was a lot of fun.  They had a lip sync competition and a cheer competition.  My sea came in first place for cheer, but our overall placement was 6th out of 9.  I was sick for the competition, so I only saw a few things.

My favorite thing to do on the ship is sit on the deck as we sail through the ocean.  The sound of the water is so relaxing, and that is what I will miss the most about this.  The experience has been so great.  Life on the ship is truly incredible, despite the work and lack of things to do.  I am in love with this kind of life, but I do miss home as well.

The first picture shows my bed and part of the desk.  I have pictures and postcards hanging up on the walls with magnets.  The second picture is of the bathroom.  On the left is the shower and the right is the toilet.  The third picture is of my side of the room; the adjoined room is exactly the same.  It just does not have the window.  And yes, Jackie's side always stays that messy.  She sleeps underneath the pile, which we call Phil.  That is the name of her boyfriend back home.