Suite life on Deck: travel days to Greece 🇬🇷

Sea Day 1:

They woke up all the students hella early for a drill before the boat started moving. I skipped breakfast cause I was too tired to get up before the drill. The drill was actually very quick. After the drill we headed to a day full of more orientation lectures.

On the first break we went to see the IT guy cause we couldn’t get the internet to work. It took a while and was kinda frustrating but it is all working now, just very slowly. After we left the IT office we went back to our room to find out the crew had already stopped by to clean the room!! We left him (Armando) a note to come back too tomorrow :)

After the quick break we headed back out for lunch. I’m finding out quickly that by the time food opens I am a hungry girl. After lunch we all headed towards the back of the ship to watch it leave port for the first time. It was a cool moment and so very exciting.

After we left port it did not take me long to start feeling a little sea sick. We sat outside on the pool deck for a while cause I wasn’t alone in my sickness. We then made our way to the day full of meetings.

We had some breaks between the meetings but it was a full day. The sea sickness is not the best feeling, i am hoping i will get over the feeling soon.

Sea Day 2:

Early mornings on the ship are becoming normal… not my cup of tea. Woke up early today to wait in line for the bookstore. The bookstore did not have much but I did get a SAS sweatshirt in blue.

I ended up missing breakfast because of the bookstore line, so I had to buy a coffee at the snack bar instead while I waited by the pool for my first class. When i was sitting up on the pool deck I had a moment of realization. I AM GOING TO SCHOOL ON A BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA!!! This is the coolest experience ever. I’m so happy to be here.

Anyways, i just hung out on the pool deck waiting to go to my first class. The suite life on deck theme song was stuck in my head the entire time :)

My first two classes are back to back on A days. I liked my female marketing teacher a lot! I am excited for her class.

After class I headed to the library to get organized for the semester. The afternoon part of the voyage got bumpy and I started to feel sick again. Took some motion sickness medicine and felt way better.

Then I headed to my last class for the day after a little break. The professor seemed really cool and I think I will like it.

After class all the students headed to the union to learn about all the clubs offered and start their own if they wanted. I joined a few clubs. I joined surfing, yoga, volleyball, card games, and sign language club. I am hopeful I actually make it the events after all I don’t really have an excuse not to go cause we are in the middle of an ocean.

After the club sign ups I went to a friends cabin to watch Mamma Mia - excitement for the next port, Greece!!

Sea Day 3:

Woke up right before class today. Uneventful school day as I met all my teachers yesterday. Sea sickness is much better, I did not need to take any medicine today!

We had another covid test today. I was negative again :) The ship is making circles in the middle of the ocean because we have days to kill before we can port in Greece. The map that tracks the boat is making me laugh (it’s literally just loops).

But anyway, I spent the rest of the day just chilling and doing homework. Not much really happened today, not gonna lie. Just hanging out in some more friends' cabins.

Some talk went around the ship about students getting upset about the distance and mask mandate given the only people that tested positive today were staff (and they aren't wearing masks). Students making a fuss probably isn’t gonna help but stay tuned for updates.

Sea Day 4:

Woke up extra early today. I was told yesterday by another student that the time would change overnight. It did not. So I woke up at 7 am for no reason. But that means I made it to breakfast for the first time while on the ship. It was kinda disappointing.

After breakfast I headed to the medical clinic because I needed a special piece of paper to get dairy free items at meals. Once I did that I headed to the bookstore to look for a backpack, I forgot to bring one… They did not have a bag unfortunately. Then I headed to the rooftop deck to get a coffee and relax outside until my first class started. I meet new people everyday, I find it so fun!

Attended my morning classes then took some down time. After I did some homework I headed outside to sit on the deck (my favorite stop if you haven’t noticed). I got cold pretty fast with the crazy wind today. On my way back in, I ran into some kids playing ping pong. So I asked to join cause why not. Hannah joined me and we all played a round the world. Let me tell you it was a workout. After ping pong, I did an actual workout and did some laundry in my bathroom sink. I then headed to my last class after watching the sunset :) After class, a group of us went to the “fancy” dinner place for a friend’s birthday! They give you a full meal in the restaurant. We could actually take out masks off and eat together!!

After the dinner we headed to a cabin to watch a movie and play card games. The moment everyone has to put their phones down we can actually get to know one another. We played cards against humanity for almost two hours. I also ran around in the halls of my floor putting sticky notes on peoples doors (we leave notes and messages with post it notes because we can’t text or leave a voicemail). Most of my notes where very random, but I enjoyed knowing that someone will be happy tomorrow seeing my note :)

I still feel like I’m in a dream. This entire experience to this moment has been so amazing. I love meeting all the students on the ship and getting to know people from all over the place!

Sea Day 5:

The late night cabin games and laughter are so fun but it made waking up this morning a little harder. I also forgot that the time changed… so I walked in late to class. Very embarrassing and had to take the last seat on the opposite side of the room.

In today's class, we had a pop quiz. I didn’t do too well, its okay though as we talked about my learning accommodations. After class, I played some card games on the deck and did some homework. After I finished my homework, I worked out. Running on the treadmill while the boat is moving is an experience.

After I worked out, I hung out in a friend's room for a while. Then I ate dinner, the chefs know who I am now cause I alway ask for dairy free food. I kinda feel bad but I also don’t want my stomach to hurt. Anyways after dinner i played ping pong again :) I am getting way better.

Then I relaxed for a while and had a daily nightly talk with the roommate. We stayed up late just talking about the most random things, we literally laughed for hours straight.

Also how do you properly say 00:23 hours? Like we wanna know hah

Sea Day 6:

Early covid test. Last one before disembarking in Greece. Rolled out of bed just in time for my test this morning. Negative again yayyy!! Time to party in Greece for my 21st birthday!! I accidentally missed class again this morning, the time change thing isn’t going well for me. I got a coffee while I waited before my second class.

The second class was boring but I talked out some plans for tomorrow. After class, I packed. While packing I found out someone I had been hanging out with tested positive and got put into quarantine. So I’m getting nervous to get back onto the ship.

After I finished packing my bag, I went to the library computer to try and print my plane ticket. The computers on the boat do not work well, even loading email is painful.

I relaxed till we arrived in Piraeus, Greece. Then finally I had my last class before disembarking tomorrow!! After class I headed straight up to the deck to see us at the port!! I got so excited!!! 21st birthday in Greece tomorrow!