Safety at sea

According to the Semester at Sea website, the MV Explorer is known for its safety record (touch wood). "Our excellence in emergency response procedures, such as fire or ifeboat drills, is continuously evaluated by the U.S. Coast Guard and we receive excellent ratings," the website reads. 

We have had four fire drills so far: one at the beginning of each month on what the administration calls "study days," so there is no interruption of classes. The crew has their own fire drills. People who come on at different times have fire drills. Our life jackets tell us which deck to go to. There is a roll call after we line up, four deep, to make sure everyone is where he should be.

Here, Topy and I are with our life jackets on, in our cabin waiting for the announcement to head up to Deck 5 for the fire drill. There are fire drills once a month for passengers, more often for the crew. Everyone has to be at their assigned locations, organized according to cabin numbers. The April drill took longer than expected because one student had overslept, and a crew member had to go rouse him.