Experience

Life on Land

Your Time In-Country

When not at sea, voyagers spend an average of 45 days of their semester exploring the unique cultures and environments of 10+ port countries. Semester at Sea’s unique multi-country, comparative, experiential approach to international education means voyagers may spend each port stay in a combination of Field Classes, Field Programs, and thoughtfully-planned personal travel.

Watch: 3 Ways to Travel with Semester at Sea

Field Classes

Each Semester at Sea course (with the exception of Global Studies) has one required, uniquely designed day-long Field Class that takes place in one of the countries during the voyage. These Field Classes are developed by the professors to apply concepts from their course to real-life situations through meetings and activities with local experts and organizations. On these all-inclusive programs, students spend one day in the field with their professor and classmates, experiencing their course content in action. For more information about individual Field Classes, visit the courses information within each voyage page.

Explore Upcoming Voyages

Field Programs

All voyagers can choose to participate in Semester at Sea-designed excursions called Field Programs. Field Programs can range from one day to multi-day and provide an awesome opportunity to see and experience a lot while in country.

Learn More About Field Programs

Plan Your Own Travel

Outside of Field Classes and Field Programs, voyagers can arrange their own travel experiences with friends. Voyagers are encouraged to plan ahead and follow the Responsible Traveler guidelines.

Learn More About Travel Planning

Our Commitment to Health and Safety In-Country

Health and safety, especially during our in-country experiences, are prioritized through every layer of decision-making. We continuously refine our protocols, implement progressive preventative measures, and develop vital partnerships with strong in-country service providers that enable us to make informed decisions and take action.

Learn More About Health and Safety

Hear From Past Voyagers

Read More Student Stories

Semester at Sea changed my life. From living on the ship, to traveling and experiencing new places – there is nothing like it. Through the classes, lectures, and community I built on the ship, I learned how to respect, engage, and be in new places. Learning about peoples history and culture before port arrival allowed me to connect and respect the places I was privileged to visit, a skill that I’ve carried far beyond the voyage. SAS taught me how to travel, it connected me to the world and the earth, allowing me to continue to journey this incredible planet we call home.

Semester at Sea was the most memorable semester at college because of the lessons learned along the way. Being at sea with no cell service allowed me to have deep and meaningful conversations with professors and students from all around the world with no distractions. Applying what we learned in class to real life experiences in the countries we visited will be memories I remember forever!

Prior to Semester at Sea, I had never been to Europe or even out of the country. The moment I stepped onto Italy, I knew it was gonna be exciting and full of adventures. Each place was a completely different experience. Where there is a new place, begins a new chapter in the book of life. Overall, Semester at Sea allowed us to actually learn about other cultures by having us experience them first hand. It wasn’t just doing research on the Internet; we got to dive in and see what we found was interesting and what we found was different. It opened our minds to become more accepting of differences and enabled us to begin the path of becoming global citizens.

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