The Thrill of Transition

One of my very favorite parts of a travel adventure is right on top of us. It's that moment, maybe in the airport after you've said your last goodbye, maybe when you get that first glimpse of the ship, when you realize that it's finally here! After all the months of planning, hard work and excitement, it's really happening, right this minute. But the best part of that feeling is that none of it is over yet, it's all stretched out in front of you! The moment of transition from dream to reality, from anticipation to experience - that feeling, that's what I love!

Health and Wellness on SAS

On to health: the deal here is Be Prepared! No one wants their trip of a lifetime marred by illness but it happens, so the idea is to be ready so that any episodes are as short and mild as possible. There is a full clinic and fabulous staff of doctors, nurses and PAs on board who will help you through any sickness. Use them wisely of course, like during clinic hours whenever possible, as opposed to waking them up in the middle of the night because your stuffy nose is preventing you from sleeping. There are three main types of illnesses that typically strike voyagers and you should plan for each one.

Nearly everyone worries about seasickness before the voyage and it's my impression that most people deal with it, to one degree or another, sometime during the voyage. There are a lucky few who never feel the least bit queasy but also a very few who just never get it under control. Everyone else deals with it for one to several days but soon gets their sea legs and it's no longer an issue. First, if you've had experience with any kind of motion sickness before, bring whatever worked for you then. I'm a particular fan of Bonine, which is the name brand of meclizine, the generic that is offered for free, along with condoms, in bins outside the clinic. It doesn't make you sleepy and works best if you take it just before the ship sails. BTW, one of the little known symptoms of seasickness is drowsiness so don't always blame it on your medication and be prepared to feel kind of wiped out in the first days of the voyage. If you've had significant trouble with motion sickness before, you might consider getting prescription Scopolamine patches from your doctor. You wear them behind your ear and they are very effective for some people. A word of caution (have I mentioned I'm a retired nurse?): the full dose, a whole circle, is often too much for people, depending on your body weight and drug metabolism. The side effects can be pretty awful so if in doubt or if you're having problems, cut the patches in half or even thirds if you're small. The point is to find the most effective dose without bothersome side effects and it isn't necessarily the standard dose. I'd also discontinue using them sooner rather than later and see how you're doing. But that's just my two cents worth - as always, your doctor can best advise you, or even better, a travel clinic since they specialize in these issues. Wrist bands that use acupressure points are effective for some people so you might start there, if you're into that sort of thing, and move on to drugs if that doesn't do the trick. Ginger in the form of tea, candy or even gingerale is a trusted remedy for mild symptoms. So bring a couple of options to see what works for you and remember that the clinic is there to help. Please do not stay in your cabin for days, not able to keep anything at all down, without asking for help. The medical staff can give you an injection in severe cases so use them if you can't get the seasickness under control yourself.

Few people manage to avoid some sort of respiratory illness during the voyage - it's just one of the side effects of close living in a large community. You can go a LONG way towards avoiding colds by washing your hands often, way more often than you would at home, and using the hand sanitizer dispensers located all throughout the ship. Make it a habit to squirt some sanitizer on before meals in the dining rooms - the machine is right there, just use it! Although you will be amazed at the fabulous and constant job the crew does of keeping the ship clean, you can be smart about where your hands go in the public areas of the ship. For instance, unless the ship is really rocking, I try not to use the handrails on the stairways - that knocks out 10 to 15 opportunities a day to pick up a cold. Again, you will see the crew cleaning those rails every day but I'm just sayin', be aware of keeping your hands as clean as possible. In case you do get a cold, bring from home whatever you've found works best for you - I always bring Tylenol and plain sudaphed, but that's just me.

The dreaded travelers' diarrhea is the last common illness SASers experience. Prevention is key here. The medical staff will advise you over and over in preport meetings before every stop about the food and water safety in that country. Pay attention, folks, and do what they say. It's my opinion that following those precautions will prevent 80 to 85% of stomach problems. As a general rule, I never take ice in my drinks or eat anything that is raw or I haven't peeled myself, including anything that is billed as a salad. I know, after you've soldiered through the limited salad offerings on the ship, those raw veggies and cut-up fruit salads look pretty great. I make exceptions only in really nice hotels and restaurants that cater to international travelers, but it's safest not to. Think about the toilet and hygiene facilities available to the food handlers and bypass that mango the street vendor has just peeled for you with his machete. There are many glorious food options in every country where you can sample and enjoy local cuisine that is thoroughly cooked so be sure to do that, just be smart about it.

Some people take a Pepto tablet before every meal in port, just as a preventative. But be sure to bring some type of over-the-counter diarrhea medicine with you if sickness strikes. Take it at the first sign of a problem. I like Lomotil; it's available in several forms. You might also ask your doctor or travel clinic about bringing a few Cipro tablets with you. This is an antibiotic that you don't have to take for days. If I get the first episode of TD, I take one Lomotil and one Cipro and I've yet to have it go any further, but that's just what works for me. Cipro is a very broad spectrum antibiotic and not to be used lightly or frequently - you may need it later in your life when you have a difficult to treat infection and you don't want to be resistant to it then. But it is my doctor's opinion that you're on a trip of a lifetime and you don't want it spoiled by days of diarrhea so it's appropriate to take the Cipro if necessary. Opinions vary widely about this so you and/or your doctor may disagree with me. Please do whatever makes sense to you and follow the advice you are given by professionals who know you.

A reminder about prescription drugs: You will need a few days more than the maximum three months worth of drugs most insurance plans allow you to buy at once. Check with your pharmacy and make plans for dealing with that well in advance of leaving. Once onboard, you will be asked to put all but a relatively small amount of most prescriptions in its original container in the clinic pharmacy for safekeeping. Please pack those drugs in your backpack when you come to the ship, better yet, in your money belt. The last voyage I volunteered to help send off, a student packed a very unusual and essential medication, one that couldn't be quickly replaced in port, in a small bag that he accidentally left in the taxi when he arrived at the ship the day it was leaving - huge problem. So, the things to be super careful with when you're coming to the ship, and always really: your passport and your prescriptions. Pretty much everything else you can get along without, borrow or buy in port.

Some words about general wellness issues. Sleep will likely be a challenge and you need to be as smart about it as possible. "I can sleep when I get home!" is a frequently heard mantra and I totally support the spirit of that. You are on a very special and once in a lifetime experience and you'll want to be there for every moment you can. That said, the voyage is more of a marathon than a sprint and you're going to need to actively manage your time and energy in order to get the most out of it. It's hard to understand before you leave how jam-packed the days of this voyage will be. Classes, homework, planning for the next port, shipboard activities and responsibilities, journaling, editing your photographs, meals, just plain hanging out with your friends and so much more will more than fill every moment on the ship. And then there are the time changes. Every  Spring voyage planned for the immediate future will be sailing west. That means that you will gain 24 hours, usually one hour a night nearly every other day, during the approximately 55 days at sea and then lose them all at once by skipping one day as you cross the International Dateline in the Pacific - I hope it's not your birthday! For those of you on the Fall voyage, it's a little more erratic than that so you'll have to be on your toes and pay attention to the announcements. Trust me, it's embarrassing to drag your half-awake self into a class and realize that you're an hour late. For the ocean sections that go east, losing one hour every other night doesn't sound like much but they add up and, along with everything else going on, can cause you to be very, very tired. My advice is to monitor yourself and go to bed early when you can, rather than watch those full seasons of Game of Thrones DVDs you bought in Vietnam - that you can definitely do when you get home. Also grab naps when you can and pat yourself on the back for getting that economical inside cabin that is darker than dark, day or night.

Exercise can be a challenge but also lots of fun. Like for many other things on SAS, flexibility is key. You will want to stay in good shape to walk, hike, bike and just be up for all the amazing experiences in these countries. There is a workout room with ellipticals, treadmills and bikes but it's very popular and you have to sign up in advance. Please follow the rules for that process so everyone who wants to can get a shot at the machines. There is workout equipment like weights and benches on the seventh deck and that's always a popular option. There's also a netted multipurpose court on the starboard side of the Deck 7 where you can play volleyball, basketball, etc. Teachers of all kinds of exercise like yoga, kick boxing, dance, etc. always turn up on board and will be organizing classes, so you can keep up with your practice or try something new you've been curious about. Running is a challenge either on the treadmills or on the horseshoe shaped "course" on Deck 7, especially in rocky seas or wet weather, but it can be done. Sometimes runners organize runs in port but that comes with its own safety concerns so do that wisely and in groups. Like with many other aspects of SAS, you can keep up with what works for you and challenge yourself to try something different as well - that's what it's all about.

Finally, I want to talk a little about mental health. Whether you realize it or not, your normal views of yourself and of the world and your place in it are about to be majorly challenged. That's the whole point, right? That process is exciting but can also be quite confusing and possibly overwhelming. There are difficult challenges in this SAS experience for everybody, whether it's finding someplace to sleep or eat in a country where you don't know the language or being face-to-face with heartwrenching poverty for the first time. You will be out of your comfort zone and away from your usual support people like parents and boy/girlfriends. Semester at Sea is very aware of your need for support on this voyage and there are many ways to get it. First, you'll rely on your new BFFs, those amazing people you're traveling with and sharing this life altering experience. Then there are the professionals on board who can offer lots of wisdom and guidance: your RD, known on land as resident advisor, and the professional mental health counselors on the ship, two people who are licensed psychologists or social workers. These people are pros with many years experience with college students - please use them. They are there to listen and help you process all that you are seeing and learning about yourself and the world. If you have dealt before with depression or anxiety, be smart about monitoring yourself for these recurring feelings and get help if you need it. I have seen several cases of students who had to leave the voyage because of these mental health issues. If these have been issues for you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't go but it does mean that you need to inform the staff and get help earlier rather than later. I'm a huge fan of Semester at Sea precisely because it does shake people up and ask them to look at the world and themselves in different ways - a very good thing.

It's a journey, as they say, and it's enormously rewarding and exciting. Just be prepared, stay healthy and be sure you get help along the way if you need it.

Happy and Healthy Eating on SAS

The featured speaker at one of our daily get-togethers for Lifelong Learners on Spring 2009 was the Hotel Manager, one of the officers of the ship's crew. One of his areas of responsibility is food service and he was gamely fielding questions from our group, a few of them somewhat negative in tone. He said, "Imagine your very favorite restaurant at home. Now imagine eating breakfast, lunch and dinner there for over 100 days. Don't you think you would get tired of even that food?" Point taken. The food on the MV Explorer doesn't even start as your favorite food so, yes, you can expect to get tired of it.

That said, I think they do a pretty good job of catering to all the preferences and restrictions for 800 people of all ages and backgrounds, especially when you factor in the availability and cost of fresh food in the ports we visit. Many of those passengers are young men who I'm convinced have hollow legs and are virtually impossible to fill up, hence a lot of pasta and potatoes, and the perennial favorite, peanut butter and jelly. The vegetarian and gluten-free options have gotten better and better and are clearly designated with signs on the buffet. On the night before a port, a menu of dishes from the upcoming country is offered. Barbecues on the seventh deck are a special treat and loved by all, as is the famous Taco Day. It boggles my mind to think of provisioning for 800 people (make that around 1000 people with the crew) for 100 days, on a budget that is nowhere near that of a cruise ship. Don't get me started on the ISE budget and what an amazing job they do stretching the dollar to run this program - did you know that one third of your fee goes to fuel alone? It's a nonprofit organization and, trust me, there is nothing leftover to buy more expensive food, especially given the availability and quality issues for fresh food in port.

My recommendation about food is two-fold: 1)make sure you vary your diet using all the options available and 2)bring from home or buy in port (including the city you leave from) some things that will make your tummy happy half way around the world. Many people are on the ship for weeks before they discover, for instance, the soup on a different table from the main buffet - it's often quite tasty and sometimes wonderfully unusual, like a cold fruit soup. The two salad dressings offered that day may not be your favorite but there is always oil and vinegar at the end of the line. Students soon discover how good the smoothies, pizza and burgers are in the snack bar on the pool deck but faculty, staff and LLLs should check those out early in the voyage. The galley crew is really quite talented and can put on an amazing dining experience so consider the option of Special Dining, that often includes menu items like shrimp cocktail, steak and fancy desserts. Just as with the snack bar, it costs extra, about $35 charged to your shipboard account, but definitely worth it for special occasions like a birthday. There's also a late night snack, usually small sandwiches and desserts, put out around 10:00PM, or 2200 ship time, that takes a while for people to discover.

You will find that any food or snacks you bring on board will be very welcome treats, especially on long stretches of sea days like the two ocean crossings. You can shop in the port you're leaving from after you get there, hopefully a day early to prevent any issues of lost baggage. Depending on where you are in the alphabet, you might be able to get on the ship and then get off again to shop the day the ship leaves but I wouldn't count on it. You can, of course, pack snacks from home and figure that the space used will be replaced with treasures you've bought when you pack to go home. In addition to your favorite granola or meal replacement bar, you might consider nuts, dried fruit and packets of flavoring to add to a water bottle, whatever doesn't spoil and takes up as little space as possible.

If you're shopping in the embarkation port, think about a favorite bottled salad dressing or salsa. There's a small refrigerator in your cabin. The small boxes of granola cereal appear rarely and go fast so you might bring your favorite. If you care about coffee at all, I've got some not great news: although it has recently improved, the ship's coffee ranges from not so good to kinda bad, depending on how picky you are. I'm proud to say that thanks to my daughter-in-law and her team at the corporate office in Seattle, you can now bring Via, instant Starbucks, with you and I highly recommend it - try it, you'll like it and it's perfect for this situation. A number of people bring a small French press and some ground coffee (hot water is always available) to get them started then buy wonderful international coffees in our ports. The supply of sweeteners is variable and doesn't usually include Stevia so if you're devoted to one of those, bring it.

In my earlier post about travel, I recommended that you do your traveling into the country in the early days of our stay and save the last day for exploring the port city. In addition to hitting the Internet cafe for uploading pictures and Skyping and the post office for stamps for all those marvelous postcards you wrote, you'll want to save some time to restock your food supplies. Remember that you can only bring food back onto the ship if it is still sealed in its original packaging so no snacking! And I wouldn't wait until close to on ship time to come through the security line with lots of bags of groceries - try to do it earlier in the day. It's fun to browse the local stores for intriguing brands of cookies, crackers, chips or other snacks - you might find a particular brand of Japanese cracker to be your new favorite and will get so addicted that you really miss it when you get home!

So, make sure you use all the options available on the ship, especially if you find yourself getting kind of tired of the food. And bring from home or buy in port anything that will spark up your daily fare and keep your tummy happy as you sail around the world.

Trip Tips for SAS

If the word for money tips is redundancy (see previous post), the word for trip tips is variety. It usually happens naturally but I strongly recommend that you plan to travel in a variety of ways on this glorious journey of a lifetime.

About two months before your voyage sails, the final version of the Field Program and the Pre-Sale process will be available online. In this pre-sale you will be signing up for overnight trips, usually for the first two-thirds of the voyage. These trips require SAS to book flight and hotel reservations and so are called "manifest" trips, or trips that need your name for a booking. Therefore, once you've signed up you cannot, with only very rare exceptions, change your mind and cancel these trips or sell them to someone else - think restrictions on plane tickets you buy here. You actually can cancel but you'll lose your money :(. These trips are the big ticket, multi-day ones like safaris, the Great Wall, the Taj, etc. Day trips for the first few ports will also be included in this sale.

Please be very sure you are not signing up for a field excursions that conflicts with a Field Lab for one of your classes. You will be required to go on the Lab and will lose the money you paid for a manifest trip. The Lab is just not negotiable so be careful to organize those ports well.

The trips other than manifest trips are to places near the port city and can vary from a few hours to an extremely long day to an overnight using a bus. Some of these trips are fairly standard sightseeing ventures, like orientation tours the first day in a port, and others are service visits or special experiences that SAS has been doing for a long time, like the jazz safari in Cape Town - more about these below.

In this category is a very beloved type of SAS trip, the homestay. You will sign up to go with a family to be part of their life for a day or two. On every voyage, these experiences rank at or near the top for every student who does them. On these and other popular trips, it's first come, first served so do your research well and be ready with the choices you're absolutely dying to do on the day of registration. On the Pre-Sale signup form, you will be asked for second choices if you should not get the trip. Just be sure those second choices don't conflict with any other trips on other days you're signing up for.

An aside on homestays: if you're signed up for one, please don't be a no-show. These families are very excited to meet you and have often gone to tons of trouble with special meals, taking off time from work, etc. Also, for that reason, and just because it's a nice thing to do, please bring a small gift for the family, definitely wrapped if you're in Japan. Many students bring something typical of their home or region like maple sugar candy if you're from New England - it shouldn't be expensive, rather a "just the thought that counts" type of hostess gift.

So that's SAS trips in a nutshell. Obviously there's much more to say about them and you'll be getting lots of info from the field office - use them, those folks are great. I'll say more below about choosing among your options but let's get on to independent travel or "doing it indy" as SASers like to say. The sky's the limit here and your choices and plans will be entirely driven by what your preferences are and what you are comfortable with and/or challenged by, a feeling that will definitely change as the voyage progresses - that's one big reason you're doing this, right? These adventures usually fall into three categories. The first has grown up largely as a result of the use of Facebook before the voyage and so have come to be called "Facebook trips". Some enterprising student who has either known a previous SASer or read lots of blogs will propose a trip that often closely follows a trip offered by SAS. The primary idea is usually to try to do the trip at a lower cost and that's generally possible. Tour operators in countries we always go to like China and India are now onto this market so the student organizer may get pitched by them. Again, I'll offer my views on that below but just know it will be an option if you follow Facebook before your voyage. Secondly, you can put a small trip together with a few of your friends after you get on the ship. These trips can be anything from you and your besties putting together an overnight itinerary to someplace you all think sounds cool and letting the details just happen to a more organized adventure that you've researched either in Lonely Planet or online. Just so you remember, your internet access will be metered and very limited for this type of planning, although Wikitravel is a free site on the ship. Using books to do most of your planning is wise. The Library has large collections of travel guides for every port we go to. A hint: although Lonely Planet is geared for student travel and is certainly tried and true, choosing a recommendation from another guidebook will often yield less crowds and prevent the bar you've picked from being packed with SASers instead of the locals you were hoping to mingle with. The third type of indy trip is the solo (or duo) backpacking/just-striking-out adventure. This is obviously not for everyone but definitely the strongly preferred option for a certain sort of traveler. After we leave each port, there usually is a Post Port Reflections get together in the Union where people can share their adventures. I'm constantly amazed and awed by what happens when students travel this way. I'm sure it's my grandmotherliness coming through, but safety is often not in the top five priorities for these folks and that makes me nervous - but I love hearing their stories.

OK, that's the summary of the range of options, so here's my two cents on how to choose: PLEASE travel in a variety of ways as you journey around the world. Each type of trip has its own benefits and drawbacks, which you'll never understand unless you try them.

SAS has been doing this for OVER ONE HUNDRED VOYAGES and the value added on their trips cannot be overstated. They have worked with many of these tour companies for decades and know that they can be relied upon to provide guides with excellent English, many of whom have been loved by students for years, and buses that rarely (as opposed to often, for many other tour groups) break down. Their hotels and restaurants are wonderful and you definitely do pay for that. The field office takes care of absolutely every detail, all you do is sign up and pay, then relax and enjoy the journey. Few people realize in advance that traveling on SAS trips is also a fabulous way to meet people outside your usual, tight group of friends. You will probably get to know some faculty and staff, their families, some Lifelong Learners and some students who will become your new favorite friends, especially after you've had the bonding experience of climbing the Great Wall together (with emphasis on the word climb!). One other point is that should your trip run very late getting back to the port, and s**t definitely and regularly happens when you're traveling abroad, the ship will be held for SAS trips and NOT for Facebook or other indy trips. If you are on an independent trip and are late for on-ship time, you will get dock time. If you do not make it back on the ship before the time it is scheduled to sail because of some travel delay (or for any reason actually with the possible exception of a true medical emergency), unless you are on an SAS trip you WILL be left, I promise. So, fair warning: schedule your independent travel to arrive back in the port city the day before the ship sails and do your exploring around the port that last day. All the port cities have fascinating things to do and, besides, you'll probably want to find an Internet cafe to Skype or upload photos, neither of which you'll be able to do from the ship, or buy stamps for your postcards and snacks to re-provision your stash on the ship. Planning to arrive back before noon of the last day may be tolerable, but only in countries with quite reliable and redundant transportation systems, like Spain but absolutely not India, for instance. Cutting it closer than that is a huge risk - did I mention they will leave you? You will arrive back at the dock with a big space where the ship used to be, the port agent with a small bag of your stuff that your roommate packed for you and the feeling in your gut that you are truly on your own now. In recent years, the deans have been considering all the class days that you will miss if you miss the ship and termination from the program is a real possibility.

For me, the biggest advantage to many SAS trips is that they provide opportunities that are impossible or unlikely to replicate on your own. You might be lucky enough to meet a jazz musician in Cape Town and get invited home to jam with him, but the SAS trip guarantees it. How would you like to meet a deaf child at an orphanage in Viet Nam and take her to the zoo? SAS can arrange for you to do that. Sit in the living room of a professor from a university in Chennai and chat with women, from poets to journalists, to learn about writing and the life of women in India. Visit a cosmetics factory in Casablanca and have a fascinating conversation over lunch with its Berber owners and managers. Any time during your life that you travel you can throw on your backpack and head out to meet interesting people and have great adventures - that's always available to you. So seize the unique opportunities of this special journey and let SAS offer you a gateway to experiences you just cannot have on your own. End of commercial.

Independent travel options will probably look more and more appealing as the voyage goes on. You've probably had enough of larger groups on buses and a packed schedule. BTW, while on an SAS trip, you can always opt out of the schedule and just go off on your own. You'll lose what you paid for lunch, for instance, but you may just need a break from the group and some time by yourself. Please feel free to do that, just make absolutely sure you tell your trip leader and be back in time to re-join the trip when you say you will. By the time you get to Japan, for instance, you'll find it very easy to head out on your own or with a small group of friends, probably on a train, and have a fantastic time. Everyone will go at his or her own pace but your independence will blossom - count on that. It's one of the almost universal ways that SAS changes students. So, as you think in advance about what you want to do in each port, you might plan to do more structured trips in the earlier part of the voyage and rely more on seat of the pants travel later on.

A word about budgeting. When you see that huge list from the Field Office, you will likely be pretty much overwhelmed and feel some sticker shock. Take lots of time to read it and see what's on offer. Think about your biggest dreams and schedule them in first, either as an SAS trip or independently. If you absolutely can't imagine going all the way around the world and not seeing the Great Wall, then figure that out first. BTW, another value added for SAS China trips is that many include partnerships with Chinese universities so you get to meet and hang out with students and let them show you their lifestyle. After you've budgeted your "must dos", look at the things you can only do on SAS and plan time for them. You'll want to put together a rough idea for each country of what you want to do but these plans are just an approximation and will change a lot. Don't forget you'll be doing a number of Field Labs so put them on your schedule first. Only those and your manifest trips are set in stone. Other trips can be traded or sold to a friend or through the Buy/Sell notebook on the counter in the Field Office. As a last resort, people who find that they cannot go on a trip they've signed up for can put their tickets in a box on that counter and anyone can claim them for a free trip - a wonderful bonus on a day you find yourself with plans that have just never gelled. That experience you might never have signed up for may turn out to be your favorite of the whole voyage.

The most common regret from voyagers as they look back on their travel decisions is that they signed up for too much in advance, particularly in the pre-sale. So, if you really having trouble deciding on your list, go for a smaller number and see what develops with your friends when you get on the ship.

So, plan for lots of variety and remember to be patient with yourself. Just as you will get your sea legs, you will also get your traveling pants. Don't get overwhelmed, get excited! It's a big, wide, wonderful world out there and you're about to begin the journey of a lifetime.

How to handle money on SAS

My basic strategy for money on SAS is redundancy. I have seen so many mishaps and calamities around money over the years that I have become a firm believer in several backup types of funds. I enjoy my trip that much more if I'm not stressing about money. Feel free to think I'm being overly cautious but, in that case, I hope you are extremely resourceful - and have lots of friends who'll bail you out!

I bring two credit cards, my ATM/debit card, $25-50 in the currencies of each country on the itinerary, $200 in the cleanest, crispest one dollar bills my bank can find and a significant amount of cash that goes straight from my money belt to the safe in my cabin.

Credit Cards: You will need one credit card for your shipboard account. You actually can pay that bill in cash about once a month during the voyage but obviously that's a hassle. For students, please ensure that your parents or someone at home has legal access to that account so snafus can be worked out by someone with constant access to a land line, i.e. not you. You can set it up to pay the bill online or automatically from a checking account that has PLENTY of funds when you leave. This account is the one that will be charged for all your SAS trips as well as the bills on board such as the laundry, snack bar, spa, etc. It does add up! Also let your credit card issuer know exactly which countries you will be visiting when - otherwise, in the interest of safety, they are quick to cancel your account after the first use somewhere unusual. I keep one credit card with me when I go off ship, carrying it always in my money belt along with my passport and the majority of my cash for that port - I only ever have small amounts of cash in my pocket or purse because pickpocketing is very common. I never use a card except for in very nice places like good hotels, restaurants and shops, never in street markets or stalls. I carry it mostly for emergencies like if I should get stuck somewhere. Mine has a chip which is becoming more and more important abroad; there are places that won't take a credit card without the chip. When I do use it, I never let it out of my sight when they are doing the charge - don't ever let someone take your credit card to a back office or anywhere else out of sight because it is just too easy to copy. Some places still use a carbon or other paper system so make sure you destroy the copies since they will have your number on them. It's impossible to be too careful with your credit card. Every voyage a number of people have theirs scammed or stolen with very inconvenient to disastrous results. So given that s**t happens, I keep a backup credit card in my safe in my cabin so I know I'm covered for the rest of the voyage if something bad happens.

ATM/debit Card: ATM cards are the cheapest way to get foreign currency so I strongly recommend bringing one. I still would have 2 other credit cards but one may be enough if one is your debit card. Be VERY careful about using ATM machines. Not only are you very vulnerable as you leave the machine (people WILL be watching), but the machines themselves have many types of scams in them like false fronts that steal your card or more sophisticated electronic ways to steal your number and PIN. Be extremely cautious about which machine you pick, the ones in banks are the very best. It's worth walking out of your way to find a bank. Always use your other hand to cover the keyboard as you punch in your PIN, remembering those people who will be watching. Don't ever use a machine anywhere at all sketchy or dark. Always go in pairs at least, with one person standing as lookout while you have your back turned at the machine. Don't ever use a machine that looks at all weird - check it out and if there is anything about it that looks like it might have a fake front, for instance, walk away quickly! Put your money away quickly and don't walk away from the ATM still fumbling with it. You probably think all this is overly cautious but I personally know of people who have been ripped off by all these situations. Someone can clean out your account in a heartbeat and then you are SOL for sure. Unless, of course, you've followed my advice about redundancy ;).

Foreign Currency: You can also order them from a national bank with a local bank, a source that can take about 2 weeks so do it ahead. I get about $25-50 in currency from each country on the itinerary, or each one that is available which doesn't include Viet Nam for instance. The exchange rate and fees are a little bit expensive but I think they are totally worth it. When the ship docks in each port, getting local currency is foremost on everyone's agenda - you can't buy a bottle of water, get a cab, etc. without local money. Often, however, you're tearing off on an SAS or independent trip, it's taken a while longer than anticipated to clear immigration so you're late, and finding an ATM can be a challenge and a nuisance. If you have some money already you're way ahead of the game. Also lines at ATMs close to the port can be very long when we first dock as 700 or so passengers head off the ship. If I have like $50 of each currency, that may be all I spend in that country or it at least gets me started. After that is gone, I use an ATM or exchange my American currency only at banks and my hotel - banks have better rates but the hotel is often quite convenient.

American Cash: I bring lots of one dollar bills because they are great to use in markets in many countries, especially Viet Nam. Locals strongly prefer newish ones because their exchange people won't take beat up currency. Vendors might give you a better deal if you have small American bills. Our currency is just so much more reliable than most local currencies so people are happy to have it some places. In other places, they can look at you like You're in my country now what makes you think you can use your money? You'll learn what is appropriate where. I also bring lots of $20 and $100 bills and put them in my safe. This is my ultimate back up plan if I get robbed, as I did the last time I was in Viet Nam. No matter what, I have enough cash for most uses back on the ship so I can stress about all this money stuff a lot less. Honestly, I usually come home with most of it - and then just don't need to go to the ATM at home for months! Other then using it to exchange for local currency when ATM's aren't handy, I also use it on the ship to pay people for various things like arrangements they may have made for a trip we went on together and they just put it all on their credit card - I can pay them back. Same with a restaurant meal when it's a hassle to ask for separate checks.
Then there's tipping. This deserves a post of it's own but basically you will have an amount (I think it's about $300) charged with your tuition that is for tips for the crew. A lot of people wish to tip special people something extra. I usually tip my cabin steward a couple of times along the way, and once again at the end. Not huge amounts but just something to let them know I appreciate what they do for me everyday. I keep up with which ports they're going to be able to get off the ship, it rotates, and sometimes give them a little spending money before we dock. It's also a good reason to have currency ahead of time. On one voyage, for instance, I knew my Jamaican cabin stewardess was looking forward to getting her hair done in Cape Town so I gave her some Rand for that. Just to finish the tipping subject, it's entirely optional, but at the end of the voyage, many people give cash to their cabin steward and any of the dining room staff they've gotten attached to, and it is always much appreciated. These folks work very hard, 24/7, for months at a time without a day off and most send money home to large extended families where they are the primary, if not only, wage earner.

Budgeting: Especially for students, a budget is very helpful. Some students set an amount they want to spend in each port and put that money in envelopes in their safe. The shopping opportunities, heck, many opportunities, in each port are amazing and your spending can quickly get out of hand if you're not careful. Take a look at what you're thinking of doing in each country and make a guesstimate for what you might spend, then add a little extra. Be realistic about the gifts and souvenirs you want to buy, as well as what kinds of accommodations and restaurants you prefer. Hostels, street food, local buses and small trinkets are great fun, but less so if you're going that route because you're down to your last $20.

Again, take all this with a grain of salt and your own habits and preferences in mind. This plan works for me and I've never gotten into a hassle about money on the voyage. Take from it what's workable for you but do make enough plans for handling money so that you can be as stress-free as your budget will allow on this trip of a lifetime.