Heathrow to Southampton

I've just booked our trip from Heathrow Airport to Southampton. If you're interested, here's what we did:

National Express coaches (bus) run from Heathrow's Central Station every couple of hours. The cost, if you book in advance, is about $34 per person, one way. It takes you NOT TO THE CRUISE TERMINAL (that bus only runs on Saturdays, and is much more expensive), but rather to Southampton Coach Station. From there, it's a 10-minute cab ride to the cruise terminal.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

If you will be staying in London for any time before you get to Southampton, there are trains and busses from there to Southampton. There are also private car services.

PLEASE READ the information in the emails coming from Joyce et. al. regarding the MY PASSPORT documents. It's all there.

(Southampton Cruise Port. We don't know yet exactly where we'll be).

Your Summer Home

Many of you have had the privilege of sailing on the MV Explorer, but many of you are new to this adventure. So, what does the ship actually look like? Herein, some pictures I've taken over the years that I hope will give you an idea of where you'll be spending some of your best-ever time.....

Overview: 7 decks
Deck 1: Not ours
Decks 2-4: Student rooms
Deck 4, center: Faculty "suites"
Deck 5: Timitz Square (Purser's Square, business offices, some faculty/guest cabins, main dining hall)
Deck 6: Classrooms, Library, Computer Lab, Bookstore, Campus store, informal dining, piano study lounge, Union)
Deck 7: Glazer Lounge (faculty, staff, lifelong learner quiet zone), pool deck, workout spaces, spa)

What will YOUR cabin look like? Most faculty members will be accommodated on Deck 4, center, in rooms that look like this: two twin beds (can be put together as a king), seating area, bathroom (shower), closet space, porthole window. They are comfortable, small, relaxing. Storage under the bed or in the closets (small, but adequate). Don't bring a lot of extra junk. You won't spent a lot of time in the cabin! Some faculty members (seniority, lottery) will be on Deck 5, with small balconies. (Please don't lobby - there is a system for the selection, and the Dean, alas, isn't the major player....).

SO, WHO'S EXCITED???!!!!

Counting down....

Lots of details to think about, lots of excitement being generated for this voyage. Herein, a few thoughts:

1. TEACHING MATERIALS

Faculty members will NOT be provided with desk copies of textbooks, nor does the library on the ship provide a reserve copy. Therefore, you MUST bring (or send ahead of time, see below) your teaching materials with you. Students will be in exactly the same position, so you might want to contact your students before the voyage to remind them to bring the required texts and materials with them. (You will be provided rosters of students sometime down the line).

Faculty members may ship a box of teaching materials ahead of time; this will be delivered to your cabin on the ship in Southampton. I believe you received a message from Kate Beach (March 18) with information about shipping the materials. The deadline is MAY 2, 2014 (that is, just over a month from now). I copy Kate's message here:
=========
A shipping container will be sent from Florida to Southampton for your embarkation on the Summer 2014 voyage. Because this container will leave tor Southampton at least 5 weeks before your voyage embarks, the deadline to have your materials at the address listed below is May 2, 2014. Materials arriving in Florida after May 2 will not make it into the container.

Please note that only educational materials are permitted to be sent in the container. No personal items should be included in any shipments.

Please save your receipts and send them to me after the voyage is over and I will process your reimbursement, up to $200.00. A container will not return to the US from Southampton after your voyage, but you may ship educational materials home and include those receipts along with those for sending materials to Florida. Any shipping costs above $200 total for getting materials to embarkation at the beginning of the voyage AND home after the voyage are at your own expense. You will not be reimbursed for any shipping expense unless you provide me with receipts after the voyage.

The deadline for shipments to reach the warehouse in Florida is May 2, 2014. Once you send your shipment, please be sure to record the tracking numbers on this form. Without a tracking number it is impossible to locate missing items.

All shipments for Summer 2014 require a commercial invoice because they are being sent overseas. We added a field to the shipment tracking form (linked above) for the user to upload a copy of this invoice. Alternatively, you can email it to Chris Ryan at cryan@isevoyages.org. UPS, FEDEX, etc should be able to generate this commercial invoice without any problem, but you will probably need to ask for it.

The address in Florida is a follows. Please use this exact address format when addressing your package.

SHIPPING ADDRESS
MV EXPLORER - SU14 SOUTHAMPTON
ATTN: NAME OF PERSON, NAME OF LOCATION ON SHIP TO BE DELIVERED
C/O Italian Seaways USA LLC
11725 NW 100 Rd Suite 1
Medley, FL 33178

EXAMPLE
MV EXPLORER - SU14 SOUTHAMPTON
ATTN: CHRIS RYAN, FACULTY
C/O Italian Seaways USA LLC
11725 NW 100 Rd Suite 1
Medley, FL 33178
=========

2. RUSSIA

Are we going to Russia?
Will the US State Department issue an advisory?
Will we be able to manage the complex (and expensive) Russian visa information?
Will Putin take his shirt off if we meet him?
WE DO NOT KNOW.
I am proceeding "as if," that is, planning to be in St. Petersburg on time. Some details:

Everyone who plans to touch foot in Russia needs a visa (this includes individuals who sign up for ship trips, since we will be there for longer than 72 hours). HOWEVER, if you need/want to avoid the hassle of the visas, you may STAY ON THE SHIP. But this means just that: you will need to stay aboard the entire time, and will not be allowed to go anywhere in St. Petersburg.

3. PACKING

What to take?
Start thinking now about what you need. Then, put half of it back in the drawers.
The ship is rather aggressively casual, so comfortable clothes are the rule. You might need one sport coat or similar getup, but don't overpack. Laundry is done on the ship (about $8 for everything you can stuff into a plastic bag). They will iron for a nominal extra charge. No dry cleaning.
Seriously, do NOT bring a lot of stuff you don't need.

4. NEXT POST: WHAT DOES THE SHIP LOOK LIKE? STAY TUNED......

100 Days!

It's about 100 days before we sail. Can you believe that? So much great planning has already happened, but there is much more to do. This is merely a quick update on the state of things past, present, and future.

Past: We have assembled a first-rate faculty and staff for the voyage. I have been in close contact with all of the faculty and most of the staff, and I am confident and excited about our decisions. I think you will be, too. You will like working with the staff, who are all knowledgeable professionals committed to supporting the academic program. And we, of course, will support the staff as a seamless team whose main --and only-- goal is to have a safe, exhilarating voyage together.

Present: Syllabi are completed, Field Programs nearly in place. Time to get even more excited than you already are. Joyce Holleran will have sent you information on the "passport" page from ISE. That's the documentation every passenger needs to complete and view. Please DO THIS NOW in order to insure that the technical and logistical details are taken care of (make sure your real passport is up to date, think about travel arrangements, medical forms, photos, your family's passage, the hotel in Southhampton, etc.).

Future: Please begin to collect the teaching materials you will want to send over to Southhampton (ISE will have a container that goes to the MV Explorer). Pack only the essentials, as this is a cumbersome and expensive process. (The same for your suitcases when it comes time to pack - more on that later). Joyce will contact us soon about the process for securing visas for entry into Russia (spoiler alert: bureaucratic, expensive).

I will soon send information about the Interport Lecturers to you. These individuals come either from the shipboard community itself (we have several country experts among the faculty) or will arrive on the ship sporadically in order to inform us about the country of destination. You might want to invite one or more into your classes. They will serve as resources for the entire shipboard community for their days on the ship.