Semester at Sea leadership, Captain Kostas, and key health and safety advisors have been discussing the impact of the coronavirus on the Spring 2020 Voyage’s future itinerary over the last few days. Based on the uncertainty regarding the spread of the coronavirus, particularly in the Southeast Asia region, and the current (and possible future) restrictions imposed on cruise ships by India’s port authorities and certain other countries, we have made the decision to divert from our upcoming port stops in Malaysia and India. While this is certainly a disruption to the itinerary, we believe this is the best course of action to preserve the integrity of the voyage and to be sure the ship is not denied entry to any future port.
See below the modified itinerary and the updated academic calendar:
- February 16 (11:00 AM): Depart Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- February 19: Port Klang, Malaysia (technical stop for provisioning and bunkering only)
- Only those who are separating from the program will be permitted to disembark. Those who disembark will no longer be allowed to rejoin the ship.
- February 27 – March 1: Victoria, Seychelles
- March 6-9: Port Louis, Mauritius
- March 16-23: Cape Town, South Africa
All Semester at Sea-sponsored field programs planned in India and Malaysia will be refunded. Our field office team and faculty will be working diligently to reschedule the field classes that were planned in India and Malaysia. They will be communicating those updated field class days/times directly with those students affected. It is also our hope that we will be able to arrange additional field programs for the Seychelles, the additional days in Mauritius, and the additional days in South Africa. The field team will communicate these options to the shipboard community once they have been created.
For more information about the Spring 2020 program, please visit the voyage page.
