The Ship

Model of TSS in Starlight Lounge on Lido Deck

THE SCHOLAR SHIP

The Scholar Ship’s real name is the Mv. Oceanic II. It started life as the Mona Lisa and has been in service since 1966, the year I graduated from high school. It is 660 ft long, has 8 decks, 379 cabins and 417 crew. Six decks are used by TSS; the lower decks are reserved for the crew. Starting at the highest, the TSS-used decks are named Lido, Riviera, Aloha, Baja, Coral and Dolphin.

Ship Diagram Showing Decks and Baja Deck Floor Plan 6265
Lido Deck

We eat breakfast on the Lido Deck every day. It has an open area with a small swimming pool surrounded on two sides by tables and chairs where we eat overlooking the ocean. On another side of the pool are steps leading up to the cafeteria-style serving bars where our breakfast choices are laid out. Beverages include fruit juices, ice tea, hot water for tea, coffee (regular, decaf and something else), several varieties of milk and ice water. I’ve learned that I can ask for soy or rice milk and they pour it especially for me!!! The choices are incredible: dried, fresh and stewed fruit of many types, yogurt, eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, corn beef hash, potatoes such as cottage style or hash browns, and pancakes – plain or with fruit – and syrup; breads, muffins and pastries; cheeses and cold cuts.

Breakfast Area and Pool 6283 Breakfast Buffet 6282 Close-up of Buffet Decorations 5718 Seating Area 6281 Also on Lido deck are exercise machines that face the outside of the ship so one can view the water while working off calories, the Starlight Lounge which has three sections, the main area with a bar, dance floor, piano and upper level that overlooks the front of the ship and the water beyond; and two small rooms, one on each side, one of which has a piano. During class days, each section is used as a classroom. At night they are either open for public use (the bar doesn’t operate) or used for scheduled activities. The breakfast area comes next, going toward the stern (back) of the ship, then an area with a stairwell going down with elevators on either side and beside each elevator a room. On the left side is a short hallway with a pirate statue at the end and an opening to its left leading into a bar and then to a large open lounge beyond that is used as the Student Center. On the right side is a room that is used as a classroom during the day; a doorway at the back leads into the Student Center. Behind and outside the Student Center is a larger swimming pool with a nice sun deck.

Some of the Exercise Machines Overlooking the Ocean 6334

Starlight Lounge, Edge of Dance Floor/Upper Section with view over Bridge 6336

Starlight Lounge Bar, Opposite Upper Level 6338

Piano & Band Area, to far right from entrance 6337 Arrangement in Entrance to Buccaneer Bar 6342 Pirate Statue at Entrance to Buccaneer Bar 6573 The Bar with Mural near Entrance 6343 Close-up of Mural 6344 Model of Sailing Ship, on Bar 6345
Riviera Deck:

Starting at the front of the ship is the Princess Theater, which is used as a classroom, movie theater and place for various meetings. Just outside it on one side is the Learning Resource Center (LRC), where I work, and the Gift Shop. On the other side is a longish lounge named the Staff Lounge with a baby grand piano, many comfortable armchairs and coffee tables and a bar that operates in the evenings. At the back of the lounge is a lovely smallish room that was originally the ship’s library and is used as a classroom during the day. That means students troop through the Staff Lounge several times a day but aren’t allowed to use the lounge itself. At night students are not allowed in there at all. Next is the very large International Lounge, with a stage. It is used as a classroom and for activities and all-TSS meetings. It is always freezing cold in there! Just beyond on one side is a short hallway where the Academic Support Center is located while on the other side is a small bar which doesn’t operate but during class days, coffee dispensers are there with free coffee. It is also used as a classroom. Down long hallways from both sides are residential cabins, the Copy Center and the Shore Programs office.

Landing Riviera/Aloha Decks (back wall is a mirror reflecting the Reception Area) 6270 Camels in Painting on Riviera Deck 5701 Sunburst Carpet on Riviera Deck 6285 Small Bar/Classroom near International Lounge 6287 International Lounge Stage 6289 International Lounge Seating Area 6390 Gift Shop Display outside Gift Shop 6291 Aloha Deck:

The Reception area is in the center of the ship and is like the lobby of a hotel, with a counter where the Purser’s staff works, handling our questions, work requests, passports, etc. The Port Programs staff have two desks there to aid us with plans for spending time in the various ports of call. All the other space on Aloha Deck is residential cabins.

Reception Area with Reception Desk at Back 6267 Port Programs Desks 6268 Port Programs Sign 6269 Baja Deck.

This consists mainly of residential cabins. My personal living space is Cabin Baja 52, B52 for short. The TSS Administrative staff also have offices on Baja but I’ve never been able to find them! My cabin has two single beds with loft beds above them that are closed in nice-looking wooden enclosures. A console is between the beds and acts as a nightstand. There is a phone on it, buttons for controlling the lights and drawers. There are four closets, three with a light, shoe racks and hangers. The fourth one has life jackets in it. There is a built-in unit with two shelves, one holding a TV, a pull-down desk-top with cubbyholes for storage, and a set of six drawers and an American electrical outlet. Across from it is a sitting area with two upholstered chairs, a small round table and a footstool/vanity stool. The wall in back of the seating area is a large mirror and also has a built-in hairdryer. There is a European electrical outlet there. The bathroom is nice size and has a full-size tub with shower and a retractable clothesline, which I’ve used several times since I wash all my undies as well as other items by hand. There’s a medicine cabinet above the counter where the sink is.

Elevator Lobby, Baja Deck 6260 Hallway, Baja Deck 5258 My Cabin Number on Hallway Wall 5738 My Cabin Sleeping Area 5706 My Cabin Sitting Area with Mirror Wall Reflecting Built-in Unit 5707
Open Desk with Small Mirror Reflecting Light Fixture, Hair Dryer and Thermostat 6277

Views of Cabin Bathroom2 (with drying socks on retractable clothesline) 6271, 6275, 6276

Coral Deck.

The main dining room where we eat lunch and dinner is in the center of this deck, with a long cafeteria-style serving area and tables and chairs everywhere else. It is lovely, with nice light fixtures, starched white tablecloths on the tables and glass goblets for water. The décor includes mirrors with etched nautical scenes, murals with tropical themes, and a vibrant carpet. Elsewhere on Coral Deck are residential cabins. As with the breakfast offerings, the food choices are amazing and include fresh fruit of numerous types, a soup of the day from different regions of the world and always delicious, salad bar with choice of dressings, fresh fruit, cheeses and cold cuts, and usually at least six entrees that boggle the mind. They usually feature foods typical of the areas we are traveling through. My only complaint is that they seem to overdo the Vegan offerings; one would think that at least 2/3 of the passengers are vegans but that doesn’t seem to be true. I could do with more red meat because when I don’t have it regularly my iron count goes through the basement.

Carpet in Coral Deck Dining Room 6261 Coral Dining Room from Main Entrance 6262 Coral Dining Room Seating 6263 Coral Dining Room Self-Service Buffet 6264
Dolphin Deck:

This has mainly residential cabins except in the center, where the Medical Center is, consisting of two parts, physical health and mental health. The physical medicine part is staffed by an MD and a nurse. A psychiatrist staffs the mental health part. She is constantly busy, poor thing; and seems to be always on call. My personal thought is that at least one other mental health professional should be onboard. Down a short stairway from Dolphin Deck is an area consisting of a small room for Spiritual purposes, a spa/gym with equipment, massage table, beauty salon, saunas, Jacuzzi and a swimming pool that becomes a wave pool when seas are rough. The students love it!.

Medical Hallway; the Sign above the Door on Left says, “Medical Centre.” 6325 Sign on Hospital Door (Right Side of Hall) 6327 Sign on Doctor’s Office Waiting Room 6328 Doctor’s Office Waiting Room 6329 Stairway Leading from Dolphin to “Fitnesscenter” 6331 Swimming/Wave Pool and Part of Exercise Center 6333 Larger View of Swimming Pool 6332 Safety Drills:

One feature of live onboard a ship is Safety Drills. This is essential for life at sea, of course. Each cabin is furnished with plenty of life jackets. Mine has about five or six, each with the number of the Muster Area on it. The Muster Area is the place onboard where one must go when the emergency alarm sounds, after first going to one’s cabin and donning the life jacket then going to the assigned Muster Area. I am in Muster Group 4 and must go to the Starlight Lounge, along with members of other groups; we gather in separate groups there and await instructions from our Group Muster Officer.

In the photo, members of my group are lined up on the deck at the point where our lifeboat would lower on the outside of the railing, which has a gate on it through which we would board the life boat. Our Muster Officer is facing the group and holding a sign with the number 4 on it. He is responsible for getting us onto the lifeboat in an orderly manner. We are required to line up with men at the back against the wall, and women, children and the elderly in front to board first.

Muster Station Sign in Hallway outside My Cabin 6259 Safety Drill #1 – Mediterranean - Lining Up on Deck 5749 Safety Drill #2 – Caribbean – Muster Officer, Holding My Group’s No. 4 Sign 6384 ON THE BRIDGE!

On Sunday, 23 September 2007, I took a tour of the ship’s bridge. The Navigation Officer described many of the instruments we saw there, answered questions and was gracious to the 12 students, one IRC and me who had invaded the Officer’s Domain. About 10 minutes into it, the Captain, or Master, himself showed up. He is incredibly handsome and like the other officers, is Greek. Using my Reference Librarian questioning skills, I asked him questions about how he had become a captain. He said he had gone to Maritime School after leaving high school. There was a testing process used to determined qualified students and the program lasted two years. It was not at all hard getting a job after graduating; about 90% of the men on his island of Athos (I think he said) were sailors and learning about jobs was easy. His family has been seafaring forever, apparently. His father and grandfather were also seafarers. It is unusual to work on one ship for a long but not unusual to work for one company for a long time, working on various vessels over time.

The Captain 6319

The Bridge Instrument Panel 6318One of the Ship's Officers 6296, 6302, 6300

Speed Controllers (Dead Slow?) 6297 Later I talked to another officer who said he had been on the ship since 1977. Before that he worked on cargo ships. I asked whether he preferred working on cargo or cruise ships, he said that he liked cargo ships better because the time in ports was longer, even a month at a time, and he would spend his shore time drinking and he was away from his home for long periods of time so it was impossible to marry and have a family. Then he started working on cruise ships because of the higher wages and more time at home; now he is married and has a family. There was a large navigation chart near where we were standing and I he showed me how to read it and determine our current location, based on the reading on a nearby display. I asked him if he had ever been through the Panama Canal and he said no. He had been sailing almost all over the globe but never through the canal; he was very excited about the prospect of doing it. I thought I’d taken a photo of him and the navigation map but it isn’t on my camera.

Various items were on the walls of the Bridge, including two icons of St. Nicholau, the Greek Orthodox patron saint of seafarers. The Captain told us that because someone asked if it were St. Christopher, who apparently is patron saint for travelers. There was a larger icon and a smaller one. I took pictures of both.

Larger St. Nicholau 6304 Smaller St. Nicholau (kind of blurry; the ship tilted when I shaped the photo) 6317