Semester at Sea Alumni Community

The voyage continues! When you step off the gangway, your journey with Semester at Sea is not over. In fact, it is just beginning.

Lifetime Benefits

  • Global network of more than 73,000 alumni
  • Lifelong friendships with shipmates
  • Opportunities to volunteer at events on the ship and at home institutions
  • Regional alumni events and reunions
  • Experience for your resume
  • The ability to make an impact around the world through nonprofit and service work

73,123+

Alumni

And continuing to grow!

SAS Alumni Association

With an alumni community of more than 73,000 members and growing, Semester at Sea voyagers have the benefit of lifetime membership with an alumni association outside of their home institution. The SAS Alumni Association exists to connect and engage past SAS participants through reunions, shipboard and regional events, philanthropic opportunities, and other activities to help alumni keep their voyage experience alive.

SAS Career Benefits

Semester at Sea stands out on your resume. Our alumni tell us that SAS never fails to get noticed during interviews, and it creates opportunities to talk about the benefits of becoming a global citizen. Often, alumni describe Semester at Sea as the reason for a change to their major; it often leads to a globally-focused career path.

Additionally, Semester at Sea alumni are working in various positions all over the world. You never know who’s reading your resume when you apply for a job!

CSU’s College of Business Online MBA Tuition Benefit

Semester at Sea alumni are eligible to receive a 10% tuition benefit when enrolling in the College of Business’s AACSB-accredited online MBA programs and select online graduate certificates. Advance your career with an online MBA that’s ranked among the top 10 nationwide and top 25 worldwide through a college focused on using business for a better world.

Online MBA Programs: 

Online MBAMosaic MBA (Evenings live online)Online MBA Marketing Data Analytics specialization

Online Graduate Certificate Programs: 

Applied FinanceBusiness ManagementMarketing Management

Semester at Sea was absolutely the best experience of my life… It is not a cruise – it’s a voyage! With SAS you will be able to travel the world, meet some of your future best friends, make awesome connections with faculty and staff, and change your world view. … It is a conversation starter and something that will really make you stand out. I cannot say enough great things about SAS and cannot think of a single negative thing to say about it. The only “bad” thing I can think of is that you will fall so in love with SAS that you will do anything to get back on the ship.

On SAS, I had the opportunity to feel a bond and closeness with people with whom I wouldn’t have otherwise had a connection. I learned about their lives, their children’s lives, their daily struggles, their most significant times of joy and began to really care. As I traveled, I became more connected not only to the people I met, but all people everywhere. We are all the same and every human life is important.

[On] Semester at Sea, I got to see 14 different countries in a period of three months. That just added a lot of richness and color and depth to my understanding of my place in the world, and what else was out there.

Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm, and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole.

Semester at Sea changed my life. It was truly an honor to travel the world with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the spring of 2007. He taught me how to look at the world differently. Tutu said to treat everyone you meet like a brother or sister and every child like your own. This advice led me to impact over 10,000 children experiencing homelessness. After SAS I visited Los Angeles and was devastated by the homelessness crisis in Skid Row. I moved to LA to help my brothers, sisters and children. I’m grateful for Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his inspiration and the impact that Semester at Sea made on my life.

Wow! 20 years ago I stepped on the Universe Explorer in Vancouver, WA and my world changed forever. On my SAS journey, I experienced many of the global human rights and environmental issues I was intellectually aware of first hand. Supported by an extraordinary faculty and a cohort of dedicated students, my life path changed dramatically. I now design and facilitate international learning programming for young people at Global Routes and Carpe Diem Education with a commitment to pay forward the learning and transformation I experienced at sea.

It’s been 7 years since my voyage in Fall 2015 and it’s still an experience that I think about every single day. It truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity – one that I continue to treasure each day. Semester at Sea was the most rewarding experience of my entire life and it transformed my perspective of the world. My semester traveling the globe only fueled my love of travel and inspired me to pursue a career as a cruise blogger. The ship became my home, my dreams became a reality and my friends became family.

The most impactful part of my Semester at Sea experience was definitely the time spent in each port. Meeting people in so many different parts of the world, witnessing their beautiful customs and traditions, and observing, first-hand, the ways in which they lived, created a tangible connection to people and places I had only ever read about prior to my journey. This three-dimensional perspective raised feelings of appreciation, hope and compassion for others, and inspired me to evaluate the effects of my actions on a global scale. Still 25 years later, I think of my Semester at Sea experiences often, recalling sights, sounds, tastes and smells of places and foods very different from the ones I was used to and am forever grateful for the influence it has made on my life.

Upcoming Voyages

Fall 2024

Fall 2024

September 09 — December 22

Ghana Hong Kong India Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Netherlands Portugal South Africa Thailand Vietnam

Spring 2025

Spring 2025

January 05 — April 20

Germany Ghana India Kenya Malaysia Morocco Mozambique South Africa Spain Thailand Vietnam

Get Involved and Stay Connected!

Connect and engage with shipmates through regional events, reunions, philanthropic opportunities, and more.