"curious bedfellows" - noun - term borrowed from William Shakespeare's The Tempest that refers to unlikely, unexpected groups forced into an alliance due to shared interests. (plainenglish.com)
Superficially, it may seem like cruising (traveling via a cruise ship) does not have anything to do with the collegiate experience. Yet in fact, the "curious bedfellows," cruising and college, have more similarities than differences, forcing them into a metaphorical alliance of sorts.
To begin, the cost of both per semester (about four months) is actually about the same, roughly 50K if you have a single stateroom (a cruise's version of a dorm room). On a ship and in college, the amount includes a number of classes offered on a daily basis when the ship is at sea. However, only on a cruise is reading optional. In addition, there are no exams or grades on a cruise. But in college, there are many. On a cruise, the meals and beverages are sumptuous and delicious and unlimited; whereas at an actual college, they are not as tasty and are limited. As far as I remember, no alcohol is legitimately offered in the college cafeteria, not so on a cruise. The price of a cruise and college also includes all entertainments: theater, Las Vegas-style shows (usually not found at institutions of higher learning), and sports (although a cruise ship may only offer board games, dancing, pickle ball, mini golf, and shuffleboard–my personal fav). As we know, college includes more in the way of athletics, particularly team sports, although I must say that the enthusiasm of the spectators in both realms is about the same. The ebullience of screaming and yelling competing groups is ageless.
Upon closer examination, the classes offered on a typical cruise ship amount to hour-long seminars mainly on the ports of call themselves. Occasionally, there will be a class on marine biology (similar to that offered in college, complete with Power Point slides), but most of the cruise selections are geared toward learning a skill, such as basket weaving–what collegiate football players used to take to up their G.P.A.s and stay in school. Additionally, on ships, there is always trivia and various quiz bowls to exercise the mind. It is my guess that such pastimes can also be found at many colleges.
When it comes to socialization, the two have much more in common. On semester-long cruises, the dorm mates–usually wives and husbands (generally roommates on dry land)–decorate their doors with eye-catching phrases held in place via magnets. Which is very much like what one would see at any university or college. I even saw one door on the ship offering passers-by a go at Scrabble. After a few weeks of being on the ship (or on any college campus), a passenger (like any student) can join clubs (choir, poker, Bridge, etc.) and may find his or her group, a.k.a. clique, with which to spend time (hang out). Cliques can meet in the staterooms (dorm rooms in college) that are about the same size as an actual college dorm rooms except they are much nicer, or they can congregate at a number of bars throughout the ship that offer entertainment (such as live bands and dancing) just as college-town pubs do. Walking around either the ship or a campus, the extrovert may find oneself running into people he/she knows after two weeks, making one feel at home or marginally popular.
Of course there are obvious differences. One is the age range. The average passenger on this 114-day cruise is about seventy; whereas, the average age of a college student is nineteen. A cruise includes WAY better class trips than what one would find at any college or at any school, for that matter. But college has the benefit of being on drivable dry land. Also, the campus on a ship is much smaller to accommodate fewer "students" albeit there are colleges that do have 2,000 undergraduates, yet they are spread across numerous acres. And of course, one does not graduate from cruising like one does from college although the option to continue both states of being is available for additional dollars.
I am sure I can come up with more comparable attributes between the two "curious bedfellows," but I'd rather trot over to the onboard "cafe" to pick up a couple of slices of pizza before I have to go to a club meeting (choir) and afterwards back to my room to proofread this "paper" and turn it in (publish it) for all to read. If I see the glass as half empty, I can say that this particular cruise is a step toward assisted living. If I see the glass as being half full, it is merely a step back in time, toward college. In order to feel much younger than I am, I will choose the latter.
#college, #cruises, #comparison, #travel, #blog, #blogger
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