Maine Maritime students, crew, faculty, and staff will board the ship in Searsport at Sprague Energy Terminal. Cruise will begin on May 3 and the ship will depart Searsport for Galveston on May 8 to pick up the Texas Maritime students and faculty.

Cruise this year will be 74 days long, which is the normal length for Maine’s summer sea term.

The Kennedy is equipped with Starlink technology, so you will be able to communicate with your student in whatever way you normally do; Facetime, email, text, etc. Many families find that WhatsApp is convenient. Do keep in mind that the ship will be in different time zones for much of the cruise, so your student may be asleep when it’s convenient for you to communicate with them, or they may be on watch. They will answer you when they’re able to.

In case of an emergency, please contact the Dean of Students, Blossom Thao, at (207) 326-2138 or blossom.thao@mma.edu. Blossom will communicate with the Commandant’s Staff embarked on the ship with your students and the situation will be handled as expeditiously as possible.

Each port visit is four days in length: arrival day, two in-port days, and departure day.

You can certainly communicate with your student while the ship is in port. We recommend investigating a limited international calling plan with mobile carriers as that will help limit the amount of money spent on calls.

You may visit with your student while the ship is in port; however, keep in mind that the company on watch is not allowed to leave the ship that day, so be sure to find out from your student what their watch schedule is before making plans. At this time, no overnight liberty for students is anticipated.

Every student will be afforded the opportunity to spend at least one day on liberty in each port. The watch schedule rotates to make as equitable a distribution of liberty days as possible.

Students with food concerns should email Ryan Blanchard at ryan.blanchard@sodexo.com to let him know about any food allergies, restrictions, or special diets/requirements.

We highly recommend that you make sure your student has enough medication to last the entire cruise before going aboard for the sea term. It can be very difficult to fill prescriptions in other ports and particularly in foreign countries.

There will be no mail allowed to be delivered to the ship during port calls, which is why no mailing addresses are posted. If there is an emergency, and the student requires something which has to be mailed, they will be encouraged to discuss that with the Commandant’s Staff and a decision will be made at that time.

It sometimes happens that a student needs to go home during cruise. This can be for a variety of reasons including an illness/death in the family, etc. Should this happen, your student will communicate that with you. They will be sent home from the next port. Costs for transportation for Maine students will be paid for by the Academy and then rolled into their student bill the following semester.

Days at sea begin with breakfast and morning formation at 7 a.m. followed by cleaning stations. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., on days at sea, one company will be in the classroom (or out on the deck, or down in the engine room) undergoing training; one company will be serving as ship’s maintenance, doing everything from plumbing repairs to painting; one company will be on watch; and one company will be assigned as ship’s utility, doing special cleaning or other projects.

In conjunction with Texas staff, we are working on setting up an excursion opportunity in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which everyone will have the chance to take advantage of if they wish. In domestic ports, students will be provided with information about sights they are free to see on their own, such as local beaches, shopping, etc.

Maine students will have a week pierside in Galveston during which they’ll have the opportunity to leave the ship to shop for anything they may have forgotten to bring.

Sprague Energy Terminal is a secured and gated facility. However, you should be able to see the ship departing Searsport from Castine’s back shore, as well as from shore in Searsport and further down the coast. Additionally, we are hoping to have the departure live-streamed for those who aren’t able to make it to Castine to see the ship head down Penobscot Bay.

A limited amount of summer storage will be available in Curtis Hall. Students with a considerable amount of things needing to be stored might consider getting a storage unit; storage is available in both Penobscot and Bucksport.

Students will need to bring uniform items, personal hygiene items, school supplies, a limited amount of civilian attire for in-port liberty, dryer sheets (but no laundry soap) if they would like them, a sleeping bag, pillow, and towels. Lists will be posted for the students in each of the Canvas courses for their specific sea term.

We are planning to arrive in Castine on July 12 and cruise will end in Castine at noon on July 16.