As alumni of Semester At Sea, Ashley and I were on the mailing list for shipboard opportunities. In December of 2007 we received an email announcing a new program from the Institute for Shipboard Education:
Enrichment Voyages, a new and innovative style of cruising that focuses on the exploration and study of cultures around the world. Each voyage will include Enrichment Sessions led by college professors and other experts, plus unique Field Programs will be available that will take travelers ashore for first-hand experience of the cultures, people and places that make each region of the world unique. Passengers will enjoy modern cruise amenities combined with a unique perspective of different parts of the world.
This was a sailing between semesters and the price was right, as I recall. Ashley and I signed up, and convinced Lindsey and Jaclyn that it was a bargain as well. All that was left was go choose our excursions from the array of choices and we were off on a jaunt around the Western Caribbean.
The cruise itself took place on the newly adopted MV Explorer, the previous S.S. Universe Explorer that Ashley and I were familiar with having been sadly decommissioned in mid 2004.
Below is a table of the itinerary from the initial email:
| 5/11 | Nassau, Bahamas | — | 5:00p |
| 5/12 | Enrichment At Sea | — | — |
| 5/13 | Playa del Carmen, Mexico Disembark for Field Programs | 6:00a | 7:00a |
| 5/13 | Cozumel, Mexico | 9:00a | 7:00p |
| 5/14 | Belize City, Belize | 8:00a | 6:00p |
| 5/15 | Puerto Cortes, Honduras | 8:00a | 5:00p |
| 5/16 | Enrichment At Sea | — | — |
| 5/17 | Puerto Limon, Costa Rica | 8:00a | — |
| 5/18 | Puerto Limon, Costa Rica | — | 7:00p |
| 5/19 | Colon, Panama | 8:00a | — |
| 5/20 | Colon, Panama | — | 6:00p |
| 5/21 | Enrichment At Sea | — | — |
| 5/22 | Montego Bay, Jamaica | 8:00a | 6:00p |
| 5/23 | Georgetown, Grand Cayman | 8:00a | 6:00p |
| 5/24 | Enrichment At Sea | — | — |
| 5/25 | Nassau, Bahamas | 8:00a | — |