A floating university has begun one of its biggest journeys yet. Semester at Sea welcomed students and lifelong learners aboard the World Odyssey in early September 2026 for the Fall 2026 World Voyage — a 105-night sailing that departed from IJmuiden in the Netherlands on 9 September and will call at ports across four continents before finishing in Bangkok.
The itinerary reads like a round-the-world highlight reel. After leaving the Netherlands, the ship heads to Leixões in Portugal and Casablanca in Morocco, crosses the Atlantic to Salvador da Bahia in Brazil, then stops at the remote island of Jamestown on St Helena before reaching Cape Town, South Africa. From there it's on to Port Louis in Mauritius, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Hong Kong, wrapping up in Thailand.
What makes this voyage unusual is the pace. Most ports get five- to six-day calls rather than the brief overnight stops typical of conventional cruises, giving passengers real time to explore, take part in cultural activities and absorb each destination. Students on board earn university credits through coursework at sea, but the programme also opens its cabins to lifelong learners — adults who want the study-abroad experience without the exams counting toward a degree.
The ship itself has a new day job. The 1998-built World Odyssey spent the past decade sailing seasonally for Germany's Phoenix Reisen as the Deutschland. When Phoenix chose not to renew its charter with the vessel's owners, Semester at Sea stepped in and is now operating it for the foreseeable future. The Fall 2026 departure marks the company's 138th world voyage, and it isn't slowing down: two world cruises run during the 2026-27 season, with another scheduled for late 2027.
Not everything goes to plan on a voyage of this scale. Semester at Sea recently tweaked the Spring 2027 itinerary because of infrastructure problems in Indonesia, swapping a planned call at Surabaya for a five-day stop in Penang, Malaysia. It's a useful reminder that long-haul itineraries can shift, so anyone booking should expect occasional changes.
For travellers, this is one of the few ways to combine a genuine education with an extended, multi-continent trip — and you don't need to be a student to join. If a conventional world cruise feels too passive and a semester abroad feels out of reach, this sits somewhere in between: structured learning on board, long stays in ports most cruises rush through, and a cabin community that stays together for months rather than days. Late-2027 sailings are already on the schedule for those planning further ahead.