Note that you can find many more details on the Nathaniel B. Palmer web site .

Clothing:

Dress aboard the ship is casual. We recommend jeans, T-shirts, sweaters or fleece jackets or sweat shirts, sneakers, hiking boots - whatever you like to wear that you are comfortable in.  You should bring clothes that are washable (laundry soap and washers/dryers are available for your use). You are not allowed to wear sandals or go barefoot in public areas - wear shoes with closed toes in the corridors and laboratories. Also, for eating in the mess hall, your shoulders need to be covered (no tank tops).
Bring things that can get dirty.  Bring clothes for cool weather to wear on board the ship.  In case of rain, bring a rain jacket, a hat and gloves.  For work on the back deck there are float coats, hard hats, work gloves, and steel toed boots that will be available for your use.

Each cabin has two single bunks (one upper, one lower) and an attached bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet.

There is an exercise room and a sauna so if you want to use either of these you may want to bring exercise clothes and a bathing suit.  The exercise room has a stairmaster, treadmill, 2 exercise bikes, and a weight machine.  Elsewhere on the ship there is a foos-ball game that is usually available.

Sheets, towels, pillows, and blankets are provided on board ship.

Toiletries:

Soap and toilet paper are provided.  Bring your own shampoo and any other toiletry items that you may want to have. There is no place to buy anything on board the ship.   It can get dry at sea, so some hand lotion might be a good idea.  If you wear contact lenses please bring all the appropriate cleaning solutions, eye drops, etc.

Medicine and Health:

There is no doctor on board the ship. There are emergency medical technicians, who can consult a medical advisory service by satellite phone. If you are in good health you should be fine on board. However, if you have any serious medical condition please discuss the trip with your physician to determine if you should participate. Please tell us if you have any health problems, even if these are not of the nature to prevent you from taking the trip (e.g., serious allergies, asthma, diabetes).

If you wear prescription eyewear, bring a spare set of glasses or contacts.  If you tend to get seasick (or if you are not sure if you get seasick) bring seasickness medication.   Various options include Dramamine, Bonine, ginger pills, "Sea Bands" acupressure bands, or Transderm Scop (scopalamine) patches.  (These patches are available by prescription only.)   So please plan accordingly.  If you take prescription medication or vitamins or whatever, bring enough with you for the trip. If your medication needs to be refrigerated, please let us know so that we can let Raytheon know ahead of time. They do not want people storing medications in the food coolers so they have to find you somewhere else to store it.

Some people asked about immunizations.  Please check with your doctor for advice.  We expect that you should have your standard immunizations up to date (for example, tetanus, DPT, etc.).   There are no specific requirements for immunizations in New Zealand that we know of at this time.  

We ask all participants to bring with them a sealed envelope containing information about a) any medical conditions they have; b) any allergies they have; c) any medicine they are taking. This envelope will be given to the EMT on board the ship to keep in the files and will be returned to you at the end of the cruise. The only reason it would be opened during the cruise is if you had some kind of medical emergency and you were not conscious and able to answer questions regarding allergies, etc. Basically you should put in there anything that a doctor might need to know if you were being treated for an accident or illness.  

Paperwork:

Make two photocopies of your passport (photo page with all information visible) and your valid US visa (if applicable).  Carry one with you in a location separate from your passport. Before the trip, give the other one to Kathy Campbell (252 South Mudd, 626 395 3809, kathy@gps.caltech.edu), who will keep a folder of information for the group. The professors will carry a copy of the information for the group.  This will be important in case your passport gets lost or stolen.

Comfort aboard ship:

If there are particular food items you really like to have, bring some with you (e.g., coffee, dried soup, candy, whatever) on board the ship - you can buy it in New Zealand if you don't have enough space in your luggage for it.  The coffee on the ship is not gourmet coffee, but there are a few different espresso machines around.  The cabins have VCRs and cassette tape players so you can also bring videos or music cassettes.  The coffee cups on the ship are small (8 oz size) with no lids, so if you like to carry your coffee around or back to your room, it would be a good idea to bring your own larger plastic coffee cup with a lid. If you like to drink water regularly then bring your own water bottle. If you are particular about how your water tastes, you may want to bring a water bottle that has a built-in filter.

Videos and paperback books:

The ship has an extensive collection of used paperback books and videos (VHS and DVD).  However they always welcome more.  So if you would like to bring some to donate, please do so.  You are welcome to borrow the books to read them, and borrow the videos to watch in the lounge or in your cabin.

E-mail and telephones:

For more details see the Nathaniel B. Palmer web pages.

Everybody will have an email account that will be set up once we get on board the ship.  Messages are sent/received once or twice a day to the US.  The email is transmitted over a 9600 baud satellite telephone connection. You will be allotted an email quota of 25 kbytes/day compressed data (including both incoming and outgoing). Files larger than 75 kbytes compressed will not be transmitted. Anything that people try to send to you that is too large will be automatically sent back to them with an explanation message and will not be transmitted to the ship. So make sure your friends know not to send you photographs, etc.  Also do not forward your email automatically to the ship address. If you exceed your email quota you will be charged $30/Mbyte. You are responsible for paying the charges if you exceed your quota. This must be paid before you leave the ship.

There is phone service through Inmarsat (satellite), details of which will be provided later.  You have to pay in advance with a credit card.  

Meals:

Meals are available 4 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight rations).    There are ship's staff (a cook and some helpers)  who prepare the food.  It is available self-serve (cafeteria style) in the mess hall at the designated hours. If you have any specific dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan, food allergies) please inform J. Stock in advance so that she can provide advance notice to Raytheon about any special accommodations that may be necessary for you.

Ship rules:

The most important rule to know of ahead of time is that this is a dry ship and it operates under the zero-tolerance policy of the US government.  You are not allowed to bring any alcohol or illegal drugs on board.  Tobacco is OK although smoking is only permitted in certain areas.
 

Baggage issues

Please check into the baggage rules associated with your airline ticket and make sure your luggage is under the limits. If you are charged extra money for the weight, size, or number of bags you bring, it is your responsibility to pay the excess baggage fees.
 
 

Computer files

You can bring electronic documents, computer programs, etc. with you if you need to work on course-related papers or research during the cruise. Please check the ship web pages and check with us for specifics of what software and hardware is available if you have any particular requirements for programs or data bases that you anticipate needing to use while on board ship. If you want to bring a laptop computer (PC or Mac) to use in your cabin, this can be connected to the ship network, but it will help if you bring a network connector with you. If you plan to do this, let us know ahead of time what kind of computer you are bringing and what type of network connection hardware you will bring (and what kind of connection hardware you expect the ship to provide).
 
 

Transportation

All plane tickets will be provided by Raytheon Polar Services Corp. If your name is on the list of cruise participants, RPSC will contact you directly during the summer about your flight requests.

We will arrange transportation from Caltech to LAX for the group flight on the evening of October 6. In New Zealand, if you travel with the group, transportation will be provided from the airport to the hotel, and then to the ship from the hotel. If you are traveling on your own, you may have to arrange your own airport transportation. All undergrads can be reimbursed for airport transportation costs.

In-port logistics

After we arrive in New Zealand, we will stay in a hotel one night before going on the ship, and possibly one night after getting in to port. The cost of this hotel (shared rooms) and of per diem to pay for food in port, will be covered for all undergrads and for grad students who are from Caltech. If you are a grad student not from Caltech, you will have to pay this yourself. Further details will be available later about how the travel advances will be distributed. Any of you who want to do any shopping for souvenirs or whatever, or travel around on your own, you will need to bring your own personal money or credit card for this. If you want to exceed your email quota or make phone calls from the ship you will also need a way to pay for it. Also, if you are a non-Caltech grad student, and you did not sail as a watchstander on NBP0607A, you have to pay your own departure tax from New Zealand, which is about $25 New Zealand Dollars.

If you are presently enrolled as a student, we urge you to get an international student ID card. Apparently these are not too expensive and can entitle you to a lot of discounts overseas (as well as providing some insurance).

Last updated May 27, 2006.