Random Drug Tests

    Semester at Sea has made it clear since prior to embarkation that they have a strict no-tolerance drug policy. There were rumors that random drug tests occur, and they do.

There are two types of random drug tests:
1. When you come on the ship after a certain hour in the night, the crew may ask you to submit to a quick narcotics test. This is completely random, so do not feel like you are being targeted. hey just need to perform this on a certain number of people every so often. This test takes less than a minute. The crew member will put on a glove and go through your bag or belongings. They will take the glove and put it through a machine to test if your belongings came into contact with narcotics. You just have to sign your name and put down your cabin number. This is very simple.
2. This is the kind of test that I was wonderfully selected for yesterday. Since the start of the voyage, several people would be called down at lunch time to Tymitz Square to participate in a random drug test; yesterday was my lucky day! (woo-hoo) In this case, this is much more serious. The crew brings you down to the medical clinic on deck two. You have to fill out paperwork saying your name, your cabin number, the medications that you have taken in the past 30 days (prescribed and over-the-counter). They then give you a vile that you have to pee into. You are not allowed to flush the toilet or wash your hands until you hand over your sample. Once you hand over your sample, they watch you wash your hands, and then you follow the crew member assigned to you. You are required to seal the vile, sign it, and then two other crew members sign it. The results come in after a couple of days. If the results are negative, then nothing happens. If your results are positive, then you most likely will be sent home with no refund.