Muster drill needs improvement

Don't make it a fine for showing up late, make it a credit for showing up on time but not too early. This would promote more people arriving in a shorter period of time, to better simulate a real emergency.

How much credit? One or two drink coupons would do the trick. :p

ANYONE with ANY kind of disability or mobility issue or ANYTHING at all (claustrophobia, bad knees, heat allergy (;)) can speak to the staff and be directed to an interior, seated muster station.

There are just no more excuses.

Don't make it a fine for showing up late, make it a credit for showing up on time but not too early. This would promote more people arriving in a shorter period of time, to better simulate a real emergency.

 

How much credit? One or two drink coupons would do the trick. :p

Oh I like that idea!

That raises an interesting question: what would be the time required from the furthest point? Would an elderly person at one of the more remote cabins on one of the highest decks be able to navigate the hallways and stairs and arrive at the muster station within the expected time frame? There are many passengers who don't have a disability per se but are not capable of moving quickly.

 

I realize that these are not the ones being singled out for criticism, but I do wonder if their delayed presence might be part of the overall issue.

Remember that during a real emergency, you more than likely will not be using the evacuation route you use during the drill.. In the event of a fire scenario, they would section off the ships and you would be using stairways (Usually crew stairways) within that area. So if someone were far front or rear in the ship, their route may be very different and not require walking all the way to the guest stairs and back aft again.

Marion Mom, may you never have back problems! There is no need for an excuse. Thank you for your wisdom.

We have always attended the muster drills, but what happens to passengers who can't be bothered ?

We have always attended the muster drills, but what happens to passengers who can't be bothered ?

I believe that they are required to attend a make up drill and in at least one well-publicized case a couple were disembarked when they objected too strenuously.

ANYONE with ANY kind of disability or mobility issue or ANYTHING at all (claustrophobia, bad knees, heat allergy (;)) can speak to the staff and be directed to an interior, seated muster station.

 

There are just no more excuses.

Thank you!!!! I never knew that we could request something like that for my mom. I've always seen people with canes or other mobility assistance equipment at the regular muster with me so that we just had to suffer through it.

. . . but if the bars weren't open until after muster, I bet people would be an hour early standing there ready to muster to get the bars open . . .

 

Great idea! I totally agree!

With the way they crowd us on the promenade, I can't see them demonstrating the donning of the life vests. I'd hate to see how much time they'd waste making sure everyone had their life vests on correctly during an emergency.

I wish they'd do as Princess does, and let us wait in the lounges. If part of the promenade is inaccessible, where are we supposed to go? I wonder if they can't fit everyone in the public areas because they keep adding staterooms and more passengers. It makes more sense to put people in the lounges, and MDR if they overflow the lounges.

I missed muster drill once, because I came down with Norovirus on the second leg of a B2B. I was in the infirmary, and told to return to my cabin. When I arrived four crew were standing in the stairwell, all doors had a red indicator in each door lock.

Another man missed muster by falling and getting sent away in a gurney.

Maybe they should just offer a free Bingo card to each person who is there before the bell. They may get a few more bingo players and not everyone can win so it's not like giving out drink tickets (which would be prohibitively expensive).

Tom

I think that the problem is that some people start the drill before the actual drill. I don't have the compass with me or the exactly words but I think they say that go to your stateroom to watch a video or something like that at 4pm( I'm just making the time)I don't think that's mandatory or anything but they tell you that you can watch the safety video and everyone go to the stateroom. Then I believe they say you should go to your station when you hear the long alarm and stroke light on your stateroom, unless I'm doing it wrong that's when I think we should go to the station and not before .

 

Can anyone clarify this for me, after the long alarm sound should we be heading to the drill station or are we suppose to be on the station by that time ?

 

Thanks everyone !!!

I agree, this needs to be absolutely clear, and the way they make the announcements, it seems very clear to me the alarm is to alert pax to make their way to muster stations, not that they should already be there. However, on my last two cruises on Enchantment (when I arrived at muster before alarm, as I always do out of personal preference), the crew started making note of "absent" passengers before the alarm even sounded, and when those passengers arrived right after the alarm sounded, crew treated them as though they were late. If the alarm is the "late bell," that needs to be more clearly instructed.

I agree with others that the wording given for the start of the muster drill sounds like when the alert is sounded, we go to the muster station, but we have also found that most people are already there when we arrive. We have started going earlier.

We have only been inside on the Oasis for the muster drill - in one of the dining rooms. The ships where they scan cards is the best approach for checking in people and accounting for everyone quickly.

Our worst experience was on Carnival. We had a drunk guy behind us to the right who kept yelling to a man ahead of us on our left. He moved behind me, and my husband was to my left. He shoved between us and leaned up (my husband was taller and blocking a clear path) and yelled in my husband's ear as he attempted to yell to his friend ahead of us, who seemed to be ignoring him. My husband said to him to please hold it down or something like that and the drunk got louder. The drunk's wife pulled him back to the place they were and he kept talking about how he had done nothing wrong and she kept telling him to be quiet.

My husband later said that he should never had said anything to the drunk, because if the drunk had started something, he could have been thrown off the ship with the drunk and our cruise would have been ruined.

I wish they would round up the drunks, inventory them and then have them come to another session when they will understand what is said.

I've tried to perfect the getting there late-ish... but not too late lest I get the stink eye from the other passengers.

On the SS Norway, at one drill they even told us the proper way to jump overboard! :eek: (Hold onto your lifejacket with one hand, hold your nose with the other, and step off the side straight down. Don't attempt a dive.)

And, men, cross your legs! :eek: I have a bad knee, so, I always get to the right deck early, while the elevators are still running. ;)

My wife and I get to the muster station early .... we have waited anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes before the drill begins.

How early are you getting there? How long, past the muster time, are you actually waiting?

It makes me wonder though, does anyone go to their muster station early?

That's exactly what the OP does.

I can't speak for RCI, as we've just booked our first cruise with them, but on other lines we've sailed they ask passengers NOT to go to their muster stations ahead of time but to wait for the ship's signal to do so.

And I, for one, once I learned of it and thought about it, believe that THAT is exactly what we should do. None of this getting there early. What's the point of THAT for an emergency? Actually treat it seriously. Hear the signals...NOW go.

Tried it on one of our cruises, we got there in moments and we were NOT the last ones there (not even close), and got glared at. By people who thought you should get there early. Not my fault you think you can time an emergency!

I like the $100 surcharge for showinf you 5 minutes late!

And define "late". You're going to define it a different way than I do. I think we shouldn't go to the muster stations until the signals sound. You would think I'm late. I feel that I am following the drills to the letter, and in the same vein they are intended.

The announcements started about 1/2 hr before as usual and were being repeated. Each announcement said "when the alarm sounds proceed directly to your muster station". So they stayed in their cabin until the alarm sounded. At the sound of the alarm they headed to their muster station and were "mildly scolded" by crew all along the way for being late.

That is just SO wrong! They followed the instructions exactly. They were not late. They listened better than most people on that ship did.

On our last RCI cruise we headed for our muster station as soon as the alarm started and it only took us a few minutes to get there. We was amazed how many people were already there. Then the opposite end of the spectrum, with people turning up 15 minutes after and then getting squeezed into the lined area. I recall being stood there for over 30 mins, most of which was waiting for other passengers.

I´ve never had a muster drill take that Long as the OP and some others describe here, but then the important part to discuss is the actual timeline.

When does the Muster drill start, when does the waiting starts.

IMO the start of the Drill is the time stated in the cruise compass. So let´s say the compass says the drill is at 4pm.

They will usually make an anouncement at 3:30pm to advise the drill is coming up at 4pm. This anouncement will be repeated at 3:45pm.

At 4pm they will Sound the Alarm.

To me part of the drill is getting to your Muster Station. So when the Alarm sounds I´m heading to my Station immediately. Doing it like this I will find the masses lingering through the staircases down to the decks where the stations are located. I will still be amongst the crowd heading down and will arrive at my within maybe the last quart, but for sure not the last.

Many will have been there for quite a while already, sorry for them, but it´s not my fault you´ve been there early.

With a 4pm drill it´s usually over at 4:15 to 4:20. So I´m spending 10-15 min. max at the Muster Station. Can´t see how that could or should be streamlined.

BTW with arriving later to the statoin I get to leave it earlier as well, as I´m lined up more in front.

IMO the start of the Drill is the time stated in the cruise compass. So let´s say the compass says the drill is at 4pm.

I agree....the start of the drill is when the alarm sounds. In an actual emergency there is no such thing as getting to the muster station early and waiting for an alarm to sound. By design, the alarm is the notification in a real scenario. However, I guess if you are an overly cautious person you could spend your entire cruise hovering near your muster station just in case the unlikely event of a real emergency were to occur.

It kinda reminds me of the safety drills on an airplane. 3/4 of people are not watching the crew on the drill. I always watch....

The later you arrive, the less time you have to spend standing around waiting on late arrivals. It's really a self-perpetuating problem. The only solution would be for all passengers to have to spend the same amount of time at the muster station regardless of when they arrive for the drill. So, if the last straggler doesn't arrive until 40 minutes after the appointed drill time, then everyone is required to wait there for 40 minutes. Those who arrived on time would leave, then they would start filtering out everyone else once their 40 minutes of standing around had expired. That would quite likely solve the problem. :)

Good idea. We have friends who always come late. They hide in their cabin and don't answer the door when the cabin stewards clear the cabins. Then they finally come out and meander down to muster. It really ticks me off. On our last cruise, as we were leaving the cabin, the cabin steward was clearing each cabin. They knocked on their door and they didn't answer. So the cabin steward opened their door, and there they were... AWKWARD! So we headed down, and they still meandered and arrived well after us. Worse, we have another couple that are now cruising with us. They "taught" the other couple this "technique." As I said it really ticks me off. They can't start Muster until everyone is checked in. So what they need to do is muster at say 4:00. If you are not at your station at 4:00 you should get sent to a specific location (out on deck in the sun or cold would be good). You should be required to wait until muster is over. After everyone else has cleared their stations, then the "late comers" should be required to go to their stations and remain their until they are released by the crew. Not only would it be embarrassing, it would also be much more uncomfortable and would convince those to show up on time.

Good idea. We have friends who always come late. They hide in their cabin and don't answer the door when the cabin stewards clear the cabins. Then they finally come out and meander down to muster. It really ticks me off. On our last cruise, as we were leaving the cabin, the cabin steward was clearing each cabin. They knocked on their door and they didn't answer. So the cabin steward opened their door, and there they were... AWKWARD! So we headed down, and they still meandered and arrived well after us. Worse, we have another couple that are now cruising with us. They "taught" the other couple this "technique." As I said it really ticks me off. They can't start Muster until everyone is checked in. So what they need to do is muster at say 4:00. If you are not at your station at 4:00 you should get sent to a specific location (out on deck in the sun or cold would be good). You should be required to wait until muster is over. After everyone else has cleared their stations, then the "late comers" should be required to go to their stations and remain their until they are released by the crew. Not only would it be embarrassing, it would also be much more uncomfortable and would convince those to show up on time.

I bet People would Show up at 3:30 and complain about all the latecomlers coming in at 3:59:rolleyes:

I do not think dragging a life jacket to the drill is a good idea at all. I for one am glad they have softened the rule. In the event of a real emergency you are not going to race to your cabin to grab a life vest. If you are in your cabin at the time of the event, sure grab it. In most other cases you will instead get to your muster station in an orderly fashion and be given a life vest stored in a nearby locker or on your lifeboat. This is the correct response, because if you are on deck 14 aft, and your cabin is on deck 6 forward, you don't have the time to go get your jacket. I think the old way was an attempt to get folks to go to their cabins prior to the drill, so response would be faster, and less drunks coming from the bars.

 

I also like the idea of having muster stations away from the life boats. Recent events have shown it is not uncommon assigned stations are not operable. While this is in many cases more efficient, and certainly more comfortable, this is not something that can be changed over the life of the ship. Muster areas must meet design criteria and be subjected to testing using crowd and crisis algorithms to ensure that adequate space, ingress and egress are available for the number of people assigned there.

 

I agree the muster drill is more for the crew than passengers. I feel they should practice more with the actual dropping of the boats in the water as there has been documented cases of failures to accomplish this. While SOLAS only requires a monthly boat drill for crew, most lines do it every two weeks. USCG regulations require weekly drills for US flag pax ships. Also, on international ships, the crew assigned to the lifeboats are not necessarily certified lifeboatmen, just trained onboard, while the ship's deck and engine officers fulfill the requirement for certified lifeboatmen. USCG does not allow this, so each of the 2-3 crew assigned to the boats (whether stewards, cooks, or bartenders) are certified lifeboatmen.

 

Having been a sea going sailor in the US Navy and veteran of tens of cruise ship sailings my biggest fear is panic from fellow passengers during an emergency situation. It is up to the crew to keep people calm and assured. So again, crew training for muster drills is most important. If you are really concerned about operation of a life vest. Turn the TV on embarkation day and watch the video which shows step by step procedures, in the event you are still unsure of how the vest works, ask your cabin steward to demonstrate.

As outlined by SOLAS, the muster drill and the instruction in use of the lifejacket are two different things, and can be accomplished in two different ways. Lifejacket use is now most commonly shown on TV, though some lines still give a demonstration during muster. The muster drill is for accountability, and has very little to do with abandoning ship. As I've posted a lot lately, the signal that passengers associate with "abandon ship" (more than six short blasts followed by one long blast) is not the abandon ship signal, it is the signal for "fire and general emergency". It sends the remainder of the crew (those not on fire/medical/security teams) to their emergency stations. It sends passengers to their muster stations so that a head count can be made, and all passengers located to known locations. Crew will be dispatched to find missing passengers. This frees up the on-scene commander and his emergency teams from having to locate people, and to give warning that people may be found in the emergency area. Only after the muster is completed (all souls accounted for), and the Captain decides that the emergency situation has deteriorated sufficiently, will he order the boats loaded and launched. This is still not "abandon ship", as the crew, with the exception of those assigned as boat crew, will remain at their emergency stations. Once the passengers are away, and the situation continues to deteriorate, will the Captain signal abandon ship (one prolonged blast), which will free the crew to go to their life raft stations and evacuate.

While I agree that most muster drills are over extended due to stragglers, and the crew don't do much about it, this is because they are trying not to tick off the passengers on the first day of the cruise. If any of you have been onboard when the USCG is witnessing a passenger muster, you will find a whole different attitude from the crew, where it is all business, and no screwing around will be tolerated.

And from one former part time Gray Funnel officer to you, thanks for your service.

Thank you!!!! I never knew that we could request something like that for my mom. I've always seen people with canes or other mobility assistance equipment at the regular muster with me so that we just had to suffer through it.

When you first board the ship, go to guest services and request the special needs muster station. Usually, the person in need, and one other of the party will be allowed. This is generally indoors, with seating, there will be extra crew there to assist and answer questions, and in many cases a nurse will be assigned there during drill.

Good idea. We have friends who always come late. They hide in their cabin and don't answer the door when the cabin stewards clear the cabins. Then they finally come out and meander down to muster. It really ticks me off. On our last cruise, as we were leaving the cabin, the cabin steward was clearing each cabin. They knocked on their door and they didn't answer. So the cabin steward opened their door, and there they were... AWKWARD! So we headed down, and they still meandered and arrived well after us. Worse, we have another couple that are now cruising with us. They "taught" the other couple this "technique." As I said it really ticks me off. They can't start Muster until everyone is checked in. So what they need to do is muster at say 4:00. If you are not at your station at 4:00 you should get sent to a specific location (out on deck in the sun or cold would be good). You should be required to wait until muster is over. After everyone else has cleared their stations, then the "late comers" should be required to go to their stations and remain their until they are released by the crew. Not only would it be embarrassing, it would also be much more uncomfortable and would convince those to show up on time.

I'm afraid that people who do things like this, and are so totally self-centered and inconsiderate of others would not care whether they were embarrassed by being singled out or not. Unfortunately, in today's society, there isn't a whole lot that can be done about this problem.

Generally the holdups are due to the pax themselves not showing up where they are supposed to be. Believe me, I can see the looks the stragglers are given when they finally show up, especially if they have drinks in hand.

I just got off Enchantment and found this to be very true. One guy even showed up completely drunk.

Maybe the cruise line should stop serving drinks an hour ahead of the drill, given its importance.