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QueensChick

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Posts posted by QueensChick

    Emergency drill

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I put forth my perspective, that of a professional mariner with 42 years at sea, several on cruise ships.

     

     

     

    I have attended weekly fire/boat/safety drills for 42 years, and continually learn something new every time I do a drill.

     

     

     

    For those of you who feel that "we've done this many times, and know it by heart", remember who is ultimately responsible for your safety; the person who looks back at you in the mirror. Try doing this; each time before muster, decide where you will be, and where a potential fire will be on the ship, and then decide the best way to get from where you are to your muster station without going through or above the area of the fire. It is a tool we use to train crew on emergency teams. If you feel that you are not getting any information from the safety briefing during the drill, run this exercise in your head, and then after the drill, see if your route would actually work.

     

     

     

    I've not seen the RCI/Celebrity video, but I know it is a response to the complaints that nothing was being communicated in the past, or that people weren't paying attention. Whether it works, and whether it continues is up for research, but at least it is an attempt to make the muster more informative.

     

     

     

    As to the ship sinking in minutes, let's discuss a few points about that. Remember, first, that the passenger muster has literally nothing to do with getting into lifeboats and leaving the ship. There are far more instances where the passengers will be mustered and the Captain has no intention of ever putting people into the boats and abandoning the ship. The purpose of the muster is to get the passengers into known, controllable areas, and to make accountability to ensure everyone is accounted for, so that emergency teams do not have to expend time and resources searching for passengers, and can concentrate on the emergency.

     

     

     

    Next, unless your ship has been torpedoed or bombed and breaks in two, ships don't sink within minutes, and most do not "roll over" before doing so. Look at the Concordia. She had a huge gash in one side, and there was nothing on God's earth that was going to keep that ship afloat, but if she had not drifted back to shore on Giglio, she would have sunk upright, and a couple of hours after the allision. The grounding on Giglio is what caused her to roll on her side.

     

     

     

    Also looking at the Concordia, the major fault, and the cause of loss of life, was the fact that the muster was not signaled in a timely fashion. Had it been done within minutes of the allision, when the Captain was informed that the ship was flooding, the passengers would have all been grouped and accounted for, information could have been passed to crew, and boats readied. Even given the short time between the decision to abandon the ship and her rolling on her side, 23 of 26 lifeboats were launched.

     

     

     

    To put it bluntly, a passenger's responsibilities during a muster are: know where to go (and how to get there), get there in a timely fashion, shut up, and wait for instructions.

     

     

     

    I’d like to take a moment to thank you for your consistently interesting and informative posts.

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Forums

    Handicapped beware

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Very sorry to hear of this unfortunate experience for your family. I agree that the cruise line needs to be clear and specific regarding accessibility. I hope you addressed this issue with the shore excursion desk. Also, follow up with a letter to Celebrity after your cruise.

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Forums

    Equinox Review

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Like a lady I met on gorgeous Mullet Bay beach in St Martin said to me, "I feel sorry for anyone that isn't me today."

     

    ;pLove the quote.

     

    Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts.

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