Princess Life Boat Drills

[RickEk]

To me, it's actually part of the fun. What other vacation do we go on where a key element is a muster drill? It totally means "on the ship" to me -- I bring along a mocha from the IC/Patisserie and relax and enjoy my first glimpse of a cross-section of my fellow passengers.

 

Indeed! I have traveled with other passengers who wanted to skip the drill, but you are entirely correct that it's a rite of passage that signals that the cruise has actually started. Definitely not an inconvenience for me, it's always interesting and hey, why not?? :p:)

[rcacace]

Not right IMHO.....

 

Bob

 

Right or not, it is still possible and no one checks. If you feel comfortable doing so you can get away with not attending.

[MTemple212]

Ripples, that was misinformation on that post. Solstice DOES have the vests in the room in a basket under the bed and has for a while. I can't say it's ALWAYS been that way, as i wasn't on the maiden voyages. I just think it would be pandemonium lining up for life jackets. And yes if you're out on deck and have to run to your cabin in a real emergency, that's not great either but I'd still like my vest where I know where it is, that it fits and that I don't have to stand in a line to get it.

 

There are also life jackets under the beds in a basket on Equinox as well. Equinox is one of the sister ships to Solstice.

[MTemple212]

I checked back with my friend and here's what he said about the Solstice: "That isn't true. We put our luggage under the beds and there was nothing else under there. Besides that, they told us the life jackets would be passed out by the crew in the event of an emergency."

 

He just sailed last month.

Frank

 

I still believe your friend is incorrect about the cabins not having the life jackets. They are in fact under the beds in a basket that is very forward under the bed and in the center(if the beds are together). In fact when I was on the equinox I stored some items in the basket along witht the life jackets as their was extra room in them. The baskets are at the head of the bed and not the foot end.

[cindep]

Just off the Crown 9/17 and this was our first experience. Is everyone seeing this fleet-wide now on Princess?

 

Personally, I think it is a good idea and at least gives the appearance they are checking.

[Ula]

They scanned cards on the Ruby, but it appeared to be a random sampling. They did not scan ours, but they scanned the section next to us. It is not a big deal.

[1 HappyCruiser]

They obviously don't scan all the people on the Emerald. If you miss the drill no one will notice or require you to do a makeup.

[LARGIN]

Passenger's cards were randomly scanned on the Golden last month..

[Alberta_Cruisers]

I have no issues with the drills. I know how to put on my life vest, etc, but I think the refresher is good because it's usually been a year since I was last on a ship. I've also never been in an emergency situation so I have no idea how I'll react in one. I'm also travelling with teenagers and there's no guarantee that if there was an emergency they would be with me at that time. They need to know how to evacuate the ship on their own, where their life vests are, what to do etc.

[flamomo]

For those who proudly state they elect to hide in their cabin when muster drill is announced, what is so difficult to understand about the term "mandatory", in reference to muster drills?

ALL passengers are REQUIRED to attend (except for the few who are the 2nd or more leg of a series of B2Bs on the same ship).

Mandatory does not mean 'if you feel like it'. It does not mean 'well, since you cruised before, you can skip it'.

Apparently, those people fail to understand the terminology, or think they are smarter than the rest of the passengers, so they opt out of attending something that is required of all passengers, for the safety of all the passengers and crew.

[rcacace]

For those who proudly state they elect to hide in their cabin when muster drill is announced, what is so difficult to understand about the term "mandatory", in reference to muster drills?

ALL passengers are REQUIRED to attend (except for the few who are the 2nd or more leg of a series of B2Bs on the same ship).

Mandatory does not mean 'if you feel like it'. It does not mean 'well, since you cruised before, you can skip it'.

Apparently, those people fail to understand the terminology, or think they are smarter than the rest of the passengers, so they opt out of attending something that is required of all passengers, for the safety of all the passengers and crew.

 

Right or not, it's our decision to make whether we elect to go to a drill we've been to on that same ship 8 times prior. We know where the Fusion lounge is having been there dozens & dozens of times prior. By us skipping the drill has no affect on the overall well being of people learning to do it for the first time or people who haven't been on that ship. If you feel the need to repeat the drill over & over & over to make sure you've learned how to get to the correct meeting place & how to put on your life preserver than by all means don't plan on missing one.

Also - there is no roll call taken for anyone who missed the drill and until there is we will continue to select which muster drills we attend.

BTW- there was a training muster drill held on a port day which included checks of only "specific cabins." Checking all cabins during a typical muster drill on embarkation day would take much to time to complete & would not be practical. If the emergency was real, I'm certain they would do complete check to account for all passengers.

[highflyingrealtor]

For those who proudly state they elect to hide in their cabin when muster drill is announced, what is so difficult to understand about the term "mandatory", in reference to muster drills?

ALL passengers are REQUIRED to attend (except for the few who are the 2nd or more leg of a series of B2Bs on the same ship).

Mandatory does not mean 'if you feel like it'. It does not mean 'well, since you cruised before, you can skip it'.

Apparently, those people fail to understand the terminology, or think they are smarter than the rest of the passengers, so they opt out of attending something that is required of all passengers, for the safety of all the passengers and crew.

Well put. Also, section 12 of the Passage Contract may enlighten some to possible penalties for non compliance with the rules of the Ship, Captain and Carrier.

[1025cruise]

Right or not, it's our decision to make whether we elect to go to a drill we've been to on that same ship 8 times prior. We know where the Fusion lounge is having been there dozens & dozens of times prior. By us skipping the drill has no affect on the overall well being of people learning to do it for the first time or people who haven't been on that ship. If you feel the need to repeat the drill over & over & over to make sure you've learned how to get to the correct meeting place & how to put on your life preserver than by all means don't plan on missing one.

Also - there is no roll call taken for anyone who missed the drill and until there is we will continue to select which muster drills we attend.

BTW- there was a training muster drill held on a port day which included checks of only "specific cabins." Checking all cabins during a typical muster drill on embarkation day would take much to time to complete & would not be practical. If the emergency was real, I'm certain they would do complete check to account for all passengers.

 

With all due respect, it is not your decision as to whether or not you attend the muster drill. That is the one thing on a cruise that is NOT up to you. The rules say you will attend, so you will attend. I, for one, am glad that they are scanning cards. I'll even go a step further to say that a guest that misses the muster and the makeup muster should be offloaded at the first port of call for safety.

[rcacace]

With all due respect, it is not your decision as to whether or not you attend the muster drill. That is the one thing on a cruise that is NOT up to you. The rules say you will attend, so you will attend. I, for one, am glad that they are scanning cards. I'll even go a step further to say that a guest that misses the muster and the makeup muster should be offloaded at the first port of call for safety.

 

If and when they do discover we've missed muster I'm all prepared with good excuse as to why we didn't make the drill & they would certainly let us do a make up. It's our decision, right or wrong, to elect to miss muster & until they start scanning all the cards in all the lounges we'll be taking our chances by skipping out.

[caribill]

It's our decision, right or wrong, to elect to miss muster & until they start scanning all the cards in all the lounges we'll be taking our chances by skipping out.

 

So if they do not scan cards at final disembarkation time, it will be your decision to remain on the ship for the next cruise?

[rcacace]

So if they do not scan cards at final disembarkation time, it will be your decision to remain on the ship for the next cruise?

 

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get away with that one. They keep calling my name until I check out. ;)