Muster issue - hope that Celebrity is reading

[chengkp75]

It will be interesting to see how it is handled on EDGE with the new Gateway area to tenders and lifeboats...

 

While the Gateway area will be used for tendering in normal operations, the boats themselves are away from the Gateway, and will be boarded in an emergency just like the boats on any other ship.

[Silkroad]

Thanks for another of your quite helpful and informative posts, chengkp75. IMO your posts are amongst the best on CC.

[LA_CA_GAL]

Having cruised many times with many cruise lines, I have found it standard that all muster stations are pretty bad.

[Silkroad]

While I too preferred my first muster drill (Millennium 2006) because it was held on deck (fresh air) and I could see & hear the people giving us direction, and I too have experienced a crowded, stultifying muster drill on Summit (2017), I realize my comfort isn’t the primary reason for the drills. Further, muster drills wouldn’t last so long if people would show up on time, shut up, and pay attention. Should there be an emergency, we must be prepared to report to our muster stations regardless of comfort. Once there, we must be prepared to be uncomfortable until we are checked off a list and told where to go (and possibly for some time afterward). Or as I believe chengkp75 once posted, our job is to (I paraphrase):

 

Show up, shut up, and follow the direction of the crew.

 

Someday, our lives may depend upon it. That said, I always try to show up for the drills with a bottled water so I don’t melt.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Silkroad

[Travelcat2]

Just want to mention that we have sailed on 36 cruises (not Celebrity - 4 other cruise lines) and have not experienced crowding, lack of seats, etc. IMHO, this could be a very dangerous situation.

[guilga]

Am I the only whose both muster drills were more than okay? Both were in the theater (one on Summit, the other one on Silhouette), so we got seating, could see the screen and the AC was working no problem. The only weird thing is that they make you leave the theater starting with the seats closest to the stage, which makes no sense, as if you were emptying a plane starting at the back and then making your way forward.

[hcat]

While the Gateway area will be used for tendering in normal operations, the boats themselves are away from the Gateway, and will be boarded in an emergency just like the boats on any other ship.

 

Fortunately, we only have been on life boats for excursions..hope it stays that way!

[SoCalTraveler]

We've done muster drills outside (standing) and inside (generally standing). I have yet to hear of anyone actually running out of air. The ship is not designed with seating capacity sufficient for every passenger in the rooms where the drills are held. (See above for the problems using dining rooms). Sine the drills are conducted generally at the muster station, no ship is designed with that much seating capacity at the muster stations.

 

Having survived enough problems (emergency landing, helicopter crash, two terrorist bombings, boiler explosion, 4 high rise fires, etc.), I'm glad that they are running the muster drill. The Yarmouth Castle, on which I sailed in 1964, burned and sank in 1965, with great loss of life.

[wwcruisers]

The only weird thing is that they make you leave the theater starting with the seats closest to the stage, which makes no sense, as if you were emptying a plane starting at the back and then making your way forward.

 

AH -- having been in more than one muster drill in the theater, I know the answer to that one: That's a reward, of sorts, to the folks who actually got to the muster drill EARLY -- and were seated down front. The late 'stragglers' & 'back-benchers' had to wait their turn, once everyone was cleared to leave. :cool:

[JMorris271]

I doubt that stupid movie will help anything.

I was using a quote . Not my thought

[fizzy1]

While I too preferred my first muster drill (Millennium 2006) because it was held on deck (fresh air) and I could see & hear the people giving us direction, and I too have experienced a crowded, stultifying muster drill on Summit (2017), I realize my comfort isn’t the primary reason for the drills. Further, muster drills wouldn’t last so long if people would show up on time, shut up, and pay attention. Should there be an emergency, we must be prepared to report to our muster stations regardless of comfort. Once there, we must be prepared to be uncomfortable until we are checked off a list and told where to go (and possibly for some time afterward). Or as I believe chengkp75 once posted, our job is to (I paraphrase):

 

Show up, shut up, and follow the direction of the crew.

 

Someday, our lives may depend upon it. That said, I always try to show up for the drills with a bottled water so I don’t melt.

 

 

 

I agree. On Silhouette right now . Very ordered, well managed, calm and collected . Yes squashed together , but everyone was jovial and laughed about the conditions . Paid attention to the stupid movie, they do this for aircraft safety videos now too, there were seats reserved for those who couldn’t stand and plenty of places to perch your bum if you got down early enough which is what we always do in any situation that involves sitting . Happy start to our Med cruise from Southampton. Just docked in Barcelona . , lightning , heavy rain. Only bad weather day . Been hot and sunny up till now with 5 days to go do cant complain. Fantastic time so far

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[lisiamc]

I always hated the outdoor drills. I would have to put sunscreen on if we were going to be on the sunny side, because if I spend an hour in the sun, even at 4pm, I will burn. The last outdoor drill I attended, I was ready to throw the man in front of me overboard. He was very excitable, and was hopping around. His friends were a couple of rows behind, and he kept turning around to look at them. Every time he did, he stepped on my toes and knocked me with the corner of his life jacket. After the fourt or fifth time, I was getting seriously annoyed with him. Fortunately, I never saw him again during the rest of the cruise.

[wendycook22]

We had an issue with our muster last year on the Equinox. The art gallery area was so full of people, one elder person started to go into distress, we were not sure of the medical issue. We had to call several times for assistance for the family, and due to the large crow of people it took quite some time for assistance to make their way to the individual. It was far to crowded. It sounds like a similar situation. We did see the elder man on the ship later in the cruise and he seemed ok. It was most likely overheating and as you mentioned limited air supply due to the mass amount of people crammed into a small venue.

[JFontaine]

For the people who have had good muster experiences, great! But that shouldn't distract from the lousy ones - made more difficult for some after a long day of travel, age and other issues. Celebrity should work towards a comfortable experience for all. Some good tips on this thread about self-help ideas. Thank you.

[SoCalTraveler]

We had an issue with our muster last year on the Equinox. The art gallery area was so full of people, one elder person started to go into distress, we were not sure of the medical issue. We had to call several times for assistance for the family, and due to the large crow of people it took quite some time for assistance to make their way to the individual. It was far to crowded. It sounds like a similar situation. We did see the elder man on the ship later in the cruise and he seemed ok. It was most likely overheating and as you mentioned limited air supply due to the mass amount of people crammed into a small venue.

 

The "air supply" is not limited, especially in the art gallery area. It might get warmer and slightly more humid, but there is more than enough air. It's a matter of physics. One might get anxious about being stuffed in a crowd (it makes me uncomfortable), and standing in a crowded area might be uncomfortable. But the "air supply" is more than adequate to support everyone there.

 

I'm there for a refresher course on what to do in an emergency. As noted above, I was on a ship that later sank with great loss of life. As best as I can determine, no one ever suffocated from being at a muster drill.

[fizzy1]

The "air supply" is not limited, especially in the art gallery area. It might get warmer and slightly more humid, but there is more than enough air. It's a matter of physics. One might get anxious about being stuffed in a crowd (it makes me uncomfortable), and standing in a crowded area might be uncomfortable. But the "air supply" is more than adequate to support everyone there.

 

 

 

I'm there for a refresher course on what to do in an emergency. As noted above, I was on a ship that later sank with great loss of life. As best as I can determine, no one ever suffocated from being at a muster drill.

 

 

 

Agree.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[davekathy]

We were on the Infinity September 2018 and our muster briefing was held in the Celebrity theater. Very well organized when entering and leaving.

[upwarduk]

We had the same situation on another ship in the Spring. We were crowded into a room, couldn't see anything, and they played a stupid movie. It had no value if there came to an emergency. Really poor.

Same on Silhouette 23.06.18.

We were in Murano with far too few seats, which meant one very tall passenger stood in front of the screen, blocking most other passengers view.

The only good thing was that at the end the doors were opened on to the deck where our lifeboat was. Never had that before.

[Travelcat2]

We were on the Infinity September 2018 and our muster briefing was held in the Celebrity theater. Very well organized when entering and leaving.

 

I think that you were on the cruise that we were on (September 2nd). It is good to know that your muster briefing in the theater was well organized. Wish that ours had been. Since it was our first Celebrity cruise, it was a very poor introduction to the cruise line. Fortunately, the rest of the cruise was much better than muster.

 

P.S. I never said that people would die from lack of oxygen - just that it was hot, crowded and it seemed difficult to breathe for some people. Perhaps they were claustrophobic. In any case, if it was that bad during muster, I can only imagine what it would be like in case of an emergency. In my opinion, muster is very serious and passengers should be able to see and hear what is going on. This was not the case for us.

[wendycook22]

The "air supply" is not limited, especially in the art gallery area. It might get warmer and slightly more humid, but there is more than enough air. It's a matter of physics. One might get anxious about being stuffed in a crowd (it makes me uncomfortable), and standing in a crowded area might be uncomfortable. But the "air supply" is more than adequate to support everyone there.

 

I'm there for a refresher course on what to do in an emergency. As noted above, I was on a ship that later sank with great loss of life. As best as I can determine, no one ever suffocated from being at a muster drill.

 

I appreciate your comments and understand they may not have suffocated (pretty sure i didn't say he suffocated, my apologies if I alluded to that), but being crammed in like sardines and it was quite hot due to all the body heat could have caused him some physical challenges. I was more concerned with how long it took to get assistance. That was caused by the amount of people being placed into one area. I respect and appreciate the necessity of having a muster drill. I am far from saying it is not necessary or needed so I hope it did not come across that way. I do believe however that filling an area above capacity poses another health and safety issue of it's own. One that in my opinion I did witness that day. We were literally shoulder to shoulder in our location.

 

I have cruised 6 times with Celebrity (amongst other lines). The theatre was a great place for the muster on a past sailing, but other common areas of the ship I have experienced are not pleasant but works, and other areas in my opinion are above the capacity to be considered safe. I know this may vary depending on cabin #'s but maybe they should re-evaluate the allocation or execution.

[drew69]

I am sure Celebrity is well aware of the capacity of the designated muster stations. In the case of an actual emergency, the concern would certainly not be adequate seating or comfort.

 

If someone is that claustrophobic, I can only imagine how they will be as one of 150 persons on a lifeboat.

 

Perhaps they should not be cruising if a simple 30 minute muster drill is so distressing for them.

[Presto2]

Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise and enjoyed it overall. The only reason for writing this is to say how terrible (and possibly dangerous) that the muster that we attended was. We have close to 50 cruises under our belts - almost all of them on premium-plus and luxury lines and have never experienced anything like this.

 

The lounge where it was held was full beyond capacity. Not only could we not sit down, we could barely stand -- we were like a room full of sardines. Could not see or hear much. Our biggest concern was the lack of air in the room. Someone did say that muster was taking longer than normal but that does not excuse the uncomfortability that Celebrity put their passengers through. A couple of people almost passed out (it was also extremely warm) and a few kind hearted people gave up their seats for these people.

 

As we all know, muster is suppose to be about safety but there was nothing safe about the environment where the muster for many of us was held. The room was definitely over capacity and difficult to breathe in.

 

We've just returned from Connie and totally agree that the muster drill isn't great. Not sure re the lack of air issue but the fact that the venue was far too small for the number of people in it was. Our Muster Station was the Rendezvous Bar and it was a shambles. Totally heaving with people. They the crew had to make demonstrations that most people couldn't see re life jackets and the Captain didn't say a word to us. I don't want to get in to a cruise line comparison debate, but having been on P&O a number of times Celebrity's system seemed very amateurish. Have been in muster drills on Celebrity before and can't remember it being so .... errrr .... cringe worthy !

[Cirdan]

Muster station are nearly the relevant lifeboat, and lifeboat are mainly in the middle of ship, so many have unfortunate and crowed muster station.

 

 

From my experience on Infinity, if you have a forward cabin, you will be in first lifeboat and so on theater. I tend to be on forward part of ship (to be farther from MDR/OVC and relative elevators/stairs). But maybe this is an other reason to choose forward (of aft) of a ship.

 

 

This is my impression, but could someone confirm that muster station are linked to the position of the cabin on ship (and not on bridge or other factors)? [Note: a cabin has own muster station, written on the back of cabin door].

[SoCalTraveler]

Muster stations are related to the lifeboats that will be used by that muster station.

[davekathy]

I think that you were on the cruise that we were on (September 2nd). It is good to know that your muster briefing in the theater was well organized. Wish that ours had been. Since it was our first Celebrity cruise, it was a very poor introduction to the cruise line. Fortunately, the rest of the cruise was much better than muster.

 

P.S. I never said that people would die from lack of oxygen - just that it was hot, crowded and it seemed difficult to breathe for some people. Perhaps they were claustrophobic. In any case, if it was that bad during muster, I can only imagine what it would be like in case of an emergency. In my opinion, muster is very serious and passengers should be able to see and hear what is going on. This was not the case for us.

Yes we were on the 2 September Infinity cruise. Bummer about your muster experience. FWIW we have never experienced what you did on any of our Celebrity cruises. Hopefully your next Celebrity cruise will start out better for you. Most importantly glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise. We had a great cruise. Oh yea, thanks for the great weather we had in Seattle. ;)

Edited September 18, 2018 by davekathy