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HAL muster drills


DMorris
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If a person has a handicap & can not stand they check in first with their sign & saik card & then go inside to sit  until the drill is completed   for those non handicap you stand for about 20 minutes for the safety drill . All pax are required to attend the drill 

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50 minutes ago, cruisehome said:

so everyone on the ship is outside in the same place at one time??

Passengers are under their own assigned lifeboat. They are spread out along the promenade on both sides. 

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On 11/15/2019 at 4:10 PM, cruisehome said:

so everyone on the ship is outside in the same place at one time??

 

celebrity has the drills in the ship in different locations - can't imagine.

 

carol

 

That is the point of the drill, because that is exactly what will happen if you actual need to get in the lifeboats.

It's not going to be like a normal disembark where you wait comfortably in a lounge waiting for your group to be called.

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The muster drills are very organized and calm.  They are calm because they are....drills, so there's no panic.

But if the worst does happen and the "evacuate ship" command is given,  I want to know precisely where my assigned lifeboat is, and how to quickly get to it.   I do not want to be sitting in a lounge somewhere as the ship is listing 30 degrees.  The calm, chatty mood of the muster dill will be a mass panic, with pushing, shoving, running.   That is the exact time you want to know where your muster station is and the fastest way to get there.   That is why on most HAL ships, the muster drill is held standing right in front of the lifeboat boarding station.   Having it in some lounge somewhere adds an extra step to getting passengers to the place they need to be.   I'm happy to stand for 20 minutes for the drill.  The thing that really frosts me is standing there waiting for folks who slowly wander in, 30 minutes late,  with a drink in their hand, complaining how this drill is cutting into their happy hour.

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We recently completed our first cruise with HAL on the Koningsdam, yes it was inside, no life jackets required at the drill but it was the most chaotic and disorganized muster drill we’ve ever attended.  So many people crowded into an area, chatting and not paying attention, You couldn’t hear the instructions and we were too far back to see the video, heaven forbid this was a real emergency.  

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2 hours ago, cruisehome said:

ugh  that will be different

 

another question

 

is there music in the crows nest at night??

Depends on the ship.  Vista, Signature, Pinnacle Classes no music in Crow's Nest at night.  S & R Class ships more likely to have music in Crow's Nest, usually DJ, at least that's been our experience.

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2 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

The muster drills are very organized and calm.  They are calm because they are....drills, so there's no panic.

But if the worst does happen and the "evacuate ship" command is given,  I want to know precisely where my assigned lifeboat is, and how to quickly get to it.   I do not want to be sitting in a lounge somewhere as the ship is listing 30 degrees.  The calm, chatty mood of the muster dill will be a mass panic, with pushing, shoving, running.   That is the exact time you want to know where your muster station is and the fastest way to get there.   That is why on most HAL ships, the muster drill is held standing right in front of the lifeboat boarding station.   Having it in some lounge somewhere adds an extra step to getting passengers to the place they need to be.   I'm happy to stand for 20 minutes for the drill.  The thing that really frosts me is standing there waiting for folks who slowly wander in, 30 minutes late,  with a drink in their hand, complaining how this drill is cutting into their happy hour.

You are so right.   The other three lines we've cruised have sent us to an overcrowded lounge where I can only imagine the situation in a real emergency.   Total panic with those who are most aggressive in pushing others out of the way actually ever seeing a lifeboat.   More people in the lounges than the seating available on some lines!!  HAL does it right.   However on our recent Maasdam cruise it did not happen in a timely manner as our other HAL cruises always have.   Apparently it was delayed due to an excursion not returning on time.   That should have been plainly stated.   Some people came to the deck expecting what has always occurred to occur.   We followed the verbal instructions and came to the deck when called.   Someone behind us collapsed and had to be carried out due to standing so long.   The drill should have occurred when scheduled and those who were late should have had a makeup drill as happens on other lines.   Hope that person was not removed from the ship as the delay no doubt caused the collapse in the heat.

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On 11/15/2019 at 11:10 PM, cruisehome said:

so everyone on the ship is outside in the same place at one time??

 

celebrity has the drills in the ship in different locations - can't imagine.

 

carol

One of the big differences between HAL and Celebrity is that every HAL ship has a full wraparound promenade deck (although it's narrow on the 2 newest ships and there the drill is inside) so people on the HAL promenade deck have a LOT of room to spread out with a different location for each lifeboat.

 

Roy

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12 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

The muster drills are very organized and calm.  They are calm because they are....drills, so there's no panic.

But if the worst does happen and the "evacuate ship" command is given,  I want to know precisely where my assigned lifeboat is, and how to quickly get to it.   I do not want to be sitting in a lounge somewhere as the ship is listing 30 degrees.  The calm, chatty mood of the muster dill will be a mass panic, with pushing, shoving, running.   That is the exact time you want to know where your muster station is and the fastest way to get there.   That is why on most HAL ships, the muster drill is held standing right in front of the lifeboat boarding station.   Having it in some lounge somewhere adds an extra step to getting passengers to the place they need to be.   I'm happy to stand for 20 minutes for the drill.  The thing that really frosts me is standing there waiting for folks who slowly wander in, 30 minutes late,  with a drink in their hand, complaining how this drill is cutting into their happy hour.

Do you REALLY want to be standing out under the lifeboats for an hour as the crew assesses your situation and attempts restart if your ship loses power in a storm with 70-knot winds and 50 foot seas? 

The purpose of a muster drill is ACCOUNTABILITY to be sure everyone is in a spot where they can react quickly when the situation requires action.  The majority of incidents do not require evacuation and on every ship I've sailed with indoor muster the lifeboats are very close by the muster stations.

 

Roy

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11 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Do you REALLY want to be standing out under the lifeboats for an hour as the crew assesses your situation and attempts restart if your ship loses power in a storm with 70-knot winds and 50 foot seas? 

The purpose of a muster drill is ACCOUNTABILITY to be sure everyone is in a spot where they can react quickly when the situation requires action.  The majority of incidents do not require evacuation and on every ship I've sailed with indoor muster the lifeboats are very close by the muster stations.

 

Roy

That's why HAL has a 3 stage muster drill.  The first 2 stages just get you to your cabins and get you ready to evacuate if the worst happens.   You are not ordered to your muster station, in front of the lifeboat boarding station UNTIL the captain has determined that evacuation is necessary.   So you are not standing out on a windy promenade deck with 50 ft seas unless you will be getting into those lifeboats.   Until that command is given in the 3rd stage, you are supposed to be in your cabin waiting for the order.   While you are in your cabin, with life jacket on, warm clothes, eyeglasses, medicine, etc, the crew is assessing the emergency.   If stage 3 is sounded in a real emergency, you WILL be boarding that lifeboat as quickly as you can get there. 

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13 hours ago, rafinmd said:

One of the big differences between HAL and Celebrity is that every HAL ship has a full wraparound promenade deck (although it's narrow on the 2 newest ships and there the drill is inside) so people on the HAL promenade deck have a LOT of room to spread out with a different location for each lifeboat.

 

Roy

 

I disagree about the amount of space. It's usually a pretty tight fit to get everyone on deck, and that's without the added bulk of the life vests. 

 

13 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Do you REALLY want to be standing out under the lifeboats for an hour as the crew assesses your situation and attempts restart if your ship loses power in a storm with 70-knot winds and 50 foot seas? 

The purpose of a muster drill is ACCOUNTABILITY to be sure everyone is in a spot where they can react quickly when the situation requires action.  The majority of incidents do not require evacuation and on every ship I've sailed with indoor muster the lifeboats are very close by the muster stations.

 

Roy

 

That's why I like the indoor muster. HAL's 3-stage process SHOULD keep people from going right to the lifeboats, but you can bet people will rush to the deck even when they're told to wait in their cabins. With the indoor muster, you don't know which lifeboat is "yours." I guess that's a scary thought for some people, but it allows HAL to load lifeboats by calling muster stations as the boats are ready. I stayed onboard Kdam in St Thomas, so I heard all the announcements for the crew drill. I could hear them calling each muster station to its boat. Then I could even hear them announce when crew were to leave their stations and head to boats. It was a full "abandon ship" drill. 

 

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6 minutes ago, rhblake said:

I have never heard of this 3 stage process before. Is it announced during the drill and if not when?

It's announced in general perhaps an hour before the drill starts, and there a detailed introduction to the details of each stage as it is called.  The first stage (with bells and announcements) is called about 15 minutes before the general alarm and is really just an alert for the crew and notice to the pax that something is coming.  The second stage is called perhaps 5-10 minutes later and we are directed to return to our rooms to get warm clothing and prepare for the 3rd stage.

 

Roy

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