Strategies for the dastardly life boat drill?

[pablo222]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

I think you forgot to add complainers who complain about other people... 

 

Without which, cruise critic would have no posts...

 

[mk-ultra]

There's this crazy space on a ship called "the deck."  You can actually sit on it (indoors or outdoors) if you don't feel like standing on your feet when seating isn't available like it sometimes is during the lifeboat drill.  It's like a giant, flat seat available almost everywhere.  If "the deck" is problematic, you can arrange for accommodations by letting guest services know about your needs prior to your cruise.

Edited November 28, 2019 by mk-ultra

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, mk-ultra said:

There's this crazy space on a ship called "the deck."  You can actually sit on it (indoors or outdoors) if you don't feel like standing on your feet when seating isn't available like it sometimes is during the lifeboat drill.  It's like a giant, flat seat available almost everywhere.  If "the deck" is problematic, you can arrange for accommodations by letting guest services know about your needs prior to your cruise.

A lot of older people would find it difficult to get down to sit on the deck and they would find it even more difficult to get after sitting for half an hour.

[jangor]

13 hours ago, Clampram said:

The talk is about 15 minutes but you wait 35 - 40 minutes for it to start.....you missed the point ! LOL!!

Why do you have yo wait 35-40 minutes?  We have done 12 cruises.  We leave our cabin 10 minutes before muster, stand for the 15 minute demonstration and leave.  We remember when you went on deck, stood under your life boat and had to watch while they demonstrated how the boat would be lowered and made you put on the life jacket, etc.  Today's muster is a piece of cake!

[mk-ultra]

21 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

A lot of older people would find it difficult to get down to sit on the deck and they would find it even more difficult to get after sitting for half an hour.

 

And that's why, if you have special needs where you can't sit or stand for the muster (beyond it just being a perceived annoyance), you call your cruise line and let them know.  Every cruise line has a department that specializes in handling these needs.  If you can't muster without help, the cruise line would definitely like to know so they can assist if there is a real emergency onboard.

Edited November 29, 2019 by mk-ultra

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, mk-ultra said:

 

And that's why, if you have special needs where you can't sit or stand for the muster (beyond it just being a perceived annoyance), you call your cruise line and let them know.  Every cruise line has a department who specializes in handling these needs.  If you can't muster without help, the cruise line would definitely like to know so they can assist if there is a real emergency onboard.

I don't need help to reach my muster station, but I don't want to either sit on the floor or go through the awkward process of trying to stand up after sitting there for a while. If everyone who felt it would be difficult to get down on the floor (then get up again) registered as needing assistance, the staff would be overwhelmed. There could be one good result - not using a space without chairs for the muster drill.

[mk-ultra]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't need help to reach my muster station, but I don't want to either sit on the floor or go through the awkward process of trying to stand up after sitting there for a while. If everyone who felt it would be difficult to get down on the floor (then get up again) registered as needing assistance, the staff would be overwhelmed. There could be one good result - not using a space without chairs for the muster drill.

 

I'm not being snarky with you.  What ship do you think has simultaneous seating for all passengers, at any time?  Because muster is everybody at once. 

[mickeygirl78]

7 hours ago, MixerDave said:

I don't have a problem with the muster drill as such - my problem is standing outside regardless of the weather.  Why can't RCI do as Celebrity (a sister line) and hold the drill in the dining rooms or other space like the theater and show an informative film? 

my muster station on Royal Caribbean just last month was in the dining room. On my previous two RCCL cruises it was in the outside theater so there were plenty of seats.

[Aus Traveller]

26 minutes ago, mk-ultra said:

 

I'm not being snarky with you.  What ship do you think has simultaneous seating for all passengers, at any time?  Because muster is everybody at once. 

I am not old or disabled. In fact I go to the gym three days a week and exercise at home as well, but I still don't fancy sitting on the floor.

 

I realise that muster drill is for everyone. When you add the seats in the Princess Theatre with seats in the other entertainment spaces whatever they are called on each ship (Vista Lounge, Explorers and even the casino etc) there are a lot of seats. I don't think having it in a space with only two seats is a good idea.

 

I note the post from Mickeygirl - Royal Caribbean utilising the dining room for the muster drill.

[Daniel A]

I think the OP and this thread isn't really about not having seats in the muster station.  It is a complaint that they are disorganized and take over an hour to do an at most 15 minute required demonstration.  I think they pick where to hold the drill where you would need to report in the event of a real emergency.  Those areas (muster stations) are near where you would board your life boat.  I don't fault them for holding a muster station in the art gallery where there are no seats.  I fault them for the lack of consideration in making people stand for no reason for a much longer time than is necessary.  I know there are others here who say the drill only takes 15 minutes.  I have never seen a drill come off on a timely basis and it has always been at least 45 minutes stuck in a stuffy muster station.  The cruise line needs to respect our time a little more.  Anyway, that's what this thread started out to be.  It's not about disabilities or whiners, it's simply about not making the drill an ordeal it doesn't need to be.

[JimmyVWine]

15 hours ago, Clampram said:

The talk is about 15 minutes but you wait 35 - 40 minutes for it to start.....you missed the point ! LOL!!

If you arrive 35-40 minutes before it begins then you wait 35-40 minutes for it to start. 
 

If you arrive 20-25 minutes before it begins then you wait 20-25 minutes for it to start. 
 

If you arrive 5-10 minutes before it begins then you wait 5-10 minutes for it to start. 
 

See a pattern developing?  Seems to me that there is a solution staring you in the face. While I agree that the art gallery is a silly place to muster, but if you know in advance that this is where you must go and you know that there are no seats, even for early arrivers, then there is no advantage to arriving early. If you feel that you must arrive early, try making a game of it and play “how many olives can we spot in the paintings“

[brisalta]

6 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

 If you feel that you must arrive early, try making a game of it and play “how many olives can we spot in the paintings“

 

What ?! and burn holes in your eyes looking at that so called poorly executed "art".

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

If you arrive 35-40 minutes before it begins then you wait 35-40 minutes for it to start. 
 

If you arrive 20-25 minutes before it begins then you wait 20-25 minutes for it to start. 
 

If you arrive 5-10 minutes before it begins then you wait 5-10 minutes for it to start. 
 

See a pattern developing?  Seems to me that there is a solution staring you in the face. While I agree that the art gallery is a silly place to muster, but if you know in advance that this is where you must go and you know that there are no seats, even for early arrivers, then there is no advantage to arriving early. If you feel that you must arrive early, try making a game of it and play “how many olives can we spot in the paintings“

Your solution sounds simple, but how does a passenger know when the drill will actually start. I have never seen it start at the advertised time. In my experience on dozens of cruises, the alarms sound at the advertised time, but the drill will start anything from 20 minutes to even 40 minutes later. In the latter case, if a person goes at the advertised time, they will stand for 40 minutes plus the 15-20 minutes of the drill.

[JimmyVWine]

17 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Your solution sounds simple, but how does a passenger know when the drill will actually start.

Ahhh. But there’s the rub. The OP seems confident that they have always and will always wait 35-40 minutes.  But if the presentation sometimes begins 20 minutes after the advertised time, how can that be?

[Aus Traveller]

53 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Ahhh. But there’s the rub. The OP seems confident that they have always and will always wait 35-40 minutes.  But if the presentation sometimes begins 20 minutes after the advertised time, how can that be?

In my experience, the presentation never starts at the advertised time. 15-20 minutes after would be the earliest and the presentation takes 15 minutes or so. It is a bit streamlined now that everyone doesn't have to put on their lifejacket and be checked by a crew member.

[donaldsc]

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I think the OP and this thread isn't really about not having seats in the muster station.  It is a complaint that they are disorganized and take over an hour to do an at most 15 minute required demonstration.  I think they pick where to hold the drill where you would need to report in the event of a real emergency.  Those areas (muster stations) are near where you would board your life boat.  I don't fault them for holding a muster station in the art gallery where there are no seats.  I fault them for the lack of consideration in making people stand for no reason for a much longer time than is necessary.  I know there are others here who say the drill only takes 15 minutes.  I have never seen a drill come off on a timely basis and it has always been at least 45 minutes stuck in a stuffy muster station.  The cruise line needs to respect our time a little more.  Anyway, that's what this thread started out to be.  It's not about disabilities or whiners, it's simply about not making the drill an ordeal it doesn't need to be.

 

You are going to be on the ship for at least a week.  Surely your time on a cruise is not that valuable that spending 15 or even 30 minutes additional at your muster station will have an impact on your cruise enjoyment.  

 

DON

[Grego]

I feel the way Princess does their required muster drill is a lot better than in prior years.  Checking in with the medallion, using a clear speaking person to do the pre-recorded muster information, not having to lug the life vest and going through the test of putting it on and all this in a brief session. 

I will never complain about the way Princess does it's drill having gone through a muster drill on one of the older RCL ships this year where we did it out on the promenade deck on the sunny side of the ship on a 90 degree day,  standing there for over 45 minutes until everyone showed up. I think that everyone on that side of the ship had to go back to their cabins so they could take another shower!

For many, the drill is a pain in the ass until they have to have a muster for real and it's to save their life.

[Daniel A]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

You are going to be on the ship for at least a week.  Surely your time on a cruise is not that valuable that spending 15 or even 30 minutes additional at your muster station will have an impact on your cruise enjoyment.  

 

DON

Just keep that in mind the next time you visit the Motor Vehicle Department...

[Doug R.]

18 hours ago, Thrak said:

I think the art gallery is an idiotic place for muster. One would think there "should" be a better option available. We go wherever we are told to go and just deal with it. Fortunately we've never had muster in such a weird place. I would think the casino would be just as bad but don't know if they do muster there. We've had it in the theater and were glad of seats as we had to wait until the theater was entirely full before it started.

On our Regal cruise we mustered in the casino, not bad, every slot machine had seats and you only had to stand if you took your sweet time to get to the drill.

[Clampram]

Original poster here.........I told hubby that we are going to the muster drill so late that it's going to make him cry!!! Problem solved!

[California Traveler]

On 11/27/2019 at 4:12 PM, Hlitner said:

My goodness, what a bunch of cry babies.  Many of us still remember when every cruise line had passengers muster on deck (near their lifeboat) where everyone had to stand for the entire drill.  And it could take a long time because they would actually take attendance by calling out each cabin# and name.  Some cruise lines/ships still have musters outdoors.   Princess makes it relatively easy by mustering inside and the drill usually takes about 20 minutes.  

 

As to the fiasco after the drill, that is certainly a problem for those with physical limitations.  But for plenty of others it is simply a matter of using the stairways rather then waiting and fighting one's way in to crammed elevators that will stop at every deck.

 

Hank

 

Our HAL cruise to the Panama Canal we mustered on the life boat section - which I thought was a good idea so you knew where to go -  The only thing bad it was in the direct sun in the 90's in Ft Lauderdale in a lineup formation.  Had to wait for all the late comers too.  Other cruise lines NCL and RCCL  were indoors.  Non the less it is an important meeting to attend and to pay attention.  

 

CT

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Colorado Coasty said:

On one of our NCL cruises we were escorted to a dining room by our butler where we, and the other suite guests, were served tea during the drill. Guess what, I heard complaints. Some people are never happy.

The Haven? 

[Mike45LC]

On 11/28/2019 at 11:58 AM, Thrak said:

I would think the casino would be just as bad but don't know if they do muster there. 

I've mustered in the casino on two of my last three Princess cruises.  Not a bad venue for it, not nearly as bad as the art gallery would be!

[MissP22]

33 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I've mustered in the casino on two of my last three Princess cruises.  Not a bad venue for it, not nearly as bad as the art gallery would be!

As long as you don't mind the smell of stale smoke. 

[JimmyVWine]

55 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I've mustered in the casino on two of my last three Princess cruises.  Not a bad venue for it, not nearly as bad as the art gallery would be!

 

We have too.  And all I could think the whole time we were there is: What if there were a real emergency that required people to go to that muster station?  Would the people playing table games walk away from their chips/money and head to their own muster station?  Would they refuse to budge, leaving no room for the people who are supposed to actually be there?  Would people grab whatever chips they could (theirs or otherwise) and bolt for the exits?  All in all, it seems like a horrible idea to have to gather there in the event of a bona fide, legitimate emergency.