On board activities before or just after muster drill

[flashdog_1]

I've only sailed Celebrity, so don't know what to expect on HAL. We're on Veendam Mar 11, and someone in our group is setting up a meet and greet. I missed the connections party on my last Celebrity trip because there was a spa drawing at the same hour (and you had to be present to win..no I didn't win) and don't want the same thing to happen on HAL.

 

If you have your first day dailies, please give me a run down of what I might expect. We'll be boarding by noon. Thanks

[Islandbuoy]

We must call it "MUSTARD DRILL" --I can't for the life of me figure out why HAL makes us stand on the hot deck, when Princess can do the same thing in the comfort of the show lounges.

 

On all HAL ships , right fter the drill is the sailaway party(usually on the fantail) where the cruises staff intros themselves, and plays a few games.

 

Right b-4 is a ships tour, and ususally a guided tour of the SPA. Personally , I sit by the pool and wait for things to get going.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When you get on the ship and are able to get to your cabin (between 1 and 1:30), check your daily program. The time of the spa tour will be listed. On some ships it is around 3 and the drawing is held around 4.

 

Muster drill is usually at 4:15.

[grannynurse]

Jercal,

responding to your wondering why HAL has us actually do the "muster"

 

Consider a real emergency evacuation and the confusion entailed. Most people are participatory "hands-on" learners. Many people would not take a "lounge" experience seriously. HAL is very methodical in their drills, even explaining the activation of the lights on the vests, the provisions on the life boat, the logistics of boarding etc.

 

I would much rather be prepared for an emergency than guess where to go, what to do, and where to get direction.

 

Think about this please, experience it for yourself, then let us know your opinion and whether you think this learning activity is worthwhile.

Thanks,

GN

[Krazy Kruizers]

One of the reasons HAL has their muster drill out on the deck is so that you know where your life boat station is in case of an emergency.

[flashdog_1]

I'll check the daily and go from there. Sounds like I should reques that our meet and mingle be held after the muster.

[Islandbuoy]

I promise to take this excercize of trompling old people more seriously from now on!!!

[bepsf]

I promise to take this excercize of trompling old people more seriously from now on!!!

 

You should!

If you paid better attention, you'd know that oldsters make great flotation devices...

:rolleyes:

:eek:

[grannynurse]

If you take me along on the Noordam I'll consider being your personal flotation device.

Youngish sixty-ish used-to- be- cute nursing professors can be wotrth their weight in... something.

 

Have a marvelous maiden voyage.

GN

[noblepa]

I don't know if this is true of all HAL ships, but last year on (in??) the Veendam, they actually did a roll-call of passengers at the lifeboat stations. We had to wait, while they tracked down a few pax who apparently didn't think it was worth their time.

 

I've heard both sides of this argument. The argument for the way HAL does it, at the lifeboat station, is that, in an emergency, you will have been to your station at least once. Other cruise lines, such as Princess, I believe, do it in a lounge or other public area, because they figure that in the event of a real emergency, they can get everyone together in one place and possibly take them somewhere other than their normal lifeboat station.

 

Remember, any kind of emergency on a ship is, by definition, not a normal occurence. Often, ships list to one side or the other, making the lifeboats on one side of the ship unusable. Sometimes, a fire can make the normal path to the lifeboats impassable, requiring a detour. The thinking is that people going to the unusable lifeboats would just be wasting time.

 

It seems to me that there are merits to both arguments. I have no patience, however, for those pax who take the drill lightly and disrupt the drill by talking loudly and otherwise preventing others from knowing what we're supposed to do.

 

In reality, neither method is truly effective. Emergency training really should include different contingencies, such as fire blocking your path, the ship listing to one side or damage to the ship. However, most pax would probably object to the amount of time required to do this. Besides, it would scare the bejeebers out of many passengers.

 

... but I could be wrong...

 

Paul Noble

[lougee1043]

we would usually meet the ccers on the lido deck at say 3pm --mingle til just before muster drill and then take off

[Islandbuoy]

On my last cruise (2 wks ago ) on the Ryndam over 2/3 of the passengers were Mariner Club members. Most have been thru the mustard drill many times.

Why make us all go stand in the hot sun??

[peaches from georgia]

Why make us all go stand in the hot sun??

Because no matter how many times Mariners have been in mustard drills on a HAL ship, their life boat stations are not the same on every cruise on every ship, so they still need to know where to go in case of an emergency on this cruise on this ship. ;)

[kruzkeen]

I've heard both sides of this argument. The argument for the way HAL does it, at the lifeboat station, is that, in an emergency, you will have been to your station at least once. Other cruise lines, such as Princess, I believe, do it in a lounge or other public area, because they figure that in the event of a real emergency, they can get everyone together in one place and possibly take them somewhere other than their normal lifeboat station.

 

 

In reality, neither method is truly effective. Emergency training really should include different contingencies, such as fire blocking your path, the ship listing to one side or damage to the ship. However, most pax would probably object to the amount of time required to do this. Besides, it would scare the bejeebers out of many passengers.

 

... but I could be wrong...

 

Paul Noble

 

In my experience RCI and NCL do the drill on deck as HAL does. Princess and Celebrity have their drills in different public rooms or spaces.

[Starbright]

I believe maritime law actually REQUIRES that all passengers take part in a muster drill within so many hours of the ship sailing. In other words it's not optional for either HAL or the passengers, whether they have sailed four or forty-four times. We all have to take part.

[starysacz]

We are for reporting to the life boat stations. Have sailed on HAL 27 times and do not mind spending 20 minutes or so in the hot sun and knowing what to do in an emergency.

[lougee1043]

In my experience RCI and NCL do the drill on deck as HAL does. Princess and Celebrity have their drills in different public rooms or spaces.

 

on celeb you meet in a public room with seating and then you are led to your muster station ------------in the event your lifeboat is unuseable you are led to an alternate station ---imo this is a better method then hal uses because you have no idea where to go if the assigned lifeboat is not available because of damage on hal --------