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Skipping the Muster Drill


Cinebrat

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Now I know most of the seasoned cruisers have either done this or have contemplated doing it. I have been on a lot of cruises and after about the first dozen muster drills that I have been on, I started to make a game out of trying to find places to hide. Where are some of your secret places to hide during the drill.
CineBRAT, you are well named. Some parts of a cruise (or any other vacation) are not all that pleasant: the muster drill, tendering, disembarkation . . . but you hurt others when you don't do the right thing.
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We go because the Captain says so!!!!

 

On our first cruise they made the men stand in the back and ladies in front...my husband asked what was next and I said you need to practice singing "Nearer my God to Thee" (Titanic).

 

My son worked for Princess for 3 yrs and once I complained about doing the drill and he said" I don't want to hear it...I do it every week!

 

Seriously there have been many incidents where crew have abandoned the passengers so the better you are about knowing what to do, where to go and keep your cool could save your life!

 

I also believe it marks the beginning of a great week!

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You really like that whistle.. don't you:D

 

That really spices up this thread.... I have to condiment.. (or is that compliment) you on that post.

 

Where have you been? On a cruise? Just coudn't help the whistle thing. Halls kinda done. On to new (cabin) doors now. Everyone loves the whistle!:D

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If you're on my cruise and the sail away is delayed because you are trying to hide somewhere on the ship, rest assured I will find you and show you how nice and tight the central belt can be pulled in a vertically secured fashion.

 

Unless a rugburn in the shorts is exciting for you, please make it to the drill. Of course, if I must, I'll bring my inspector gadget kit and play work while I'm on vacation. Alas, I'm always on duty... ;)

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Ahh, that lovely "sterile" whistle!:D

 

I, too, am fascinated by the whistle blowers... What does get into someone who sticks that nasty, bacteria-laden, plastic device in their mouth and blow? Next time I see someone do that I think I'll ask, "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" BLECH! Nasty! :p

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I, too, am fascinated by the whistle blowers... What does get into someone who sticks that nasty, bateria-laden, plastic device in their mouth and blow? Next time I see someone do that I think I'll ask, "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" BLECH! Nasty! :p

 

Orange.....? Slam.... ? see what you've done!:D

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Yep, me, a diamond member skipped my first muster drill. I thought, big deal, got to the ship late, just got my carry-on to the cabin, and besides, how many of these have I been through. Wellllll, was I in for shock and awe.

 

I'm not sure who the Captain was but I came to find out he was strict when it came to the muster drill. Soooooo, all of us who didn't show got our names and cabin numbers called over the PA. If that wasn't bad enough, we had to have a make-up muster drill early the next morning (8:00 a.m.). So much for sleeping in, or so I thought.

 

The next thing I know there is a large thump on the cabin door. I get up from my drunken stuper to see that it is 8:45 a.m. and an officer (I think) is at my door dressed in his whites wanting to know why I wasn't at the make-up muster and this and that. Obviously my excuse was poor so I didn't offer much of one up. Welllllllllll, I was told that I would have to report to the Staff Captain (second in command) to explain my situation. I did not know that I had been paged, again, for the make-up muster. I was to see the Staff Captain before dinner that evening.

 

Welllll, mother nature pulled a quick one on us and I was able to get out of seeing the Staff Captain. However, I think I might have been better off if I were to have seen him. It seems, without noticed we were hit with a rogue wave approximately 75 feet high and it hit us on the beam. Well the ship foundered and listed to starboard. I was in the atrium when this happened and all I could think was, my God, what in the world is going on. Well the ship righted itself but there were several horrible explosions on board and the alarm system went off. The next thing I know folks are moving hurriedly with their preservers, but I wasn't sure where they were going or where I should be going. Well unfortunately the damage to the ship was too great and she foundered and went down but not until all were able to get off the ship except one. Yes me. I was the only loss on the Poseidon of the Seas. I never survived and for that I am really upset with not making it to my muster drill. ;)

 

Haven't missed a drill yet! :)

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Now someone should post about letting their little perfect baby in the pool with a diaper on. LOL!
:eek: You mean that's not allowed??;) :p

 

Come on parrothead...you know you are supposed to leave the dirty diaper on a deck chair to scare away the people who try to steal that one perfect chair that you worked so hard for and that only you deserve....;)

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I have a couple new "muster-time" games I'm going to play:

1. ........

....

...3. Mission Impossible (in which I wear a black suit and sunglasses, humming the theme to mission impossible. Occasionally grab a first time cruiser and yell "HIT THE DECK" as I tackle them... (Okay I won't really do this one, but I'll get a good chuckle out of imagining myself doing this...)

"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE" is always a fun game, but enhanced even more if played in a group. Imagine several guys.. dark suit, thin tie, sunglasses... (i-pod thingy in your ear) standing around another guy with a blazer (suitable emblem on breast pocket) and a hat with a big feather sticking out of it. Guys with sunglasses talk into their wrist. Then at dinner... place velvet ropes around the table and tell people to "Make way for the 'Ambassador from Margaritastan'..."

"FBI ???...No Mame, were musicians..."

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  • 2 weeks later...
Can't find the original post on this, but paraphrasing a post by someone with a good sense of humor on one of these boards within the past couple of months:

 

"My husband and I, and many of the people around us, were in our bathing suits at the muster drill. A couple of young women near us were talking to each other, not paying any attention to the drill. I leaned over and said to them, 'You're not wearing your bathing suits. You're going to get awfully wet if they choose you for the demonstration.' They quieted down very quickly." :D

 

Someone earlier mentioned the Darwin Awards. I'm reconsidering my original position that everyone should attend the drill. Now I think that nonattendance may be a good way to weed out (in the event of a real emergency) all those folks who don't attend the drill, don't follow dress recommendations for dinner, don't tip the staff, don't buy travel insurance, bring travel irons, and, of course, are chair hogs. ;) Gosh, I love cruising...and all the varied people who help make it so interesting!

 

Oops - I forgot to quote the bathing suit thing with my last post. I think that's hilarious and completely appropriate. ;)

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I have cruised on Carnival, Celebrity and Princess before. I am going on my first RC cruise in a few weeks. I have never had my cabin number checked off or even asked who we were or what room we were in. But the point I wanted to make was that I was VERY pleasently surprised on my last cruise with Princess, when we got to the Muster Station, they went over the instructions as normal, but they NEVER made us go outside or line up outside. Plus they didn't make us wear our Life Preservers. During their safety thing they went though the demo of how to put them on and asked them to do ours. We put them on and then they said we were done. It literally was like 10 min from the point it started. I thought it worked out great. It was short enough to keep everyone's attention and went though the stuff we needed to know. JMHO.

 

Thanks

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Here is my biggest problem. By the time they have the muster drill, I am usually kinda drunk. While I don't really know if I would know what to do in an emergency, at least I was there. Its not like it is such a horrible experience. It doesn't take very long, and like other have said, its a nice way to meet other people. We have always met fun people at the muster drill. I kinda enjoy it and just make the most out of it. To me, the muster drill means we are about to start our incredible vacation. And besides, since EVERYTHING is closed during the muster drill, what else are you going to do. Hide in your closet. Insead of making a game out of avoiding it, make the muster drill itself fun.

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There is a reason why you should attend the muster drill. For the photo op. I look forward every cruise to have my picture taken for my album. The first time that I showed my album at work, they all thought it was silly to have a life boat drill and I explained that is is a maritime law. The ships have to have this drill prior to leaving port. Every ship is different and have different rules on where you are to be in the case of an emergency. You should all know where that is. Now, in the case of an emergency, you may not remember where that station is, but at least you had the sense to attend the drill.

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Now someone should post about letting their little perfect baby in the pool with a diaper on. LOL!

:eek: You mean that's not allowed??;) :p

Come on parrothead...you know you are supposed to leave the dirty diaper on a deck chair to scare away the people who try to steal that one perfect chair that you worked so hard for and that only you deserve....;)

 

Hmmm. a diaper... little peanut butter on it, come back to your deck chair ...sniff, taste..."yucky face"

...you'll probably get the chair on each side of you as well.

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On my first cruise (Imagination) we had some sort of problem leaving and so muster was put off until everyone had boarded? As we sat down to dinner (late seating) and we had already ordered, the muster drill started. We didn't know what to do and the waiters came over and said that we should go ahead and eat our meal and the muster for our dinner seating would be rescheduled in the morning. The told us they would leave a note under our doors to let us know when. We never got a note and therefore never did the muster drill which is very scary but it was our first cruise and didn't know how important it was.

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While all of us are waiting for the late arrivals at the drill, we could all do the Macarena. Can you just picture what people onshore or on another ship near us would see? Since they don't do the Macarena in the dining room anymore, (thank God) it would preserve amother one of those "cruise traditions" that many people on this board are always complaining about being taken away.:rolleyes:

 

Hypo

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While all of us are waiting for the late arrivals at the drill, we could all do the Macarena. Can you just picture what people onshore or on another ship near us would see? Since they don't do the Macarena in the dining room anymore, (thank God) it would preserve amother one of those "cruise traditions" that many people on this board are always complaining about being taken away.:rolleyes:

 

Hypo

 

I have a better idea. Anyone late to the Muster Drill has to do the Macarana

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I have a better idea. Anyone late to the Muster Drill has to do the Macarana
Ladies and Gentlemen.. we have a winner!!!

GREAT idea!!

And they have to do it on stage, under the full ridicule of the cruise director (with their life vest on)

Then we can make them blow the whistle too!!

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