Any news of RCCL going back to in person muster drills?

[SherriZ366]

18 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

I'm currently on Harmony and that definitely was NOT the case on this ship. We were behind a couple of large family groups and not only did they check to see if each person completed the safety videos, they scanned every phone. One woman said she hadn't viewed the videos and sure enough they had her step to the side and finish it before they'd scan her phone.

That's the way to do it -- very thorough on the part of the crew manning Harmony muster stations.  This should be fleet wide!!

[Smmessineo]

@chengkp75Thanks for your insight and good information, as usual. 

[Katems75]

9 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

So fun fact, We were on the Monarch of The Seas in December of 1998 when it hit a coral reef outside of St Martin. The first two decks sank and the captain ran it onto a sand bar to keep it from sinking more. We all reported to our muster station, people were relatively calm and staff were everywhere. My husband and I were prepared with money, ID, small packed bag and in appropriate clothes because we paid attention to the whistles,  We had to abandon ship at 2;00am. Many were still in PJs and no shoes. Some were in formal wear. So I can absolutely say it can happen. 

Wow, could  you elaborate more on what happened?  Were you ever allowed back on at some point to retrieve your belongings?  Did you actually get into a lifeboat and get taken to safety somewhere?   How scary!  Did you happen to write about this event somewhere on here that I could find it?

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, Btank said:

Unpopular opinion here: if they were really serious about the muster drill, they would not sell alcohol until after muster was completed.

 

Someone reported that (folks who hadn’t completed muster couldn’t get a drink) being tried on a ship - obviously it didn’t last. 

[meadowlander]

21 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

For me a packed/Crowded Muster Station is the only situation I'd ever be close to so many other Passengers. Done 9 Cruises so far this yr where I ate alone, sit alone during Shows and never ride Elevators.

You do not have to be in a packed or crowded situation, shoulder to shoulder or making physical contact with others to catch the virus. You can catch a virus from those sitting at the table next to yours in the dining room or 2 tables over or from those sitting in the row behind or before you in the theater or from those in the same row a few seats away.

[davekathy]

The traditional muster drill when we were required to haul our life vest with us use to provide some good entertainment. Watching those blow their whistles when the crew member was giving the demonstration. 🤣

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, meadowlander said:

You do not have to be in a packed or crowded situation, shoulder to shoulder or making physical contact with others to catch the virus. You can catch a virus from those sitting at the table next to yours in the dining room or 2 tables over or from those sitting in the row behind or before you in the theater or from those in the same row a few seats away.

Know that. Just as worried about Influenza and Noro as CV. Even pre-CV haven't been touching railings, Doors, chairs, tables with bare hands in years. My Daughter just arrived home from Royal Cruise with the Flu last nite. SIL today with likely same. Then 8yrs ago my Grand Daughter gave me Noro, I was down for 5 days. Really was last time I was sick.. Cruises, Nobody sat near any my tables, dont eat at main dining and almost all my meals are consumed in my Cabin. Nobody sat near me in Theater, ft or behind, I'm always Balcony side/corner. Havent done a shore excursion since 2015 and last Royal Elevator rode was in 2002. That said my point is I feel at higher risk with hundreds in same small area at my Station along with hundreds more walking threw us then do anywhere else I've been on the Ship. Last month was onboard for 27 days, at start on each my legs I was first one scanned at my station and off I went long before others arrived. Prefer this then old way. Will it change back, possible

Edited November 15, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[Ocean Boy]

13 hours ago, Btank said:

Unpopular opinion here: if they were really serious about the muster drill, they would not sell alcohol until after muster was completed.

 

I will now duck & cover!       --bruce T.

 

Well, you could extrapolate that to say if they were really serious about safety then there would be no alcohol aboard the ships.😲😇

[bucfan2]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Well, you could extrapolate that to say if they were really serious about safety then there would be no alcohol aboard the ships.😲😇

Ya, but that would eliminate half the tipping threads.  Anyway, do you believe reserving a chair at 7am (provided I return by noon) constitutes….🥲

Edited November 15, 2022 by bucfan2

[craig01020]

19 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

But personally I prefer the new safety briefing format. 

It's not really all about you.

[bucfan2]

3 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

It's not really all about you.

deleted

Edited November 15, 2022 by bucfan2

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

It's not really all about you.

And that invalidates his opinion?

[Tenderpaw]

Was on the Disney Wish last month and just off the Odyssey transatlantic.  On the Wish, it was a total joke.  They attempted a “pause” in activity  to review safety and watch the video and no one was paying attention.  I told my wife, if this continues one day a lot of people will die.

 

The  Odyssey was a little better but as much as o hate the traditional muster, it is the safest.  
 

One day a major incident will happen with one of these monster ships.  And it could be very bad. Ships can still sink.  Had there not been a wind to blow the Costa Concordia ashore, it would have sunk in deep water with hundreds dead.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Tenderpaw

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, Tenderpaw said:

Had there not been a wind to blow the Costa Concordia ashore, it would have sunk in deep water with hundreds dead.

Actually, if you read the report on the Concordia, and study the hydrodynamics of the situation, if the ship had remained in deep water, it would have taken longer to sink, and would have remained upright.  It was the grounding on Giglio's shore that caused the ship to roll over.  Had it remained in deep water, there would almost certainly have been less loss of life.

[bucfan2]

Those that want to spend more time at the muster station, knock yourself out; heck, spend all of boarding there…..the staff may enjoy your company. Those that are good w/ the current system, we’ll just listen to everyone else worry/complain/dream about how ‘panicked’ everyone might be someday. Sounds like everyone should be content…..yet we drone on. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by bucfan2

[ballarinamom]

16 hours ago, Katems75 said:

Wow, could  you elaborate more on what happened?  Were you ever allowed back on at some point to retrieve your belongings?  Did you actually get into a lifeboat and get taken to safety somewhere?   How scary!  Did you happen to write about this event somewhere on here that I could find it?

It was about 2:00am and our cabin was on Deck 10. A book fell off the shelf and a few minutes later the whistles sounded. DH said they dont do that for no reason and to get dressed. The cabin steward knocked on each door a few minutes later and told us to go to the muster station now. We had to leave immediately and were not allowed back. We did not use the life boats as we were less than a mile from shore. They used tenders, local tour boas and fishermen to get us to shore and stabilized on the sand bar. They took us all to different hotels around the island. Our "Hotel" was now a school so they had us in a banquet room. Since DH and I had cash we told people we were getting a van and whoever could fit can join. The driver took us to the American Express travel office and got us all rooms at an all inclusive Radisson which RCCL paid for. RCCL There were flyers with information everywhere and the hotel had a list of what time everyone needed to go to the airport and a chartered bus would take  us. We had several hours so we got a cab and di some site seeing before we left to the airport. RCCL chartered 17 737s to get everyone off the island. One was loaded with US citizens going to Miami and the other with nonUS citizens going to the Bahamas, Once they were full they took off.Prior to loading the plane, there was staff trying to sort what luggage had been brought from the ship. The cabin stewards went to each cabin and packed everything for each room in the suitcases in that room and labelled them. They tried to line them up by deck but passengers messed it up by trying to get their stuff first and didnt wait out the short process. They were trying to grab their stuff from the trucks SMH. We decided there was nothing we couldnt live without and trusted RCCL to get us our stuff. We got on the plane and landed in Miami. Those with passports were let off immediately. There were only 4 of us. The rest of the plane had to go through immigration screening. We were me by shuttles that took us to the Airport Hilton where the red Cross gave us care packages, RCCL old us through the flyers to keep all receipts and that we would be reimbursed for any expenses. We were home late the following day and all of our luggage was on our step the next day. We received a full refund, credited our onboard spending, received a free cruise and reimbursement for any expenses we had.  RCCL had an amazing plan in place if you just followed their instructions which some chose not to. Keep in mind this was in the late 1990's before cell phones. auto texting, social media etc which would have made communication so much easier for RCCL. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by ballarinamom

[ballarinamom]

17 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

Whoa I googled that cruise. 
 

https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO Documents/5p/CG-5PC/INV/docs/documents/monarch.pdf

It makes for a great "2 Lies and a Truth" Ice Breaker  answer! LOL!

[Katems75]

4 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

It was about 2:00am and our cabin was on Deck 10...

Wow...I"m so glad everyone was all right.  What a story!  I'm just picturing all those stewards packing everyone's stuff in each room...what an ordeal.  I'm a fussy packer, I can't imagine the state of all those bags, lol.  Sounds like you and your husband are calm, cool, and collected people and just the type I want in an emergency!!  Thanks for sharing all that!

[flamingos]

A public social media post by John Heald of Carnival, in response to this question:

 

Well, as I mentioned in my video safety comes before anything else. Nothing, nothing is more important. I know of no plans to do this and while I am not in a position to never say never I want to state again that the training our crew receive is constant and of the very , very highest order. I have no doubts having been on board in a real emergency situation ( Carnival Splendor Fire ) that our crew would no exactly what to do. And my other take from that emergency was the brilliant and total cooperation of our guests. I saw this first hand.

The new way of doing the drill shows guests where to go in a real emergency and how to wear the life jacket. And in a real emergency that is what guests have to do and from there listen to the Captain, listen to the crew. Trust the captain, trust the crew.

I think that the vast majority understand this and do not want as Warren does and a return to the previous way of doing things.

[meadowlander]

18 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Know that. Just as worried about Influenza and Noro as CV. Even pre-CV haven't been touching railings, Doors, chairs, tables with bare hands in years.

 

That said my point is I feel at higher risk with hundreds in same small area at my Station along with hundreds more walking threw us then do anywhere else I've been on the Ship.

Glad you know that c-19 is airborne and can be transferred despite not being in close proximity to others.

 

I am all for people doing what they feel will keep them save whether it actually does or not. I certainly wont ridicule people for their feelings and actions however extreme unlike too many who are bothered by others wearing face masks, motivated out of fear they will have to wear one as well despite that not being true.

[bretts173]

Didnt Royal develop and patent e Muster before Covid was a thing so why woukd they go back to it now?

 

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

Didnt Royal develop and patent e Muster before Covid was a thing so why woukd they go back to it now?

 

Since SOLAS has not been amended to allow the "e-muster", RCI's system was likely granted a temporary allowance by the IMO, with the understanding, as most new proposals to the IMO go, that after a certain time, and after a certain amount of review of the effectiveness (not popularity) of the system, it would either be granted permanent status, or disallowed.

[bretts173]

Royal Caribbean filed for the patent months before the pandemic began

After hearing about Muster 2.0, many people thought this was the perfect solution to a problem that exists in a world affected by a pandemic. Howe ever, the idea came about months before COVID-19 ever got started.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records the patent filed on September 12, 2019 (with the filing approved and issued on March 3, 2020).

[Tenderpaw]

19 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

It makes for a great "2 Lies and a Truth" Ice Breaker  answer! LOL!

 

People think that technology and crew training will prevent future disasters, just like they thought on the Titanic, Morro Castle, Andrea Doria, Prinsendam, Oceanos, Monarch, Concordia...

 

One day on one of these new Monsters, something bad will happen.  Its inevitable. The Monarch happened because the captain desperately needed to take a dump, the OOW made mistakes, the charts were wrong,  and the Staff Captain was lazy (my opinion).  A combination of issues.

 

As someone said above, herding all the idiot passengers at muster is a form of crew training and it isn't happening now.  Except on Disney.

[ballarinamom]

And fire is one of the most dangerous issues at sea. And when people throw their lit cigarette off their balcony, it can very easily come back into anothe balcony and start a fire. Yet people continue to do it because they "paid a lot of money for this balcony and they can do what they want". There are lots of things that technology cant fix.