Muster Drills

[Midpacpl]

Is Celebrity still using e-muster drills and if so, what is the process? 

[TeeRick]

Yes!  Download the Celebrity app and you can do the Muster Drill by watching there.  Or once onboard, in your stateroom on the TV.  Either way, before the ship departs you just go to your designated muster area and tell them you are there and they check you off the list.  That's it.

[davekathy]

We hope Celebrity never goes back to the old cattle call muster procedures. Current process is sooo much better.  

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

We hope Celebrity never goes back to the old cattle call muster procedures. Current process is sooo much better.  

Yes I agree and so does NCL as they changed back to the emuster after much and mucho complaints

[Arizona Wildcat]

16 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Yes I agree and so does NCL as they changed back to the emuster after much and mucho complaints

And Princess and likely the others.  We turn on the video when we get to our room.

[cbfb]

Our last 2 cruises, February and March, we could do the App portion at our hotel the morning of the cruise. Once we boarded we went directly to the muster station and they checked us in using our express pass. Easy! 

[keesar]

Make sure your name is checked off  by the muster attendant.  The attendant did not check off my name and the Captain threatened to call out the names of those that did not check before we departed.  

[NevadaCruiser2023]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Yes!  Download the Celebrity app and you can do the Muster Drill by watching there.  Or once onboard, in your stateroom on the TV.  Either way, before the ship departs you just go to your designated muster area and tell them you are there and they check you off the list.  That's it.

Yeah, we just stopped by the muster station once we got our sea-pass cards after boarding.  Checked in and on to the Martini Bar.  All in all, took less than 5 minutes.   

[soniam]

Not looking forward to the in-person muster torture in June on our DCL cruise. It's usually in full sun on the deck, with people showing up very late and talking the whole time. At least we don't have to wear our life jackets anymore. So looking forward to the luxury of the Celebrity muster drill in July though.

[Oceansaway17]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:44 PM, keesar said:

Make sure your name is checked off  by the muster attendant.  The attendant did not check off my name and the Captain threatened to call out the names of those that did not check before we departed.  

yes I do this and I tell them I have not watched the video yet but they said it is fine since I showed up to the location of the muster.  They do not access who looks at video or not.  Me thinks the IT dept would not be able to even handle or write a program to do this.  ha ha

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:13 AM, Oceansaway17 said:

Yes I agree and so does NCL as they changed back to the emuster after much and mucho complaints

 

EMuster uses more staff.  NCL cut a bunch of the entertainment staff, many of whom were tasked with manning the emuster stations.  Unless things have recently changed Disney still does the traditional muster

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yes I do this and I tell them I have not watched the video yet but they said it is fine since I showed up to the location of the muster.  They do not access who looks at video or not.  Me thinks the IT dept would not be able to even handle or write a program to do this.  ha ha

 

I wondered about that on our recent princess cruise.  It looked to me like they logged when we watched the video.  At least that is what I think because I saw our names/pics checked off at the end of the vid.  Not saying Celebrity is the same.  Just an observation.   

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

I'm hesitant to even jump in on these threads but can hardly resist. I just have - and will probably always have - a problem with making these muster drills too easy and/or convenient ever since having gone through a real emergency and evacuation from a cruise ship. I'll never think of any muster drill in quite the same way again, let alone the general alarm signal that they play as part of the safety protocol. It goes right through me every time. I'm fairly certain I recognize a few names on this thread that have likely heard me talk about this issue before. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

On 4/5/2023 at 1:11 PM, davekathy said:

We hope Celebrity never goes back to the old cattle call muster procedures

But doesn't that ultimately have more impact - having to actually go to one's muster station and stand there for a bit? Don't get me wrong, I never enjoyed it all that much either, and, up until my experience of March '19 I would have agreed - let's somehow simplify all this! But going through the real thing changed my way of thinking. In the anxiety of the moment - knowing you've got to abandon ship - many people are lucky if they even can think of what to do or where to go. Throw in to the equation never even having visited the muster station yet and it sure won't make the evacuation process go any easier. In my particular situation, seeing how to put on the lifevest in person turned out to not be all that critical being that the situation was so dire that we couldn't even launch the boats. But that was (hopefully) a very freak event. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

Dakahuna.....can you enlighten me as to what humors you relative to my thoughts on muster drills?  I was just trying to impress upon people to please take the drill seriously. I can guarantee that the possibility of an actual cruise emergency is a situation not to be taken lightly. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Dakahuna.....can you enlighten me as to what humors you relative to my thoughts on muster drills? Just curious...

 

Your comment about "on this thread that have likely heard me talk about this issue before. "  If my memory serves me correct, you and I had a very short discussion on this in that other thread. 

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Your comment about "on this thread that have likely heard me talk about this issue before. "  If my memory serves me correct, you and I had a very short discussion on this in that other thread. 

Yours wasn't one of the names that seemed familiar but if you recall  a discussion then I'm sure you're right. As I said, I shouldn't put my two cents in on these anymore. Doesn't change what the cruise lines do anyway. It's all good. Most people will likely never experience an evacuation during a cruise anyway. 

[DaKahuna]

8 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Yours wasn't one of the names that seemed familiar but if you recall  a discussion then I'm sure you're right. As I said, I shouldn't put my two cents in on these anymore. Doesn't change what the cruise lines do anyway. It's all good. Most people will likely never experience an evacuation during a cruise anyway. 

 

No worries, I tend not to be a memorable person.  

 

[davekathy]

38 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

But doesn't that ultimately have more impact - having to actually go to one's muster station and stand there for a bit? Don't get me wrong, I never enjoyed it all that much either, and, up until my experience of March '19 I would have agreed - let's somehow simplify all this! But going through the real thing changed my way of thinking. In the anxiety of the moment - knowing you've got to abandon ship - many people are lucky if they even can think of what to do or where to go. Throw in to the equation never even having visited the muster station yet and it sure won't make the evacuation process go any easier. In my particular situation, seeing how to put on the lifevest in person turned out to not be all that critical being that the situation was so dire that we couldn't even launch the boats. But that was (hopefully) a very freak event. 

We hope Celebrity never goes back to the old cattle call muster procedures. Current process is sooo much better.  

[MMMCruiser]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:22 PM, soniam said:

Not looking forward to the in-person muster torture in June on our DCL cruise. It's usually in full sun on the deck, with people showing up very late and talking the whole time. At least we don't have to wear our life jackets anymore. So looking forward to the luxury of the Celebrity muster drill in July though.

Same here.  I'm booked on the Dream this June and I'm dreading the muster drill.  I hope Celebrity sticks with the virtual one since I booked a 2024 cruise and I would much prefer it.

[soniam]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

EMuster uses more staff.  NCL cut a bunch of the entertainment staff, many of whom were tasked with manning the emuster stations.  Unless things have recently changed Disney still does the traditional muster

 

Disney switched back to in-person. They were doing virtualish until recently. It was kind of garbagy though, because trying to get the video to play on your phone through the app was hard. It kept pausing and spinning. We were never able to get it to play completely, and we couldn't find it on the stateroom TV. We have been on many cruises though, so we know what to do. We had to check off at the muster station in-person. Even if we hadn't been required, we would have at least went to find it. I don't want to be worrying about where it is in an emergency. But standing there in the sun waiting for inconsiderate people to show up is completely not fun.

[NutsAboutGolf]

15 minutes ago, soniam said:

 

Disney switched back to in-person. They were doing virtualish until recently. It was kind of garbagy though, because trying to get the video to play on your phone through the app was hard. It kept pausing and spinning. We were never able to get it to play completely, and we couldn't find it on the stateroom TV. We have been on many cruises though, so we know what to do. We had to check off at the muster station in-person. Even if we hadn't been required, we would have at least went to find it. I don't want to be worrying about where it is in an emergency. But standing there in the sun waiting for inconsiderate people to show up is completely not fun.

 

Yup.  While it's up to the coast guard to allow virtual or not you would have to imagine they'll consider cruise line feedback

 

Something that my last carnival sailing did that I haven't yet seen on celebrity yet, is when you first walk onto the ship, the greeters on carnival asked something like "welcome aboard, would you like any help locating your muster drill station?"

 

Unlike over an announcement, it's a face to face interaction, the couple in front of us responded "I didn't realize you could get it done now".  You still have the choice to say no thanks and go to your stateroom or where ever if you'd like.  There are people who just need an extra nudge/suggestion to get it done in a timely manner.  Also with brand new cruisers, some have no idea what a muster drill even is or realize they need to attend one

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Something that my last carnival sailing did that I haven't yet seen on celebrity yet, is when you first walk onto the ship, the greeters on carnival asked something like "welcome aboard, would you like any help locating your muster drill station?"

 

Unlike over an announcement, it's a face to face interaction, the couple in front of us responded "I didn't realize you could get it done now".  You still have the choice to say no thanks and go to your stateroom or where ever if you'd like.  There are people who just need an extra nudge/suggestion to get it done in a timely manner.  Also with brand new cruisers, some have no idea what a muster drill even is or realize they need to attend one

I actually had something like this happen when I was boarding the Millie in November.

 

As I was boarding the ship, I was greeted by a couple of employees, one of whom was a striped officer in uniform.  The officer asked to see my card, noted that the muster station wasn't far from where we were, and offered to escort me there.  I suppose I could have refused, but I learned long ago that when someone in authority offers to do something, you decline at your peril.

[Z'Loth]

Meh... I treat muster drills and airline briefings the same way I treat being prepared for a possible tornado in north Dallas suburb. I consider being hit by a tornado, although fairly low, is still significant enough for me to ensure that I have a working SAME weather radio, a safe room, and a emergency kit including water. 

 

Same thing when traveling. I always have a small but powerful LED flashlight in my day pack as well as my luggage. I pay attention to the airline briefings, and muster drills have my full attention. 

 

Why? Well, I have a healthy respect for Chaos Theory, Murphy's Law, and that fortune favors the prepared. While I have full trust in the pilots, ships crew, and the mechanics in ensuring that "nothing" happens, I have a nagging feeling that if I don't pay attention to the briefings, something bad happens. 

 

And, remember, bad things happen. Anyone remember the Concordia or Viking Sky? So, I take a little offense when someone says "cattle call muster procedures".

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

10 hours ago, soniam said:

and we couldn't find it on the stateroom TV

 

On the Dream last May it was playing on AutoPlay on the television when you turned on the power in the room.