Cruise Ship Lifeboat Tour. Is P&O the same ?

[zap99]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Whilst it might be new to P&O the muster on the Oasis class of RCI has never included a life jacket drill.  Yes, you did go to your muster station and get your card scanned which was mainly a familiarisation.  There are no life jackets in any cabins on these ships as they are issued from a direct store if you are called to muster in an emergency.  

 

All the drill involves is the familiarisation and watching a video in much the same way as happens now on P&O.

We have flown oodles of times. I listen carefully to the safety announcements and count the seat backs to the emergency exit on every flight. On boarding a ship we take the muster drills and safety videos seriously.

[zap99]

On 7/23/2023 at 8:12 PM, molecrochip said:

If the ship is in that much trouble, I think you wouldn’t think twice.

 

The problem is that the CC didn’t list that far to begin with. Proper rules should have meant that they lowered and sailed those lifeboats immediately. It would have slowed the list and meant that there would have been more boats available for evacuation.

 

6 days is an extreme. Expectation that for most parts of world, another ship could assist within 12 hours.

The evacuation processes worked fine for some. The Captain seemed to get off OK.🤔

[9265359]

3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

much better to watch and listen to the video repeating the same info several times as you unpack your luggage before a leisurely stroll around the ship to find a tempting bar to  start your holiday cruise.

 

You think the vast majority actually watch that video, rather than quickly finding the remote control to turn it off! 

 

If you held a quiz in Brodies a week into the cruise on the safety drill and muster points, with anyone getting the answers right entitled to a free cruise - well your money would be safe.

 

3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

So you're asked to go to your muster station in an emergency, which may result in you abandoning ship, leaving behind all your holiday clothing and personal possessions and possibly being tossed around in a small unheated lifeboat for several hours, or even in the sea or a smaller life raft if you're unlucky, and you have no idea what you should take with you????

If that's the case then maybe you should not be taking a cruise holiday.

 

In the case of abandoning ship in an emergency, I have as much expectation of survival as I would of the floatation device under my seat in an aircraft actually being useful as it plummets from 40,000 feet towards the sea.

 

That doesn't stop me flying though.

[Ardennais]

We had to have regular fire drills in school and it meant that the staff and pupils knew what to do, where to go, how to get there in an emergency. In 34 years of teaching, I experienced 3 fires and 1 bomb scare (yes, in the depths of the Welsh countryside!) and it was always good to know the ropes. I don’t think watching a video would be the same somehow. 

[zap99]

2 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

You think the vast majority actually watch that video, rather than quickly finding the remote control to turn it off! 

 

If you held a quiz in Brodies a week into the cruise on the safety drill and muster points, with anyone getting the answers right entitled to a free cruise - well your money would be safe.

 

 

In the case of abandoning ship in an emergency, I have as much expectation of survival as I would of the floatation device under my seat in an aircraft actually being useful as it plummets from 40,000 feet towards the sea.

 

That doesn't stop me flying though.

They attach a little light to help in your rescue. 🤔

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

We had to have regular fire drills in school and it meant that the staff and pupils knew what to do, where to go, how to get there in an emergency. In 34 years of teaching, I experienced 3 fires and 1 bomb scare (yes, in the depths of the Welsh countryside!) and it was always good to know the ropes. I don’t think watching a video would be the same somehow. 

But you think the old muster drill was good practise for a real emergency?

I dont know if the cabin TV video will be watched by everyone, but the most important bit IMHO is the recomendation to go back to your cabin, put on warm clothing and ensure you have all your medication with you. You probably dont even need to take your lifehacker, never ming know how to put it on, all that could be sorted once you're in the muster station.

But hopefully none of us will ever be required to put it into practice.

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

But you think the old muster drill was good practise for a real emergency?

I dont know if the cabin TV video will be watched by everyone, but the most important bit IMHO is the recomendation to go back to your cabin, put on warm clothing and ensure you have all your medication with you. You probably dont even need to take your lifehacker, never ming know how to put it on, all that could be sorted once you're in the muster station.

But hopefully none of us will ever be required to put it into practice.

I think a big factor is that so many of us here have been cruising for years and we now like the new arrangements because nothing interrupts our first afternoon onboard. We also know our way around a cruise ship. But yes, I definitely think that the old drill was useful, how useful I hope we never find out!  Not necessarily wearing the lifejacket, just the memory of making your way to the muster station and actually reinforcing the idea that we are on a vessel, and that we have to be vigilant. Even better, on Marco Polo, we had to form a giant ‘crocodile’ and walk out on deck. 
 

You only have to read these boards to see that some cruisers can’t wait for their first few drinks after embarkation and I doubt very much whether everyone watches the safety video. We’ve also read reports of high numbers of first time cruisers. We were hopelessly disorientated for a good day and a half on our first cruise! 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Ardennais

[9265359]

9 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

But you think the old muster drill was good practise for a real emergency?

 

I think actually needing to walk down the stairs from your cabin to where the muster point is, is certainly likely to be more memorable than taking two second to scan a card in an anonymous lift lobby whilst you are on your way to the buffet.

 

9 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

but the most important bit IMHO is the recomendation to go back to your cabin, put on warm clothing

 

You think that many people taking a cruise around the med in July have any warm clothing with them? I doubt many have anything much other than shorts and T shirts.

 

11 hours ago, Ardennais said:

We had to have regular fire drills in school and it meant that the staff and pupils knew what to do, where to go, how to get there in an emergency.

 

At my school, in one of the second floor classrooms the fire escape was rope ladders to be thrown from the windows and in another first floor classroom it was a trap door and ladder in the floor.

 

Unfortunately we never got to try them out in a drill.

[davecttr]

To divert to tendering I notice Arvia and Iona don't have tenders just survival craft. Imagine tendering 5000 plus passengers.

[9265359]

44 minutes ago, davecttr said:

To divert to tendering I notice Arvia and Iona don't have tenders just survival craft. Imagine tendering 5000 plus passengers.

 

Is P&O ever going to use those ships anywhere that tendering would be involved?

[ParisHilton]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:14 PM, kalos said:

I came across a fascinating video and thought wow ! never knew the half of it . 

We just amble by them possibly look up at how many they seat, even jump in one on 

a tender port run to and from shore .

 

My question is P&O, Cunard or any other do they all operate the same ,should the

worst happen ?

I know we have posters who have worked on the ships and would be great to  hear 

their input on ships of the IONA / ARVIA  size ships ,or any of the fleet really .

 

Will leave you with the film .......   Thanks for watching .

 

 

 

That was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.