Muster Drill on Explora

[Raintree]

Was wondering what the muster drill is like on Explora?  Is it all in-person or an e-muster drill as other ships?  Thank you.

[travelwide]

Watch on TV and go down to your muster station to scan card.

[Host Jazzbeau]

That works for DW and me, but we are experienced cruisers and conscientious about things like this.  The worry with such online musters is about newbie and blasé cruisers who may panic if there is a real emergency, and have zero 'muscle memory' to guide them.  Another of those areas where my individual freedom perhaps should defer to the general good...

[Stickman1990]

On a related note how often are they doing the crew drills these days?
 

And have they found a reasonable volume for the emergency  sirens around the ship (of course they need to be loud and clear to be effective in an emergency) but they were very loud and piercing back in September 

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

On a related note how often are they doing the crew drills these days?
 

And have they found a reasonable volume for the emergency  sirens around the ship (of course they need to be loud and clear to be effective in an emergency) but they were very loud and piercing back in September 

As you get older, that will become the necessary level to get your attention...

[Stickman1990]

21 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

As you get older, that will become the necessary level to get your attention...

No this was beyond what was necessary 

 

Were you onboard then?

 

It was an issue that those who were raised with the senior managers 

[Host Jazzbeau]

27 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

No this was beyond what was necessary 

 

Were you onboard then?

 

It was an issue that those who were raised with the senior managers 

I only know what my wife tells me...  😉

[uktog]

In November and early December the muster was as described, watch video in room then go to muster station at 5pm in our case and watch how to put life jacket on. Life jackets are not in your room, they are handed out at the muster station (though this did not get tested as part of the drill). It was a pretty thorough briefing all in compared to some lines. Its adequacy was no concern to us.  

@Stickman1990 yes crew drills happened 3 times in 19 days maybe due to the high level of new joiners in Barbados and Miami.  They were very extensive, lasting well over an hour with full simulation (eg fire hoses run out). The announcements and alarms were frequent and loud and there was some disruption to guest services during the period. If as in one port as we had done, you had opted for a peaceful ship day, well it certainly wasn’t during the drill. I think you had to be there to appreciate the noise (also crew communications with each other that were loud and at times agitated). 
That said, it did give a level of reassurance to guests how seriously they take this training. Our issue was that announcements weren’t clearly prefaced this is a drill and we saw guests who’d come back from ashore mid drill becoming very concerned on hearing the first announcement after reboarding. 

[Stickman1990]

16 minutes ago, uktog said:

Our issue was that announcements weren’t clearly prefaced this is a drill and we saw guests who’d come back from ashore mid drill becoming very concerned on hearing the first announcement after reboarding. 

Yes back when we were onboard it was very confused - the Captain would say take your medication and proceed to your muster station without it being made very clear it was only an exercise although earlier on the person running the drill did say it was an exercise but many were confused as it proceeded over a long period - very very confusing 

[PrivateIdaho]

9 hours ago, Raintree said:

Was wondering what the muster drill is like on Explora?  Is it all in-person or an e-muster drill as other ships?

A combination of both. Watch the in suite video and then go to muster station and have your cruise card scanned. No life vests required. 

[Hlitner]

I will possibly be labeled an alarmist, but the muster/safety procedure on EJ1 caused me a lot of concern.  Why?  With about 50 years of extensive cruise experience I have some heartburn about the way the muster drill has become a joke on quite a few cruise lines....with Explora being among the worst.  As long as things go well, none of this matters.  But safety drills are a tried and proven strategy to save lives when things go wrong.  On EJ1 you have nearly 80% of the crew on their first contract without ever having worked on a ship or a marine environment.  The muster drill is to simply play a video (many will let it play and not even watch).  On EJ1, there are not even life jackets in the cabins.  In the event of a real emergency, folks are to go to their meeting place (which is inside a ship) and trust that the crew will properly distribute life jackets.  But in real emergencies, things seldom go as planned and panic is often the reality.  It is real practice, and experience, that usually makes the difference between life and death.

 

As some point in the future, there is going to be a major emergency on a cruise ship (this is inevitable).  Are the crew and passengers ready to deal with it?  My many years on ships (over 3 years of actual passenger days) and previous training/experience as a Paramedic, tells me that there is much amiss in how passengers are drilled for an unlikely event.  As to the crew, we must trust in the system (or not cruise) but I have my doubts.  The history of such things is that at some point there will be a disaster (not necessarily on EJ) and than the post investigation will point lots of fingers and things will change.  That is the way of the world.  We are much better at investigations and finger pointing than at prevention.

 

Hank

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

  We are much better at investigations and finger pointing than at prevention.

 

Hank

I've only been sailing for 34 years (?)(!) and the only time on any of my cruises that people took it seriously was the old days of HAL. During the drills, they would actually lower a couple of the lifeboats to show you "this is what would happen".

 

While a picture is worth a thousand words, the actual presentation of a situation is even more striking!

[Hlitner]

13 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I've only been sailing for 34 years (?)(!) and the only time on any of my cruises that people took it seriously was the old days of HAL. During the drills, they would actually lower a couple of the lifeboats to show you "this is what would happen".

 

While a picture is worth a thousand words, the actual presentation of a situation is even more striking!

We will not talk about how many years ago...you saw that demo :).  We can also talk about everyone mustering outdoors, being told to please keep quiet, etc.  To be honest, I hated those kind of muster drills, but did understand it was for our own good.  I also remember folks working the system to get excused ("I have physical issues,"  "it is too hot, "it is too cold,"  etc.).  I always wondered what would happen with those folks in a real emergency.

 

By the way, DW and were just talking about the Costa Concordia disaster.  As I recall, most who died did so because they did what they had been told during drills, "return to your cabin to put on warm clothing and get your medications."   Each emergency has its own issues and common sense goes a long way to saving lives.  Unfortunately, this is not very workable for drills and many folks have little common sense when they are in panic mode during real emergencies.

 

Hank

[Raintree]

Thank you.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thank you Hank.  This is the point I was trying to make in post #3, based on responses by @chengkp75 who really knows this stuff!