Muster Drills

[megabill]

JimBsGirl - I think it was my first cruise too that i recalled being check off... coincidentally - Sensation also.

 

I also forgot to mention before, on Celebrity, the door controllers tend to hold back the folks in wheelchairs until all the guests are under their lifeboats this way the wheelchaired folks can be escorted right up front, isntead of being burried, as they are also the first to embark a lifeboat should the need arise.

[dan40]

Hi everyone! I know this has been asked before, but I wasn't able to find anything recent. I will be going on my 3rd Carnival cruise in December and was wondering if they strictly enforce the rules regarding everyone attending the muster drill. I know we should be there, but if we decide to hide-out in our cabin, will they actually come looking for us? How would they know who is there and who isn't?

 

 

What would you call a person that made you stand in the hot sun for a extra 15 or 30 minutes while the crew double and triple checks the attendance list. Then goes looking for the missing person/people. Especially when, after rudely causing discomfort for EVERYONE else, the idiots will probably be "invited" to their own personal muster drill the next day, having gained nothing but animosity from their fellow pax.

What name would you give those persons?

 

If nothing comes to mind, many would have suggestions.

 

Dan

[smrn]

I quite enjoy them. It signals the start of my vacation.

 

Eveything on the ship is shut down during this time and it sure is better than sitting in the bathroom for 30 minutes. Take a camera and get those Kodak moments to enjoy on a cold rainy day at home. ;)

 

I have the best and funniest muster drill photos! After the drill, we tear off our life jackets, breath in deeply, and relax. Because then, and only then, do we know our cruise has officially begun!

[smrn]

If you do not think the muster drill is important just stop and think if you were on the:

• Sea Diamond of the coast of Santorini (sunk)
  
• Levina 1 ferry in Indonesia (sunk)
  
• Empress of the North off the Alaskan coast (grounded)

If you want a visual then watch Titanic and Poseidon.

 

Still want to skip the muster?

Sorry to change the subject, but did they ever find those two missing from the Sea Diamond?

[ala-kat]

JimBsGirl

 

 

 

HEY GIRL!! How the heck are you??? We had one planned for Sept. again, but it changed. Good to see ya here.

[tim05811]

It's a muster drill. Most of us have done it several times already. It's not the end of the world if you cut class one time. Sounds like some of you are dying to rat out your neighbors for not showing up for one of these. Relax.....

[TnK]

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I've searched and searched and as a first timer, I'm wondering what exactly happens at the muster drill? :confused:

 

Another post mentioned "running around" during the muster drill...Call me a girly girl, but I was planning on wearing heels and hadn't anticipated "running" anywhere that day!! :p

 

Thanks,

Karen

[Rangervr6178]

Please attend. This is coming from a Carnival crewmember and I will admit to it here on this post.

 

The boat drill is for you safety, and it really does not require much work from you at all. It is a only 20 minutes long and then you may resume your vacation. Us crewmembers do this every single cruise, and we have the same delimmas of guests shouting or swearing at us just for having to come to a drill arranged for their safety. I could write a book of boat drill stories!

 

In all reality if something were to happen we want you guys to have a better understanding of what steps to take. Next time I sail on a cruise, even if its on a class of ship I have worked a year on, I will still attend the drill for the crew's sake!

 

Oh and I can also recite the entire boat drill annoucement!

[Pegs222]

Hi everyone! I know this has been asked before, but I wasn't able to find anything recent. I will be going on my 3rd Carnival cruise in December and was wondering if they strictly enforce the rules regarding everyone attending the muster drill. I know we should be there, but if we decide to hide-out in our cabin, will they actually come looking for us? How would they know who is there and who isn't?

 

I am begging you to go to that drill. Not only will you find out where you should go if a disaster happens, but you will find out what you need to do if that is the case. By not going you could be hurting the other cruisers because you do not know anything. I do not care how many you have been to, go and do the right thing. They will come looking for you and they will not start the drill if you are not there. Do you want to be the one that all the rest of the passengers look at and say, he was the one that screwed up our first hour of OUR cruise.

[halos]

Gee....chill out !!!! We are just expressing an opinion here, too....:p

 

You have to understand that the people (and I know it's not you because you've stated that you do attend the drills) who try to skip the drills, make the dang things LONGER for the rest of us.

If you've vere had an interminably long drill, you can bet your bottom it's because passengers weren't accounted for, and until everyone has that life jacket on and is accounted for at their muster station, NO ONE gets to go back to the freaking bar :eek:

 

So please people, put the jacket on and just do it. I can't see how hiding out in the bathroom is better.

[sjohnson529]

My biggest complaint about the Muster is that everyone doesn't put on their jackets! Some of us, who obey the rules, are sweating bullets and can hardly breath with those big ole orange torture chambers on while others are sitting there with them in their lap or on the floor just having a good time. :mad:

[dan40]

It's a muster drill. Most of us have done it several times already. It's not the end of the world if you cut class one time. Sounds like some of you are dying to rat out your neighbors for not showing up for one of these. Relax.....

 

I've been to 48 muster drills so don't tell me to relax while I'm sweating in the sun, jammed into a crowd of pumpkins. Missing 15 or 30 minutes of my relaxing, first day winding down and having a toddy time, while some bozo the clown hides in his john, comforting himself, and thinking he is above the rules.

AND, there is a good reason for the drills in the first place. So go to the drill, PERIOD.

 

Dan

[Pischina]

I would definitely say Go to the drill and Pay Attention!

 

We just went on our first cruise, so we dutifully did what we were told and the whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes. But then we set sail and I realized... there is no land in sight!!! I thought back to the drill and could not even remember how I had gotten to the station. We had just been herded down hallways and down stairs and I never paid any attention to where I was going. I started to imagine what it would be like if the ship was going down and all 3000 aboard were running around trying to find the life boats... :eek: It wasn't a pretty picture.

 

I go on my next cruise in January, and I'll definitely be paying more attention to how I get to the muster station. And I would be severely pissed off if the drill was extended for people who were trying to hide. The muster drill is just the last line you have to stand in before the ship sets sail and your vacation begins, it's no bigger deal than that.:)

 

For the poster who asked what the drill is: Right before setting sail they sound an alarm and everyone goes to their cabins, gets their life jackets out of the closets, and goes down to their "muster station" by the life boats. You won't have to wonder where to go, all the crew will be herding you in the right direction. While on deck they check to make sure you have your life jacket on correctly, make sure everyone is there, and then it's over. The ship sets sail and you have no more responsibilities!

[fllady61]

I would definitely say Go to the drill and Pay Attention!

 

We just went on our first cruise, so we dutifully did what we were told and the whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes. But then we set sail and I realized... there is no land in sight!!! I thought back to the drill and could not even remember how I had gotten to the station. We had just been herded down hallways and down stairs and I never paid any attention to where I was going. I started to imagine what it would be like if the ship was going down and all 3000 aboard were running around trying to find the life boats... :eek: It wasn't a pretty picture.

 

I go on my next cruise in January, and I'll definitely be paying more attention to how I get to the muster station. And I would be severely pissed off if the drill was extended for people who were trying to hide. The muster drill is just the last line you have to stand in before the ship sets sail and your vacation begins, it's no bigger deal than that.:)

 

For the poster who asked what the drill is: Right before setting sail they sound an alarm and everyone goes to their cabins, gets their life jackets out of the closets, and goes down to their "muster station" by the life boats. You won't have to wonder where to go, all the crew will be herding you in the right direction. While on deck they check to make sure you have your life jacket on correctly, make sure everyone is there, and then it's over. The ship sets sail and you have no more responsibilities!

 

You are lucky. My last Glory cruise and my Sensation cruise, the muster drill took nearly an hour. we were out of port by the time we got back to the lido deck.

[Pegs222]

It's a muster drill. Most of us have done it several times already. It's not the end of the world if you cut class one time. Sounds like some of you are dying to rat out your neighbors for not showing up for one of these. Relax.....

 

 

Most of us have not done it several times already. Never assume that your fellow cruisers know more than you think they do.

 

Go ahead do not go and when the ship is in trouble and you have not a clue what to do, don't even bother to ask anyone because since you did not go, you will get the wrong answer.

[CC Help Michell]

It's a muster drill. Most of us have done it several times already. It's not the end of the world if you cut class one time. Sounds like some of you are dying to rat out your neighbors for not showing up for one of these. Relax.....

 

Just out of curiosity, where did you get the idea that attending muster drill is optional? I know that some people occasionally report no bad consequences TO THEM from skipping it -- but I've read plenty of reports from people who had to sweat or freeze and suffer for 30 minutes until the crew was satisfied that the no-shows weren't going to appear, and from many other passengers who missed the main muster and were required to attend make-up muster drill. The Coast Guard REQUIRES these drills for the safety of everyone aboard, and I do believe that any cruiseline that ignores the requirement, or persistently permits passengers to duck out without consequence, is risking their license.

 

The crew's number one job is passenger safety -- let them do their job, then commence the party!

[CC Help Michell]

You are lucky. My last Glory cruise and my Sensation cruise, the muster drill took nearly an hour. we were out of port by the time we got back to the lido deck.

 

 

Our shortest drill was 15 minutes -- our longest, like you, nearly an hour. That one involved repeated announcements over the intercom asking for passengers who (clearly) hadn't shown up. Did you experience the same thing, or see the crew discussing/checking off cabins? Just curious.

[Kurbanfan]

They may check cabins but I can assure you they don't do a roll call.

Just got off the Elation. Time for muster drill. Me a dh's cabin right next door to ds and dd in law. We go to our cabins pick up our life jackets put on and follow ds to our muster station. Stood outside on lido deck with everyone in our station. Little did we know until I looked at our letter on our jackets and they were different:eek: Different from our ds and everyone else standing around. This was just as the drill was completed. Our bad. we did show up but at wrong station:p

[fllady61]

Our shortest drill was 15 minutes -- our longest, like you, nearly an hour. That one involved repeated announcements over the intercom asking for passengers who (clearly) hadn't shown up. Did you experience the same thing, or see the crew discussing/checking off cabins? Just curious.

 

 

I don't know. we were against the wall with 6 rows of people in front of us. and it was about 160 degrees or it felt back there. i just know that it took forever.

 

for someone who has panic attacks, this was not a good situation. I felt like I was being sufficated.

 

This time, I am in a wheelchair, so will ask room steward what we are to do other than go down early. I will not be in the back this tme. I will tell them my family and I need to stay together, and I am causterfobic and have panic attacks and need to be where I can breathe the fresh air.

[dan40]

They may check cabins but I can assure you they don't do a roll call.

Just got off the Elation. Time for muster drill. Me a dh's cabin right next door to ds and dd in law. We go to our cabins pick up our life jackets put on and follow ds to our muster station. Stood outside on lido deck with everyone in our station. Little did we know until I looked at our letter on our jackets and they were different:eek: Different from our ds and everyone else standing around. This was just as the drill was completed. Our bad. we did show up but at wrong station:p

 

Those numbers and letters is how they take the roll, each station has a list of who should be there and they see your number and check it off their list. And they DO hunt down no shows and conduct a muster drill for them the next day. In your case, the systems broke down [it haad to beee you:p] but that isn't the norm.

 

Dan

[spar23]

Ok please don't laugh, but next week is our first cruise with children. We are all in one room. Do they automatically have child size life jackets or do we ask our steward for them. I never really paid attention on previous cruises as it has always been just mommy and daddy. I am sometimes overly cautious (ok downright OCD) when it comes to the safety of my children, but they are my greatest blessing. Just want to keep them safe. Thanks for any info.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[megabill]

Spar23: I would imagine, since your childrens names and ages would be on the Guest Manifest, your stateroom attendant would be alerted to put the appropriate life jackets in your stateroom. If there isn't when you get there, don't fret, just find your stateroom attendant, and he should be able to get you what you need.

 

fllady61: I would suggest, of course, get to your muster station early, and just make sure that you tell the crew memeber by your station that you are clausterphobic, and i would hope that the would put you up front. Also given that you're in a wheelchair, i would, again, hope that they would put you up front (those in wheelchairs are the first to board a lifeboat anyways).

[Donna573]

Thank you everyone for your responses. It seems that I may have caused somewhat of an uproar with some critics and just want to assure everyone that I was only asking a question and have every intention of attending the Muster drill on my next cruise. The only reason that I asked the question was b/c it seems like the drills got longer with each cruise and I was curious if it had something to do with passengers not showing up. Isn't that what these boards are for??? Anyway, thank you again for your honesty and I'll see you at the Muster Drill!!! :)

[volvo99]

Hi everyone! I know this has been asked before, but I wasn't able to find anything recent. I will be going on my 3rd Carnival cruise in December and was wondering if they strictly enforce the rules regarding everyone attending the muster drill. I know we should be there, but if we decide to hide-out in our cabin, will they actually come looking for us? How would they know who is there and who isn't?

 

 

I suppose you are the type to ignore the flight attendant when she does her safety briefing too.

 

Hope an accident does not happen when you are on board...see you at the morgue.

[TnK]

I would definitely say Go to the drill and Pay Attention!

 

We just went on our first cruise, so we dutifully did what we were told and the whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes. But then we set sail and I realized... there is no land in sight!!! I thought back to the drill and could not even remember how I had gotten to the station. We had just been herded down hallways and down stairs and I never paid any attention to where I was going. I started to imagine what it would be like if the ship was going down and all 3000 aboard were running around trying to find the life boats... :eek: It wasn't a pretty picture.

 

I go on my next cruise in January, and I'll definitely be paying more attention to how I get to the muster station. And I would be severely pissed off if the drill was extended for people who were trying to hide. The muster drill is just the last line you have to stand in before the ship sets sail and your vacation begins, it's no bigger deal than that.:)

 

For the poster who asked what the drill is: Right before setting sail they sound an alarm and everyone goes to their cabins, gets their life jackets out of the closets, and goes down to their "muster station" by the life boats. You won't have to wonder where to go, all the crew will be herding you in the right direction. While on deck they check to make sure you have your life jacket on correctly, make sure everyone is there, and then it's over. The ship sets sail and you have no more responsibilities!

 

Thank you for the description!