Hiding in Your Cabin During Lifeboat Drill

[sonadom]

Thanksgiving week on the NCL Spirit the muster drill was probably the most organized and quickest I've experienced. The station labels were visible. The crew was eager to assist you to get to the right place. Once there they didn't keep yelling at us to push back. When you walked up, they checked your cabin number off the list (looked at your life jacket for the number - you didnt' have to answer a roll call or keep telling them the cabin number). We were able to quietly socialize in the lines before the drill actually began without crew yelling at us. It didn't take long.

 

Quite a difference from the Alaska RCCL cruise in 2005 when the crew made it an unpleasant experience and the roll call and drill took forever.

[nicknack]

You shouldn't be horrifed as an ex-flight attendant. You should be horrified as a sane person. If I was on a cruise and I had to wait an inordinate length of time during the muster drill because other people were 'hiding' and causing us all headaches, I would find out who they were and I would make their life hell for the rest of the cruise. Idiotic, pure and simple.

 

No offense intended, but these are the kind of threatening comments that prevent people from voicing their real opinions, and preventing the rest of us from getting a real sense of how widespread the practice is.

[isles1]

How long does this drill last? When is it held?

[lidodeckbound]

Oh, and to answer the OP's question - they didn't say anything about it on the cruise we just took last week, but when we did the RCCL cruise a couple of years ago, we had to wait until EVERYONE on the list showed up for the drill before we could leave. They kept calling a few cabin numbers over and over, and then sent someone up to get the people out...

 

So for the sake of everyone else who is being responsible and standing there looking silly in their lifejackets, please show up so we can get it over with and get on with the fun!! :)

 

 

What Jeepgirl said...JUst do it and get it over with. Hey I am a "jeep girl" too!

[jp2001]

How long does this drill last? When is it held?

 

On my 2 previous cruise, it was about 10 minutes (including the time to get to our muster station) and was held just before sailaway.

[newmexicoNita]

short and painless, but I too hate them. I look at them 2 ways: 1-I have cruised so much I could probably recite word for word what they will try and explain to us and 2-if something did happen I would be so paniced I probably wouldn't remember what they told us anyway.

 

I guess we do cause we would be too embarrassed not to. On our Star cruise we excaped it, because they had to hold the ship for the bus the drill was over and no one ever said anything more to us: I think by then the staff probably thought if they did say one more thing, someone might explode. tempers were already at their peak!!!!

 

Nita

[cruise_lover]

I would never think of missing a Muster Drill even though I know in the case of a real emergency they would announce for everyone to meet in the dining room or someplace else.

 

I am not ready to give up on life so I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that I am always around to enjoy my next cruise. And if a 20-30 minutes drill will help accomplish that in the case of an emergency than so be it.

[cruisinbuddy]

OK, here is my humble opinion: I think everyone should attend the drill, arrive on time and LISTEN or at least shut up during the entire drill. This drill is made for our safety. We need to know our muster station and the procedure for the ship we are on before it set sails. In case of a real emergency, I feel that it's those people who hide or didn't listen carefully that won't know where they are going or what to do and will make it harder for everyone else.

 

It's only a couple of minutes, everyone can do this without complaining, no? After that last duty, everyone is entitled to a great vacation where they can do (almost) all they want.

Not to mention that they close the bars during it.

[DAGVBSB]

I have always practiced arriving "late" to the muster drill (never want to be first and squished to the back of the pack).

Last time, our cabin steward came in and "reminded" us of the muster drill. I told her we were heading there very shortly.

A few minutes later, she insisted that we leave the cabin for the muster drill.

We were still among the last to arrive, which put us at the front of the line, and the first ones out!

(now I've blown my secret!)

Enjoy, folks!

:)

 

Funny story about just that... When we were on the POA, we were one of the earlier people to arrive and the attendant had us line up on the opposite side from where we walked up. We lined up as we arrived. Of course, there was the inevitable latecomers, the ones they had to call for, etc. Finally we were released. But just before we were released our attendant announced that the door to the deck that we had exited from was closed and that we would need to enter the ship through the door on the opposite end of the muster station.....basically those of us who were there first....got to leave first. (they had even locked the door we came out of so those latecomers had to wait..)...it was priceless.

[rybreadsmom]

No offense intended, but these are the kind of threatening comments that prevent people from voicing their real opinions, and preventing the rest of us from getting a real sense of how widespread the practice is.

 

No offense taken. You sought controversy, you found it. ;)

 

I'm just speaking my mind.

[Sundagger]

As Carla said, on HAL you don't have any choice in the matter. You put on your lifevest, go to the actual boat station, wait while everyone is checked off on the list, then listen to the instructions. If you aren't present, you have to attend a make-up session - and your fellow passengers who had to wait when you didn't show up are going to be very upset with you.

 

This is the way it should be. This question was asked on the Carnival board recently and the responses were very different than the ones here today. If interested, do a search for the topic on the Carnival board.

[Barbee524]

I was told RCCL will also make you attend a make up session if you miss the muster drill. The woman who told me this said her make up session had been at 7:00 am (ouch).

 

I'd rather just go the first time and get it over with. Besides it's always amusing to see everyone in their life jackets.

[mark3232]

I’m not really sure about the fines for not showing up.

 

For us it’s sort of a joke and we just make the best of it. We had a long layover due to snow and arrived in Miami about an hour before the ship was to sail and just made it. We spent 30 hours stuck at the airport and never was able to sleep so when we finally boarded the ship, we fell a sleep. We slept through the drill and found a note under the door that we would have to make the drill up. We never did. Other than that one time we have never missed the drill. Our kids really seem to get into it and each cruise line does it a little different.

 

If you read or watch the news, it's a no brainer that ships can and do sink.

[momofmeg]

I always go ofcourse-but I can't understand why it takes so long.

 

Princess does it so much simplier. You show up at your station, they check off your stateroom number after they make sure you have put on your life jacket correctly and then you are allowed to leave-you are not required to wait until every other "joe" who is assigned to your lifeboat station has shown up.

 

Now they have a system! and I guess too, they know who has not shown up if the stateroom number was not marked off. I wished all the line sused this system. Nothing fun about standing out 30 minutes plus ona 90 degree FL day or a 40 degree Vancouver day waiting for all to show up.

[flamomo]

On all 5 of the Princess cruises I have been on, muster drill was not held out on deck. Every cabin has the location (ie. lounge or other specified location) posted on the inside of the cabin door. When the signal for the drill is sounded, every cruiser is to take (not wear) their life vest and go the the designated place. After all have arrived, a short explanation of the procedures is given, donning of life vests is demonstrated by by crew members, every cruiser puts on his / her vest, and once the crew member ascertains that everyone knows how to do that, the drill is over.

What is so tough about that? Why do some people feel they have to fight the system?

I remember reading, after the Star fire, that because everyone knew where they were supposed to go and what to take with them when the alarm sounded, there was little panic.

That alone gives all cruisers a good reason the go to muster drill. Emergencies DO happen, and some time any of us could be on a ship where it occurs.

[yamaha dancer]

A couple of men we met on carnival Paradise Thanksgiving weekend tried the hide in the cabin trick. A cabin steward came into their room without knocking and sturnly told them they had to go to the drill NOW. One of the men snuck back to his cabin before the drill was done and a different employee caught him and told he had to stay in his cabin until everyone was done with the drill, them he stayed outside his cabin so he couldn't leave, LOL!

I have been on only two cruise lines, Carnival and HAL, the HAL drill was very organized and took about 20 minutes, the Carnival drill was very unorginized and took about 45 minutes, which included the Carnival employees yelling at guests to sit down and be quiet or they would keep us there no matter how long it takes!Most of the people making noise were kids and no matter how many time they yelled at the crowd the kids were not understanding the need to be quiet! I'mglad the ship stayed afloat because with all the yelling I had no idea where I was suppose to go in an emergency! Carnival got a D- on this cruise when it came to safety of the passengers! But the cruise was still fun!

[dforeigner]

I actually pay attention to the spiel on board aircraft!

 

 

Me too, just in case they have something new to say that I never heard before. :D

[MonaCK]

the only time I ever missed a lifeboat drill was last year, when I was on Costa. The drill was held at 8am the morning -after- we left, and I literally slept through it. The embarkation was such a cluster... I cant say it but it rhymes with Chuck... that I think they didn't dare try to make it compusary. I was one of the last ones on the ship at about 8pm because it took us 3 hours to get through the lines at embarkation (ship was originally scheduled to leave at 7, and we didn't leave until around 10, if I remember correctly).

[bearswife]

Last March on the Freedom of the Seas my DH and I fell asleep and when we woke up, the drill was over. Never even knew it. No one came to our cabin to get us. Pure accident because I would have went! Didn't hide, just sleeping lol.:)

[Fredr]

Any opinions ? Can anyone defend the practice and say how common it is? Controversy invited.

 

Hello,

 

As someone who has been involved with disaster planning, though not on cruise ships, you are just plain stupid if you do not go to muster drills.

 

All are reminded that cruise ships have been severely damaged and a few have had to be abandoned, as shown by the recent sinking of the cruise ship in Antartica. Further, an earlier HAL ship, the Prisendam sank in the Gulf of Alaska about 1980. There was no lost of life but a lifeboat almost was left out in the Gulf and luckily someone recounted and noted that one lifeboat had been unaccounted for.

 

Why should crew staff have to spend time knocking on cabin doors looking for passengers? They shouldn't have to do this. Passengers who are extremely uncooperative, should be removed from the ship at the next port. Let them hire an attorney and hope that some judge will listen to their lamebrained excuses.

 

If you do not have the simple decency to cooperate in what is a very simple exercise in safety planning that takes very little time and effort, stay home!

 

Fred

[cruise_lover]

the only time I ever missed a lifeboat drill was last year, when I was on Costa. The drill was held at 8am the morning -after- we left, and I literally slept through it. The embarkation was such a cluster... I cant say it but it rhymes with Chuck... that I think they didn't dare try to make it compusary. I was one of the last ones on the ship at about 8pm because it took us 3 hours to get through the lines at embarkation (ship was originally scheduled to leave at 7, and we didn't leave until around 10, if I remember correctly).

 

I am not faulting anyone who missed the Muster Drill because they slept through it but I have one question; aren't you afraid if you sleep that hard in a case of a real emergency that you won't hear the announcement?

[Jeanie821]

I actually pay attention to the spiel on board aircraft!

 

Me too, just in case they have something new to say that I never heard before. :D

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one... :) These "spiels" can vary from airline to airline and even from one type of aircraft to another, so even though I can recite the bulk of the safety briefing with the flight attendant, I still pay attention, just in case.

 

I've cruised twice so far, and attended muster drill both times. When I cruise again this February, I'll be attending again too. Besides, I have a tradition of someone taking a picture of me in my life jacket.

[tip]

Okay folks, the muster drill is the only thing that is mandatory (other than getting off the ship on the last day) on the cruise. "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I have been on 15 cruises and have always attended as requested and required. I can remember watching a Carnival ship with heavy smoke on CNN many years ago and just last year a good many balcony cabins burned due to the carelessness of a smoker on another line. Doesn't it make sense to know where to go and what to do in case of an emergency?

 

As a former school administrator I now have a better understanding of why adolescents have no respect for authority. Those who take the, "I paid for this cruise" mentality pass this on to their offspring!

[startraveler]

Interestingly, I had a Muster Station on board Discovery Sun when I went to the Bahamas in 2004 (after checking my paperwork), but we did NOT participate in a lifeboat drill, either coming OR going....

[madamcruisequeen]

You can always hide out in your bathroom during the mustard drill. Thats what we always do and have only been caught one time. When they brought us down to our mustard station everyone seem pretty pissed but we didn't care, we were on vacation. Go for it, the odds are you won't get caught.