Disney cruise evac training

[dlsteve67]

Just got home from an 8-day cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. When we stopped in Castaway Cay the cruise put on a very public showing of the staff training on their evacuation boats and liferafts. As we got off the ship around 10am and walked down the pier there were about 20-30 staff training. Very publicly done as all passengers had to walk past them to get to the island. They were also dropping the life boats into the water all day and driving them for a few minutes before returning to the ship and starting over.

 

They may do this everytime they stop in Castaway however I found it interesting to watch the process.

[PopFla]

I had just mentioned to my better half yesterday that every time we've been on a DCL cruise (6 so far) the crew has done various types of training at almost every port call, including CC. It's pretty reassuring to watch the intensity of their training and to know that the lifeboats really do launch properly and that their engines run. On one stop at CC, about 20 crew members were outfitted in their red "Gumby suits" and practicing climbing into one of the inflatable lifeboats and rescuing "victims".

[dlsteve67]

I was curious if it was something new in reaction to the Italian disaster or if it was regular training. After watching their attention to detail throughout the cruise it doesn't surprise me that evac training is a regularly scheduled event.

 

Loved the "Gumby suits" they were wearing. At first I thought it was due to the water being cold then I remembered it was the Caribbean and not the North Atlantic.

[truck1]

Nope. All cruiselines are mandated to do a certain.amount of training in a certain timeframe. In DCLs case they are getting a lot of new crew members due to the 2 new ships, so they are probably training more often then normal. Though I wouldnt be surprised if a ship or ships capts decided to practice a little more often on their own.

[Shmoo here]

I had just mentioned to my better half yesterday that every time we've been on a DCL cruise (6 so far) the crew has done various types of training at almost every port call, including CC. It's pretty reassuring to watch the intensity of their training and to know that the lifeboats really do launch properly and that their engines run. On one stop at CC, about 20 crew members were outfitted in their red "Gumby suits" and practicing climbing into one of the inflatable lifeboats and rescuing "victims".

 

We've done 5 DCL cruises, and every port we've been in there's been at least 1 lifeboat running a drill, usually there's more like 3 or 4.

 

:)

[Host Mick]

They do it frequently. There's a lot of people that have to be trained and only a few outboard lifeboats. Castaway Cay is a good place to train in that there's little other vessel traffic and it's a calm, enclosed area.

But yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they made an effort to make it more visible as a way of reassuring guests that they are well trained.

[youda97]

@ shmoo here

 

i see you did a recent MR crusie with the wonder. Did you do a review on that cruise? If so Where can i find it. If not what did you think of it? We are going in less than 3 weeks.

[Shmoo here]

@ shmoo here

 

i see you did a recent MR cruise with the wonder. Did you do a review on that cruise? If so Where can i find it. If not what did you think of it? We are going in less than 3 weeks.

 

I didn't do a review. We have cruised Disney before, and I'm not a personal fan of Mexico, so that cruise (actually both - we went in Oct and Dec) we pretty much went for the Disney cruise experience.

 

That said, we did do a few excursions, PV City Tour (which we had done on the Panama Canal cruise in 2008); and snorkleling. The city tour isn't really all that great, but it does give you a good overview of the city and south of PV, and they will let you off at the end of the tour in the city proper (you get back to the ship on your own). Snorkleling, was fun, but chilly. I'm not very big of swimming in cold water, so I wasn't in long, but DH and DS did the whole time.

 

Cabo - we did the tour that goes to the glass-blowing factory (I'd recommend that over the Harbor Cruise & Scenic Drive one (we did that on the PC cruise). We also did whale-watching, that was great. Cabo is good for just walking around the port area, also.

 

On board, I enjoyed the Oct cruise a bit more than the Dec one, but in Dec was the first time we saw a Disney ship decorated for Christmas. That said, we will probably be doing another one, if we can fit it into our schedules.

 

:)

[SakeDad]

All crew have to be certified in Safety and CC is a great place to do it as the waters are calm and warm. It's where I did my life-raft certification on the Dream. They are not making a "bigger show" out of it due to Concordia. They have always done this there.:D

[youda97]

I didn't do a review. We have cruised Disney before, and I'm not a personal fan of Mexico, so that cruise (actually both - we went in Oct and Dec) we pretty much went for the Disney cruise experience.

 

That said, we did do a few excursions, PV City Tour (which we had done on the Panama Canal cruise in 2008); and snorkleling. The city tour isn't really all that great, but it does give you a good overview of the city and south of PV, and they will let you off at the end of the tour in the city proper (you get back to the ship on your own). Snorkleling, was fun, but chilly. I'm not very big of swimming in cold water, so I wasn't in long, but DH and DS did the whole time.

 

Cabo - we did the tour that goes to the glass-blowing factory (I'd recommend that over the Harbor Cruise & Scenic Drive one (we did that on the PC cruise). We also did whale-watching, that was great. Cabo is good for just walking around the port area, also.

 

On board, I enjoyed the Oct cruise a bit more than the Dec one, but in Dec was the first time we saw a Disney ship decorated for Christmas. That said, we will probably be doing another one, if we can fit it into our schedules.

 

:)

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. How was the food on your cruise? Pretty normal?

[Shmoo here]

Thanks for the info. How was the food on your cruise? Pretty normal?

 

I don't really know what "normal" would be.:rolleyes:

 

And food is really subjective. I thought the food was good. I ate lots. I love the chicken tenders on the pool deck. You can also get them off the kids menu at dinner. :D

 

The only menu I really don't care for is the "Til We Meet Again" menu (last night). But they always have something I can eat.

 

:)