How does muster work on multiple crossover cruises

[indiana123]

i

I hope I explain this ok.

 

We board in Southampton on 10th August.. going to Hamburg, Oslo, Elsinore, Hamburg 9 nights. We didn't realise there are multiple cruises going on ie some passengers embark in America and stay on. Some get on in Hamburg, some get on for a couple of days, and when going back to Hamburg there will be others joining for two days.... etc etc. There are many multiples.

 

How do they arrange all the musters. Obviously we don't have to attend each one... so how do they do it?

 

Thanks.. just curious

[TheOldBear]

i

I hope I explain this ok.

 

We board in Southampton on 10th August.. going to Hamburg, Oslo, Elsinore, Hamburg 9 nights. We didn't realise there are multiple cruises going on ie some passengers embark in America and stay on. Some get on in Hamburg, some get on for a couple of days, and when going back to Hamburg there will be others joining for two days.... etc etc. There are many multiples.

 

How do they arrange all the musters. Obviously we don't have to attend each one... so how do they do it?

 

Thanks.. just curious

 

This may not be typical, but we had one Muster [in NY Harbor] after boarding, then no drills for the next two segments [sOU to Le Havre; Le Havre to NYC]. Passengers boarding at either port did need to Muster.

[MarkBearSF]

A year ago, I think we were right in the middle of a procedure change. Bottom line - No. You're not required to attend multiple muster drills. Our itinerary had three bookable segments, NY-SOU, SOU-Bruges-SOU, SOU-NY. We attended on boarding day in NY. No roll was called and no cards were scanned. On the next segment, in Southampton, we didn't attend but heard that they scanned cards. Returning again to Southampton, we received a letter reminding us of the need for all passengers to attend a muster drill. Again we did not attend (and I assume again they scanned cards) Upon our return to the cabin after dinner, the safety sheet was on the bed, and the TV was tuned to the safety instructions. (Which was as strict as they got - and of course, we DID attend on the first occasion.)

[VintageCCG]

You could take the muster seriously or you could be like this ******* and ignore the muster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SF7NWKwEww

The ship is legally required by Port State Regulations (as signatories to SOLAS) to provide a full safety briefing for all passengers either immediately before or after departure. On a worldwide voyage with repeated port stops to embark new pax there are certainly diminishing benefits in attending the same briefing multiple times. But having attended a single muster on a given ship, I would question whether a given individual is sufficiently familiar with all aspects of the procedures to be above sparing another 20 minutes of their precious time.

Frankly I don't mind if a person endangers themself, but it is unacceptable for that person to place their fellow pax at risk by being unprepared in a real emergency. Having read many TSB reports of marine incidents - Costa Concordia and Queen of the North come to mind - and numerous studies of mass evacuations at sea, I would propose that a person would want to be pretty darn familiar with their muster station procedures before deeming the brief exercise to be beneath them.

Real-life emergencies are chaotic and disorienting, so personally I will be attending both musters on my back-to-back trans-Atlantic voyage. But then again, I have taken hundreds of commercial flights and I still pay attention to the pre-boarding announcement, and I always take note of which inattentive idiots will likely be hindering my safe and efficient exit should an emergency occur.

One man's opinion ...

[MarkBearSF]

It is neither legally required nor reasonable to attend multiple drills, although it is legally and reasonably required for the ship to provide one for all new passengers.

 

Having completed thirty cruises, I'd be surprised if I'd actually learn anything new at one, but I'd never think of skipping it and I pay attention - if for no other reason than to respect the necessary SOLAS rules and the crew that takes them seriously. (FAs love that I look at them during the seatbelt hula and actually take the card out of the seatback pocket)

 

If you're not attending the drill, you'll still need to be aware that passenger services may be halted and elevators will be unavailable during the drill.

- Mark

Edited June 28, 2018 by MarkBearSF

[fourmile.ranch]

We were required to bring our ship card which was scanned and told we could remain in our cabin during the next muster drill.

[indiana123]

I absolutely agree about attending and paying attention to muster. We also always listen to safety drill on planes and in hotels we always know our exit route. On one ship there were quite a lot of comments when one couple did the crossword and read the paper and the crew didn't approach them.

 

I was just curious as we know the ship more or less locks down during muster and this could be every couple of days with all the to-ing and fro-ing. I just wondered how this would work on the cruise. What happens, say, if we are in the planetarium or spa when others are having their drill (we already having had ours on embarkation), does everywhere shut.. do we have to leave and return to our cabin?

[Host Hattie]

There will be reduced services but there should be no need to return your cabin.

As long as you aren't in a place where the muster stations are located you should be fine to stay where you are.

[Calliope]

It might also depend on the captain. I was a passenger once on the Str. DELTA QUEEN during a two week trip from New Orleans to Cincinnati; the captain required that all passengers participated in both of the weekly fire and lifeboat drills that were held during that trip.