First World Cruise booked ...

[ch17ly]

Hi, I have a question about muster drills on world cruises. Do u have to do the muster drill everytime there's an embarkation day even if u have done it on ur embarkation day. Ie: I am boarding at Southampton, but there will be new passengers boarding at Rome, Dubai and Singapore. Do i have to do it again at those ports.?? Princess cruise line. 

[Aquadesiac]

On our 2018 Princess WC, there was a muster drill at the beginning of each new segment--LA, Sydney, Dubai, Venice. But it didn't involve much. We didn't have to even bring our life jackets to the lounge where we were slated to gather in the event of an emergency. 

 

Other cruise lines may do things differently. 

[2552phxcrzr]

5 hours ago, ch17ly said:

Hi, I have a question about muster drills on world cruises. Do u have to do the muster drill everytime there's an embarkation day even if u have done it on ur embarkation day. Ie: I am boarding at Southampton, but there will be new passengers boarding at Rome, Dubai and Singapore. Do i have to do it again at those ports.?? Princess cruise line. 

On Oceania RTW we did a muster drill every 14 days (for the longer segments) ... and also on each embarkation day.   We did not always go out to the boat stations ... sometimes due to weather other times Captain’s choice.  One such mid-segment muster drill was “listen only on TV” in the cabin or wherever you happened to be because there was a lot of motion-of-the-ocean and for safety the Captain did not want people walking up and down the stairs.

 

On HAL (back to back segments).  We did the drill on embarkation day for the first segment; and were excused on the embarkation day of the second segment.  Since the world voyage is a series of segments, I would imagine the same applies, but perhaps a HAL world cruiser will confirm.

[Heidi13]

On our Princess WC we had the initial muster drill, one at the beginning of each segment and also one every month.

[rkacruiser]

As other posters have said, attendance at Muster Drill varies from one Company to another, one cruise to another, and maybe even from one ship's Master's expectations to another.

 

Given the experience of the guests on Viking Sky today off the coast of Norway, why would one not want to attend frequent Muster Drills during a long cruse?  Memories of procedures "learned" need to be refreshed from time to time.

[ch17ly]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 12:13 AM, Aquadesiac said:

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 8:36 AM, rkacruiser said:

As other posters have said, attendance at Muster Drill varies from one Company to another, one cruise to another, and maybe even from one ship's Master's expectations to another.

 

Given the experience of the guests on Viking Sky today off the coast of Norway, why would one not want to attend frequent Muster Drills during a long cruse?  Memories of procedures "learned" need to be refreshed from time to time.

Yeah I absolutely agree, and I totally understand the reasoning behind it, the reason I ask is that I have done a 24 night (12 night back to back) cruise with HAL and our midpoint port was Venice, so we were out enjoying Venice and had to come all the way back to the ship at 3pm for muster drill (which was our 2nd) and as the ship left at 5pm we couldn't go back to see anymore of Venice whereas other people we spoke to said "Im not going back, I've already done it at the start of our 24 nights, I want to spend as much time in Venice as possible". They were then allowed to do their muster drill the next day whilst we were at sea. If I had of known this earlier I would have done the same. 

 

[ch17ly]

 

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 1:54 AM, h2so4 said:

On Oceania RTW we did a muster drill every 14 days (for the longer segments) ... and also on each embarkation day.   We did not always go out to the boat stations ... sometimes due to weather other times Captain’s choice.  One such mid-segment muster drill was “listen only on TV” in the cabin or wherever you happened to be because there was a lot of motion-of-the-ocean and for safety the Captain did not want people walking up and down the stairs.

 

On HAL (back to back segments).  We did the drill on embarkation day for the first segment; and were excused on the embarkation day of the second segment.  Since the world voyage is a series of segments, I would imagine the same applies, but perhaps a HAL world cruiser will confirm.

That's interesting because I did a 24 night (12 night back to back) cruise on HAL and we were told we MUST do muster drill again at the 12 day mark when the next lot of cruisers were embarking despite doing it 12 nights earlier. I was just a bit miffed because it cut into my time enjoying the port we were at.

[2552phxcrzr]

4 hours ago, ch17ly said:

 

That's interesting because I did a 24 night (12 night back to back) cruise on HAL and we were told we MUST do muster drill again at the 12 day mark when the next lot of cruisers were embarking despite doing it 12 nights earlier. I was just a bit miffed because it cut into my time enjoying the port we were at.

 

Our cruise was last fall on the Koningsdam in Europe ... if that makes a difference.  I was surprised to read about not having to do the muster drill on the second leg of the back to back when I was doing my pre-cruise research.  But we indeed got a letter at some point in the cabin advising us that we were excused.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I would have been miffed too, but if they insisted, so be it.  Perhaps one could arrange the alternate date in advance.  This is of interest to me since there's a world cruise in our future and thinking of all those overnights in port...but I always take these drills very seriously, and it's especially fresh in our minds because of the Viking Sky, no doubt.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, h2so4 said:

But we indeed got a letter at some point in the cabin advising us that we were excused.

 

On a 7 day b2b cruise this Winter on Nieuw Statendam, I also received such a letter prior to the start of the second cruise.  I went to the Muster Drill anyway and was glad that I did.  Information was the same, but many of the crew with responsibilities at my Muster Station in attendance differed.  Not a big deal, but simply something that I found interesting to observe. 

[sofiefleurie]

Lynn TTT, Sorry for late reply to your January post but I just discovered this thread.  I definitely recommend you sail Costa before committing to 112 day world cruise.  We have sailed Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, HAL, Norwegian and Costa was our least favorite.  I did not like the food especially the pasta, which I found to be ironic!  I chose it for the 2 week itinerary and liked many aspects of the ship, but disliked so many more.  There is no evening food court so you have to sit at the same table every night if you plan to eat.  We had a balcony cabin which was extremely spartan. I am not a complainer, and I love cruising, but neither my husband nor I would ever sail Costa again, regardless of the cost or itinerary.

[Aquadesiac]

I think it is probably a good idea to have cruised with the line before you book for a world cruise. We had booked the 2021 WC on the Queen Victoria but had never sailed with Cunard before. So this summer, we did 21 days on the QM2. 

 

There's a lot to like on Cunard (and I think the fare for an inside is comparable to Costa). I adored the music on board. It leans much more classical which is my favorite. The English National  Ballet joined us for one of the weeks and we were treated to some spectacular entertainment. The activities and lectures were top notch. The ship itself is elegant and sleek and we thoroughly enjoyed our balcony stateroom. The ships excursions we took both out of Southampton and in Norway were wonderful.

 

But after this cruise, we decided to change our reservation for 2021 to the Island Princess. Here's why. I have a lung condition which requires me to use supplemental O2. I'm also very sensitive to artificial smells. I can actually "taste" them in the back of my throat. Cunard is a very formal line. Even on non-gala nights, men wear jackets and ladies dress very smartly. And when people dress up,  they tend to slather on more perfume, hair products and aftershave. A ride in the elevator was often horrible for me. The first time I opened the closets in our stateroom, I was assaulted by a miasma of "perfumes past." 

 

I've never had this problem on a Princess ship, which is admittedly more casual. So I should be fine in 2021. I don't think I would be on the QV for an extended cruise.

 

Granted, my reason for switching from Cunard is unusual, and very specific to me. I've never seen this sort of thing mentioned in a review, so I'd never have made the connection between formality and excessive scents without trying the line myself.

 

So I second the previous poster's recommendation to give the line a try before you commit. However, itinerary trumps all. If a ship isn't going where you want to go (always understanding that any port can be cancelled) you aren't going to be happy getting there.

[baz48]

3 hours ago, sofiefleurie said:

Lynn TTT, Sorry for late reply to your January post but I just discovered this thread.  I definitely recommend you sail Costa before committing to 112 day world cruise.  We have sailed Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, HAL, Norwegian and Costa was our least favorite.  I did not like the food especially the pasta, which I found to be ironic!  I chose it for the 2 week itinerary and liked many aspects of the ship, but disliked so many more.  There is no evening food court so you have to sit at the same table every night if you plan to eat.  We had a balcony cabin which was extremely spartan. I am not a complainer, and I love cruising, but neither my husband nor I would ever sail Costa again, regardless of the cost or itinerary.

 

We had the same feelings about Costa.  We were very surprised by the poor quality of the pasta!  We thought an Italian line would have great food.  And the nightly salad was very bland - basically iceberg lettuce mixed with a little romaine with a different dressing each night.  One night my husband ordered fish and it was equal to the fish sticks of our youth and not even hot.  He didn't eat it, which says a lot for him.  We really aren't fussy, but found more dishes that we didn't like than that we did.  The morning buffet was pretty good and lunch was OK.  We also found that the smoking areas of the ship weren't separated enough.  Having one side of the lounge "non-smoking" really doesn't work.  We also chose it for the low cost and the timing of the itinerary (RT Venice) which fit with another cruise we were taking from Venice to Florida.  We were very happy to get on board Princess 2 days after the Costa.  That is the only line we wouldn't sail again and we've been on Princess, Carnival, RCL, and MSC which I would consider in the same "class".

[Sergeant Major]

Jan. 2020 is coming up quickly. Congratulations, looks like a trip of a lifetime. Enjoy!