Fashionably Late to Safety Drill

[Joebucks]

No longer will I show up first, but I won't be last either.

 

This whole process is completely outdated, and should go away. I'd love to see some other requirement of learning the details. Maybe even an online quiz. Because no one is listening or knows what is going on during the drill anyways. Then once you are on the ship, you must physically check in to the station so you know where it is. The end.

[pcur]

18 hours ago, LightCruiser210 said:

I was wondering if anybody deliberately shows up a little late for the safety drill.  We usually show up right when called, and then end up crammed behind three rows of people on a hot corridor waiting 20-40 minutes for stragglers.  On our last cruise, my Mother in Law (who is claustrophobic) passed out after 30 mins in these conditions, along with two other people in our section.  The “stragglers” showed up 35 mins late and got put right up front and basically spent less time in those miserable conditions than the “good” people who came right away.  I am thinking of waiting just inside the doors for 20 mins or so, so that we don’t get crammed in the back and wait forever for the drill to start.  I have never seen one start before this time anyway.  Has anyone else ever tried this?  I don’t want to be the last people that everyone has to wait on, but I also don’t want to subject myself to that experience again.  

We did this on every single cruise, because Mr. Pcur's back couldn't handle all the standing for long periods.

 

Now, I go to the designated lounge for those who cannot stand during the drill to get us seats, and he goes to the muster station when they announce it's time.  He checks in with them and then comes back to sit with me.  It's too iffy for both of us to take the risk of standing for 30 - 45 minutes.  

 

After 46 years of standing during these drills, we decided enough is enough because of his back.  I think it's Princess where everyone sits inside near their actual station.

[Elaine5715]

19 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

I hate the waiting too and the calling of names.  I think it should start on time and that the S&S cards of everyone absent should be frozen.

 

If your method still gets you there on time, go for it.

Me like

[pathi]

It's interesting to read these replies. I usually sail Princess with a couple of trips on NCL. Never done an outside Muster. Always in a lounge, and lately with an entertaining muster and safety jingle set to the tune of the love boat.

 

I wonder how many lines still force everyone outside?

 

[stellarose]

it was just frustrating that some people did not show up until about 20-25 minutes into the drill. we were all waiting nicely but they had to keep calling out names to see if those showed up. It just makes the embarkation day a bit longer. 

[heckledtrio]

19 hours ago, SMSACE6 said:

 However I will say, that while I do like and enjoy ships of Conquest class, I will likely avoid them in the future, only for that reason of muster drill outside, and my extreme dislike of being crammed in.  Fantasy class ships and Dream class up ships, do conduct Muster drill inside in various locations through the ship, so for me, just because I hate the cramming in body to body, in often hot and humid weather conditions, along with the late arrivals of many people, meaning a late start to muster, I am sorry to say that I will be very picky about which ship class I cruise in the future, whenever that may be.

 

 

 

Doesn't it depend on your cabin location? I've sailed Fantasy-class ships three times, and twice we mustered outside on the Lido deck, but when I stayed in a different location the third time, my muster station was indoors. Friends that sailed with us (both on those cruises and on the Panorama) likewise went to different locations than us for the drill. 

[janetz]

Go down early

Find a seat near the entrance

Relax and people watch

Be some of the first out the door 😊

[Kartgv]

If the muster is indoors (such as Princess), then we go early to make sure we don't have to stand when the room fills up.    If it's outdoors and the weather is lousy (either too hot or too cold) then we go as late as we can without holding up the start of the drill.   

[joepeka]

19 hours ago, Tiger0613 said:

Fantasy class ships start inside, but they usually lead you to your lifeboats after the inside portion.

 

I would hate that.  I like being in the back because I can lean against the wall.  I can't do that in the front row.  It's never hot for me because my cruises are usually December - February.  I will only cruise from Los Angeles or Seattle in the summer, and I don't do that very often. Those two cities don't have the humidity of the Gulf homeports.

True about the back wall situation IF the weather is nice. For us, since we're vertically challenged, being in those back rows in a southern/south east departure port is not only claustrophobic and hot, but we can't see a danged thing with all the taller people in front of us. Call us overly cautious, but we like to see the demonstrations the crew does during those briefings.

[taglovestocruise]

Last in First out, that's what it's all about. 

[GTO-Girl]

On the ships we sail on all of our muster drills have been inside, so we go down early to snag a comfortable seat.  When it’s over we just keep sitting and wait for the chaos to slow down before we exit.

 

 

[DarrenM]

On celebrity edge our muster drill took place in the theatre  very comfortable.

[2wheelin]

14 hours ago, spookwife said:

useless to do that since all  public venues are closed anyway..there's no where for them to try and use their  cards.  

Freeze them for several hours. Make them go to a special demo at 11pm

[GUT2407]

Wonder if they’ll be late in a real emergency too.

[DarrenM]

4 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Wonder if they’ll be late in a real emergency too.

I wonder how many would follow the specified drills in a real emergency?

[sanger727]

I think that this is a carnival specific problem. The only time I've had a muster where we had to stand outside crammed into a corridor was on the carnival glory. On Norweigan and Celebrity they are always held inside in a lounge. It is one of the reasons I won't cruise Carnival. However, if their newer ships (as one poster mentioned) do hold them inside, I would be willing to scratch that reason off the list.

[2wheelin]

15 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I think that this is a carnival specific problem. The only time I've had a muster where we had to stand outside crammed into a corridor was on the carnival glory. On Norweigan and Celebrity they are always held inside in a lounge. It is one of the reasons I won't cruise Carnival. However, if their newer ships (as one poster mentioned) do hold them inside, I would be willing to scratch that reason off the list.

It is not dependent on nor an option of the cruise line. It is dictated by space and each ship is told what they need to do.

[sanger727]

1 minute ago, 2wheelin said:

It is not dependent on nor an option of the cruise line. It is dictated by space and each ship is told what they need to do.

 

Well, I've been on 5 cruises across 5 different ships and 3 lines and only on had anyone mustering outside. And other people on this thread have re-iterated what I experienced which is that Celebrity and Norwegian (and apparently princess) hold their muster's inside. In fact Celebrity has an elaborate video they show that cause some uproar on their thread so I do believe that theirs are all held inside. To my knowledge, Carnival is the only cruise line that still holds musters where you have to stand outside.

[Hlitner]

Each cruise line has their own way of handling the muster drills.  Quite a few lines (i.e. Princess, Celebrity, MSC, etc) muster the passengers in lounges and other public rooms.   Those that arrive a little early or on time usually can get a seat.  There are only a few remaining lines that muster passengers outdoors (on the boat deck) which can be uncomfortable if the weather is hot, cold, etc.

 

Personally I think that those who arrive late should be "drawn and quartered" since they are the primary reason others must wait.

 

Hank

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

I think that this is a carnival specific problem. The only time I've had a muster where we had to stand outside crammed into a corridor was on the carnival glory. On Norweigan and Celebrity they are always held inside in a lounge. It is one of the reasons I won't cruise Carnival. However, if their newer ships (as one poster mentioned) do hold them inside, I would be willing to scratch that reason off the list.

 

1 hour ago, 2wheelin said:

It is not dependent on nor an option of the cruise line. It is dictated by space and each ship is told what they need to do.

 

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

 

Well, I've been on 5 cruises across 5 different ships and 3 lines and only on had anyone mustering outside. And other people on this thread have re-iterated what I experienced which is that Celebrity and Norwegian (and apparently princess) hold their muster's inside. In fact Celebrity has an elaborate video they show that cause some uproar on their thread so I do believe that theirs are all held inside. To my knowledge, Carnival is the only cruise line that still holds musters where you have to stand outside.

Well, your information is incorrect.  On the NCL Sky and Sun, for instance, all musters are held outdoors on deck.  As noted above, it is not a cruise line decision.  SOLAS requires the muster location to be as close to the boat stations as possible.  On older ships, this is done on the promenade deck under the boats.  Some ships only have room on the promenade for some pax at the boats, and then other stations will be indoors (Norwegian Dawn).  Newer ships have smaller promenade decks and larger pax capacity, and there is not sufficient space outdoors for the muster locations, so they are moved indoors to a suitable (meaning the space, power, lighting, ventilation, structural fire protection, and number/size of ingress and egress points is acceptable for the number mustering there, as well as the length of path to the boat station) meets SOLAS and/or class requirements.  No ship that I am aware of has ever changed muster locations after being built (unless there has been a major redesign to the ship (like the stretching of the RCI ship), due to the cost involved in re-doing the crowd management paradigm simulations and the requirements to outfit spaces properly to be a muster location, as well as changing the shipboard documentation and signage.

 

There are benefits and drawbacks to each of the muster types (indoors or outdoors), but passenger comfort never really is taken into consideration, since the use of a muster location is part of a life threatening situation, and at that point, comfort is not even the last concern.

[evandbob]

😏If Carnival changed their muster rules and allowed a free dessert or drink coupon to the 1st 500 pax to show for muster, very few would be late.🙄

Edited January 13, 2020 by evandbob

[c-boy]

🤣... good one

[sanger727]

14 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

 

 

Well, your information is incorrect.  On the NCL Sky and Sun, for instance, all musters are held outdoors on deck.  As noted above, it is not a cruise line decision.  SOLAS requires the muster location to be as close to the boat stations as possible.  On older ships, this is done on the promenade deck under the boats.  Some ships only have room on the promenade for some pax at the boats, and then other stations will be indoors (Norwegian Dawn).  Newer ships have smaller promenade decks and larger pax capacity, and there is not sufficient space outdoors for the muster locations, so they are moved indoors to a suitable (meaning the space, power, lighting, ventilation, structural fire protection, and number/size of ingress and egress points is acceptable for the number mustering there, as well as the length of path to the boat station) meets SOLAS and/or class requirements.  No ship that I am aware of has ever changed muster locations after being built (unless there has been a major redesign to the ship (like the stretching of the RCI ship), due to the cost involved in re-doing the crowd management paradigm simulations and the requirements to outfit spaces properly to be a muster location, as well as changing the shipboard documentation and signage.

 

There are benefits and drawbacks to each of the muster types (indoors or outdoors), but passenger comfort never really is taken into consideration, since the use of a muster location is part of a life threatening situation, and at that point, comfort is not even the last concern.

 

 Good to know. I will make a note not to sail the sky and the Sun then.

[chengkp75]

46 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

 Good to know. I will make a note not to sail the sky and the Sun then.

It's been a while, but the Spirit, Sun, Sky, Star and Dawn all have at least some outdoor muster locations.  I can't remember, but I believe that the POA and the Jewel class (Jewel, Gem, Jade, and Pearl) also have at least some musters outdoors.  I believe the Epic was the first NCL ship that had fully indoor musters.

[sanger727]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

It's been a while, but the Spirit, Sun, Sky, Star and Dawn all have at least some outdoor muster locations.  I can't remember, but I believe that the POA and the Jewel class (Jewel, Gem, Jade, and Pearl) also have at least some musters outdoors.  I believe the Epic was the first NCL ship that had fully indoor musters.

 

Ok. I've been on the Jade and we mustered indoors. I didn't notice anyone muster stations listed for outside but I supposed that doesn't mean there weren't.