Unusual event on Ovation…possible person overboard….poorly handled situation

[WestLakeGirl]

About 6:30 tonight, I was sitting in the solarium pool when an unintelligible announcement came over the PA system. We all looked at each other and at the staff but no one knew what was going on. About 15 minutes later another announcement came.  This time the lifeguard said you all need to leave this area and go to your assembly station. As I was making my way there, I finally heard an announcement I could understand.  Apparently a passenger reported seeing a person in the water and they decided to check every single passenger and every single crew member to see if anyone was missing. Throngs of people headed to the lifts and tried to make their way from one end of the ship to the other.

 

Here is where it gets very weird because the next announcement gave amended instructions that anyone in a restaurant could stay at their table and someone would come around with a scanner to check them in, but anyone in Windjammer had to go to their assembly station.

 

This tells me that there was no reason to go to the assembly station since anyone with a scanner could check anyone in.

 

We are now down to a handful of people who have not checked in and they are naming them on the PA system one by one. Next will come the walk of shame, I presume.

 

Oh, and did I mention that it is St. Patrick’s Day and some celebration began for some passengers early this morning.

 

To everyone’s credit no one was rushing to the assembly stations, everyone proceeded calmly, because it wasn’t a real shipwide emergency;   but had it been, I could envision chaos.

[soremekun]

Wow!  Please keep us updated.

[Alakegirl]

Eventually all passengers and crew checked in and the ship is on its way. Was it a prank? Was it a drunk hallucination? A bit of flotsam or jetsam? No one knows.  

[sgmn]

10 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Eventually all passengers and crew checked in and the ship is on its way. Was it a prank? Was it a drunk hallucination? A bit of flotsam or jetsam? No one knows.  

Glad it's been positively resolved 

[Embrace]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rescue-helicopters-called-off-gisborne-coast-after-cruise-passenger-reportedly-spots-body/3RFLGZVLCBB5XA42NFHFEONN64/

[lovelife]

This happened on one of our cruises a few years ago but they had ALL passengers report to the dining room. What a huge, lengthy mess. Thankfully all were accounted for.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

WestLakeGirl just curious:  what about the event do you feel was poorly handled?  (Not criticizing you, just want to understand)

[nelblu]

We ahd a situation some years ago on our 12 night Mediterranean crusie on the Serenade.  We had left Civitavecchia (Rome) and just finished dinner (early) and were walking our meal off.  Suddenly, we saw crew members scrurrying all about.  Also, an announcement of Oscar, Osca, Oscarr or to that effect was being made over the PA system.  As we looked over the Meditrranean Sea form mth upper deck,. we saw the ship's searchligh scanning the water and they also released a bouie with light flashing.

 

This was going on some 45 minutes and we could see other vessels that were narby helping ing the search.  From a distance we could also, see a vessel with flashing lights which we assumed was the Italian Coast Guard.  At this point, there were many passengers congregating at the decks and an announcement came for everyone to go to their respective cabins.  Our cabin attendant twice checked cabins to be sure that everyone was accounted for.  However, it seems that they could not account for everyone, for whatever reason.

 

We were lucky that we had a balcony cabin and could see a myriad of vessels, including cruise ships helping in the search.  After a couple of hours of being cooped in cabin and no further announcement, we tried to sneak out, but was met with laughter from security that were stationed at both elevator entrances.

 

I finally gave up and went to bed.  About 45 minutes later, a knock on our door and it's the cabin attendant again checking rooms.  My wife was still awake and responded that both of us were in cabin.  However, based on instructions, the cabin attendant asked my wife to wake me up so that I could show that I was there.😁

 

Sometime later after getting clearance from the Coast Guard the ship was allowed to proceed.

 

Conclusion:  This episode took almost 5 hours.  Thank goodness everyone was accounted for.  Theory was that someone left either a jacket or a shirt on a lounger and with the wind it got blown off.  A passenger saw something going over the water and reported it.

 

Our only complaint was that they could have instructed everyone to go to a location so that they could scan the sea pass and easily account for everyone.  I guess part of the problem was that passengers had just begun their dinner at the later seating.

[Mum2Mercury]

7 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

This tells me that there was no reason to go to the assembly station since anyone with a scanner could check anyone in.

Well, is that true?  I'm thinking that they don't want to disturb diners who are already served -- and those people are easy to "scan" since they will stay at their tables.  On the other hand, people at the pool and around the ship are harder to "scan" since they are constantly moving here and there -- it'd be hard to know whom you'd already scanned.  

7 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

To everyone’s credit no one was rushing to the assembly stations, everyone proceeded calmly, because it wasn’t a real shipwide emergency;   but had it been, I could envision chaos.

Sounds like they did right by telling you WHY you were going to the assembly stations -- and no one needed to panic because you all knew YOU weren't the person in the water.  

1 hour ago, lovelife said:

This happened on one of our cruises a few years ago but they had ALL passengers report to the dining room. What a huge, lengthy mess. Thankfully all were accounted for.

Everyone to the dining room?  Not to their assembly stations?  But, then, why did they bother to assign the assembly stations?  Can everyone on the ship fit in the dining room?  

23 minutes ago, nelblu said:

... As we looked over the Meditrranean Sea form mth upper deck,. we saw the ship's searchligh scanning the water and they also released a bouie with light flashing.

I'd be both fascinated and terrified to see this happening.  

23 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I finally gave up and went to bed.  About 45 minutes later, a knock on our door and it's the cabin attendant again checking rooms.  My wife was still awake and responded that both of us were in cabin.  However, based on instructions, the cabin attendant asked my wife to wake me up so that I could show that I was there.😁

That's dumb -- I mean, I understand they had to verify a headcount, and it's possible that your wife could've thrown you overboard, but couldn't the cabin attendant see you while you slept?  

23 minutes ago, nelblu said:

... Our only complaint was that they could have instructed everyone to go to a location so that they could scan the sea pass and easily account for everyone...

Agree.  I've never had to go to my muster station for real, but a friend of mine has (twice on the same cruise!), and she said it was a quick, easy process -- once her family was accounted for, they were dismissed.  Efficient.  

Edited March 17, 2023 by Mum2Mercury

[nelblu]

4 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

That's dumb -- I mean, I understand they had to verify a headcount, and it's possible that your wife could've thrown you overboard, but couldn't the cabin attendant see you while you slept?

She apologized, but her instructions was to physically speak to me.  Even though there was someone in bed under the covers.🤣

[lovelife]

17 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

   Can everyone on the ship fit in the dining room?  

  

Nope. That's why it took hours. The line to get in to be accounted for snaked around the entire promenade.

[reallyitsmema]

26 minutes ago, nelblu said:

She apologized, but her instructions was to physically speak to me.  Even though there was someone in bed under the covers.🤣

 

It makes complete sense that she needed to speak to you and verify it was you.  

[nelblu]

21 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

It makes complete sense that she needed to speak to you and verify it was you.  

Remember, this was the third time checking and the first 2 times we spoke and conversed with her. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by nelblu

[Alakegirl]

3 hours ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

WestLakeGirl just curious:  what about the event do you feel was poorly handled?  (Not criticizing you, just want to understand)

1. Since any scanner could scan any passenger, there was no reason to go from wherever you were to your muster station.  ANY muster station would do.  Elevators were a crowded clogged artery.  Wheelchair passengers were particularly affected, being unable to simply take the stairs.  
 

2. First announcement said all passengers had to go to assembly station.  Later announcement amended to say that people in dining rooms did not have to, leaving those in specialty restaurants uncertain what to do.

 

3. The public address system was unintelligible where I was (Solarium.)

 

4. I don’t know how many non-English speaking people that are on the ship but it seems like many, mostly Chinese but other languages, too.  I wonder how they could have gotten the message out better to these passengers. 
 

5. Sea pass cards tell you the Assembly station to go to but not which deck it’s on.  Both decks four and five are used for muster station on Ovation and lots of people went to the wrong deck initially, further clogging the elevators.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Alakegirl

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Sea pass cards tell you the Assembly station to go to but not which deck it’s on.  Both decks four and five are used for muster station on Ovation and lots of people went to the wrong deck initially, further clogging the elevators.

Not a good endorsement for the e-muster format.

[Alakegirl]

I don’t think the e-muster should take the blame.  We had all been to the correct assembly station on embarkation day, in person, but that was about a week ago and, as I said, it was St. Patrick’s Day.

 

Three things would have helped that come to mind immediately. One would be that if the deck was listed on the SeaPass card as well as the assembly station it would have made it easier.

 

Another would have been to remind people in the announcements which Deck to go to. For instance and this is not the correct listing I know, I’m just using it as an example, an announcement like this would have helped “Right now All guests are required to visit their assembly station. If your assembly station is A B or C go to deck 4, if it is DE or F go to deck five”

 

Another thing that would have helped on this particular ship because of the odd traffic pattern on deck five where you either have to go through bionic bar or Izumi to get from one end of the ship to the other would be to have one-way traffic through those areas.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Alakegirl

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Not a good endorsement for the e-muster format.

 

It bugs me that people can't take 30 seconds of their life to pay attention to safety briefings. You're putting yourself and everyone else at risk because you think you are too special to pay attention. When the time comes that you need that information, you're going to wish you had been paying attention.

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, Alakegirl said:

I don’t think the e-muster should take the blame.  We had all been to the correct assembly station on embarkation day, in person, but that was about a week ago and, as I said, it was St. Patrick’s Day.

While everyone had to go to their stations on embarkation day, what I see as the fatal flaw of the e-muster is that it is not done "en masse", as it was for the real thing.  The more realistic the training, the more it tends to stick.  If people can't remember where their stations are after less than 7 days, that information isn't sticking.

[Alakegirl]

Also I have to keep in mind that we did that muster on the first day when no one really knew their way around the ship very well.  They could have made it easier to return to your muster station is my point. There’s plenty of place on the sea  pass card to print D1 assembly station Deck 4.

 

There’s no need to rely solely on a person’s memory, when is easy to create more reliability.
 

 

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Also I have to keep in mind that we did that muster on the first day when no one really knew their way around the ship very well.

Again, the benefit of realistic training.  Learning how to do it in a crowd, at a time when some may have been inebriated, or just not expecting it, is similar to doing it when you don't know your way around the ship.  And, whether it is the e-muster or the traditional muster, it is done on the first day when no one knows their way around.  Should you have to rely on your seapass card to tell you where to go in an emergency?

Edited March 17, 2023 by chengkp75

[WestLakeGirl]

Good point, but since we rely on that card for nearly everything, and we have to have it with us to check in at the station I think it would be better to give more information on it. My card shows what deck and table for dining and it could easily tell me what deck to go to in a real emergency

[Ashland]

So everyone headed to the "lifts" (elevators). My understanding is that you're to use the stairs when called to your muster station. Poorly handled by everyone.

[barbeyg]

4 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So everyone headed to the "lifts" (elevators). My understanding is that you're to use the stairs when called to your muster station. Poorly handled by everyone.

My first thought.  🙄

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So everyone headed to the "lifts" (elevators). My understanding is that you're to use the stairs when called to your muster station. Poorly handled by everyone.

Wasn't even going to address that.

[sergeant655]

The best way to check in and account for all passengers is to preform an actual muster of the ship.  Holland America had a passenger throw a life ring in the water once and that’s what they did.  They sounded the 7 short 1 long signal and had everyone go to thier muster station where attendance was taken..