OK, 100% Honesty Please...lol

[bellera]

We have never skipped a Muster Drill, now we also travel with our children and what would that teach them?

We were really surprised at how lax Carnival was with their Drill. We sailed Disney last year and your Cabin # is on the back of your life vest and they cross you off as you enter the Muster Station. And if you are not present, they keep calling your name until you respond.

I was really expecting the same thing on Carnival, but they did not even have enough chairs set out on the Lido deck for us all. You would think that they would know how many passengers were coming? But then again we had some moron sitting beside us who was at the wrong Muster Station - him and his buddy had seperate cabins but they wanted to sit together through the Drill, so he just kept covering up the Letter on his lifejacket the whole time.

[Criscomia]

We, like most everyone else, put the orange toilet seat over our heads and go to the muster drill. You never know when you might need to know the drill.

[*CruiseFan*]

I'm with GoinCruisin -- it's part of the experience! It sucks, but when you get right down to it if something DID happen, at least you'd be prepared on what to do!

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='alphakitty']They did that on RCCL Sovereign this past January.

kitty[/quote]

They must have stopped doing it that way in February :D They got us in and out quick... didn't care where we stood :D

[Wennfred]

Here is my take on this, If you miss the Practice run (Lifeboat Drill) then that would mean you will be late getting to your muster station. There won't be crew people along the way incase of an emergency because they will be attending to their duties ie: Fire fighting etc. By the time you arrive to your assigned boat, the boat will be full. You will be forced to hang over the side and hold on that rope or line that surrounds the boat. Sharks and man eatting type fish will be nibbling at your toes and feet.:confused:

I hope this will get you to your next lifeboat drill.

[Astronomer]

As a former Coast Guardsman, It would not even cross my mind to skip the drill. In fact I am surprised the ship will even set sail if all are not accounted for at the muster.

[1timecruiser]

[quote name='Urban Chic']OK, I'll confess.

After dozens of cruises and attending several muster drills, I decided to see if it were possible to skip out of one last year on the Miracle.

I decided to use this time to unpack, and it felt SO nice to have this extra time to get organized:-)

As I was diligently at my unpacking project, when there was a knock on my door, and I hear "Cabin steward", so decided to hop into the shower & pull the curtain. He came in only for 2-3 minutes, looked around, and then I heard him leave:-)

I know it isn't right to miss the muster drill, but after so many cruises, and attending several . . . I know how to put my life jacket on, and can eaily look at the diagram on the back of my cabin door to know where I need to go in case of an emergency.

Please don't flame me for this. I really just wanted to see if it were possible to not attend.

I would, however, recommend that any "first time cruisers" should DEFINITELY attend this drill as some very valuable information is given.

Chic[/quote]

So had the curtain of the shower been pulled back, what would you have done??? This is hilarious.

[Caribbean Dad]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Never have and probably never will (at least not by choice) miss a Muster Drill. First of all, it’s important to know what to do in case of emergency. But to be honest, I don’t mind the Muster Drill at all. To me, I look at it as my last “duty” or “must do” before my vacation really begins. I will admit that I have begun to urge C-Mom not to get in a big hurry getting to the station. It is much more comfortable towards the front of the line. ;)[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Side note: In defense of the OP, I can understand where he/she is coming from. As a former CD with that many cruise under his/her belt, I would think that knowing what to do, and where to go wouldn’t be much of an issue. Also, I have not seen anywhere in this thread where OP is encouraging skipping the Muster Drill, just curious about those that do. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='Caribbean Dad'][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Side note: In defense of the OP, I can understand where he/she is coming from. As a former CD with that many cruise under his/her belt, I would think that knowing what to do, and where to go wouldn’t be much of an issue. Also, I have not seen anywhere in this thread where OP is encouraging skipping the Muster Drill, just curious about those that do. [/FONT][/SIZE][/quote]

True Bill, but if the OP was a CD on a large ship/cruiseline, then he above anyone else knows the importance of attending the muster drill and probably should never have even brought up the idea ;) A CD should know better :D Just MHO

[MrLee]

I have to admit. Last fall on a back to back I skipped the 2nd muster drill. I was in the same cabin and had attended the first one so I knew where to go. I was having a great deal of trouble with my legs and just couldn't stand the idea of standing there for 1/2 hour.

If I hadn't been to the first one (and knew the ship since I'd been on her 6 months earlier), I would probably sucked it up and gone.

[hstrybuf]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']True Bill, but if the OP was a CD on a large ship/cruiseline, then he above anyone else knows the importance of attending the muster drill and probably should never have even brought up the idea ;) A CD should know better :D Just MHO[/quote]

I see it slightly different. As a former CD I don't doubt that he/she knows the importance of the muster drill. I think it's a curiousity based question to see what those not on the staff actually do. I'm glad to see the majority wouldn't even think of skipping muster.

[poptart]

[quote name='bellera']I was really expecting the same thing on Carnival, but they did not even have enough chairs set out on the Lido deck for us all. You would think that they would know how many passengers were coming? .[/QUOTE]


CHAIRS???? We've never had chairs--whoops! wait--just once on the Fantasy in '94 we mustered in a lounge--other than that we've STOOD in the hot sun on the deck. Last year (Inspiration) we waited until the very last possible minute but we did go and when we returned to our cabin there was a letter under the door chastising us for NOT attending and it contained complete instructions. The also run it on TV.

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='hstrybuf']I see it slightly different. As a former CD I don't doubt that he/she knows the importance of the muster drill. I think it's a curiousity based question to see what those not on the staff actually do. I'm glad to see the majority wouldn't even think of skipping muster.[/quote]

Good point Deb!!!

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='poptart']CHAIRS???? We've never had chairs--whoops! wait--just once on the Fantasy in '94 we mustered in a lounge--other than that we've STOOD in the hot sun on the deck. Last year (Inspiration) we waited until the very last possible minute but we did go and when we returned to our cabin there was a letter under the door chastising us for NOT attending and it contained complete instructions. The also run it on TV.[/quote]

I was thinking the same thing! LOL! Chairs?? On one cruise we had chairs, on Carnival... other than that, on Carnival and the RCL cruise, we've stood outside... ugh!! LOL!

[bellera]

I did not realize that our deck chairs were a luxury!!

We sailed in January on the Inspiration and we all had white plastic deck chairs to sit on on the Lido Deck. We were even lucky enough to be under the shade from the deck above!

[Caribbean Dad]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']... other than that, on Carnival and the RCL cruise, we've stood outside... ugh!! LOL![/quote]


[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Chris, the key is to stand next to the door that leads out to the deck with your arm extended outside, as if to say, “after you”. After you have graciously allowed all of your fellow cruiser to take their place, you can then go and find an open spot to stand. Not only will you appear to the other PAX to be an extremely courteous individual, but you will also get a wide open spot to stand at the front of the pack. ;) :D [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]On Valor, we chose a nice spot right at the line break for the door. This allowed us to be one of the first ten people back inside and to the stairs. Needless to say, we were among the first back out on Panorama for DODs and sail away. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='Caribbean Dad'][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Chris, the key is to stand next to the door that leads out to the deck with your arm extended outside, as if to say, “after you”. After you have graciously allowed all of your fellow cruiser to take their place, you can then go and find an open spot to stand. Not only will you appear to the other PAX to be an extremely courteous individual, but you will also get a wide open spot to stand at the front of the pack. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]On Valor, we chose a nice spot right at the line break for the door. This allowed us to be one of the first ten people back inside and to the stairs. Needless to say, we were among the first back out on Panorama for DODs and sail away. [/SIZE][/FONT][/quote]

Yeah, don't worry... I try to get a front row spot every time :D You can blame my tardiness on Ricky :p LOL!!! Although once, we were on the Lido deck, and it turned out that was our muster station, right where we were sitting :D So we just put on our jackets... of course, we had our drinks there, since those were our original seats :p LOL

[Terri102066]

I never thought I would actually use the things in the muster drill, but after sailing on the Star in March that caught on fire I soon realized how important it is. It maybe a little dicomforting, but so is running around in a smoke filled hall not knowing where you are suppose to be.

There was one of our neighbors on the Star last year that has no idea where to go and how to get there. He made have been just nervous, but everyone should take the muster drill serious.

Terri

[Caribbean Dad]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']You can blame my tardiness on Ricky :p LOL!!! [/quote]

:D I can see where that could create..er... "issues". :D :D Will be finding out first hand next March......sure hope Lucy will be there too. ;)

[bellera]

GoinCruisin - DH and I did the same thing as you. We knew our Muster Station was on the Lido Deck, so when we left our stateroom after unpacking we just brought our life jackets with us, grabbed a few beverages, found some deck chairs and laid in the Florida sun.

The funny thing was, this lady beside us was laughing at us because we had our life jackets with us and it was only 3:00. She thought we were paranoid passengers. We just gave her a polite wave good bye when she had to get up and leave to return to her cabin to retrieve her life jacket!

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='Caribbean Dad']:D I can see where that could create..er... "issues". :D Will be finding out first hand next March......sure hope Lucy will be there too. ;)[/quote]

And I just want to clarify, when I said you could blame my tardiness on Ricky, It's usually because we are stuck at the bar, or like last time, a bunch of us were in his cabin making drinks :p LOL! Not anything else!! :eek:

I hope I can too Bill!!!!

[Wennfred]

[quote name='GoinCruisin'] Oh but it wasn't Pete's brilliant idea :p So you are also the person that is gonig to screen the 2000 emails a day recommending a thread?? And all the people posting threads asking about it??? And all the people pissed because you didn't choose theirs?? And the insane idiotic threads that will be started because people will want thread of the week??? Because that WILL happen... oh, you are going to have a GA-REAT time!!!!! :D[/quote]

SORRY GoinCrusin, Off topic real quick since Host Randy killed the Thread over there, It would of cause a ton of problems and I forgot about all the Emails !!!!:confused:

Ok back to our program :D

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='Wennfred']SORRY GoinCrusin, Off topic real quick since Host Randy killed the Thread over there, It would of cause a ton of problems and I forgot about all the Emails !!!!:confused:

Ok back to our program :D[/quote]

I'm telling ya, CC'ers are relentless! LOL!

[Caribbean Dad]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']And I just want to clarify, when I said you could blame my tardiness on Ricky, It's usually because we are stuck at the bar, or like last time, a bunch of us were in his cabin making drinks LOL! Not anything else!! [/quote]

Honestly Chris, I wasn't trying to imply anything else. :eek: ;) :D From all that I have learned thus far, having dranks with Ricky can tend to wreak havoc on trying to maintain timeliness. So looking forward to experiencing it first hand. :D

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='Caribbean Dad']Honestly Chris, I wasn't trying to imply anything else. :eek: ;) :D From all that I have learned thus far, having dranks with Ricky can tend to wreak havoc on trying to maintain timeliness. So looking forward to experiencing it first hand. :D[/quote]

Yes, that it can!!! LOL!!!!!!

Bellera, that is the way to do it!!! Wish it could happen like that every time! LOL!!!!