Early release from Muster Drill with Small Children

[Citizen Jane]

We experienced this nicety on our cruise on Enchantment last summer.

 

Has anyone else ever experienced this?

 

CrusinMama did they do this on Navigator?

 

Basically they just let us go about ten minutes before everyone else so that the kids wouldn't get crushed in the movement from the deck back into the ship. It was very helpful.

[cb at sea]

Nice! Maybe I should bring kids on my next cruise!!!!

[crusinmama06]

On Indy, they dismissed those with handheld infants/toddlers early. But only if they were fussing. :(

 

On some other ships, we were ushered inside (if we were outside) so the youngest could stay cool. ;)

 

Having kids does have its perks. :D

[sharktums]

We got this awesome unexpected surprise on the Liberty of the Seas in December!

 

We were pretty much the last ones there, they put us right in front, and then as they were explaining everything over the loudspeaker one of the muster guys came over and told us because we had a small child that we could go now so that we wouldn't get crushed or have to wait forever for an elevator.

 

I wasn't looking for any special treatment so it was a welcome surprise!

 

On Princess in December of 07, we didn't get anything special, but they do their muster drills quite differently. (You don't actually go outside to your area, you just meet at your meeting space) So it wasn't really a hassle at all.

[boulders]

On AOS, we were late to the muster drill because the stateroom attendant hadn't given us a lifejacket for my 2 year old. When we got to our muster station in a lounge, they insisted that we stand in a crowded area, even though there was another muster station adjacent that had loads of room. DS2 started to cry because it was so crowded he couldn't see me above my life vest. No one ever let us go early, gave up a seat or anything.

 

Was it me???:confused: Was it the ship???

 

I am starting to wonder. We had horrible service in the dining room too.

 

I'm going on Carnival in March. I hope they will have better service. I'll also be trying out Princess in June.

[jam82]

We've been on 4 Carnival cruises with an infant/toddler. We've always had to wait until the end to leave. We have two more cruises coming up in March and April. We shall see.

[s318830]

I suspect it's dependent on the personality of the muster station attendants. We were on LOS las year with our 15 month old daughter and 3 yr old son. We couldn't get either kid comfortable in their life jackets so there was a lot of fussing and crying. And we weren't released early. But by that point I was just so relieved to be able to take our son (the worst offender) out of his jacket that I didn't care.

[zetachi]

They let DD (3) and me go early as she was fussing and wanted to leave. On the other hand the muster leader almost broke down in tears when she could not get our section organized and realized she was missing 10 people.

[ddgleason]

If you were allowed to leave early, how old were your children at the time? We are cruising with our 10, 8, and 4 year olds in June. Their first cruise and muster is the part that I am just dreading with the kids. The older 2 will be fine, I am sure, but a 4 year old doesn't always understand logical reasoning and explanations about rules and regulations when it comes to his comfort level. :p I so don't want to be the one with the screaming kid. Already thinking about the dirty looks that will get thrown our way...:confused:

[SouthernSparkler]

If you were allowed to leave early, how old were your children at the time? We are cruising with our 10, 8, and 4 year olds in June. Their first cruise and muster is the part that I am just dreading with the kids. The older 2 will be fine, I am sure, but a 4 year old doesn't always understand logical reasoning and explanations about rules and regulations when it comes to his comfort level. :p I so don't want to be the one with the screaming kid. Already thinking about the dirty looks that will get thrown our way...:confused:

 

You'll be fine:) I think it depends how many kids are onboard....during my last summer cruise when there was tonnes of kids cruising...the station only let parents with infants leave early. Had they dismissed anyone with kids...there would've been barely anyone left at our station! My last cruise, only a few families at our station & they were all dismissed first. I think it is at the discretion of the staff there, but if your 4 year old starts fussing, i'd just ask one of the staff once the announcement comes on if you could duck out a bit early.

[s318830]

For the record... we also didn't ask to be released early because I didn't know it was a possibility... perhaps if I'd asked, they'd have let us go. So it certainly can't hurt...

 

Oh, and even though we had a loudly fussing 3 yr old, we didn't get any dirty looks. We got some sympathetic ones because my husband was trying hard to calm him down and their combined life jackets were getting in the way.

[m1ckey]

we always arrive early get a seat and wait till the very last to depart. We are always placed in the front, with lots of space, which is cool .

[jam82]

Thanks so much for posting this. The muster is already so much fun:confused:, a fussing child would only add to everyone else being more uncomfortable. It's one of those situations where I'm always on edge with the worry of my son fussing. If we take him out to eat and he fusses, then we can get up and leave. However, during the muster I worry that he will act up and he will bother everyone else. He is usually well behaved, but knowing that we can at least ask to leave gives me some comfort.

[Citizen Jane]

If you were allowed to leave early, how old were your children at the time? We are cruising with our 10, 8, and 4 year olds in June. Their first cruise and muster is the part that I am just dreading with the kids. The older 2 will be fine, I am sure, but a 4 year old doesn't always understand logical reasoning and explanations about rules and regulations when it comes to his comfort level. :p I so don't want to be the one with the screaming kid. Already thinking about the dirty looks that will get thrown our way...:confused:

 

She was 5 and was not fussing at all. She thought the life jacket was a hoot.

[Citizen Jane]

Thanks for the responses. We actually didn't ask for it nor was she fussing. I'll let you know what happens next week after the cruise.

[deniuh]

On AOS, we were late to the muster drill because the stateroom attendant hadn't given us a lifejacket for my 2 year old. When we got to our muster station in a lounge, they insisted that we stand in a crowded area, even though there was another muster station adjacent that had loads of room. DS2 started to cry because it was so crowded he couldn't see me above my life vest. No one ever let us go early, gave up a seat or anything.

 

Was it me???:confused: Was it the ship???

 

I am starting to wonder. We had horrible service in the dining room too.

 

I'm going on Carnival in March. I hope they will have better service. I'll also be trying out Princess in June.

 

We sailed AOS in September 2008 and they allowed us to leave first at the end of the muster drill since our daughter was 9 months old. It was very nice. We also had a life jacket on our bed once we checked in. My daughter couldn't see above her life vest either but she was so mesmerized by all the people that it wasn't an issue. AOS was a great experience. Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

[crusinmama06]

On AOS, we were late to the muster drill because the stateroom attendant hadn't given us a lifejacket for my 2 year old. When we got to our muster station in a lounge, they insisted that we stand in a crowded area, even though there was another muster station adjacent that had loads of room. DS2 started to cry because it was so crowded he couldn't see me above my life vest. No one ever let us go early, gave up a seat or anything.

 

Was it me???:confused: Was it the ship???

 

I am starting to wonder. We had horrible service in the dining room too.

 

I'm going on Carnival in March. I hope they will have better service. I'll also be trying out Princess in June.

 

In the future, don't wait in your cabin for a lifejacket for the toddler. You simply confirm with your cabin attendant that they will deliver one. Then you carry the baby/toddler up at the correct Muster time. Actually it's easier to get there first and arrive early.

 

The lounge was one Muster Station, then outside the door is a different Muster station. That's why you were directed to stay in the lounge based on the number on your lifejacket.

 

On Indy, I was hoping for a lounge, we were directed toward it and I started celebrating "Woohoo air conditioning!" and the crew member laughed and said "Keep going, your station is outside" ;)

 

So just because you saw people waiting outside doesn't mean that was your station.

 

And AFTER the drill is when you can go back to your cabin and see if your attendant placed the correct baby life jacket on the bed. You don't need to wait around.