lifeboat drill? what lifeboat drill?

[tjbarney]

My husband and I have been on 4 cruises thus far and only made it to our 1st muster drill. ;) On the others we just stay in our stateroom and finish unpacking and watch some tv with the volume down low. We can sometimes hear the crew knocking on doors around us and sometimes on ours, we just stay quite and turn off the lights etc. until they leave. lol. We do however always look at the diagram on our door to see where we would need to go in case of...

[BrendaStarr]

Just thinking... How silly does one look if the cabin-steward DOES look in the closet...? *Hrm... Just standing in my closet philosophing... Oh - are the other ones on the promenade-deck doing a muster-drill? I must have missed that...*

[Depchief]

Just got back from a cruise on the carnival Sensation. This was my fourth cruise and i decided to skip the drill. Just sat on my deck and watched us pull away from the dock. No one even checked the cabin. They have never taken a head count when I have been to the drill, so how would they even know you DIDNT attend?

[dobiemom]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid]HAL takes roll. If you don't show up you are paged. If you still didn't show up, you have to attend a make-up drill. They keep track. Every day they keep paging the people that need to do the life boat drill until your name is checked off.[/COLOR][/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=DarkOrchid]

[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid]YRFYTRE6: On our last cruise with HAL, we had several children in our group. We were informed that children's life jackets were not in the room and to get them on deck. On deck we were asked the children's ages or something. They brought the life jackets and made sure they fit. After the drill we were told to take them back to our cabins.[/COLOR][/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=DarkOrchid]

[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid]I always attend on time (I don't want to be booed!) and take pictures![/COLOR][/FONT]
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[Cruisin'Kim]

I have attended the Drill every cruie.

I wonder if the people that don't attend think that everyone that takes the time to attend it during their vacation wants to?? Or that the crew wants to stand there waiting as well, or spend their time knocking on cabin doors looking for the ones that don't attend?? It's something that the ship is required to do, and it would take much less time out of everyone elses vacation if everyone just took the time to show up.! (Not to mention, it may save your life)!!

I'm not usually so opinionated on these boards, but it really irks me when I'm standing there on the deck with a life jacket on, not what I want to be doing while on vacation - that I'm standing there for some time because the crew is looking for the few that feel they don't need to attend.:(

Kim.

[SarasMommy]

[quote=Cruisin'Kim;11615289]I have attended the Drill every cruie.

I wonder if the people that don't attend think that everyone that takes the time to attend it during their vacation wants to?? Or that the crew wants to stand there waiting as well, or spend their time knocking on cabin doors looking for the ones that don't attend?? It's something that the ship is required to do, and it would take much less time out of everyone elses vacation if everyone just took the time to show up.! (Not to mention, it may save your life)!!

I'm not usually so opinionated on these boards, but it really irks me when I'm standing there on the deck with a life jacket on, not what I want to be doing while on vacation - that I'm standing there for some time because the crew is looking for the few that feel they don't need to attend.:(

Kim.[/quote]

Agree 100%. Do these people think dodging the drill is an accomplishment to be proud of? Not sure what goes through their minds. These sound like the same people who park in no parking zones or handicapped spots, pass on the shoulder...okay, I'll stop before I get started.

The stress of an emergency situation can seriously affect your ability to think clearly, and looking at the diagram on your door is not the same as going through the drill itself. Often the routes take you through areas that are otherwise off limits to passengers. No, it's not rocket science, but these procedures are put into place for our protection, and the least we can do out of respect for our fellow passengers is to follow the drill so we can all get on with our cruise.

We missed the drill on our Med cruise, along with about 1/4 of the passengers because of arriving very late, and as we expected, we were all required to attend a drill the next day.

[Ang in Miami]

When I go to the drill, I want to know more than just where to go and stand - like HOW to launch the life boat. And if my muster station is an auditorium or dining room, you can be assured in the event of a real emergency, that is the last place I'd go - I'm headed for the life boats. Anyone remember the Greek cruiseliner Oceaneus that sunk off the coast of South America? The crew were the first people off the ship leaving the passengers to figure out on their own and they did not know how to launch the life boats. There were lots of passengers in the dining room waiting for crew to arrive to give instruction...they never came. The guy on the bridge giving the mayday over the radio was a musician from one of the bands - he played the guitar. Authorities were shocked to learn there was no crew onboard, just a musician. "Every man for himself" is quite possible in the event of a real emergency. I think the drills should include instruction on how to launch the lifeboats. And if you can't get them launched, find those cannisters that contain rafts. They are nearby. When thrown overboard, the cannister explodes and the raft blows up on its own.

When you hear the drill signal, DO ATTEND and try to learn something a little more about it than just how funny the photographs will look to your friends when you get home. You never know when it will be YOU who needs to operate the life boat or toss a cannister.

I manage an uninspected passenger vessel and even us "little guys" go through the same drills, but in a little more detail; however, we do our drill first thing - BEFORE opening the bar...that's helps keep their attention and encourages cooperation! :D

[Happy Tapper]

Agree with everyone who understands how important the boat drill is to the
passengers safety; what I do not understand is being told that "your lifeboat
station is in the casino" ( this particular ship walked us out to the boat deck but it was packed & no roll call taken) needless to say we have not sailed on that cruiseline again. We want roll call taken at the boat drill,it makes sense.
Anyway, Happy Cruising to you all !! Happy

[cruisendude2001]

I have been on many cruises on a most of the major lines and i think i have attended 1 muster drill. I understand safety and everything but i want to be on vacation not lined up like cattle. i am taking my girlfriend on her first cruise so we may go just so she can see how much of a stupid waste of time it is. what we do do it look at the back of our door which tells us where out muster station is and make sure we locate it when theres not thousands of people in orange life jackets (kinda looks like prison uniforms) so we are safe if we need it. When the steward knocks on the door to tell us to go someone is convienantly not feeling well and i must take care of them and we promise to find our muster station later ... hasnt failed yet its worked on celebrity,RCCL,Princess, norwegian but like i said its my better half's first cruise i might go just to take stupid pictures of her in her life jacket ... who posted they know how to make the light hanging off work how i want to play while i wait on deck

[JandJ091902]

[quote name='FYRFYTRE6']I am a Firefighter and truly believe in the Lifeboat drill and any other issue having to do with our Safety!

Our last cruise was on the Dawn. We took the kiddos with us, there were 5 of us total. M&D, 2yo, 12yo, 14 yo. We had 4 lifejackets for 5 people, yes you read right, 4 for 5. We had brought our OWN life vest for the baby and had to use that. We argued with our cabin stewards for a life jacket, they said toget it at the station, the jackets for babies were for "emergencies only!''...we were reprimanded at the muster station (in the theatre...last place I want to be...inside!!!).....the muster capt. said we had to have 1, we told them what we were told...they said no and we went that way all week....needless to say, we will NEVER cruise NCL again.

Royal Caribbean has always been AWESOME!....I agree....camera, friends, and in 15 minutes, we're partying....just my 2 cents.

Thanks all
Rob:eek:[/quote]

Cant agree more. RC doesnt waste time. Everyone meets at the muster, they get the room number, do their thing and about 15 minutes later everyone is getting trashed on deck as the ship sets sail.

[JandJ091902]

[quote name='Happy Tapper']Agree with everyone who understands how important the boat drill is to the
passengers safety; what I do not understand is being told that "your lifeboat
station is in the casino" ( this particular ship walked us out to the boat deck but it was packed & no roll call taken) needless to say we have not sailed on that cruiseline again. We want roll call taken at the boat drill,it makes sense.
Anyway, Happy Cruising to you all !! Happy[/quote]


Sounds like Carnival to me!!!

[JandJ091902]

DW and I considered last cruise to skip the drill. But the better half of my conscience said to go. As a soldier, wearing our gear and being trained on it properly is a way to protect us from being killed. I just bring that instinct with me for just that one moment to "do the right thing."

[tmarc12]

they are so much fun, we are doing Costa in April. My SIL is terrified. We just told her that the drill is the following morning. So if we go bump in the night everyone is going in the water. she swears she is sleeping in her lifevest or in the boat. Just thought was funy thing to share. We are yearly cruisers and she has gone yet. :p

[tmarc12]

they are so much fun, we are doing Costa in April. My SIL is terrified. We just told her that the drill is the following morning. So if we go bump in the night everyone is going in the water. she swears she is sleeping in her lifevest or in the boat. Just thought was funy thing to share. We are yearly cruisers and she has gone yet. :p

[soozles]

We always go on the lifeboat drill, even after 15+ cruises. What I don't understand is if there really is an emergency, are people really going to go to their muster station? What if I'm on one side of the ship, and my muster stations is at the other end? Do they really think I'm going to go down to my cabin to get my lifevest and then go to my muster station? ODds are, I'm going to the nearest lifeboat.

[Curro]

It's not that bad to have your muster station inside the boat...Consider that if in an emergency situation the ship is heeled, it is likely that only half of the lifeboats can be launched. And being inside means you are closer to the working lifeboats than those who are on the wrong side. But don't panic, there are also liferafts to complete the capacity of the boat, which are also very safe, but certainly not as dry or confortable.

[kalamari]

Why is it that it is beneath some people to go to the muster drill? Is it because they feel they are better than others so the rules don't apply to them?? It's the only logical explanation I can think of!

[Angiem]

I have been to over 10 lifeboat drills and NEVER have they called out cabin numbers. What ship was this on?
Angie