So , Has anyone ever abandoned ship ?

[cathyz]

Even modern cruise ships can sink. Someone mentioned the ship in Santorini. The ship was named the MS Sea Diamond. It sank in 2007 after running a ground. There were 1,195 passengers on board. All but 2 were evacuated in under 4 hours. I don't think this would be possible if people hadn't done the muster drill. If the ship is sinking, its going to be mass panic regardless, but if people at least know exactly where to go in the event of an emergency, they'll have a fighting chance.

A friend of ours was on this cruise and she said it wasn't the panic situation that some people made it out to be, but scarey nonetheless.

[sunshine426]

Aside from being REALLY scary, I can't imagine how an actual emergency could possibly be orderly.

 

The odds of actually being inside your cabin when then call is made are slim. So, you'd have to climb out of the swimming pool, get up from your dinner table, or file out of the big showroom, go to your cabin to retrieve your life vest, and then go to your muster station.

 

And where is my family? Do I look for them? Just go to the cabin?

 

People going to their cabins bumping into people coming from their cabins, confusion on the stairs.

 

And if there's an abandon ship, you can well imagine either the ship is leaning on an angle or filled with smoke while all of this is going on.

 

Yes, I know that the past few incidents have resulted in miraculous numbers of people saved. Yes, I know it probably will work in an emergency. But in my mind's eye, I see being terrorized, being disoriented, masses of people bumping into each other going in different directions.

 

Yeah, I know I'm not the only one, but, I pray this never happens again to anyone.

 

Our call was at 2am, so most of the passengers were asleep or in their cabins. I heard a few tones before the actual call to muster and had seen the fire from our balcony, so we had a precious 5 minute head start to dress and grab a few things(like our passports and some cash). Still we smelled smoke, heard voices, and felt tension. Yet, somehow, most people were calm and orderly. Had we been out by the pool, or inside at the casino, we would not have gone back to our cabin, but reported to the muster station. They have extra life jackets if needed. Most ship emergencies do not require abandoning ship.

[BroncosFan2010]

The psychology behind having a plan is HUGE. If a disaster does strike, people will panic. It is just the nature of human behavior to have raised stress levels, not being able to think clearly, and panicky quick movements. If 2000+ or God forbid 5000+ (Oasis) are panicking, running all around the ship without having a practiced plan, it will be chaos. No matter how many times you have done the muster drill, no matter how many times you put on a life jacket, and no matter how many times you have been on the same ship, and no matter how familiar you are with your muster station, things will go so much smoother if you have practiced.