Thread: How about those Muster Drills?

In light of the questionable absence of a muster drill on board the Costa ship that went down, how important are those muster drills to you now?

My concern is that they aren't taken seriously enough by passengers/crew. And I question some of the organization on some ships. The last time we sailed the Eclipse, we were stuffed into the Photo Gallery area where there was no place to sit. Not even on the floor. There would not have been enough room. Had we donned life jackets, there definitely would not have been enough room for all of us. The drill which is usually about 20 minutes long took 45. Maybe because of late arriving passengers? Or was it a sign that they weren't quite as organized as they should have been.

Hopefully cruise lines will examine a little more closely their procedures to prevent the disaster we recently witnessed--including scrutinizing their captains more carefully.

Just sayin'

Wandering:

I've cruised nearly 20 times. Each time I find myself wondering whether the "drill" really proves anything.

Time was when you were required to show up at your muster point wearing your life vest "properly" done. I can't remember when my muster point wasn't on the side of the ship being baked by the setting sun. Participants were hot, annoyed, and definitely uncomfortable!

Recently, it seems that I'm supposed to carry my vest with me, then sit jammed in with dozens of others in some cocktail lounge or similar venue. The passengers are no more comfortable than when they had to stand on deck. They really just want to get sailing!

In light of the "fiasco" in Italy, I cannot decide whether a stricter exercise is warranted or whether the laxness of today is acceptable. Frankly, I suspect that even the most experienced cruiser would have "panicked" had he been aboard the Costa ship! I'm pretty sure that I would have!

For what it's worth, I will continue to attend the drill, and will urge anyone cruising to do so, too!

SWR

Originally Posted by swrinfla

Wandering:

I've cruised nearly 20 times. Each time I find myself wondering whether the "drill" really proves anything.

Time was when you were required to show up at your muster point wearing your life vest "properly" done. I can't remember when my muster point wasn't on the side of the ship being baked by the setting sun. Participants were hot, annoyed, and definitely uncomfortable!

Recently, it seems that I'm supposed to carry my vest with me, then sit jammed in with dozens of others in some cocktail lounge or similar venue. The passengers are no more comfortable than when they had to stand on deck. They really just want to get sailing!

In light of the "fiasco" in Italy, I cannot decide whether a stricter exercise is warranted or whether the laxness of today is acceptable. Frankly, I suspect that even the most experienced cruiser would have "panicked" had he been aboard the Costa ship! I'm pretty sure that I would have!

For what it's worth, I will continue to attend the drill, and will urge anyone cruising to do so, too!

SWR

Steve, I very much agree with your comments. I don't know if the drill is helpful or not either. Everyone is always so uncomfortable and they don't half listen. Honestly, I don't ... they never tell us anything new.

On the positive side: Any who don't already know how to put on a life jacket and actually want the learn how would be able to do so at Muster Drill.

Yes, I would have panicked on that Costa ship! Wonder if any can honestly say they would not have? Going to countless muster drills would have been no help whatsoever in that situation.

What I will never understand is why there is no set procedure that all cruise lines must follow. If all cruise ships did it the same way I think it would be much easier to put up with that drill just because after several cruises, you don't have to listen to it anymore.

On a thread about the Concordia disaster, I read several victims were wearing life jackets. If wearing a life jacket does not help in a disaster, why even have them?

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) has been around since 1914 and included proceedures for review and amending the regulation. Yes the recent events with the Concordia will most certianly cause another major review and possibly even revisions. It's enception was a result of the sinking of the Titanic.

While the investigation into the Concordia tragedy is ongoing and probably a long way from completion much of what we, as uninvolved bystanders, have been able to learn about the matter comes from traditional media seeking to one up their competition during the news cycle. There is much yet that needs to be learned that will most likely come out during either a criminal trial of the captain and or the inevitable civil suits against Costa and its parent company Carinval Corp. From what I have seen and read the National Geographic coverage appeared to be the most objective discussion of the incident. I came away from viewing that program feeling like the entire incident was completedly preventable and was completely miss handled by senior managment onbaord. Despite the damage to the vessel had they acted properly there still should have been no loss of life. Their failure to act resulted in needless deaths.

If the last cruise I was on is any example many passengers still fail to uderstand the necessity of the drill or the value of it. Many still talked and joked throgh the drill and as always some tried and/or suceeded in brining drinks with them. The crew on the other hand was much more somber and appeared determined to do their job. Another thing that seems to be overlooked is that the reaction of people in crisis situations will and does vary radically. It is nearly impossible to maintain order in a crisis like this and people will be injured and/or killed because of it.

I believe that most cruise lines do take their responsibility to passenger safety seriously. Cruising and flying are still far safer than driving an automobile. In the first quarter of 2011 6618 people were victims of traffic accidents. Even taking the Concordia into consideration cruise deaths pale in comparison.

Michael you do make some good points and I agree with you about the need to have the safety drill. What is maybe 30 minutes out of a 7+ day cruise to help you be a part of safety while on board, or at least having some idea what to do in the event of a disaster.

I do also very much agree that the ability to be safe and prevent any deaths in such incidents lies with the senior officers, making the correct decisions.

In the case of the Costa incident, I cannot see any possible way that they would have been unaware about taking on large amounts of water, after hitting the rock. Which in my opinion the action to evacuate the vessel should have been the primary concern, not attempting to continue sailing and/or turn around.

I guess at the end of the day though if you are flying on a plane, no body really complains about the safety breifing, even though by now we all know how to do up a seat belt. However since we are on a plane we have nothing better to do. Where as a cruise ship, there is generally a lot more things people would prefer to be doing.

We returned from a week's cruise on Monarch of the Seas recently (back to back). We were interested to see if the Concordia disaster had had any impact on the way Boat Drill was conducted.

I am sorry to say that there was no evidence that either the crew or the passngers were taking it any more seriously than before.

We were herded out on the boat deck, and lined up. The lady 'in charge' who was Asian and very difficult to understand just shouted at us. Nobody (except us, seemingly!) took much notice of her - you couldn't hear her anyway unless you were right in front of her. The main purpose of the drill seemed to be to sing Happy Birthday to one of the passengers! Unbelievable! They did not bother to instruct us properly on the use of a lifejacket and gave very little information about what to do in a real emergency. Passengers laughed and joked and chatted and generally ignored this very important part of cruising, and crew were not much better!

My feeling about this is that if the crew take it seriously then maybe more passengers would, too. If the crew are laughing, joking and singing Happy Birthday then it is no wonder that passengers treat it all as a bit of a joke. This has to come right from the top - from the owners of the cruise line initially, then from the captain of the ship - who, incidentally did not give the sort of comprehensive instructions which are commonplace on British ships and on Princess ships, and then from all the crew.

Having passengers out on the deck means that they must make it possible for them to hear what is being said - shouting or using a megaphone is not sufficient.

Frankly I am horrified at the two boat drills we recently experienced. Lord help us had we had a real emergency. It would have been a total shambles.

I strongly feel that the cruise companies have GOT to take the possibility of an incident at sea more seriously. There are huge lessons to be learned from the Concordia accident. Whether or not it was totally avoidable (which it probably was!) does not take away the fact that the only chance passengers have of receiving instructions on safety is at the first boat drill, and if the whole thing is a farce then there is little hope for them.

Whilst there is absolutely no need to scare people to death, they do need to realise that there is a remote chance that they could be in a situation which requires evacutation, and the chances of survival are a whole lot more on a ship than on an aeroplane - if you know what to do, and if the crew and officers have made the correct responses. It should be possible for those on a ship to be evacuated safely following an incident. This would surely be made easier if people had received the sort of informative and serious talk which they should be entitled to.

RCI need to pull their socks up!

I wonder what would happen if you write your concerns to the head types at RC. You can find out the authority over them (Maritime Association? Someone here will know) and get their address and CC them (put it on your original letter).

I like how Princess and some other lines do the muster drill inside. Easier to hear. I don't recall any real joking around from the crew members once the drill began.

Why are muster drills so long? Half an hour is like forever when a passenger was forced to stop doing something and can't wait to get back to it. How long are they supposed to be?

Originally Posted by Smart Traveler

Why are muster drills so long? Half an hour is like forever when a passenger was forced to stop doing something and can't wait to get back to it. How long are they supposed to be?

There is no "supposed to be" time on Muster Drills. It takes as long as it needs to convey the emergency info to the passengers. If passengers are late arriving that causes the drill to start late, thus requiring everyone to be there longer.

All ships are not created equal, therefore, the drill is mandatory each time the ship sails. Everyone should pay attention because things change from time to time.

Fortunately, on Celebrity, it is all held inside in air conditioned venues and you don't have to take your life jackets with you.