The truth about Muster Drill

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mlzangel78

Guest
Ok here it is from the Coast guard themselves:

I must admit i am a bad cruise ship passenger and on the 3 cruises i have been on(carnival and princess) I have not attended muster drill, I grew up on a boat all my life i know how to put on my life jacket, and i also when i get on the ship look at where my muster station is and find it before proceeding to the lido deck for lunch. I am in the minority i know who do not attend but i personally do not feel that it is any different than staying in a hotel who also posts the nearest emergency exit on every door in the event of an emergency... the hotels do not hold this drill, and i dont feel that i want to attend it... now over on the know before you go board i am being told that rccl will put your name on a list if you do not attend, when calling rccl to ask them the purpose it is a liability requirement for their insurance company in the event of a loss, that holds them harmless of any lawsuit i may bring against them since i did not attend their safety drill... Maritime law requires that the ship hold it , it does not require that passengers attend it ,, please see the following....

This was taken directly from the coast guard:

Emergency Drills. Coast Guard regulations and SOLAS require that the master of an ocean cruise ship periodically hold fire and lifeboat drills. They are intended not only to give the crew practice, but also to show the passengers how to act in the event of an emergency at sea. Passengers should participate fully in these drills,but are not required to by law. The timing and frequency of the drills depends in large part on the length of the voyage. On voyages that will last more than one week, the first drill will be held before the ship gets underway (passengers who embark at the last minute sometimes miss this drill), with additional drills at least once a week thereafter. On voyages of one week or less, the drills must be held within 24 hours after leaving port.

Coast Guard and international regulations also require a notice to be posted conspicuously in each passenger cabin or stateroom. The notice explains the following: How to recognize the ship's emergency signals (alarm bells and whistle signals are normally supplemented by announcements made over the ship's public address system); the location of life preservers provided for passengers in that stateroom (special life preservers for children will be provided, if necessary, by the room steward); instructions and pictures explaining how to put on the life preserver; and the lifeboat to which passengers in that stateroom are assigned. (Note: Passengers need not be alarmed if they discover that the total number of person's on board a cruise ship (passengers + crew) exceeds the total capacity of the ship's lifeboats. Modern cruise ships carry a variety of survival craft. Passengers are invariably assigned to lifeboats or similar survival craft. The total capacity of all the survival craft on board will exceed the total number of persons on the vessel).

When fire and lifeboat drills are held, crew members from the stewards department are generally responsible for assisting and directing passengers in the drill. Direction signs showing the path to reach lifeboats are posted in passageways and stairways throughout the ship. The crewmember in charge of each lifeboat will muster the passengers assigned to that lifeboat, and give passengers any final instructions necessary in the proper method of donning and adjusting their life preservers. If there is any portion of the emergency procedures the passenger doesn't understand, they should question the crew until the instructions are clear and completely understood.
 
K

Ken_2001

Guest
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I"ll still attend Melissa. For me own piece of me mind! :thumb
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
and i agree by all means if any one wants to attend im not knocking them i know its only 15 minutes but it just really unernves me to be bundled that close to so many people... i dont mean that to sound nasty i just really do get that claustrophobic, not of small spaces but of a lot of people it unerves me...
 
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Giles612

Guest
Hmm, you are probably going to get some interesting posts from this one. I was of the impression that it was one of the cool things that is just part of cruising, so I kind of looked forward to it. That is until the last one I did, where we were all packed together like sardines and then told to be quite while we strained to listen to a PA announcement that was mostly garble.

I think that they should give us rides in the life boats!! :)
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
yeah that would be cool, thanks Jason :) i looked forward to it to the first time until i felt like i was gonna pass out.... my nerves were shot for a while... now i have no problem in large groups in the dining room or in the elevators, since ofcourse im not jammed up against someone sweating to death..... i just wanted to let everyone know that is not mandatory ...
 
H

Helen233

Guest
I cannot stand those choking life jackets.


I bet they come in real handy for an emergency, hahah
 
C

coffeecups

Guest
If you don't attend the drill, then where do you hide? I understand that the room stewards check all the rooms. On our last cruise, they did. In fact they held up the drill until they made sure everyone they could find was at the drill.



coffeecups
 
F

frito

Guest
So I can assume that the purpose of the original post is to inform and advise passengers that they don't have to abide by ships regulations---? Naw, not worth the 15-20 minutes it takes that just may save someones life. As far as being claustrophobic at the drill, pity you if you ever have a real emergency.
I really think this is a little much. Something as important as lifeboat drill should be encouraged--- not discouraged. I have been on 24 cruises, going on # 25 next week. I do attend the drill, not because I don't know how to put on a life jacket nor that I am afraid, but because I do respect the importance of the drills and I do know that in the event of a real emergency it would be better for all concerned if EVERYONE knew where to go, what to do, etc. instead of running around screaming and in a state of panic.
 
N

Nanni-B.

Guest
I guess I really like these drills because it gives me some peace of mind that at least if my kids will know what to do. I hate putting on the life jackets and being crammed in lines of people but I am thankful that the crew work on this on such a frequent basis. It is just like suffering through your "seat belt lessons" on airplanes :lol
 
L

ljeanbrown

Guest
The site for the coast guard has that statement, but it didn't have the sentence about passengers not required to attend???? I copied it and will paste it below, there is a link to the site on the know before you go board and I copied the following from that site:............





Emergency Drills. Coast Guard regulations and SOLAS require that the master of an ocean cruise ship periodically hold fire and lifeboat drills. They are intended not only to give the crew practice, but also to show the passengers how to act in the event of an emergency at sea. Passengers should participate fully in these drills. The timing and frequency of the drills depends in large part on the length of the voyage. On voyages that will last more than one week, the first drill will be held before the ship gets underway (passengers who embark at the last minute sometimes miss this drill), with additional drills at least once a week thereafter. On voyages of one week or less, the drills must be held within 24 hours after leaving port.

Coast Guard and international regulations also require a notice to be posted conspicuously in each passenger cabin or stateroom. The notice explains the following: How to recognize the ship's emergency signals (alarm bells and whistle signals are normally supplemented by announcements made over the ship's public address system); the location of life preservers provided for passengers in that stateroom (special life preservers for children will be provided, if necessary, by the room steward); instructions and pictures explaining how to put on the life preserver; and the lifeboat to which passengers in that stateroom are assigned. (Note: Passengers need not be alarmed if they discover that the total number of person's on board a cruise ship (passengers + crew) exceeds the total capacity of the ship's lifeboats. Modern cruise ships carry a variety of survival craft. Passengers are invariably assigned to lifeboats or similar survival craft. The total capacity of all the survival craft on board will exceed the total number of persons on the vessel).

When fire and lifeboat drills are held, crew members from the stewards department are generally responsible for assisting and directing passengers in the drill. Direction signs showing the path to reach lifeboats are posted in passageways and stairways throughout the ship. The crewmember in charge of each lifeboat will muster the passengers assigned to that lifeboat, and give passengers any final instructions necessary in the proper method of donning and adjusting their life preservers. If there is any portion of the emergency procedures the passenger doesn't understand, they should question the crew until the instructions are clear and completely understood
 
F

frito

Guest
Just a couple more comments please. With regards to " the hotels don't hold this drill "----.
Well well. Neither do they float at sea dozens of miles from any land.
And oh--- how about those that don't bother to show up for lifeboat drill just don't bother to show up at the muster stations when a real emergency arises?? Sounds fair to me.
 
K

Ken_2001

Guest
I knew you were gonna get some real attention on this one Mel! :grin I can't bail ya outta this one :grin
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
ken ...im Ok with everyones opinion because i highly respect everyone on this board, im not saying that the drill is not important, or a waste of time. as for coffecups question we just sit in our room and watch tv, or sit on our balcony if we have one at that time, not on one of the 3 single cruises has a ccabin stewerd come to our cabin.

The point of the post wasnt to be defiant or mean spirited in any way, as i posted orginally there was a post over on the know before you go board that said frequent cruisers should be exempt from this drill....

As for fritos comment , im not here for a pity party, and i wasnt looking for sympathy and i thought the remarks were uncalled for , i stated in my post that im not mean or defiant,,, i was giving information as these boards are used for that in the 3 cruises this past year i have not attended, i also stated that i would be attending the drill on my upcoming rccl cruise becuase i was told,, thanks to the info i get from this board not nasty comments made by others, that rccl does a roster check to see who has attended, princess and carnival atleast in my last 3 cruises with them have done no such thing, and i do not wish to hold my fellow passengers up and spoil theor time. so as much as i detest being crammed around hundreds of other people i will suck it up and go so everyone else can enjoy their vacation.
 
J

jimlinalf

Guest
On one of our cruises they called the names out of people and basically those that didn't show up really kept the rest of us waiting in the hot sun. My wife really suffered from it, as she being shorter was made to stand toward the front. I wish folks would be considerate and go to the drill so we could get it over with. At least on the last Carnival Celebration drill our muster spot was Lido deck midships and everyone got a chair. Of course even there some dork wouldn't put their lifejacket on and held things up until they complied.

Jim
 
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frito

Guest
The most dangerous thing to a ship at sea is fire. With all the improvements in engineering, design and construction of ships today the threat has certainly been lessened but is still there. Now we have the threat of terrorism to contend with. So, lifeboat drill is just as important now as it was years ago.

I personally don't care a hoot if Melissa goes to lifeboat drill or not but to go to the trouble of looking up the info. she posted, posting it in numerous places and possibly adding something to it seems like nothing short of enticing others to ignore something that could very well affect other peoples lives.
Please, stay in your cabin for the few minutes it takes if thats what you want but don't encourage others to do the same. But when and if a real emergency occurs, don't try to be the first in line at the life boat.
Sorry, have to sign off and get ready for my cruise. Oh yes, I will attend my 25 th boat drill.
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
Once again frito must not be reading all of the post just selective reading i suppose, i posted it because some one on the KNOW BEFORE YOU GO BOARD had posted a thread about being exempt from it,,, furthermore im not encouraging anyone to do any such thing, which i think is an absolutley unfair statement,,, i posted a thread about what ebay site i buy clothing from as well, but im not holding a gun to peoples heads MAKING them purchase items,,, nor am i asking anyone to skip muster drill, just wanted to reply to another posters thoughts and ideas, your statements have been without merit and i would ask you to refrain from posting such nonsense if you have nothing nice to say,,, i actually recieved praise for not blowing my lid at you on another board, but your commetns are just rude, and i would like you to keep them to yourself.

Again i didnt post this to cause ruckus or be defiant , 2 things which i am not the type of person to do, it was for informational purposes just as every other post on this board. Furthermore im not a child and im not here to bicker with anyone so that being said, i asked as politely as i know how that if you have nothing constructive or nice to say , wether it be to me or any other memeber of this board , you refrain from posting , as it is mean spirited and wrong to admonish anyone on this board for their opinions or comments or posts.
 
S

Sharkin

Guest
Melissa,
Not to be mean, but just so I (we) know. Did you add anything to "This was taken directly from the Coast Guard"? Or was it pasted, by you, exactly as it was published by the United States Coast Guard?
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
it was not from a cost guard web site, i searched muster drill maritime law on yahoo search it was about 4 pages in that i found it... , if im wrong hey im wrong ill be the first to admit it, but i do remember that in my princess in room folder ,it did not say it was mandatory and said passengers SHOULD attend....

:) now ofcourse counting down the days to my rccl muster drill :) lol
 
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Giles612

Guest
:) I told you that you were going to get some interesting posts on this topic!!

Honestly, if going to the drill gives you peace of mind then go. I personally think that it is a waste of time for some people, I am competant enough to know how to put on a life jacket and I am competant enough to figure out where my muster station is. I mean how many muster drills do you need to go to in a lifetime to figure out where the lifeboats and life jackets are? I also, think it is ludicrous that they would hold up the drill because some people didn't show up. We did discover that the instructions Carnival gave us regarding disembarking were not correct, so there are a few inconveniances that are billed as maritime or immagration law that is not always the case. I think (as they should) they err on the side of caution. Personally I went the last time, but some people in my group didn't they stayed in their cabin and took a shower, that was their choice. I for one generally follow the rules, but I don't freak out when others don't.

There Melissa, now they can yell at me some now. :)
 


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