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 ,, Now im not a bad person, and im also not an instigator just trying to get away with something i just get really claustrophobic around that many people all squeezed together.....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.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
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...

also as i posted in the first paragraph,, they dont make you do this at a hotel... and i do find my muster station prior to going to thelido deck for the welcome aboard lunch....
 
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Schooner

Guest
You can't even compare a hotel to a ship. At least you can possibly leave a hotel, like to see you try and leave the ship. Your standard hotel doesn't have fire walls that come out and section the hotel into 7 differant pieces. Maybe you would plan on a Voyager ship to just come out your room and head down to the Promenade to your boat. Your gonna get a big surprise when you see a big 30 by 40 foot fire door blocking your way. A ship is actually so much safer then a hotel in a fire. At least they can contain it to a about a 150ft section. It will burn up and down but no further forward or aft.......(if everything works properly). As for being clastrophobic you can check in, tell them your condition and they will let you wait away from the crowd and when everyone is there they can place you at the end. Like to know what you would do in a real emergency......for example people have been mustered out on those becks anywhere from 1 to 20 hours in an emergency. You think thats bad.......you should see what it's like in the boat when it is packed with 150 people. It is not fun!
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
while i knew that i was going to get admonished for this i know that there are many others that i have talked to on the recent cruises that have told me the same thing,, they watch it in their rooms on tv.... and as far as the catastrophe of a hotel,,, when you 100 floors up in a burning building there is not LEaving the hotel.. im sure that the any of the workers in the twin towers will tell you that it was extremely diff getting out of those buildings.... regardless i will probably attend the upcoming rccl one only because i hear that they will wait for fellow passengers and do not want to disrupt my fellow cruismates vacations
 
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connie seabee

Guest
It's not always 15 minutes for the muster drill. My father who was 83yrs. stood out in the heat for 25 minutes when he passed out. The medical staff was great and he got good care.

I understand why we have the muster drill, but I do think that they should not wait and wait for everyone to arrive, it's way to crowded and sometimes hot.
 
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ljeanbrown

Guest
I just want to post what I copied from a link to the coast guard site that was on the know before you go board . It is the same as above ........except it does not say the part about...... passengers not required to by law =shrug









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
 
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Schooner

Guest
I saw that too ljeanbrown. You can also see where it was added as the comma has no space. ........funny who am I to talk about proper punctuation, I barely passed English.......LOL
 
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frito

Guest
The original poster , on her up coming RCCL cruise, should organize all the folks who don't want to attend lifeboat drill, make up signs to carry and march around the decks chanting " hell no, we won't go " !
As she has so graciously and probably erronously pointed out, there isn't anything the ship can do about it !
 
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Ken_2001

Guest
Ah Jeez Mel. Your on your own kiddo. :lol :grin I'm outta here like Vladamir :grin
 
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AJ coast

Guest
Its a fact: At least 10 passengers endure some kind of physical injury during a muster drill.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
copied from my post above:

regardless i will probably attend the upcoming rccl one only because i hear that they will wait for fellow passengers and do not want to disrupt my fellow cruismates vacations


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....

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.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
frito i said it on the ccl board and i will say it again here.... if im wrong i stand corrected but these boards are for information purposes and your comments are without any merit and uncalled for... im not trying to make people mad or be defiant, i am not a cruiser who will stand with picket signs and protest, which is just sillly and stupid,,, im not one to complain about stained carpet or the food,,,,, there was a post on the know before you go boards that said frequent cruisers should be exempt from this drill, and i agree... just as many will post that carnival has a horrible program for past passsengers,,, while princess and rccl do a wonderful job for repeat guests,,,,, it 's INFORMATION not gods word.... i found the info on yahoo search about 4 pages in.... that is all.... just like i found a site for expedited pass ports,,, i simply wanted to give my feelow cruise addicts info i had found,, ididnt interject any personal opinions or say that they shouldnt have the drill at all, as i believe it is important... I also stated that i grew up on a boat all my life, a small litlle 45 ft bayliner that would sink much faster than an ocean liner, and i am aware of the safety precations of life jackets and finding my muster station,,, again we board, we look at our cabin door as we drop off our carryons, find our muster station , and head to the buffet im not completely oblivios to my surroundings , and do find wher eim supposed to be,,, but regardless....

thank all the rest of you for either correcting me or giving me more information and not slamming me, your info is as always truly appreciated
 
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Schooner

Guest
I must say kudos to zangel to not blowing her top and getting really defensive. Wanted to add one thing that really doesn't make much differance to any of this. You know the route that you take to your muster station for drill (like down the main staircase) may not be the route you take in a real emergency. It could actually be the secondary route. They don't like you to take the secondary route during drill because those staircases are crew / emergency stairs. And during embark they are filled with alot of people trying to deliver luggage. Because like I stated before if a fire door is closed in your area you may not make it to the route you expect to take. Just wanted to add that.
 
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bpear1600

Guest
A few weeks ago on the Mariner we were among the first to arrive at the drill and there was no roll call or taking down cabin numbers that we saw.

We were jammed up against the wall in 40 degree temperatures for 30 minutes before being released. If we go again we'll be among the last to arrive not the first. My wife has a heart condition and walking up six decks to the cabin is more than she can handle. Taking an elevator was out of the question.

I'm not sure we'll attend again under those conditions.
 
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Schooner

Guest
If you were one of the first there they probably just saw your cabin # on the front of your jacket and just marked down 2 without saying a word to you.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
Schooner , thank you , and that was the point i was trying to make, the drill is all fine and well, but in a real emergency people may not be able to make it to that destination,,, i choose balcony cabins so i can just simply jump off from there,,, :) lol theyll find me in the life boat, thus not having to find my muster station at all :) lol i am kidding im not serious im trying to make light of the situation,, muster drill i suppose is like death and taxes,, ineveitable and not something anyone looks forward too :)
 
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sailingrose

Guest
RCI does check each cabin and they have a list of cabin # at each muster station. As you walk by they check off your cabin number. They only call out those cabin #'s that they don't write down.

Not sure how they handle no shows anymore but they used to make you attend another drill usually the following day. RCI is pretty serious about these drills.

I'd love to skip them believe me after you've done more then 20 of them you've had enough but it's required and I will attend.

mlzangel78 thanks for going and not disrupting the entire process. Your fellow passengers appreciate your consideration.
 


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