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Muster issue - hope that Celebrity is reading


Travelcat2
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Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise and enjoyed it overall. The only reason for writing this is to say how terrible (and possibly dangerous) that the muster that we attended was. We have close to 50 cruises under our belts - almost all of them on premium-plus and luxury lines and have never experienced anything like this.

 

The lounge where it was held was full beyond capacity. Not only could we not sit down, we could barely stand -- we were like a room full of sardines. Could not see or hear much. Our biggest concern was the lack of air in the room. Someone did say that muster was taking longer than normal but that does not excuse the uncomfortability that Celebrity put their passengers through. A couple of people almost passed out (it was also extremely warm) and a few kind hearted people gave up their seats for these people.

 

As we all know, muster is suppose to be about safety but there was nothing safe about the environment where the muster for many of us was held. The room was definitely over capacity and difficult to breathe in.

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Travelcat, that one probably warrants a call to Corporate (when you have time) -- since there is clearly a safety issue. No excuse for an indoor venue being that over-packed! Can you imagine what a nightmare that would be in case of a 'real emergency'?

 

And, of course, this is going to sound like one of those 'I used to walk five miles to school in the snow, uphill -- both ways..' tales. But, I'm sure that many of us can remember the 'olden days' of muster drills. You had to go to your cabin, get your life vest, put it on, and go line up at your outdoor muster station. Usually, you were standing in tightly compressed rows, in the hot sun, for what seemed like an eternity. Then, when the crew released everyone, you had to use your best "Lord of the Dance" moves, just to avoid tripping over all of those life vest straps, that folks were dragging behind them.

 

Since they moved the muster drill indoors and eliminated the requirement that passengers bring their life vests, I have tried very hard, not to complain about the 'new & improved' approach. But, clearly someone needs to re-think how they are doing things, on that particular ship.

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Which ship? Which muster station? Which room?

 

Sorry - we were on Infinity. I was so lost when we got on the ship that I just followed people into a large lounge. We were in 1640 and suppose that we were in the large aft lounge (near the elevators). It was a large space - just way too many people. It made me think of restaurants on land where there is a "maximum occupancy" rating on the wall. That is what this muster station needed.

 

P.S. Just read your second post. We have been on the deck (of other ships) standing like sardines by the assigned boat. The biggest difference was that we were outside and could breathe. We have been on three other cruise lines and they use the theater, lounges, restaurants, etc. and there is usually seating for everyone (a couple of times a handful of people had to stand but nothing like we experienced on Infinity).

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I think you were in muster station D1/2 - Rendezvous lounge. I was there too.

 

The muster drill did run long. Not because of us - we were missing only 1 person and only 2 cabins were called out.

 

That’s about what I usually experience on M-Class muster drills.

 

I’ll be happy that the room holds that many people if we ever need it.

 

 

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On the S class ships, we have been assigned to Michael’s Pub for the muster drill. It is overcrowded, with very few seats. It’s an uncomfortable start to the cruise.

 

My SIL had Michaels as her muster station, it was her first cruise. She said it was so hot, crowded and no airflow she almost passed out!

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I experienced something similar on the Summit two years ago. I was standing for about 30 minutes in a stifling atmosphere with no way to move around or get fresh air. It was very difficult to breathe and I started to feel claustrophobic (which I have never felt before). Had the thing gone 5 minutes longer I would have been bolting for the door. Definitely need better planning.

 

 

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My take, having been on umpteen X cruises where our cabin's muster drill was in the Rendezvous lounge.

 

In case of an actual emergency, everyone is going to go there, and as they get enough to fill a lifeboat they will take you to that lifeboat, waiting till enough people make it to the lounge to go to the next one, and the next one.

 

Think of how many cabins there are on board ship - what public areas do you think there are that can hold all of those passengers?

 

I think they do the best they can, and things would be quite different in case of an actual emergency. The point of the drill is to direct you to that location so you can be led to a lifeboat.

 

In all our cruises I think we got to sit ONCE at a muster drill. What usually causes the delays are people that DON'T SHOW UP and they have to go fetch them. If everyone arrives, checks in, they are usually quite brief.

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Also had one bad experience on Infinity. Our area was outside Michaels where they display photos ..no seating, space too small.

 

We arrived early and pulled out a chair from Michaels which I gave to a person who needed it more than I

 

Was way overcrowded, ran late and the officer in charge was a real authoritarian. She told us to stand shoulder to shoulder or sit on the floor, threatened to confiscate cell phones and was very nasty. Never could hear instructions of the drill...complete waste of time We reported her after seeing her act the same way at a port check in.

 

A year later, same ship we were assigned to Michaels...we went very early and had seats which we did not give up. Eventually it was wall to wall with folks standing shoulder to shoulder and sitting on top of tables where food and drinks would be soon served. Staff was nicer but overwhelmed.Another waste of time and not effective for safety instructions.

 

Wonder what they,,'ll do on EDGE

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In a weird way it makes me feel better that this has happened to others. If there were an emergency such as a fire while in that room (even though we were docked). IMO, in case of emergency, people would not be calmly waiting to be escorted to their life boat but rather would be pushing each other and stepping over people that fell. Not a good situation!

 

Note: Also IMO, if there is not enough room for all passengers to go to a muster station without having to sit on a floor, the ship should not be approved to sail. I have to wonder what they do on ships carrying two or three times more than the Infinity that only holds 2,000 passengers.

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After many cruises with both inner and outer muster stations just keep in mind that you want to be on a deck with close access to the lifeboats. On the M class ships that means deck 5 thus the overcrowding throughout the deck.

Haven't been on a S class yet but I'd venture that the goal is the same - access to the lifeboats.

Our station throughout our Celebrity M class sailings has always been The Rendezvous Lounge and we just get there at least 30 minutes before the first muster horn if we want a seat.

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We have taken two cruises on the Summit.

One in 2011 was where we were packed into a lounge for the muster drill. There were so many passengers talking that it was difficult to hear the presentation ,and because of the crowd,we did not see the crew demonstrating the safety information.

We were used to muster drills held on Princess cruises where the crowd was attentive and quiet. The muster stations were inside the ship in various restaurants,lounges and public spaces usually located on or near the lifeboats,possibly the Promenade deck.

The second Summit cruise was this past July. Our muster station was the theater. There seemed to be plenty of seats . I recall that the safety information was given by the CD.

He did have to ask for quiet a few times during the drill,reminding everyone that the drill would take longer if attention wasn’t given.

The second drill we experienced seemed to be more organized,direct and safety-minded than the first Summit muster drill we xperienced.

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It's very uncomfortable in most muster drill. If there ever is a real event and some paniced person is stepping on your face to get down the stairs, that is uncomfortable. Maybe people should have watched and listened to that stupid movie.

 

I doubt that stupid movie will help anything.

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I think you were in muster station D1/2 - Rendezvous lounge. I was there too.

 

The muster drill did run long. Not because of us - we were missing only 1 person and only 2 cabins were called out.

 

That’s about what I usually experience on M-Class muster drills.

 

I’ll be happy that the room holds that many people if we ever need it.

 

 

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We were on Infinity earlier this year out of Buenos Aires and it was the worst I can remember going to. I recorded this little passage on my blog, it came immediately to mind purely because it stands out above all others.

 

 

Muster was at 3:30 and if I was completely honest you would think the crew had never done one before. If I had to sum it up I would say uncoordinated and unprofessional.
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My take, having been on umpteen X cruises where our cabin's muster drill was in the Rendezvous lounge.

 

In case of an actual emergency, everyone is going to go there, and as they get enough to fill a lifeboat they will take you to that lifeboat, waiting till enough people make it to the lounge to go to the next one, and the next one.

 

Think of how many cabins there are on board ship - what public areas do you think there are that can hold all of those passengers?

 

I think they do the best they can, and things would be quite different in case of an actual emergency. The point of the drill is to direct you to that location so you can be led to a lifeboat.

 

In all our cruises I think we got to sit ONCE at a muster drill. What usually causes the delays are people that DON'T SHOW UP and they have to go fetch them. If everyone arrives, checks in, they are usually quite brief.

 

Your understanding of passenger muster is flawed. The point of the drill, and the muster in an actual emergency is to get all the passengers into controlled areas and accounted for, so that the emergency teams do not have to spend time searching for missing persons, or can identify persons who are not accounted for and may need finding or rescuing. There are far more instances of passengers being sent to muster stations during an emergency and then being sent back when the emergency is over, than there are of actually being sent to lifeboats. They would not be taking groups to the lifeboats as the number fills up, you are there to be "herded".

 

I do find the comments about overcrowding to be interesting. I will state that first off, passenger comfort is not a consideration when designing a muster location, and the space designated, whether indoor or out, will have far more people than when in its "everyday" purpose. But, these spaces, particularly the indoor venues, are not chosen by the cruise line randomly, they must be submitted to the classification society upon new building, and the space checked for volume, deck area, ingress/egress point numbers and sizes, location with regard to the boats, ventilation, etc. They are then tested using crowd and crisis management computer simulation paradigms to see if they are adequate. Now, if the cruise line has changed things since new build, either in operation of the muster or number of passengers, this is something else, and is worrisome. This is one of the benefits of cruises originating in the US, that the USCG during its safety port state control inspections witnesses a passenger muster drill. I don't know of any other country whose port state control agency does this.

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Glad you brought the subject up. We try to get to the muster drills a half hour early, since we know that it will be standing room only. When sitting, many times it is difficult to see the screen where they are showing the safety info, since people are standing between where we sit and the screen. It isn't a big deal for us, but I do worry about first time cruisers not being able to understand what to do in an emergency.

 

I do appreciate that at least Celebrity does them inside, since it can be quite hot standing outside for some cruises. The ones on cruise lines that do them outside can be challenging for some folks.

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Our most memorable muster drill was on an S class ship in the main dining room. The tables were all set for dinner and passengers, mainly the children, were playing with the silverware and glasses. A family was seated across from us and one of the kids was playing with a knife. The dad took it away and then proceeded to run his fingers up and down the knife to explain to the kid why he shouldn't play with a knife. Then dad put it right back in its place! I was so thankful that we were Select Dining and seated on the other side. I immediately wrote up an "Attention to Detail" card about how unsanitary it was. It was acknowledged but I bet it still happens.

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They didn't use the main dining room on the Summit the last two years, and therefore the Rondevous lounge was uncomfortably crowded and close to unsafe. They don't want people in the dining room when it's set for dinner, and they don't want the hassle of clearing the dining room and resetting it. So you have a lousy start to a cruise. On my last Summit cruise I went a half hour early, and only got a seat because a little boy gave up his, and I gave it up to someone older 10 minutes later. The AC could not compensate for the hot humid day and the crowded room, and those like me who were there a half hour early were in that room for an hour because of an unexplained delay. Several people walked out and said "enough".

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Our experience on Summit was nothing like the OP's. Plenty of room. A/C worked fine. In and out in 15 minutes. Heard everything everyone said. We just wondered if the PA announcement from the CD and Captain were prerecorded. Otheriwise, it was over in a flash.

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Our most uncomfortable experience was on Summit 7/2016 at the Rendezvous lounge. Like others have noted, venue was too small, lacking enough AC, no place to sit and it took way too long. My husband nearly passed out. Yes, it was that bad. We have never experienced such a bad muster drill.

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