Costa incident: Return to Professional Muster?

[Iron Horse]

We have been on several Carnival cruises, no other lines yet. On each one we had the muster drill before we even left port. This last one, last March was the first one without life jackets. I thought it was "maritime law", at least that's what I remember hearing that the drills had to be right at sail away. From all the reports of the Costa incident, they hadn't even had theirs yet. Am I remembering wrong??

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the survivors and families of those lost.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

We have been on several Carnival cruises, no other lines yet. On each one we had the muster drill before we even left port. This last one, last March was the first one without life jackets. I thought it was "maritime law", at least that's what I remember hearing that the drills had to be right at sail away. From all the reports of the Costa incident, they hadn't even had theirs yet. Am I remembering wrong??

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the survivors and families of those lost.

 

I think maritime law says within 24 hours. Some of the Costa passengers had just gotten on in Rome, and the next muster drill was supposed to be the following day in Savona, which would have been within 24 hours. It appears most of the passengers had been through the muster drill when they boarded 6 days earlier. Of course this is from lots of reports, nothing official yet.

[pe4all]

I seem to remember reading on these boards somewhere that Carnival had passengers stop bringing lifejackets to muster after someone fell down some stairs after tripping/stepping/getting tangled up in the lifejacket strap that was dangling as they walked. There was a lawsuit involved, so no more carrying lifejackets.

[ninneman]

Glad I'm not the only one who does that. I count exactly how many seats I will need to touch and what direction to turn to get out the exit. I sometimes sit in the exit row and will throw anyone out the door before I exit that needs a push.

 

Were not strange, just smart. :D Also, I won't be trying to retrieve my suitcase, purse, laptop, iPad, etc. before evacuating. :)

[The4Cruisers]

Bringing and wearing that skeevy life jacket at muster drill does nothing for me except make me want to shower afterwards. I don't need another lesson in how to wear it.

 

If I had to use it in an Emergency, I certainly wouldn't mind the unhygenic nature of the thing. But I am not touching it unless I have to!

 

So, if the kneejerk reaction voices are heard and changes to the drill are made, I'd be in favor or making it mandatory for first timers to bring /wear them.

[Mad Capn Bob]

I've only been on two cruises so far, but each time, one of the very first things I do on getting into cabin is finding the life jackets, getting one out, and putting it on. Although I suppose doing it several times would be a good idea, until I can do it with my eyes closed.

 

Since it is no longer mandatory to take the jackets to muster, how many of you actually get them out of the wardrobe and check that the straps are actually there and the buckles? Or even if there are a sufficient number of them in your room?

[Blurgh]

It doesn't matter. Anything that requires disembarking the boat will go exactly as this went, no matter how well you "prepare" the passengers in a crowded 10 minute briefing on the lower open deck.

 

It'll help for people to be aware of where they should be, but not much.

[luvdisney2010]

My heart goes out to the crew and passengers as well as their families.

I just got off RCI Jewel of the Seas a week ago. The safety and evacuation procedures were running on a loop on our tv when we got to our cabin. We have had that several times.

What dismays me about the Costa incident is that a recent news report stated that a crew member could not steer the lifeboat and kept hitting the sinking ship. Finally, a passenger pushed the crew member out of the way to steer the boat to safety. Every cruise that I have been on has the crew performing lifeboat drills and checks at some point during the cruise ( where they raise and lower the lifeboats then drive them around) if the cruise is seven nights or longer. Why did a passenger have to take control of lifeboat when the crew member should have been properly trained?

[ConnecticutFlamingo]

We will be taking our first Carnival cruise at the end of September and I am disapointed to find out that the muster is so lax. All the cruises I've taken before was a formal drill with life jackets. The bars and food areas were closed down so that people didn't have any excuses. Roll call was taken. As for being too hot or too humid, get over it! This drill takes maybe 20 mins and is worth it. The Coast Guard may need to step in and require a full drill.

[scottcruises]

The remarkable change in drills from my 12/2011 cruise on the Magic versus my cruise on the Ecstasy in the 90s...eye opening. I was shocked.

 

Think about this. We did the muster out of Galveston long after we'd gone through the shipping channel filled with super tankers where probably the most dangerous part of the cruise occured. We were out at sea for a few hours before the drill.

[Cruise Cat]

I do think the muster needs to return back to what it was and be taken much more seriously by pax and crew.

 

The scary part about what happened to the Costa ship is when it happened (dinner time), and how quickly did it list to the point where the life boats were having issues.

 

Would you even have time in that case to go back to your cabin and get your life jackets? I know they have them around the life boats, but it is still something to think about. In looking at the video and pictures, its very alarming to me how quickly things can turn into a disaster.

 

It will be interesting to see what the cause was (equipment failure, human error). Hopefully everyone can learn from it. Things changed after Titantic 100 years ago. Things will change again after the Costa disaster.

 

You might find this interesting:

http://www.shipcruise.org/cruise-articles/435-costa-concordia-accident

[boaterette]

The cruise lines should have a safety video that must be viewed before allowing anyone to print out their passes. Along with having the muster drill on board. At least this way one of the group going will at least know what to do beforehand.

 

But even in a real emergency like the Concordia some of the muster stations were usuable. So knowing where to go did absolutely nothing. I read in one article that the two older men who died were actually in their muster area in the restaurant. So in some cases planning is only as good as knowing what the emergency will be. And to what degree it will be.

[Laurie S.]

It's ironic that while on our cruise over New Year's on Legend, my friends and I discussed just what we would do in case of an emergency like this. Three of us are divers and bring our own equipment. We decided what pieces to grab and who would get what so that we all would have extra survival gear in addition to the life jacket. I would trust my bcd over the ship's lifejackets any day.

 

A number of years ago, there was a liveaboard dive boat that sank at night in San Carlos, Mexico, where I live part-time. The sole survivor grabbed his dive gear bag as it floated by and put his gear on. It saved his life.

 

Human nature will cause panic and passengers will not calmly go to their life boat station, if they even remember where it is. It's best to be prepared yourself in case something like this happens.

[hawaiibound24]

Mr. Pete, I couldn't agree more. Nowadays the muster drill is a bunch of people complaining thet they can't bring their drinks or chat on their cell phones. This Costa incident should be a wake-up call that the drill is full of important information and that everyone should pay complete attention. I also feel that it should go back to the traditional drill where you bring the lifejacket and stand by your lifeboat. Sitting in the air-condidtioned lounge may be more comfortable, but is not as informative. Really, it's 20 minutes of your precious vacation that could save your life!!

 

 

We were on the Elation two weeks ago and our munster drill started in a lounge, but we get up and go to the loading area (which was not a big deal). I am not sure taking your life jackets would make any difference and I am sure they had some issues with people taking them and cords dragging, etc. Also, it is only natural for people to not get real serious about this drill. Since before this, when was the last time a cruise ship had to load the boats? The drill is kind of like the emergency talk before every airline flight. How many people actually pull out that card and follow along?

[LTS1960]

We have cruised every year for the past 6 and have always had a "professional" lifeboat drill. You don't take your life jackets now but its probably better because people were always dragging them around and trying to blow them up, etc.

On the last cruise, the staff were actually pretty strict, kind of like drill seargents. That was good as people don't move down to make room,can't be quiet, are drunk or just plain rude.

If you are not paying attention and do not read the emergency stuff on your cabin door then you won't know what to do. Its no different with airlines, most people don't even know where the emergency exits are in case they need to use them.

[itravelalot]

2 weeks ago on NCL we met in the main dining room without life jackets. We were told we would be taken to our life boats in an emergency. Can you imagine in a real emergency racing into a lounge or a dining room? I want to get my family and hustle to the life boats.

 

I will now ensure the jackets fit and that we have all tried them on and have the straps set... Why not? Too bad it took an incident like this to smarten up.

[hawaiibound24]

2 weeks ago on NCL we met in the main dining room without life jackets. We were told we would be taken to our life boats in an emergency. Can you imagine in a real emergency racing into a lounge or a dining room? I want to get my family and hustle to the life boats.

 

I will now ensure the jackets fit and that we have all tried them on and have the straps set... Why not? Too bad it took an incident like this to smarten up.

 

 

We were on the Elation 2 weeks ago and met in a lounge first (it was our Munster station). We were told that if the alarm did sound, to come there first and we would be directed from there to the boats (we did go there during the drill too). Also, if your kids at the children's program, the staff will bring them to the munster station.

[cruisekap]

I have been on 10 cruises and none of them left port until the muster drill was complete. I didn't think that it was an option. Does it differ from one cruise line to another? The last few muster drills did not require that we bring our life jackets. I thought that the cruise line probably had too many people tripping on the straps. It was quite a hazard on the stairs.:confused:

[mechcc]

Carnival is the only line that I am aware of that has done away with the "professional" safety drills. The problem is that no matter how professional the drills are too many people are already drunk and don't pay a bit of attention.

 

No, Carnival is not the only line that has done away with the "professional" safety drill nor do I think they were the first.

 

If you want a proper safety drill do them before any bars open, otherwise they are a waste of time anyway. Also don't allow people with mobility issues on board. Heck if we are going to make it professional let's make everyone pass a fitness test before they can board the ship.

 

That statement is just hateful! There are not many options for handicap people to have a vacation. Hopefully you will never be handicapped or have a dear family member that you want to vacation with that has mobility issues. When we (hubby and myself)first cruised, we were both able to get around easily. After a horrific accident that left one us with mobility problems why should we give up a vacation we enjoy? Again, hopefully you never, ever, face the challenges we have.

 

oking at the pictures in the hull of the Concordia I suspect that the deceased and missing were trapped below the water line and no amount of drills or anything else could have saved them.

We don't know that - could they have been directed to go to the other side of the ship? Even if they were walking uphill. Your lack of compassion is amazing.