Most entertaining Safety Drill ever

[mmsJack]

Not sure, no matter how the muster drill is handled, that there would be a consensus on this forum. Old way got complaints, this way seems strangely to offend (especially those born w/ an extremely delicate nature.) May be the only consensus here may be that no one likes a muster drill? It's the start of everyone's vaca and people are much more interested in getting that first Pina colada (speaking only for myself here...) But boring as it is in all forms, Muster is necessary and a legal requirement and it seems nice that X is trying something new.

 

The movie does contains all info anyone needs to stay as safe as possible in an emergency. If some choose not to pay attention then they need to take responsibility for that oversight. Taking personal responsibility should be an expectation of adulthood. If you are old enough to travel independently you ought to be capable of understanding that things can & do go wrong. X provides ample emergency info, it's not on them if passengers blow off the muster drill or worse, ignore it because it it is not delivered in a form that some individuals approve. I mean, how much time does the whole process take, 30, maybe 45 minuets out of many glorious days of vaca? So what if the movie is cheesy, & seriously, there's more explicit violence in a road runner cartoon... Plus, in addition to the movie, if there are still questions or ANY confusion an abundance of X crew are always on hand to help.

 

Muster topic aside, what bravery to insult another person on a forum...! How nice it is to sit in your armchair and sling unnecessary insults at another (while remaining anonymous) because they had the audacity to share a little happiness. This was a positive post - something that seems more and more rare on this forum, why feel the need to poo on that? Whoever you are, I feel sorry for you, you must be very unhappy to be so very unkind to a total stranger.

[Phxazzcruisers]

I disagree because many people do not pay attention, others are sleeping. etc. funny it's not equal to safety

 

In the video you were never shown how to put on your life jacket, how to use the whistle, etc.

 

You are correct. However they show do you how to put on the life jacket, how to use the whistle, etc, right before the video,

[Phxazzcruisers]

Not sure, no matter how the muster drill is handled, that there would be a consensus on this forum. Old way got complaints, this way seems strangely to offend (especially those born w/ an extremely delicate nature.) May be the only consensus here may be that no one likes a muster drill? It's the start of everyone's vaca and people are much more interested in getting that first Pina colada (speaking only for myself here...) But boring as it is in all forms, Muster is necessary and a legal requirement and it seems nice that X is trying something new.

 

The movie does contains all info anyone needs to stay as safe as possible in an emergency. If some choose not to pay attention then they need to take responsibility for that oversight. Taking personal responsibility should be an expectation of adulthood. If you are old enough to travel independently you ought to be capable of understanding that things can & do go wrong. X provides ample emergency info, it's not on them if passengers blow off the muster drill or worse, ignore it because it it is not delivered in a form that some individuals approve. I mean, how much time does the whole process take, 30, maybe 45 minuets out of many glorious days of vaca? So what if the movie is cheesy, & seriously, there's more explicit violence in a road runner cartoon... Plus, in addition to the movie, if there are still questions or ANY confusion an abundance of X crew are always on hand to help.

 

Muster topic aside, what bravery to insult another person on a forum...! How nice it is to sit in your armchair and sling unnecessary insults at another (while remaining anonymous) because they had the audacity to share a little happiness. This was a positive post - something that seems more and more rare on this forum, why feel the need to poo on that? Whoever you are, I feel sorry for you, you must be very unhappy to be so very unkind to a total stranger.

 

Very well said !

[gerelmx]

You are correct. However they show do you how to put on the life jacket, how to use the whistle, etc, right before the video,

 

You was lucky to see how to put the life jacket and how to use the whistle, major times the XYZ area for the drill is so crowded that they don't do that like in the old times, in my last 2 cruises Oasis and Eclipse only the video was displayed, there were more Passengers in the X Lounge for the SD than the capacity permitted. See what happens in 21 days onboard the Summit.

[Luvcrusn]

My point to the OP was that I felt that the movie couldn't be seen on my last cruise on Reflection at my muster station in the MDR since many passengers were seated on chairs that were facing away from the screen, (and few bothered to turn them around) and the light coming through the windows washed out the screen and made it impossible to see. I am always one of the few that pays attention, both on planes and ships to safety drills. I always check escape routes when in a hotel, plane, ship, theater. Knowing these things can save lives in case of an emergency, which of course we all hope will never happen. I do take that information seriously. I don't put down anyone who finds that movie enjoyable, but my point is that safety information is serious. I don't like it sugar-coated. I have plenty of time to enjoy myself on vacation. An hour (absolute maximum time I've ever seen taken for muster drill) won't hamper my good time and may save lives. I personally found that the "Bondesque" type movie made a mockery of the message in an effort to get attention of passengers and totally missed the mark of delivering an important safety message. IMHO making of joke of important safety information sends the message that safety is entertainment.

[bigbeergut]

My point to the OP was that I felt that the movie couldn't be seen on my last cruise on Reflection at my muster station in the MDR since many passengers were seated on chairs that were facing away from the screen, (and few bothered to turn them around) and the light coming through the windows washed out the screen and made it impossible to see. I am always one of the few that pays attention, both on planes and ships to safety drills. I always check escape routes when in a hotel, plane, ship, theater. Knowing these things can save lives in case of an emergency, which of course we all hope will never happen. I do take that information seriously. I don't put down anyone who finds that movie enjoyable, but my point is that safety information is serious. I don't like it sugar-coated. I have plenty of time to enjoy myself on vacation. An hour (absolute maximum time I've ever seen taken for muster drill) won't hamper my good time and may save lives. I personally found that the "Bondesque" type movie made a mockery of the message in an effort to get attention of passengers and totally missed the mark of delivering an important safety message. IMHO making of joke of important safety information sends the message that safety is entertainment.

 

Absolutely correct

[Cirdan]

IMHO making of joke of important safety information sends the message that safety is entertainment.

 

This seems reasonable, but after a lot of tests on aviation, it seems that it need to be entertainment, or people will not check it. This is very unfortunate, but we cannot be egoistic (I tend to be like you: I check carefully safety things). A bad response of other can make us in danger. For our safety we need that other people (who tend to be bored quickly) will watch and remember most of the things. And we should not forget that our ships are full of international guest: so images can help more than English explanations (not all people are familiar with sea speak).

 

 

On aviation, on recent "problems", we saw a lot of errors (and I confess, I maybe I would have done same errors), so safety drill are not super effective. On the other hand, crew is seriously trained, and they should help us.

 

Aviation: do you know that the mask should be put on nose and mouth? So you know that you should pull the mask? By pulling, the oxygen is switch on. (both problems on SW, and both live demonstration and safety video were not so clear on such topic). When you exit from emergency exit, do you know that you should not take your belonging? (it is not just because it could slow down evacuation, but on jumping, you increase change to break arms or legs, and literally "roll on the floor" harming other peoples.

 

On ships: it was very strange to learn that I should enter in a lifeboat 15 meter above sea level (the lifeboat will be lowered once full). [And every few years there is some crew members that lose their life on such drill]. Behaviour in case of fire is not so well explained, nor what to do if you fall in water (and in case of emergency a lot of people fell in water). Safety video, IMHO, could explain more about such problems.

[DYKWIA]

I'm surprised in this day and age with free wifi and on line-interactive training etc that they can't do an interactive presentation on your cabin TV or on your ipad (on line tuition for your specific cruise with the option to attend a muster presentation). Anyone who completes the online muster drill before say 1 hour before the normal muster drill isn't required to attend the regular muster drill. - would be easy to check who had done the muster drill in their cabin, could put a few questions in there to emphasise key points..... oh just realised Celebrity & IT - forget I mentioned it.

[CeeeKr]

If I'm not mistaken, the safety information is also available on the TV in your cabin. If you weren't able to see the film or missed portions because of the noise level, you can replay it there. I think many repeat cruisers are like frequent flyers... they've seen the material so many times they know it by heart. We just need to remember that there are also many first time cruisers... it doesn't hurt to give them the courtesy of quiet during muster so they can become comfortable enough to ignore it on future cruises too :)

[Marelaine]

Not sure, no matter how the muster drill is handled, that there would be a consensus on this forum. Old way got complaints, this way seems strangely to offend (especially those born w/ an extremely delicate nature.) May be the only consensus here may be that no one likes a muster drill? It's the start of everyone's vaca and people are much more interested in getting that first Pina colada (speaking only for myself here...) But boring as it is in all forms, Muster is necessary and a legal requirement and it seems nice that X is trying something new.

 

The movie does contains all info anyone needs to stay as safe as possible in an emergency. If some choose not to pay attention then they need to take responsibility for that oversight. Taking personal responsibility should be an expectation of adulthood. If you are old enough to travel independently you ought to be capable of understanding that things can & do go wrong. X provides ample emergency info, it's not on them if passengers blow off the muster drill or worse, ignore it because it it is not delivered in a form that some individuals approve. I mean, how much time does the whole process take, 30, maybe 45 minuets out of many glorious days of vaca? So what if the movie is cheesy, & seriously, there's more explicit violence in a road runner cartoon... Plus, in addition to the movie, if there are still questions or ANY confusion an abundance of X crew are always on hand to help.

 

Muster topic aside, what bravery to insult another person on a forum...! How nice it is to sit in your armchair and sling unnecessary insults at another (while remaining anonymous) because they had the audacity to share a little happiness. This was a positive post - something that seems more and more rare on this forum, why feel the need to poo on that? Whoever you are, I feel sorry for you, you must be very unhappy to be so very unkind to a total stranger.

 

 

 

We need a like button. (y)(y)(y)

[ggo85]

As someone who's actually been on a cruise ship during a collision at sea and had to go to our muster station and put on life jackets (luckily, did NOT have to abandon ship though they lowered the lifeboats), I found the video to be terrible.

 

First, we were in the MDR and most people couldn't see the screens -- the room is set up for people to eat, not to watch a movie. Many passengers were playing with their phones during the movie (despite an announcement not to) and not one made any effort to stop them.

 

More importantly, some of the most important information was not clearly conveyed. Specifically, the need to dress warmly (even in the Caribbean in summer), the need to bring Rx medications, and the preference (if not need) to bring your life jacket if you're coming from your cabin. Yeah, it was mentioned in the movie, but was very easy to miss with all of the James Bond-esque story.

 

When we had our emergency (in the middle of the night), you would not believe the number of people who showed up in their nightgowns and bare feet and without their life jackets in a situation where everyone was in their cabin and there was plenty of time to get dressed.

 

A little entertainment to keep one's attention is commendable. But when the entertainment obscures or overshadows the critical information that passengers need to survive, then it's unproductive.

 

As an aside, I am glad that the OP found the movie enjoyable. And if he/she also found it informative, then this approach must be working for at least some passengers. It just wasn't for us.

[suekay]

I couldn't agree more. We were on Rhapsody when we had an "incident" . We woke at 5am when the ship listed badly and didn't right itself. Furniture moved across rooms, everything flew off counter tops, sunbeds smashed the Viking Crown lounge windows and the pool water was flowing down the stairs and lift shafts. Unbelievably no emergency signal (or even tannoy announcement for 20 minutes). People were running around barefoot and in underwear (plus staff in nightwear) We were petrified and although we had the presence of mind to put on clothes including jumpers, even we, who've been on multiple cruises so attended multiple muster drills, never thought to take life jackets. Don't underestimate how frightening it is to be woken by an emergency situation and how much fear clouds common sense. Safety information needs to be clear and concise not hidden amongst entertaining fluff.

[Yoshikitty]

We disagree with most previous posters.

We loved the video for several reasons

 

- we did not have to stand for almost an hour on the hot and open deck

- in our case, in the theatre, all informations could be clearly seen and be heard

- the usual noise from people prematurely opening their lifevests did not disturb so much

- having heard the ‚dry‘ information before several times, our attention was higher, but it may be difficult to understand for firsttimers.

- we found the video entertaining and informative with he correct mindset.

 

Its a bit the same like with the Delta Air safety announcements

[ggo85]

 

- we did not have to stand for almost an hour on the hot and open deck

- in our case, in the theatre, all informations could be clearly seen and be heard

- the usual noise from people prematurely opening their lifevests did not disturb so much

- having heard the ‚dry‘ information before several times, our attention was higher, but it may be difficult to understand for firsttimers.

- we found the video entertaining and informative with he correct mindset.

 

Its a bit the same like with the Delta Air safety announcements

A few thoughts. Some cruise lines (e.g., Princess) hold the drills in lounges but (at least the last time we cruised with Princess), the information was clearly presented without video.

 

Most cruise lines (e.g, RCL) no longer require you to take your life jackets to the drill so there is no noise of tearing off life jackets (not that this issue has ranked in the top 1,000 of things that might annoy me on cruise).

 

It doesn't make sense to compare a cruise disaster to an airline disaster -- and thus to compare the respective videos -- for any number of reasons. One is that airline disasters happen in the space of a few minutes and any idiot knows to get off the plane as quickly as possible. That's not always true for a ship, where you may need to be prepared to spend hours or even days in a lifeboat. Second -- and sadly -- if a plane crashes, the outcome is almost always fatal for the passengers. Thus, while the safety briefing is nice, the information is almost never used. The opposite is true of cruise ships -- the process of preparing for and evacuating the ship is much more drawn out and complex. Having passengers who are prepared makes the entire process safer and more effective for all.

 

As noted, it's wonderful that many people find the Bond-esque video enjoyable. I just question whether, if this is the only briefing they ever get, they will be prepared in a real emergency.

[Yoshikitty]

Plane vs cruiseship:

and how many people waste time by taking their handluggage in a real emergency?

Just to show how idiot-proof evacuation of a plane goes

 

Cruiseship vs. Plane

As you unfortunately lived thru one evacuation, how many people did show up not properly dressed, without their meds and swimvest on deck ( and not in their correct assembly station) back then and where sent back to their cabins)?

 

It just shows, no matter how you do the drill, people will screw it up in a real emergency and do not what they have been told previously.

 

And your example shows, that - fortunately, in most incidents on cruiseships, there is enough time to repeat the instructions again and again over the announcement speakers go ensure that as many as possible passengers are doing the right thing.

So the chance that everyone is getting the correct instructions right on time and is following them (that's another topic) is much higher than on a plane emergency.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Yoshikitty

[lisiamc]

It doesn't make sense to compare a cruise disaster to an airline disaster -- and thus to compare the respective videos -- for any number of reasons. One is that airline disasters happen in the space of a few minutes and any idiot knows to get off the plane as quickly as possible. That's not always true for a ship, where you may need to be prepared to spend hours or even days in a lifeboat. Second -- and sadly -- if a plane crashes, the outcome is almost always fatal for the passengers. Thus, while the safety briefing is nice, the information is almost never used. The opposite is true of cruise ships -- the process of preparing for and evacuating the ship is much more drawn out and complex. Having passengers who are prepared makes the entire process safer and more effective for all.

 

This is a very good comparison. Also, I’ve been told many times by senior officers that the goal in an emergency is rarely to evacuate the ship. Evacuation is the very last resort. We’re usually safer on a ship, even a ship with some problems, than we are in a life boat.

[ggo85]

As you unfortunately lived thru one evacuation, how many people did show up not properly dressed, without their meds and swimvest on deck ( and not in their correct assembly station) back then and where sent back to their cabins)?

 

It was some time ago, but I'd guess about 20% were dressed in sleepwear/no footwear -- no idea how many forgot their meds. No one was sent back -- crew will not send people back to their cabins in a real emergency. Had we needed to get into the lifeboats, these folks simply would have been ill-prepared.

 

Of course, we had the "old style" muster drill and folks still got it wrong. Maybe they would do better under the modern approach . . .

 

I would just advise everyone to pay attention, no matter how the information is presented. You think an emergency at sea will never happen to you -- and it almost certainly won't. But if it does, you will view the muster drill in an entirely new light. Trust me on this.