I love the new muster drill, but...

[chubbypiggy]

How long is the Muster drill video?

[caribill]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I equate the new muster drill to "writing off" a lot more than first time cruisers, since the crew is deprived of realistic training, and things could go sideways real quickly.  The old muster was beneficial to both passengers and crew.

 

I agree 100%.

 

With the old system, 100% of the passengers put on the life jackets. Based on the number who did not do it correctly the first time, that practice is definitely needed.

 

I suspect less than 10% of passengers put on a life jacket before the ship sails under the new procedures. And of the number who do, I have no idea how many do it correctly.

 

This could prove deadly in a true emergency.

[geoherb]

I think it would be beneficial for new cruisers to do the muster drill in person. 

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, geoherb said:

I think it would be beneficial for new cruisers to do the muster drill in person. 

Where do you draw the line of distinction?  Suppose someone is new to a particular line, but has sailed 50 times on another line?  Are they "new"?  How do you segregate those required to attend the drill from those who aren't while trying to direct traffic at stairwells, etc.  Sorry, it has to be all or nothing.

[alpha whiskey]

I am in disbelief with how some on here would want to share their delight about how they evade watching the safety videos.

They will be the first to complain if we all have to go back to the 'old way' .

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by alpha whiskey

[geoherb]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Where do you draw the line of distinction?  Suppose someone is new to a particular line, but has sailed 50 times on another line?  Are they "new"?  How do you segregate those required to attend the drill from those who aren't while trying to direct traffic at stairwells, etc.  Sorry, it has to be all or nothing.

 

Anyone new to Princess is a new cruiser, no matter how many other cruises they've taken. When we took back-to-back cruises and did not have to attend the second muster drill, we did not have any problems enjoying ourselves at the pool while everyone else was mustering. On my last cruise, there were 351 new cruisers. They could have held an in-person demonstration for them in one location.

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, geoherb said:

They could have held an in-person demonstration for them in one location.

Demonstration of what?  Where? And how does this address the issue of crew training during the original muster drill, or give the new cruisers the training of going to the muster station?

[caribill]

3 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

Anyone new to Princess is a new cruiser, no matter how many other cruises they've taken. When we took back-to-back cruises and did not have to attend the second muster drill, we did not have any problems enjoying ourselves at the pool while everyone else was mustering.

 

If any procedures would have changed between your two segments, you would been told to attend the second muster drill. Without any changes to procedure, your first muster drill would still be remembered by you.

 

However, someone who has not recently cruised on that ship would have no idea if the procedures they heard months ago on the same or different Princess ship are the same now. Having attended umpteen previous muster drills does not mean nothing has changed.

[jagoffee]

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I agree 100%.

 

With the old system, 100% of the passengers put on the life jackets. Based on the number who did not do it correctly the first time, that practice is definitely needed.

 

I suspect less than 10% of passengers put on a life jacket before the ship sails under the new procedures. And of the number who do, I have no idea how many do it correctly.

 

This could prove deadly in a true emergency.

You may be surprised to know that some (many?) many cruise lines eliminated bring the life jackets to the muster drills long ago.  Supposedly too many accidents from people tripping on the cords?

Edited October 16, 2022 by jagoffee

[odyssyus]

14 hours ago, geoherb said:

I think it would be beneficial for new cruisers to do the muster drill in person. 

 

<sarcasm on>

 

I think it would be  beneficial for older (65+) to do muster drills every day as they may forget how to put on a life jacket and they are typically slower and can benefit with constant practice.

 

<sarcasm off>

 

See what I did there.

 

Good thing no one cares what you and I 'think'.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by odyssyus

[caribill]

1 minute ago, jagoffee said:

You may be surprised to know that some (many?) many cruise lines eliminated bring the life jackets to the muster drills long ago.  Supposedly too many accidents from people tripping on the cords?

 

No surprise, as I have attended the drills on other cruise lines.

 

And my feelings were the same. Without the practice of putting the life jackets on properly, many will not know how to do it properly in a true emergency.

 

I also disagreed with the other cruise lines that held the drills by your assigned lifeboat. There is no guarantee that the area of your lifeboat or the path to it is safe in case of a real emergency. Princess did it right by holding the muster drills inside so that in a true emergency passengers could be led to available lifeboats with a viable path to them.

 

Also, the Princess policy of holding muster inside means that, since almost all musters do not involve abandoning ship, passengers are not subject to harsh weather conditions for the time, sometimes hours, it takes to resolve an emergency.

[chubbypiggy]

Anyone knows how long is the Muster drill video?

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Supposedly too many accidents from people tripping on the cords?

That is why I have advocated the completely unwelcome suggestion that everyone is kept at muster station until all lifejackets are stowed properly, which means with the straps wrapped around the jacket, and clipped.

1 hour ago, caribill said:

And my feelings were the same. Without the practice of putting the life jackets on properly, many will not know how to do it properly in a true emergency.

This is true.  I cannot think of the number of times I saw a passenger who had put the lifejacket on in such a way that it would have pushed their face down into the water and drowned them.

1 hour ago, caribill said:

I also disagreed with the other cruise lines that held the drills by your assigned lifeboat. There is no guarantee that the area of your lifeboat or the path to it is safe in case of a real emergency. Princess did it right by holding the muster drills inside so that in a true emergency passengers could be led to available lifeboats with a viable path to them.

This is not a cruise line decision.  SOLAS prefers that muster stations be as close as physically possible to the lifeboats.  So, ships that have sufficient space on the promenade deck to muster a full station under a boat, and still have room for people to pass by, will have them outside.  Only if there is insufficient space on the promenade deck are alternative muster stations considered as primary ones.  One of the critical pieces of information disseminated during an emergency is the "fire zone" or "danger zone", and all crew will know to direct passengers around these areas, and if that includes a lifeboat, they will send people to alternative muster locations.

 

1 hour ago, caribill said:

Also, the Princess policy of holding muster inside means that, since almost all musters do not involve abandoning ship, passengers are not subject to harsh weather conditions for the time, sometimes hours, it takes to resolve an emergency.

And, again, if the weather conditions are that harsh, the Captain can send passengers to alternative muster stations, once everyone has been accounted for.  The only truly innovative, and in my professional opinion the best, muster procedure is HAL's, where the first stage of the muster is for passengers to return to their cabins, and accountability can be taken there as a first time, and public areas are cleared.  As above, if passenger cabins are in the "fire zone", then they will be directed elsewhere, but typically this stage is called before any passenger areas are greatly involved.

[dog]

On 10/16/2022 at 1:26 PM, odyssyus said:

 

<sarcasm on>

 

I think it would be  beneficial for older (65+) to do muster drills every day as they may forget how to put on a life jacket and they are typically slower and can benefit with constant practice.

 

<sarcasm off>

 

See what I did there.

 

Good thing no one cares what you and I 'think'.

 

 

..

delete

[odyssyus]

22 hours ago, dog said:

..

delete

Aww Doggy.  What happened to, and I quote;  Dog: "All posters deserve respect" ?