current life boat drill procedure

[goldmom]

We have not been on HAL since before covid.  How are they doing their life boat drill now?  It seems that most cruise lines are making it easier and cutting down on the crowded venues.

Does Hal do it through the TV in the cabin?  Do you go to your assembly station to check in?

Any info is appreciated.  Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

3 step process documented here many times. You watch a video on your TV...you can't watch anything else on your TV until you watch the safety video. You then go to your Muster Station without your life vest and scan your room key in to document attendance. Then you listen to the Captain and Cruise Director announcements. 

[Banditswife]

Agree with Cruiser Bruce--we have been on 1 HAL & 3 CCL cruises since the restart.  Both lines are doing the safety briefing on your in room TV, then you go check in at your muster station where they scan your room card.  Both lines made it very quick & easy.  We enjoyed being able to unpack our luggage while watching the safety talk.  Such an improvement over standing out on deck in a huge crowded group.  Just remember, you do need to make sure your key card is scanned- I think they only need to scan 1 card from each cabin.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Banditswife

[goldmom]

Thank you for the information!

[rafinmd]

Do you REALLY need to take the life jacket?  I thought they stopped that a couple years ago.

 

Roy

[goldmom]

3 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Do you REALLY need to take the life jacket?  I thought they stopped that a couple years ago.

 

Roy

CruiserBruce stated you go without the life vest.  Definitely much easier.

[Damcruiser]

You don't do this anymore.  No more standing in the sun while a rollcall is taken.  No more separation of loved ones, ladies in the front, gentleman at the back.  While unpacking, my wife watches the video and I go to have our cards scanned at the place we would meet if "ship" happens.

[Banditswife]

We are so happy they have discontinued this practice.  On Carnival, we sat in a dining room for 2-3 minutes while a crew member demonstrated how to use the life jacket.  IIRC it was even quicker on HAL.

[Banditswife]

1 hour ago, Damcruiser said:

You don't do this anymore.  No more standing in the sun while a rollcall is taken.  No more separation of loved ones, ladies in the front, gentleman at the back.  While unpacking, my wife watches the video and I go to have our cards scanned at the place we would meet if "ship" happens.

Notice the ice cream cone 3rd person from right- LOL

[Crew News]

1 minute ago, Banditswife said:

Notice the ice cream cone 3rd person from right- LOL

A few years ago, I attended a lifeboat drill with members of an interrupted wedding reception.  Many were in a moderate state of intoxication and holding raised glasses of various alcoholic beverages during the life vest demo.  During the drill, a small plane overhead towed a "Congratulations" banner.  The party continued throughout the rest of the cruise.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Crew News said:

A few years ago, I attended a lifeboat drill with members of an interrupted wedding reception.  Many were in a moderate state of intoxication and holding raised glasses of various alcoholic beverages during the life vest demo.  During the drill, a small plane overhead towed a "Congratulations" banner. 

 

Totally unacceptable behavior!

 

5 hours ago, Banditswife said:

We are so happy they have discontinued this practice

 

How well will you be reminded of what you ought to do in a real emergency?

 

How much less practice does the members of your lifeboat/muster station have in learning how to deal with guests who are confused and panicked?  I write this as "something for you to think about".  

 

9 hours ago, Banditswife said:

We enjoyed being able to unpack our luggage while watching the safety talk.

 

May I ask how much attention was given to watching (and learning or re-learning) from the TV safety talk while you were unpacking and storing your clothes?  

 

[Damcruiser]

1 minute ago, rkacruiser said:

May I ask how much attention was given to watching (and learning or re-learning) from the TV safety talk while you were unpacking and storing your clothes?  

 

It depends on how often one has gone through a safety drill or video.  After 100 times or so one knows the correct way to put on a vest.  If a Concordia type event occurs, no amount of safety instruction will suffice.

[Banditswife]

2 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

How well will you be reminded of what you ought to do in a real emergency?

 

How much less practice does the members of your lifeboat/muster station have in learning how to deal with guests who are confused and panicked?  I write this as "something for you to think about".  

 

 

May I ask how much attention was given to watching (and learning or re-learning) from the TV safety talk while you were unpacking and storing your clothes?  

 

I believe I get more from watching it on the TV than I did when we stood out on deck with a bunch of people, some sweaty, smelly, some drunk.  Less distraction & actually going to the muster station helps us to know where to go in case of an emergency.  Crew members have their drills on a routine basis.  watching a video & unpacking are similar to cooking dinner & watching TV- I can multi task.

[rkacruiser]

20 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

actually going to the muster station helps us to know where to go in case of an emergency. 

 

Yes, I agree that this is important.  But, how easy/quickly can that be found when an assembly at that station with other less experienced cruisers than you are and are  confounded by the likely chaos that is probable in real emergency?

 

Have you not witnessed guests exiting the door for Muster Station Two when their Station is at #14?  The two way traffic from one door to another results, in my observations, in delays for people getting from where they are to where they ought to be and impedes those who exited the proper door to get to their Station.  

[Banditswife]

While I hope to never experience a true emergency while onboard a ship, I am a seasoned cruiser & hope I know what to do in an emergency.  I would think or hope that newer cruisers probably do pay closer attention to the safety briefing & know where to go in case of a true emergency.

[Banditswife]

1 minute ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, I agree that this is important.  But, how easy/quickly can that be found when an assembly at that station with other less experienced cruisers than you are and are  confounded by the likely chaos that is probable in real emergency?

 

Have you not witnessed guests exiting the door for Muster Station Two when their Station is at #14?  The two way traffic from one door to another results, in my observations, in delays for people getting from where they are to where they ought to be and impedes those who exited the proper door to get to their Station.  

Because the muster drill is now less people at each station at the same time, I have found there is less chaos out at the actual muster stations than when we all had to gather at same time, place.  We can now find our stations at a leisurely pace.

[sayvan]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Totally unacceptable behavior!

 

 

How well will you be reminded of what you ought to do in a real emergency?

 

How much less practice does the members of your lifeboat/muster station have in learning how to deal with guests who are confused and panicked?  I write this as "something for you to think about".  

 

 

May I ask how much attention was given to watching (and learning or re-learning) from the TV safety talk while you were unpacking and storing your clothes?  

 

Relax…. The sun will rise tomorrow… honestly … deep breathes … 

[Seasick Sailor]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, I agree that this is important.  But, how easy/quickly can that be found when an assembly at that station with other less experienced cruisers than you are and are  confounded by the likely chaos that is probable in real emergency?

 

Have you not witnessed guests exiting the door for Muster Station Two when their Station is at #14?  The two way traffic from one door to another results, in my observations, in delays for people getting from where they are to where they ought to be and impedes those who exited the proper door to get to their Station.  

 

When in an emergency,  people will panic. There will be many people panicking and being unable to process what the muster drill provided being it on the tv or at the drill on deck. Just try to recall your lifeboat number and vest. 

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, Banditswife said:

I believe I get more from watching it on the TV than I did when we stood out on deck with a bunch of people, some sweaty, smelly, some drunk.  Less distraction & actually going to the muster station helps us to know where to go in case of an emergency.  Crew members have their drills on a routine basis.  watching a video & unpacking are similar to cooking dinner & watching TV- I can multi task.

Yes, the crew has a lot of drills, but as has been pointed out by an experienced mariner like @chengkp75 , the old muster drill was the only one they did with actual passengers. The best practice is the one closest to what one would have to do in a real emergency.

[chengkp75]

13 hours ago, Damcruiser said:

It depends on how often one has gone through a safety drill or video.  After 100 times or so one knows the correct way to put on a vest.  If a Concordia type event occurs, no amount of safety instruction will suffice.

It would be real nice if some who trot out the Concordia have actually read the official report of the incident, and found what the root causes were, and whether or not any lives would have been lost if the muster was signaled in a timely fashion.

13 hours ago, Banditswife said:

I believe I get more from watching it on the TV than I did when we stood out on deck with a bunch of people, some sweaty, smelly, some drunk.  Less distraction & actually going to the muster station helps us to know where to go in case of an emergency.  Crew members have their drills on a routine basis.  watching a video & unpacking are similar to cooking dinner & watching TV- I can multi task.

I hope you'll be okay with the crew also "multi-tasking" by not being able to train in actual situations, and likely having to assist guests during the crew drills, since we wouldn't want to interrupt the vacations.

12 hours ago, Banditswife said:

Because the muster drill is now less people at each station at the same time, I have found there is less chaos out at the actual muster stations than when we all had to gather at same time, place.  We can now find our stations at a leisurely pace.

And, if you know any first responders or military, they will tell you that the more realistic the training (i.e. chaos at the drill), the better it is retained.  Train as you would fight.  Hopefully, you will be able to head to your station at a leisurely pace in an actual emergency. 

 

I fear that this new muster will continue in use until a true emergency happens, and then the lack of training of both passengers and crew will lead to a disaster.  Unfortunately, this is the history of maritime safety.  I can only hope that some small incidents that show the shortcomings of the new drill to the maritime safety professionals who investigate these things, and who are responsible for promulgating the rules can lead to a return to the old drill before a major incident happens.

Edited November 6, 2022 by chengkp75

[CruiserBruce]

As always, @chengkp75, very well put. People don't seem to get the effect of panic, including those panic behaviors actually causing others injury or death. Panic is life threatening!! It seems more important to not have to stand with "sweaty, smelly" people. I wonder how they think a lifeboat loaded to actual emergency use (not tender use) is going to be.

[Oakman58]

I’ve been an NCL regular and the one thing I hated about their muster was the fact that the station was usually inside the ship and not necessarily on the same deck as the lifeboats.  I always wondered but never asked those who checked you in which lifeboat station they would take us to, just to see if they knew.

 

I also wonder if they have any special instructions for those confined to a wheelchair on how to get to the lifeboats.  Personally if I were in a wheelchair I would never take a cruise, instead my vacations would be land-based AI resorts.

 

On my recent Carnival cruise on the Glory our muster station was outside on the deck by the lifeboats but without life jackets.  I much prefer that type of muster.  Although not always possible, I much prefer to cruise on ships with a passenger capacity of less than 2500.  I hate to think what an abandon ship nightmare it would be on something like an RCI Oasis Class ship with over 7000 passengers and crew.

[iflyrc5]

If you look at the deck on the Pinnacle class ships it is not wide enough to hold the guests by the life boat all at one time.  You assemble at the station and are then led to the boats.  It would be interesting to really see this in action.  Seeing guests with mobility issues getting around all the machinery to get into the boat could be a nightmare.  Also, when the boat are used as tenders they are only using about half of the number that would be on the boat when used as a life boat in an emergency.

[CruiserBruce]

2 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

If you look at the deck on the Pinnacle class ships it is not wide enough to hold the guests by the life boat all at one time.  You assemble at the station and are then led to the boats.  It would be interesting to really see this in action.  Seeing guests with mobility issues getting around all the machinery to get into the boat could be a nightmare.  Also, when the boat are used as tenders they are only using about half of the number that would be on the boat when used as a life boat in an emergency.

The common rating on a lot of the tenders is 100 as a tender, 150 as a lifeboat. 

[iflyrc5]

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

The common rating on a lot of the tenders is 100 as a tender, 150 as a lifeboat. 

Agree - and many folks think it is cramped being used as a tender.  Now put on those 50 more people in the dark in a rolling sea with rain.  Not a pretty picture.