Any news of RCCL going back to in person muster drills?

[SherriZ366]

5 hours ago, barbeyg said:

Not our experience.  Even when my sister and aunt (who both have limited mobility) sailed with us to AK.  They sat down in chairs nearby as we waited for the muster reps to get set up. My husband and I each scanned our cards, acknowledged we watched the video, etc. , and the rep walked over to sister and aunt to ask if they had watched the video and instructed them to come directly to the location if they heard the blasts.  He then scanned their cards. YMMV

Both my husband and I had to have our cards scanned during e-muster on all cruises after cruising resumed in the summer of 2021. 

As I remember, during traditional muster only one of us per stateroom had to have his or her card scanned   

Edited November 13, 2022 by SherriZ366

[crewsweeper]

22 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

It was not the USCG, it was the IMO that allowed the change, and I've been hoping that it would change back.  Just the fact that the poster in your link mentioned that only one member of the party had to go find the muster station is one of the major flaws in this system.

I'm with you on this @chengkp75.  Muster drill is really important for safety and doesn't take that long out of your cruise.  People trying to avoid it is the time consuming event, as the rest of the passengers have to wait for them to show up.  Plus, talk to your neighbors, you might meet some interesting folks, or know real quick who to avoid.

[t18c97]

My opinion is as long as your entire party knows where the muster station is, by actually going there and checking in I’m fine with the current process. 

[broadwaybaby123]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, we frequently do this to help train the special needs teams.  However, were there thousands of these "role players", and would a crew member "acting" as a passenger have the same reactions as recalcitrant or frightened passengers?

I only saw the one, as I wasn't paying too much attention. From what I vaguely remember, they did play the part.

[molsonschooner]

18 hours ago, notscb said:

 

I disagree. How many times do folks completely ignore video based trainings in their everyday lives or jobs? In my experience, it's most of the time. When I was on RCL recently, the muster was in the app and you just had to keep scrolling down a certain amount and pressing "next." There was a video that I could turn my volume all the way down for and completely ignore if I wanted to.

 

I feel like the muster drill isn't taken seriously enough with the new version of it, leaving gaps in knowledge and preparation should a real emergency arise. I've also noticed crew being more lackadaisical about it, which is concerning considering their primary job onboard is safety.

and you really think the everybody took the muster drill seriously when we were all crammed into tight, uncomfortable spaces.

[molsonschooner]

5 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

Lets think about this....There are many repeat cruisers on a cruise. Do you seriously pay attention?? Prior to Covid I have found the muster drills are getting shorter and shorter...just do a life jacket demonstation and remind you the location your at is where you go if an emergency. They weren't even making you take life jacket anymore. Everyone would just show up from anywhere on ship so they really arent getting practice leaving from cabin to their actual muster location.Atleast when you had to take a life jacket you were forced to go back to your cabin to get it...other than some savy passengers who would carry with them on top decks in preparation for the muster drill (lol)

 

Bottom line... we are still  going to your assigned muster station to check in (check) ...The inroom video is on your TV when you arrive and you can see it all week (check)....Asfor the crew, They have several internal drills througghout cruise...so they are more then ready if an emergency occurs. 

is that a bad thing that you don't have to bring your own life jacket. Lets say you are on deck 5 having a beer, the alarm goes, every one has to go back to their cabins to get there jackets then to their muster stations. I think it is much better having jackets at your station.

[KansasK]

My husband and I both did the muster drill information on the app and went to the muster station. On the app, it checked off the muster drill after we went through muster drill information on the app. They did not look at the app to see if we had both done it, though.  We did not have cards yet and they scanned the paper with the bar code that we were given when checking in. The scanned both of them.  It was too soon to go to our cabin to get our cards. 

[notscb]

1 hour ago, molsonschooner said:

when we were all crammed into tight, uncomfortable spaces.

This alone tells me that you paid attention to them somewhat if you remember the experience of them. You remember that part of the deck where you all had to cram together to learn about safety- which is something we forget about because we're in "vacation mode."  Let me be clear- in person mustering works if you can tell me about it in this way.

 

As others have commented, it's as much about the crew practicing with the crowd as it is about passengers getting acquainted with where they're supposed to go and how to get there. Adults (and children) learn in many ways- it makes sense to have mustering happen in multiple formats (but definitely in person as well).

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by notscb

[meadowlander]

5 hours ago, SherriZ366 said:

I should have been more clear -- the cramming together of passengers during the Muster Drill gives Covid (or other viruses) a golden opportunity to spread.  Agree that it can also be picked up in any other area of the ship where there are a lot of people (shows, Royal Promenade, bars, MDR etc.) but I think it helps to eliminate an event that has the potential to be a super spreader.  I think E-muster was part of RCCL and NCL's Healthy Sail Panel recommendations.  

Yes, e-muster was part of the healthy sail program. Also part of that program was eligible cruisers being vaccinated. Negative test results & proof of vaccination being provided to board the ship. Mask wearing onboard the ship. DIstancing while on the ship, one example being the number of passengers on an elevator.

 

Royal has eliminated those practices. You want to keep e-muster, not out of personal convenience, so as to reduce a 'super spreader' despite all other congested ship activities yet are okay with unvaccinated boarding the ship and other health protocols for safety being ceased. Interesting.

[meadowlander]

20 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

What they need to do is stop making idle threats on the announcements that the person cannot sail if they do not complete the e-muster drill, and actually kick them off the ship if they don't by xyz time.. 

Agree but I would allow one final chance. Round up those who ignore visiting the muster station, take them by their nose and don't tell them why. Then, if needed, remove them from the ship. 😄

[Ocean Boy]

9 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

From my experience they usually don’t scan your card, they just ask for your cabin number. If they do scan your card, they just scan one card and then mark everyone in the cabin as completed. The same thing applies when watching the two videos on the app. Only one person has to “watch” the videos and they can mark everyone in the cabin as having watched the videos. 

My experience has been different from yours. They scanned cards... everyone's card who was in the cabin just like they scanned cards at the old style musters.

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

LOL….I guess some never take the elevators on a ship. Has to be the most crowded place on board. Some have a contest to see how many bodies that can pack into those suckers……😳

I've never been packed next to someone in an elevator as long as I have been during a muster drill. Remember that length of exposure counts?

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

This alone tells me that you paid attention to them somewhat if you remember the experience of them. You remember that part of the deck where you all had to cram together to learn about safety- which is something we forget about because we're in "vacation mode."  Let me be clear- in person mustering works if you can tell me about it in this way.

 

As others have commented, it's as much about the crew practicing with the crowd as it is about passengers getting acquainted with where they're supposed to go and how to get there. Adults (and children) learn in many ways- it makes sense to have mustering happen in multiple formats (but definitely in person as well).

 

 

I remember exactly where I had my card scanned at E-Muster as well, it works just as well

[reallyitsmema]

4 hours ago, molsonschooner said:

is that a bad thing that you don't have to bring your own life jacket. Lets say you are on deck 5 having a beer, the alarm goes, every one has to go back to their cabins to get there jackets then to their muster stations. I think it is much better having jackets at your station.

 

They have always told you NOT to go back to your cabin for your lifejacket if you aren't in the cabin when an emergency alarm goes off.  They instruct you to proceed to your muster station and a lifejacket will be provided for you there.

[BecciBoo]

On 11/12/2022 at 2:31 PM, chengkp75 said:

How would you expect a real emergency muster to look like?

Gee Chief, just how perfect would ANYONE react under a real emergency?  Don't think its really possible in real time...people are gonna panic it's human nature...how many drills do the crew do, it takes repetition to get it right.  Remember the Concordia, that was way before the new drills and so many people were hurt and the whole thing was disaster from the standpoint of "getting the evac right".

[BecciBoo]

14 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

show up, shut up, listen up.

Which is exactly what we do now, albeit is our phone or the TV, I'd much easier pay attention alone in our room than with tons of people milling about and joking on deck.  Lots of them drunker than monkeys already!  At least in the terminal or doing it when you first board you are sane and able to pay attention.  The last couple we've been sitting waiting in terminal, I heard every word.

[BecciBoo]

On 11/12/2022 at 4:06 PM, nelblu said:

I loved going to my designated muster station with my life vest on

And I did not!  It felt like I would trip and fall down the stairs every time.  For us oldsters, that aint easy.

[BecciBoo]

10 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

no signal for passenger muster was every sounded, and the first announcement made was "abandon ship" releasing crew to abandon while the passengers were still trying to evacuate.

Which doesn't bode well for that old system!  Didn't work anyway.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

My experience has been different from yours. They scanned cards... everyone's card who was in the cabin just like they scanned cards at the old style musters.

Even pre COVID they only scanned one of our cards at the muster station (most of my cruises were with my wife), although they did verify we were both there. This is just a possibility, but everyone I cruise with on RCI is at least Diamond Plus, so maybe they take that into account when just a few of us show up at the muster station these days. 

[notscb]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

Didn't work anyway.

 

Um, they were commenting on a specific disaster where the captain was found to be grossly negligent. It has nothing to do with the muster system, and everything to do with who gives (or didn't in that case) the order to muster.

[Coralc]

The book "Burning Cold" about the Prinsendam is truly fascinating. Fire and rescue from a HAL cruise ship in 1980:  https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/976153.Burning_Cold

Edited November 14, 2022 by Coralc

[ONECRUISER]

On 11/12/2022 at 5:45 PM, meadowlander said:

Certainly because the passengers who may have been infected before boarding could in no way spread the virus to you anywhere else on the ship. Only at the muster station are you concerned of a virus spreading. 😂

For me a packed/Crowded Muster Station is the only situation I'd ever be close to so many other Passengers. Done 9 Cruises so far this yr where I ate alone, sit alone during Shows and never ride Elevators.

[GetToLivin]

22 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have been on 12 RCI cruises this year and on every cruise, without exception, only one person per couple/family had to show up at their assigned muster station to get everyone checked in. 

I'm currently on Harmony and that definitely was NOT the case on this ship. We were behind a couple of large family groups and not only did they check to see if each person completed the safety videos, they scanned every phone. One woman said she hadn't viewed the videos and sure enough they had her step to the side and finish it before they'd scan her phone.

[bucfan2]

8 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 everyone I cruise with on RCI is at least Diamond Plus, so maybe they take that into account when just a few of us show up at the muster station these days. 

Ya, sure, that’s what it is. 

[CruisingWalter]

20 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

My experience has been limited to ports in Florida. Like you mentioned, experiences may be different at different ports. 

 

Not in our experiences in Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale or Miami this year. Every card in a cabin must be scanned by the safety officer. One person from a cabin could not show up and 'check off a cabin.'