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

[PhillyFan33579]

25 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

 

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.' 

That doesn’t surprise me at all since both port staff and crew staff have been so inconsistent this year. On most of my cruises staff have been directing passengers to their muster stations as soon as they board the ship. These passengers all check-in without anyone showing a card since they don’t have them yet. It also still baffles me how one cruise they don’t verify anyone’s check-in times and a few weeks later at the same port/terminal they are strictly enforcing check-in times.
 

And speaking of checking in at muster locations, not only have they always allowed only one of us to check-in, I have only been asked to show my phone to show we watched the videos 2-3 times on 12 cruises on RCI. I have 3 more cruises booked on RCI this year.  I am fine following any procedures they want, but who knows  what they will do on these cruises. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 On most of my cruises staff have been directing passengers to their muster stations as soon as they board the ship. These passengers all check-in without anyone showing a card since they don’t have them yet. 
 

If you don't have your seapass yet they scan your boarding pass which contains all the same information. Of course, I'm pretty sure you already know that.

[chengkp75]

10 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

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.

Never said it would be "perfect", but I don't believe it would be chaos.  And, "how many drills do the crew do"?  With the new procedure, they have no drills of crowd and crisis control.  That is my point.

 

10 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

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".

If you've read the official reports of the Concordia, you would know that there was no muster sounded, and was a complete failure of command, not a failure of the system.  Had the muster been sounded, when the Captain knew the ship was sinking, which was over an hour before he called for "abandon ship", I doubt that few, if any, lives would have been lost.

 

10 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

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

Again, this was a failure of command, not the system, and had the new system been in effect, it would not have made any difference.  Read the report of the incident before trying to use it to justify your arguments.

 

10 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

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.

Never mind.

[lovesthebeach2]

On 11/12/2022 at 10:26 PM, Straughn said:

Back in the pre-Covid days, as we know, a muster drill required you to report, along with all the other passengers, to your assigned location. There were always a few no shows, late arrivals etc that delayed the process for all the passengers. I (jokingly) said one time to a Hotel Director that the solution to that problem was to not open the bars until after the muster drill. He replied, quite seriously, “don’t think we haven’t thought about that.” 

 

I say that on every cruise we’ve taken since this new muster started.  Don’t let passengers have the ability to use their seapass card until they’ve completed muster. But since they don’t give the card at boarding like in the past, and the new muster doesn’t start right away, Royal may lose out on a bit of money from drinks and other charges, so I doubt that would ever happen

[Ocean Boy]

44 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I say that on every cruise we’ve taken since this new muster started.  Don’t let passengers have the ability to use their seapass card until they’ve completed muster. But since they don’t give the card at boarding like in the past, and the new muster doesn’t start right away, Royal may lose out on a bit of money from drinks and other charges, so I doubt that would ever happen

Again, the boarding pass you used to get on the ship in the first place has all the info that your seapass has. RCI just has to have the stations open at the time boarding starts then they would not have to loose any money at all on their alcohol sales.

[craig01020]

All this whining about going back to in-person muster drills is just like the poor, entitled office workers who have been working from home, and now complain about going back to the office.

 

Boo friggin' hoo.

[PhillyFan33579]

35 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

All this whining about going back to in-person muster drills is just like the poor, entitled office workers who have been working from home, and now complain about going back to the office.

 

Boo friggin' hoo.

I understand your point, however, I have several friends who have changed jobs so they could work from home full time when their previous employer would no longer allow them to continue working from home full time. Employers need to learn to adapt to the ever changing work environment. Making someone work in an office when they can do the same job from home is not too smart in my opinion.  

 

The same can be said for the cruise industry. If RCI went back to in-person safety briefings, I would no longer cruise with them. If all cruise lines went back to in-person safety briefings, I would stop cruising. I don’t consider this being entitled, it just reflects that I learned there are a lot of great different ways to vacation while the cruise industry was shut down. 

[Diver2014]

In the event of a real emergency, I imagine the whiners that don't want to go to their muster stations for the drill will be the ones shoving people out of the way to get into a lifeboat - without their life vest because they didn't know where it was or didn't know how to put it on.   

Edited November 14, 2022 by Diver2014

[ballarinamom]

On 11/12/2022 at 2:24 PM, smokeybandit said:

That will be a very, very unpopular change if that happens.

Since when, in the case of a real emergency, would everyone report to their muster stations and calmly wait in line like the muster drill used to be?

No one.

So fun fact, We were on the Monarch of The Seas in December of 1998 when it hit a coral reef outside of St Martin. The first two decks sank and the captain ran it onto a sand bar to keep it from sinking more. We all reported to our muster station, people were relatively calm and staff were everywhere. My husband and I were prepared with money, ID, small packed bag and in appropriate clothes because we paid attention to the whistles,  We had to abandon ship at 2;00am. Many were still in PJs and no shoes. Some were in formal wear. So I can absolutely say it can happen. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by ballarinamom

[flamingos]

1 hour ago, craig01020 said:

All this whining about going back to in-person muster drills is just like the poor, entitled office workers who have been working from home, and now complain about going back to the office.

 

Boo friggin' hoo.

Wow. Tell us how you really feel.  🙂

[flamingos]

9 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

without their life vest because they didn't know where it was or didn't know how to put it on. 

 

There are enough life vests at the muster station because they do not want people who are out and about to run back to their cabins to get them.

[ballarinamom]

1 minute ago, flamingos said:

 

There are enough life vests at the muster station because they do not want people who are out and about to run back to their cabins to get them.

As someone who was in this situation, you are not allowed to go back to your cabin. They close the water doors after each cabin has been checked by the cabin stewards. It happens very fast

[3CatsInMA]

I'm not gonna lie--I love how quick and easy muster has been lately.

 

But....easier is not always better.

[craig01020]

49 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

If RCI went back to in-person safety briefings, I would no longer cruise with them.

Oh my, such a hardship! 

For years we've all wanted to go back to normal = kids in school; cruising again without masks, self-serve buffets. In-person muster drills are just part of "normal". Suck it up you bunch of babies.

 

[PhillyFan33579]

18 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

Oh my, such a hardship! 

For years we've all wanted to go back to normal = kids in school; cruising again without masks, self-serve buffets. In-person muster drills are just part of "normal". Suck it up you bunch of babies.

 

So people are “babies” for embracing new processes that are better than previous processes? And who are you to dictate what everyone wants (we’ve all wanted…)? Don’t make the mistake of thinking what you want is what everyone else wants. I don’t have an issue wearing a mask on a cruise. If I did, I definitely wouldn’t have gone on 18 cruises since cruising resumed last year, with 3 more booked the rest of this year. I don’t go to Windjammer too often, but I definitely preferred when the crew were serving everything. If you prefer the old way they did the safety briefing, that is your prerogative. But personally I prefer the new safety briefing format. 

[DaKahuna]

So four pages of discussion on the advantages, disadvantages and other things but I still do not see an answer to the OP's question -- Has Royal Caribbean said anything official about going back to the old muster process?  I have seen / heard nothing official so again, this seems to be just rumor mongering. 

 

[BecciBoo]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

If you don't have your seapass yet they scan your boarding pass which contains all the same information. Of course, I'm pretty sure you already know that.

They looked at the app on our phones, we didn't have our cards yet.  The app shows whether you completed the safety.

[BecciBoo]

2 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

Many were still in PJs and no shoes.

Sounds like you just proved it was pretty Chaotic.  Kudos to you who had it together, many wouldn't.

[BecciBoo]

2 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

In the event of a real emergency, I imagine the whiners that don't want to go to their muster stations for the drill will be the ones shoving people out of the way to get into a lifeboat - without their life vest because they didn't know where it was or didn't know how to put it on.   

Pardon me, but we DO go to the muster station, we watch the drills on our phone app, we DO know exactly where the life preservers are...and I wouldn't think of shoving another person at all much less  out of the way, but hey, some people have already thought about it...right???

[time4u2go]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

If you've read the official reports of the Concordia, you would know that there was no muster sounded, and was a complete failure of command, not a failure of the system.  Had the muster been sounded, when the Captain knew the ship was sinking, which was over an hour before he called for "abandon ship", I doubt that few, if any, lives would have been lost.

The captain of the Concordia is serving 16 years in prison for his negligence.

[BecciBoo]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

If you've read the official reports of the Concordia, you would know that there was no muster sounded, and was a complete failure of command, not a failure of the system.  Had the muster been sounded, when the Captain knew the ship was sinking, which was over an hour before he called for "abandon ship", I doubt that few, if any, lives would have been lost.

So you're saying that the muster drill conducted on the ship  was of absolutely no help in that  event aren't you?  I think that was what I was alluding to.  Yeah, you're absolutely right.....never mind.....

Edited November 14, 2022 by BecciBoo

[chengkp75]

20 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

So you're saying that the muster drill conducted on the ship  was of absolutely no help in that  event aren't you?  I think that was what I was alluding to.  Yeah, you're absolutely right.....never mind.....

There never was a muster drill held, for the latest embarkation. And with  no muster sounded,  the crew rightly followed orders and sent pax away.  Had the muster been sounded,  in a timely fashion,  then the crew training and the experience of a drill for the earlier pax would have accomplished the muster process in time to find everyone and load the boats orderly. 

[Btank]

On 11/13/2022 at 5:11 AM, chengkp75 said:

And, really, there are three things passengers need to take away from the muster drill:  show up, shut up, listen up.

Unpopular opinion here: if they were really serious about the muster drill, they would not sell alcohol until after muster was completed.

 

I will now duck & cover!       --bruce T.

 

[ballarinamom]

5 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Sounds like you just proved it was pretty Chaotic.  Kudos to you who had it together, many wouldn't.

Not at all. It proves that people didnt take it seriously. They assumed they could go back to their rooms which they could not. They didnt act when the stewards came knocking on their door.They didnt know what the series of horns meant. We did as did several others. We had time to quickly get dressed, grab money and passports. and throw a few things into a bag. 

[SherriZ366]

21 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

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

During regular muster (i.e. prior to e-muster) we went down to the muster station via elevator about 1/2 hour early as  we could not handle going from deck 11 to deck 5 via the stairs due to foot and back problems.  Then we had a drink and waited until the elevators cleared to go back to our cabin.