Mandatory life boat drill

[cpdrn7]

Must everyone in the stateroom attend? I would like to just sit up on deck and let hubby go. What experiences have you had or seen?

 

[deliela999]

Everyone has to go. And make sure you check in when you get there or they'll be calling your name from the stage. They have to confirm everyone is there before they can call it complete and let you go.

 

[Dug720]

100% mandatory. On any cruise ship. By law attendance at muster is not optional, no matter how many cruises you have been on. And you will be the least popular person on board if you dawdle getting there because you would rather be on deck while everyone else is where they are supposed to be.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

You do have to go. It is mandatory. Everyone will have to wait for you. And by everyone, I mean everyone on the ship. So, don't be "that person". Show up and you wil be sitting back on the deck in a comfy chair in no time. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Fireline]

It’s as much a drill for you as for the ships crew. And accounting for ALL passengers and crew is a critical aspect.
That being said I have been to a few muster drills and only one of them has been awful. So it shouldn’t be that bad.
Enjoy

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Everyone must be present and accounted for or the whole ship waits.

 

[cpdrn7]

I have been on many cruises and have always attended so i know the routine. I just didn't think all the people i was waiting with was the entire rooms occupants. I mean i have always mine go so i was curious. They call off staterooms but they also count us too? Guess som

 

[Dug720]

I have been on many cruises and have always attended so i know the routine. I just didn't think all the people i was waiting with was the entire rooms occupants. I mean i have always mine go so i was curious. They call off staterooms but they also count us too? Guess som

Yes. They make sure everyone in the stateroom is there (which is why if families split up to spread Castaway status or for any other reason and kids are in separate staterooms from their parents they are always reminded on here - and hopefully by Disney and/or a TA if they use one - that you have to go to the station for the stateroom you are assigned to as far as the paperwork is concerned). I have been on a cruise (not Disney in this case) where someone thought they only had to send a representative and were told they needed to contact the people hanging out elsewhere and get them to the station. And yes, we all had to wait while they found the person (who either did not have a phone of had already turned it off).

 

[cwis]

Must everyone in the stateroom attend? I would like to just sit up on deck and let hubby go. What experiences have you had or seen?

Why on earth would you want to skip the muster drill? I am sorry but I can't help thinking about a previous airplane crash in Russia. Many people died because some passengers apparently skipped the safety instructions, and they thought it was OK to bring out their luggage on an evacuation.

Several seconds were wasted and people DIED because of this.

Because people didn't PAID attention.

I am sure your question was genuine, but please, think twice. Skipping safety instructions KILLS. For real.

 

[allison0523]

So, I agree that everyone should attend the mandatory muster drill to find their stations and get information. But for the several people that said the whole ship waits if someone doesn't come, I know for a fact on a non-Disney cruise that isn't true. Maybe Disney handles things different but we were on a cruise from Tampa delayed due to fog and we didn't know what the actual embarkation time changed to so we showed up late while everyone was already doing the drill. They told us to go to the make-up drill the next day. By no means am I advocating that someone miss the drill just because they don't feel like going but there could be a legitimate emergency or reasons that would cause one to miss the drill and have to make it up.

 

[Dug720]

So, I agree that everyone should attend the mandatory muster drill to find their stations and get information. But for the several people that said the whole ship waits if someone doesn't come, I know for a fact on a non-Disney cruise that isn't true. Maybe Disney handles things different but we were on a cruise from Tampa delayed due to fog and we didn't know what the actual embarkation time changed to so we showed up late while everyone was already doing the drill. They told us to go to the make-up drill the next day. By no means am I advocating that someone miss the drill just because they don't feel like going but there could be a legitimate emergency or reasons that would cause one to miss the drill and have to make it up.

There is a difference between something out of the ship’s control and someone not going because they decided to hang out on deck or in their cabin.

On the RCCL Alaska Cruise I took from Anchorage (really Seward) to Vancouver there was an accident that shut down the one road between Anchorage and Seward and delayed everything including RCCL buses; the captain opted to do two drills - one for those of us on board and one for those who arrived after once the last bus had gotten there, though he would have been within his rights to do one drill for everyone once the last bus arrived (since that was 3:30am we were all thankful he did hold 2). But that was an extenuating circumstance - and everyone had to be checked in for one or the other. You could not skip the second if you missed the first just because you were tired. The vast majority of the time there is one drill and everyone is required to attend it.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I think the only cases for exemption would include the few who might need accomodations, like autistic kids who can't stand the loud noise for that long. If I recall, in a case like that, alternate arrangements are made, but they still have to be accounted for.

 

[vegs1]

I was on a Costa cruise a while back in Italy. It seems they sometimes use cruise ships as ferry boats over there. We embarked on what would be the second day of the cruise. Muster drill was day one and there was never another offered. We asked about it and they said it was just how it was done there. This may have changed in the following years but it sure shocked us.

Never miss the drill. Your safety as well as others depends on it.

 

[Starwind]

I have been on many cruises and have always attended so i know the routine. I just didn't think all the people i was waiting with was the entire rooms occupants. I mean i have always mine go so i was curious. They call off staterooms but they also count us too? Guess som

On DCL cruises they will scan your KTTW card when you arrive at the muster station, to check you in, so they know each individual that is there. When they get to the point of actually calling out stateroom numbers or individual names, it is when almost everyone is there and they are trying to locate people *who have not shown up*//are not recorded as having shown up [we've been on 5 cruises and it seems there is always a couple who manage to sneak through the scanning].

The muster drill is mandatory for all passengers. International law. There is written material [personal navigator], shipwide announcements, and the stateroom TV announcements that make the mandatory nature very clear.

If you do not show up, they will track you down. You will get a stern talking to. They will not be happy with you, especially since you would have deliberately chosen not to go. And you will be required to do a "make up" muster drill at a time of their choosing, not yours.

Later this year we will be doing a B2B2B on the same ship, same stateroom. We will be required to attend all 3 muster drills even though they are just a few days apart. No exceptions.

SW

 

[Starwind]

I was on a Costa cruise a while back in Italy. It seems they sometimes use cruise ships as ferry boats over there. We embarked on what would be the second day of the cruise. Muster drill was day one and there was never another offered. We asked about it and they said it was just how it was done there. This may have changed in the following years but it sure shocked us.

Never miss the drill. Your safety as well as others depends on it.

The Costa Concordia incident changed muster drill rules, among other things.

See https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/travel/concordia-anniversary/index.html and https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5151 and https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4744

From the last article:

QUOTE

In a joint statement, the Cruise Lines International Association, European Cruise Council, and the Passenger Shipping Association said they had voluntarily agreed to exceed current legal regulations regarding mustering outlined by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). (The SOLAS regulations are maintained by the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency tasked with improving maritime safety.) Instead of simply holding a muster drill within 24 hours of embarkation as required, member lines will conduct the drills for all passengers before their ships leave port.

Any passengers that embark after the official pre-cruise drill will promptly participate in an individual or group safety drill that meets SOLAS requirements.

It's important to note that the vast majority of major cruise lines already hold their muster drills before a ship leaves port. There are exceptions. Some ships, like Costa Concordia, that stop at multiple ports to pick up passengers, do not hold a muster until some passengers have already been onboard overnight -- but still within the 24 hour period.

END QUOTE

 

[allison0523]

On DCL cruises they will scan your KTTW card when you arrive at the muster station, to check you in, so they know each individual that is there. When they get to the point of actually calling out stateroom numbers or individual names, it is when almost everyone is there and they are trying to locate people *who have not shown up*//are not recorded as having shown up [we've been on 5 cruises and it seems there is always a couple who manage to sneak through the scanning].

The muster drill is mandatory for all passengers. International law. There is written material [personal navigator], shipwide announcements, and the stateroom TV announcements that make the mandatory nature very clear.

If you do not show up, they will track you down. You will get a stern talking to. They will not be happy with you, especially since you would have deliberately chosen not to go. And you will be required to do a "make up" muster drill at a time of their choosing, not yours.

Later this year we will be doing a B2B2B on the same ship, same stateroom. We will be required to attend all 3 muster drills even though they are just a few days apart. No exceptions.

SW

You are correct that it is international law and mandatory. But I am not sure about the stern talking to and them not being happy with you because we managed to write down the wrong time and missed the makeup drill too. We were told to watch the in room TV drill, which we did. Again, not advocating that anyone intentionally miss the drill but you don't get put in jail or thrown off the boat for missing it.

 

[Snow White DPMP]

It is mandatory for everyone.
Do not take the subject lightly.
You may need to use the info you receive in the drill to save your life.

 

[Dug720]

You are correct that it is international law and mandatory. But I am not sure about the stern talking to and them not being happy with you because we managed to write down the wrong time and missed the makeup drill too. We were told to watch the in room TV drill, which we did. Again, not advocating that anyone intentionally miss the drill but you don't get put in jail or thrown off the boat for missing it.

You can be disembarked at the captain’s discretion. Especially for something you can control - writing the wrong time was 100% your fault, and had the captain chosen to could have disembarked you at the next port.

 

[Starwind]

You are correct that it is international law and mandatory. But I am not sure about the stern talking to and them not being happy with you because we managed to write down the wrong time and missed the makeup drill too. We were told to watch the in room TV drill, which we did. Again, not advocating that anyone intentionally miss the drill but you don't get put in jail or thrown off the boat for missing it.

But you weren't willfully lounging elsewhere on the ship having decided to NOT go to muster and then deliberately not going to the replacement drill.

Some cruise lines WILL boot you off the ship for drill non-compliance. See https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4734

 

[Starwind]

This is a video taken on a Disney cruise. The general alarm was triggered while they are at sea; it is over two minutes [not clear exactly as the video seems clipped, but it runs > 2 min of time] until the captain informs them it is a false alarm. You can see that some people know what to do while others appear to not at least at first.