NCL to return to E Muster Drills April 1

[jenpink]

Wouldn't it be great if Disney did this as well? I am cruising in about 6 weeks and really not looking forward to the massive crowds trying to go up the stairs at the end of the drill.

 

[holula]

Huge crowds like at the end of the muster drill give me so much anxiety. I really wish they would go back to the virtual ones.

 

[Kwami]

Huge crowds like at the end of the muster drill give me so much anxiety. I really wish they would go back to the virtual ones.

Virtual muster drills and pointless and might as well not exist. Very few people actually watched the video or even showed up to their muster station. On both DCL and NCL, having a single representative from the stateroom go to the muster point was sufficient for completion, which meant that most guests never went to their muster stations. And, even that representative probably went straight after boarding, which is an entirely different route than they would travel from the stateroom. Then, what's the point of having the drill at all?

I don't think anybody really likes the old style drills, but at least they serve a purpose. The fake drills were entirely pointless.

 

[jenpink]

A lot of people don't do the in person drills properly either. Many times, I don't go from my stateroom to the muster station. I show up to the station 15 minutes early. Is my attention completely on the crew during the drill? Probably not. I am ok with the E Muster

 

[Dis_Dreamer]

Waiting for everyone to be present seems to be pointless as well. There should be a middle ground where everyone in the stateroom needs to check in but then are free to go. Our muster lasted over 20 minutes waiting for others. It was our first time on DCL so kids were disappointed to miss the beginning of the Sail Away party and by the time we made our way from Deck 4 there was nowhere to stand for them to see much of the show.

 

[tvguy]

Waiting for everyone to be present seems to be pointless as well. There should be a middle ground where everyone in the stateroom needs to check in but then are free to go. Our muster lasted over 20 minutes waiting for others. It was our first time on DCL so kids were disappointed to miss the beginning of the Sail Away party and by the time we made our way from Deck 4 there was nowhere to stand for them to see much of the show.

Not a bad idea on paper. Unfortunately, the e-muster drill has apparently been abused as a far greater rate than the traditional drill.
My issue is.......I am on vacation, and I want to lock my devices up for a week and not use them for ANYTHING.

 

[kiford]

Virtual muster drills and pointless and might as well not exist.

I agree. The most dangerous time for a real emergency is when you're in your stateroom sleeping. You're jarred awake, frightened, tired/sleepy, confused, have to dress, put on your lifejacket, make sure you have all family members together and then make your way to the muster station. Sometimes you'll need to go down a set of crew stairs you've never been down to a location you might not have seen before from that perspective if you've never done the actual drill from your room. You don't need that on top of the fear and disturbance from sleep. At least if you've done it once, in response to the alarm, you have some context and understanding of where you're going and what will happen when you get there (they will scan you, wait for everyone to be there, guide you to where you're going). This isn't just a drill for you, it's also for the crew upon whom you will rely in the event of a real crisis. The more frequently emergency drills are practiced - even if they are on different ships and in different locations - the more likely you are to survive a real emergency.

Leisurely wandering to a muster station and watching a video in your room or on your phone just doesn't cut it in a real emergency for either guests or crew.

 

[Habitatnal]

Not a bad idea on paper. Unfortunately, the e-muster drill has apparently been abused as a far greater rate than the traditional drill.
My issue is.......I am on vacation, and I want to lock my devices up for a week and not use them for ANYTHING.

Disney could make everyone check in at their muster station and then have the safety video playing in the stateroom. Carnival has you check-in to your muster station and then the small group that is there watches someone put on a life jacket. I had the Carnival app on my cruise but I didn’t need it.

 

[Kwami]

Disney could make everyone check in at their muster station and then have the safety video playing in the stateroom. Carnival has you check-in to your muster station and then the small group that is there watches someone put on a life jacket. I had the Carnival app on my cruise but I didn’t need it.

Disney basically did exactly that when they had fake drills after the restart. You could watch the video on your phone with the DCL app or you could watch it on your stateroom TV or on the Funnel Vision when they played it ship-wide. But, they never had a way to verify that anyone watched it, so many people didn't.

 

[Habitatnal]

Disney basically did exactly that when they had fake drills after the restart. You could watch the video on your phone with the DCL app or you could watch it on your stateroom TV or on the Funnel Vision when they played it ship-wide. But, they never had a way to verify that anyone watched it, so many people didn't.

Every other cruise line makes everyone check-in at their muster station whereas Disney only made one person check-in per stateroom. Having everyone check-in but not necessarily at the same time will probably make the safety people happier. Disney will soon be the only cruise line with the in person muster drill.

 

[Kwami]

Every other cruise line makes everyone check-in at their muster station whereas Disney only made one person check-in per stateroom. Having everyone check-in but not necessarily at the same time will probably make the safety people happier. Disney will soon be the only cruise line with the in person muster drill.

That's not true. I watched a few NCL videos in preparation for a cruise with them next year and every one of them mentioned that only one person had to represent the the stateroom at the muster station to get credit.

 

[cvjw]

We loved the muster drills on the app. I actually watched the safety video and knew where the muster station was on each of our cruises.

When we sailed in late January, we attended the in person muster drill. I have no clue what any of the cast members were saying. They were training a Belgian to sniff luggage right below us. Everyone around us was watching the cute dog. Lots of other people were loudly talking to others in their parties. Not sure how many people would be prepared in a real emergency.

I got more out of the safety video on my phone. Hope DCL follows the other cruise lines and goes back to the app muster drill.

 

[Sykes]

Not a bad idea on paper. Unfortunately, the e-muster drill has apparently been abused as a far greater rate than the traditional drill. My issue is.......I am on vacation, and I want to lock my devices up for a week and not use them for ANYTHING.

This seems to be a problem isolated to DCL. Royal Caribbean has publicly stated that their virtual drills have a) a higher compliance rate, and b) better retention of important info. On my sailings on Celebrity and MSC, everyone in the stateroom had to tag their key card at the muster station. Clearly NCL seems to feel like the compromises land in favor of virtual drills too.

DCL continues to stand alone on physical muster drills.

 

[tvguy]

This seems to be a problem isolated to DCL. Royal Caribbean has publicly stated that virtual drills have a) a higher compliance rate, and b) better retention of important info. Clearly NCL seems to feel like the compromises land in favor of virtual drills too.

DCL continues to stand alone on physical muster drills.

Other lines are having issues too, at least according to the Cruise Vloggers I follow.

 

[Sykes]

Other lines are having issues too, at least according to the Cruise Vloggers I follow.

I'm sure that cruise vloggers know better than the executives overseeing the safety plans, and for that matter the Coast Guard that continues to allow virtual drills.

 

[tvguy]

I'm sure that cruise vloggers know better than the executives overseeing the safety plans, and for that matter the Coast Guard that continues to allow virtual drills.

Well, the Vloggers seem to be on the ships more often than the execs.

 

[Habitatnal]

Every other cruise line makes everyone check-in at their muster station whereas Disney only made one person check-in per stateroom. Having everyone check-in but not necessarily at the same time will probably make the safety people happier. Disney will soon be the only cruise line with the in person muster drill.

That's not true. I watched a few NCL videos in preparation for a cruise with them next year and every one of them mentioned that only one person had to represent the the stateroom at the muster station to get credit.

I watched a cruise vlog with a couple sailing NCL. They both checked in at the muster station. I know Carnival, Royal, Celebrity, Holland America and Princesses make everyone check in at there muster station. My point is that Disney could make everyone check-in to the muster station and that should satisfy the coast guard since other cruise lines still do the emuster.

 

[Habitatnal]

Well, the Vloggers seem to be on the ships more often than the execs.

I watch many cruise vloggers and I am on social media groups for all the cruise lines and no one has mentioned problems with the emuster. If Royal Caribbean and Carnival can continue to do emuster Disney can figure it out as well.

 

[tvguy]

I watch many cruise vloggers and I am on social media groups for all the cruise lines and no one has mentioned problems with the emuster. If Royal Caribbean and Carnival can continue to do emuster Disney can figure it out as well.

Don's Family Vacations and La Lida Loca have been very vocal in their opposition to the return to the in person muster drill.

 

[John VN]

On MSC we've viewed video, then dialed number given at end on cabin phone then all passengers must be scanned at Muster Station.