Why does DCL have us congregate inside the theater instead of outside by the lifeboats?

[fairytalelover]

During the safety drill they used to have us congregate outside by our designated boats which makes sense to me in case of an emergency. But now they have us meeting up inside the theater? This makes no sense to me. If we are in some kind of emergency where we have to evacuate the ship, I dont want to be heading inside the theater. It feels more like I would be heading to my doom being stuck in there. Reminds me of the steerage scenes in the Titanic with water rushing in. I would rather head straight out on deck by the lifeboats. In fact, on the last cruise, a Dad sitting next to us in the theater turned to us and said that if there is a real emergency he is not bringing his family into the theater. He is going straight out to the deck. I tend to agree.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

During the safety drill they used to have us congregate outside by our designated boats which makes sense to me in case of an emergency. But now they have us meeting up inside the theater? This makes no sense to me. If we are in some kind of emergency where we have to evacuate the ship, I dont want to be heading inside the theater. It feels more like I would be heading to my doom being stuck in there. Reminds me of the steerage scenes in the Titanic with water rushing in. I would rather head straight out on deck by the lifeboats. In fact, on the last cruise, a Dad sitting next to us in the theater turned to us and said that if there is a real emergency he is not bringing his family into the theater. He is going straight out to the deck. I tend to agree.

They are planned muster stations and I have had the theatre twice.

It's a good place to meet and from there led out to the lifeboats in the area.

Everything is planned, organised and checked for your safety, you will not be doomed there.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

During the safety drill they used to have us congregate outside by our designated boats which makes sense to me in case of an emergency. But now they have us meeting up inside the theater? This makes no sense to me. If we are in some kind of emergency where we have to evacuate the ship, I dont want to be heading inside the theater. It feels more like I would be heading to my doom being stuck in there. Reminds me of the steerage scenes in the Titanic with water rushing in. I would rather head straight out on deck by the lifeboats. In fact, on the last cruise, a Dad sitting next to us in the theater turned to us and said that if there is a real emergency he is not bringing his family into the theater. He is going straight out to the deck. I tend to agree.

There are a number of muster stations, some of which are on deck. Not all the muster stations are in the theaters. But they cannot fit all 4,000 (or however many passengers are onboard) cruisers out on the deck at the same time. You need to report to your muster station in the event of a real emergency to maintain order and get people onto the life boats in an orderly fashion.

 

[fairytalelover]

Sorry but I dont feel safe heading inside of a sinking ship....common sense tells me to get my family outside asap

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Sorry but I dont feel safe heading inside of a sinking ship....common sense tells me to get my family outside asap

To be honest if you are worried and going to endanger everyone else it's best you do not cruise at all, this is all planned it is safe it is checked, your best staying on the land. Leave cruising and safety to people who will respect the rules.

 

[KristiMc]

I agree that it would not be safe to have all 4000 passengers on deck at the same time. If you are really worried about it - there has been a few threads in the past that has listed the muster station for different rooms. Maybe look at this and select a room that has an outside muster station?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I agree that it would not be safe to have all 4000 passengers on deck at the same time. If you are really worried about it - there has been a few threads in the past that has listed the muster station for different rooms. Maybe look at this and select a room that has an outside muster station?

After reading the thread about how to handle a toddler at the muster drills, I thought to check where our muster station would be for our upcoming Fantasy cruise. On my last cruise, I was in the Buena Vista theater. This upcoming cruise, we're on deck. I was actually disappointed to find out our station was on deck because we'll be having to stand outside instead of being able to sit in the air conditioned theater. My 11yo DD is autistic and would handle being in the theater better than being on deck.

 

[mmouse37]

I agree that I feel better having my muster station outside but I understand the reason for having to have some inside.

MJ

 

[bumbershoot]

Not everyone is in the theater. Many many many people have muster stations outside. You've just recently booked rooms where the muster station is inside. We've had both. Supposedly they use the same muster stations, so you could just book the rooms you've had before when you were outdoors.

Reminds me of the steerage scenes in the Titanic with water rushing in.

What you are remembering is Hollywood's version of what happened. And there's no steerage class anymore.

"in accordance with existing practice Titanic's lifeboats were intended not as indefinite refuge but as ferries to rescue vessels, so with help still hours away there were too few places to accommodate everyone simultaneously. Compounding this, poor management of the evacuation meant many boats were only partially full when launched."

That was the big problem with Titanic.

It took nearly 3 hours for the ship to sink, and there weren't enough lifeboats. I highly highly doubt, especially on Caribbean/Bahamas cruises, that you'll hit an iceberg (I doubt you'd hit an iceberg anywhere since technology is much better than it was 100 years ago), or that it would take that relatively quick of a time. Regardless, if something happens, you go to your muster station so they know you're there, and then they take you outside to your lifeboats. Just because people are on the deck with the lifeboats it doesn't mean that the one they are near is THEIR lifeboat. You still have one assigned to you.

Sorry but I dont feel safe heading inside of a sinking ship....common sense tells me to get my family outside asap

Like DF said, you're then endangering yourselves, other passengers, and the crew members. Follow the rules. They are there for a reason.

Or book the rooms you booked before, with the outdoors muster stations.

 

[Eeyorebabies]

My concern is the location of muster stations vs room location vs not knowing the assigned lifeboat. Last time we had a top deck stateroom. But had to go down several decks and inside a theater to get to our muster station, and then we were never shown which life boat is assigned to us. Now, let's say the theater is on fire or submerged, going to the theater really is not the best option. In that case, we should be told which boat is assigned to us. I understand having a top deck would mean going down to get to the lifeboats, my concern is there is no plan B given where they say in the event that the muster station is not accessible, go to your assigned lifeboat. Without knowing which boat is ours, that's where panic will ensue with people because now they don't know where to go. If it's a real life emergency, it doesn't take much to cause panic. You will not get 1500 people to sit quietly in a sinking ship inside a theater. It just won't happen, I don't care how planned they think they are. Because let's face it, the time it took for everyone to get to their muster stations when not in a panic situation is not exactly quick. Then to have panicked people sitting down in chairs in a theater, yeah, good luck with that. It's hard enough getting that many people in a non emergency to be sitting down and quiet to await further instructions. Throw is scared people and screaming terrified children, plus the time it takes to get life jackets, and for people that were away from their staterooms having to run back for jackets. Yeah, sure thing. It's going to be complete chaos no matter how "organized" everyone thinks it will be.
Look how stupid people get on Black Friday and that's not even an emergency!

 

[Sir William]

The system is designed to account for everyone so that no one gets left behind. Failure to report to your designated muster station means that someone has to go find you. This means they will go to your stateroom first, and then spend time seeing if you've gone to a different muster point. All you end up doing is endangering CM and other passengers by not reporting to your muster station.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Ships in the unlikely event of an issue wouldn't just go down there built to withstand various issues, so the muster stations are on deck 4 for easy access and less distance to the sea if an emmergency evacuation occurred.

Cruise lines do have contingency plans I have been on the bridge of an RCCL ship and see them and a layout if the ship.

Everything is planned for an organised evacuation, if the ship is slowly going down or has a fire.

People can sorry about anything on a ship if they do they shouldn't consider cruising, inside rooms with only one exit, lower deck rooms that could flood quicker, all of this is unlikely but can occur.

Do you fly, well they give a demonisation of exits and evacuation process but they can't cover for all eventually.

 

[kiford]

The muster stations are essentially staged. Having everyone trying to get to their lifeboats on deck all at the same time would be chaos with everyone stepping on top of each other. If your muster station is in the theatre, you'd be led from there to your lifeboat in an mostly orderly fashion with no one left behind. Keeping smaller groups together allows them to direct and funnel people properly to where they should be in sufficient time to evacuate without losing people or having masses of groups colliding. This isn't a haphazard, ad hoc plan - they know what they're doing, have practice experience and you don't. If you do what you're told, follow the instructions, listen carefully and ensure that you do what you should if there is an emergency, you will help to lessen the panic rather than increasing it by trying create your own individual plan without any idea of how it's been designed by experts in emergency planning.

 

[Prose]

Keep in mind that many of the lifeboats are not out on deck - the yellow ones you see on the side of the ship would not nearly accommodate everyone. There are several inflatable lifeboats stowed out of sight. You may be assigned one of those, so going to stand by the visible lifeboats if you are not assigned to one would not be helpful. They will load up those muster stations first, deploy those lifeboats, then have the room to get the inflatables ready to load and deploy, leading people from the indoor musters to their lifeboat. Yes, in the case of an actual emergency (unlikely), it would inevitably be chaotic. But there is no possible way they could handle evacuation without taking it in groups. I am sure everyone wants to be the first off the ship, but it is simply isn't possible.

Your muster station will be on your KTTW card and on the back of your stateroom door. We have been in Animator's Palate twice on the Wonder and on deck twice on the Fantasy.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

When a ship is sinking, the safest place to be is on the ship. I know that may be counter-intuitive, but it's true. Now, there are some notable examples where this isn't true, like the Costa Concordia episode. But those will be very rare situations. In most cases a ship will take days to sink. What you see in movies, is movies. Real accidents aren't like that.

The safest thing you can do is go to your muster station and listen to the directives of those people trained to help you in a water emergency. You are not trained to do that. If you go towards the lifeboats you will get in peoples' way. You will hinder those people who are trying to save you and 3,000 other people on the boat.

Regardless, what do you think "being outside" will do for you? Are you going to jump overboard? Do you know how far down that is? I'll give you a hint, don't expect to have all your bones remain unbroken after your jump. Then, can you tread water? With a broken leg? For how long? For how long if carrying your child? In what temperature water? While fully clothed (which will weigh you down)? Sure, you might have your life vest, or you might have panicked and not gone back to your room for it. You know where there are extra life vests? At your Muster Station!

And in all honesty, have you thought about WHY your boat might be in distress? How about a hurricane or similar bad weather? You want your family outside in 200 mph winds? You think the crew had the time to secure all those deck chairs and other items that might be flying around? What about lightning? Interesting thing about a ship in the middle of the ocean, it's an excellent lightning rod. Not to mention the rain. Let's start the hypothermia process early!

Look, I've never been in an emergency on a big ship, but I grew up around boats. I used to capsize small boats for fun and then race my friends to see who could get them righted the fastest. So I know that I CAN tread water for a long time, while fully clothed, in pretty cold water, while exerting myself physically at other tasks at the same time. And I would go inside the theater where its warm and safe and dry, and do what I was told.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

We had to go into the theater on our Dream cruise. I was not really concerned with location as I was with the seat size....they are a bit snug. I'm a petite person but with a life jacket on it would be very uncomfortable trying to maneuver thru the aisle and sitting down in the case of an emergency.

 

[kiford]

we were never shown which life boat is assigned to us. Now, let's say the theater is on fire or submerged, going to the theater really is not the best option. In that case, we should be told which boat is assigned to us. I understand having a top deck would mean going down to get to the lifeboats, my concern is there is no plan B

There will be a Plan B but they're not going to tell you that as you would never remember all of the alternate plans. In the unlikely event that the theatre was in danger, the staff would corral all of the people who were supposed to go to that muster station and direct them elsewhere not let them run willy nilly to a specific lifeboat.

Sorry but I dont feel safe heading inside of a sinking ship....common sense tells me to get my family outside asap

Emergency management isn't based on an individual's idea of what is or isn't considered to be common sense but on an expert's knowledge of the environment, safety and emergency systems, training, and other aspects of crisis handling. In the event of an emergency, which isn't necessarily the ship sinking, the crew is in a better position than a passenger to know what and where the danger is, who is handling what, what emergency prevention or safety systems are in place, in use or best to be used and how to keep people from hurting themselves or others or impeding the rescue or prevention efforts.

Reminds me of the steerage scenes in the Titanic with water rushing in.

A: that was a movie. B: there was no planned or practiced evacuation procedures on the Titanic, no one cared about the steerage passengers, there was little to no safety equipment, little access between steerage and upper decks because they didn't want mixing of passengers from differing financial and social strata, insufficient numbers of life jackets and lifeboats, no trained personnel and no knowledge or expectation on the part of the passengers for what could happen or what to do. Oh, and that happened a little over 100 years ago.

If you've read any of the details of Costa Concordia, quite apart from the fact that the Captain did not declare an emergency evacuation in sufficient time, there was insufficient training on the part of the crew, the training for the guests was a video that wasn't mandatory, and there was complete chaos on deck during the emergency with no one in charge. This is very different from what I've certainly experienced with DCL and read of their practices, which have been in place since well before the Costa Concordia, so it's best to let them tell you what to do, not second-guess them. If you don't like it or don't want to follow it, you're best not to cruise.

 

[Eeyorebabies]

I was a medic in the army, deployed to Iraq, have been trained in mass casualties, evacuations, etc.
I have actually HAD to do those in real life. No matter how planned a situation is, you can't plan for everything. But you CAN offer a plan B. I am not saying NOT to go to the muster station. I am saying that they need to have a back up for every muster station. Not even saying it needs to be at the lifeboats, but if everyone is running from a burning theater that is my muster station, and they didn't tell me where to go in the evet that my muster station is not accessible, then should I just stand there? No! But where exactly should I go? Against the crowds to the burning theater? Against the crowds to the upper deck staterooms? Out to the lifeboats that may be in a completely different direction than where my lifeboat is located? Again, causing chaos against the crowds.
That's what my point is getting at. Telling me to just go to my muster station isn't good enough (clearly I would go because that's the protocol), but my point is they need to give a secondary location in the event that a specific muster station is not accessible.
Being that I have had to plan for evacuations, mass casualties, etc. I can tell you right now, a blanket response of just go to your muster station is not the best response.
Talk to your CM and ask them where you should go if the muster station is not accessible. I asked mine, and guess what, they had to ask their supervisor after his initial response of "just come here". When I explained that what if "here" is on fire where should we go, he paused and went to ask his supervisor.
So don't tell me they are all trained in this and know what they are doing. If it was an emergency and I had to ask where we should go, this CM would have been clueless thus causing more panic.

 

[Dug720]

I was a medic in the army, deployed to Iraq, have been trained in mass casualties, evacuations, etc.
I have actually HAD to do those in real life. No matter how planned a situation is, you can't plan for everything. But you CAN offer a plan B. I am not saying NOT to go to the muster station. I am saying that they need to have a back up for every muster station. Not even saying it needs to be at the lifeboats, but if everyone is running from a burning theater that is my muster station, and they didn't tell me where to go in the evet that my muster station is not accessible, then should I just stand there? No! But where exactly should I go? Against the crowds to the burning theater? Against the crowds to the upper deck staterooms? Out to the lifeboats that may be in a completely different direction than where my lifeboat is located? Again, causing chaos against the crowds.
That's what my point is getting at. Telling me to just go to my muster station isn't good enough (clearly I would go because that's the protocol), but my point is they need to give a secondary location in the event that a specific muster station is not accessible.
Being that I have had to plan for evacuations, mass casualties, etc. I can tell you right now, a blanket response of just go to your muster station is not the best response.
Talk to your CM and ask them where you should go if the muster station is not accessible. I asked mine, and guess what, they had to ask their supervisor after his initial response of "just come here". When I explained that what if "here" is on fire where should we go, he paused and went to ask his supervisor.
So don't tell me they are all trained in this and know what they are doing. If it was an emergency and I had to ask where we should go, this CM would have been clueless thus causing more panic.

Yes, THEY have a Plan B. And Plan C. And Plan D. Etc. The CM had to go and ask because there is not ONE Plan B. There are MANY. And where you would be directed would depend on circumstances IN THE EMERGENCY. The crew would be instructed where they are to direct those whose muster station is not usable IN THE EVENT THAT THEY NEED TO.

And in the event that your muster station is not usable, there will be crew at all possible entry points directing you where to go. Because the new assigned point could change depending on circumstances, you saying "I need to know Plan B" and you randomly heading there would be worse than a blanket statement of Report to your muster stations. You would be going where you THINK they want you to go rather than where they ACTUALLY want you to go.

The crew on DCL is VERY well drilled on the procedures. And I would trust them in the event of an emergency to lead me where I need to go by following their directions rather than assuming "OK, this is where I need to go."

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Because the new assigned point could change depending on circumstances, you saying "I need to know Plan B" and you randomly heading there would be worse than a blanket statement of Report to your muster stations.

Good point.