What if dd needs to nap during drill???

[tezb]

Deck 7 is AP also and Deck 8 is outside on Deck 4...we have booked on Deck 7 a couple times...just for that reason...cool drill!!

 

[mommasita]

Really this last cruise we were in 7028.7030.7032 and we were all outside for the drill.

Deck 2 we were in Ap, DEck 6 outside...

Hmmm that is weird..

 

[tvguy]

They called cabin numbers for our drill, then counted how many people were at that muster station (total, not per cabin). All cabins responded and the number of people matched, so we were okay.
So some of you may not have noticed a CM counting. And in some cases that may not have happened.
It's just like the early immigration in St. Thomas on the Eastern, it can be a hassle, but there is nothing you can do about it because it's not Disney, it's the law.

 

[lotsofboys]

We were in 7008 & 7010 and were outside like momasita. I think only aft cabins go to AP, on our previous cruise we were 7132 & 7598 and we were in AP.

 

[anlashokna]

This is my first cruise so its all new to me to. But wouldn't you think everyone in the party should attend whether its a law or not? What if a worse case happens, and you're seperated from the one adult member of the cabin who was there? Panic sets in..you have a little one in tow..you can't remember what was possibly relayed to you? Odds are against anything happening, but they say that about every ship that has ever gone down. Just think Titanic.

It definately sounds like a pain to go through but when you fly don't you want to know where all the exits are?

 

[roscodog]

My DD was 3 and napping before the drill on her first cruise. We had to wake her up, put on the vest and attend the drill. She was pretty cranky during the drill but the CM was good about letting her take off the lifejacket once the drill was over.

 

[Jaklackus]

What's naptime? My 2 y/o son is up from 7:30 in the morning till 9-10pm at night(nonstop action around here too)....I fantasize more about this 'naptime' more than I fantasize about winning the lottery...lol.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Let me guess??????? You only have one child???


Missyoh8

WTH??

 

[crisi]

Travel is pretty much guarenteed to mess with a little one's schedule. If it isn't the safety drill, it will be the two hour long dinners, an airplane you need to get up at 5am to catch or change planes at naptime or get off after bedtime. Or just the excitment making a child who dependably sleeps from 2-4 not nap at all. Some things you can try and minimize - perhaps you could spend a few weeks before the cruise moving nap earlier? Five minutes earlier each day will get you an hour over two weeks.

 

[QuiltTeddy]

Well let me just say, from experience, they didn't ask for names, but they did check off the number of people who were supposed to be in each room. AND, we had to wait an additional 15 minutes in the blazing hot sun because the idiots in the room next to us thought they didn't have to show up. They had to search the ship for them -- making announcements, etc. It was EXTREMELY inconsiderate and we were not dismissed until each and every one of them meandered up to where they were SUPPOSED to be. Needless to say, they were being "booed" when they did finally show up.

 

[SweetSpot]

We have been on deck 8 all 3 cruises and always go to deck 4. It is horrible being out in the hot sun but always felt comfort in knowing that in front of me was a lifeboat. Silly question but if your muster is in AP where are the lifeboats?

 

[jkfreeman33]

If the ship is sinking and your child is napping, would you wake him up to get to the life boat or not disturb him and let him sleep in the cabin?
There is a reason (and a very good one) for the life boat drill.

 

[Skywalker]

If the ship is sinking and your child is napping, would you wake him up to get to the life boat or not disturb him and let him sleep in the cabin?
There is a reason (and a very good one) for the life boat drill.

Bingo!

 

[Gupsmom]

The point should not be whether you can GET AWAY with not going. It's mandatory. Breaking the law is wrong..even if you get away with it.

We've been on 5 cruises with our children. They've been to 5 lifeboat drills. They don't like it, but that's tough. They can certainly handle 20 minutes (max) of displeasure at the beginning of a fabulous trip. I don't feel too bad for them. They're lucky kids.

Jess

 

[mmouse37]

We have been on deck 8 all 3 cruises and always go to deck 4. It is horrible being out in the hot sun but always felt comfort in knowing that in front of me was a lifeboat. Silly question but if your muster is in AP where are the lifeboats?

You bring up a good point....as much as I do not like to be out in the sun during the lifeboat drill....I feel better knowing the lifeboats are in sight. When we have the drill indoors I often wonder what would happen next (in a real emergency)....I am the sure the CM's would then escort you to your lifeboats but then I feel that there may be more chaos this way and less people listening to the CM's......so, I have decided that I prefer to have my lifeboat drill outside and deal with the 10-15 minute of discomfort....

 

[PhotobearSam]

We are going on our first cruise in November and I was just reading this post to DH...

We were planning on going to the Drill as it is mandatory but we also see it as a Meet and Greet of the people you will see around the ship. We figured that the people in our muster station would be people we see coming and going from cabins close to our...

Just a thought.

 

[kajohn]

Another reason to go in person is that during the drill and real emergencies they open up crew stairs that aren't on the maps of the ship, so the way you are told to get to your statio may be by a crew stair, so you would want to do a dry run of that route. I know we were in 8586 and we took a very steep set of stairs down to AP for our drill.


As to the people who question the comment of "it must be an only child". I think the person who said that meant that people are usually much more rigid with napping schedules when it is an only child, but as you have more children, and you have such a more varied schedule, (take older child to preschool, wake little one up) parents tend to be much more laid back on nap schedules and it is no big deal at all to wake a sleeping child.

 

[goofy4wdw59]

Reading this thread brought back memories of the drill on our first Disney cruise in 2000.
I agree the drill is mandatory and all should attend--don't want to debate that--I just wanted to comment on our experience and I can feel for families with little ones.
We had a 18-month-old DS and 3yoDD. We went up to the deck we were suppose to and put on the life jackets. Little DS was not very happy and DD was a handful too. DS was whining and crying...and continued to cry louder through the whole thing! There was no consoling him. We were getting lots of pained looks (including the CM near us...not that I blame them) but there was not much we could do...or rather...we were doing everything we could to try and console him but with little success.
The little ones don't understand what's going on and that's the way it goes.
After the drill is well underway, maybe letting one parent leave with an upset little one(s) is a good idea.

 

[crisi]

As to the people who question the comment of "it must be an only child". I think the person who said that meant that people are usually much more rigid with napping schedules when it is an only child, but as you have more children, and you have such a more varied schedule, (take older child to preschool, wake little one up) parents tend to be much more laid back on nap schedules and it is no big deal at all to wake a sleeping child.

I got the same impression. Although I know families with multiple kids with less flexible schedules, most of the time the schedule goes out the window with the second. It isn't a slam - its just the way parents of more than one child giggle at parents of one the same way parents of one giggle at some of the naive ideas of the childless. Ah, to remember a more innocent me.....

 

[zakatak]

We just went on the 2/24 Wonder. I was with my three kids, ages 8, 6 & 4. I spent 10 minutes in the room explaining the importance of the drill before we even left the room. I also told my ds(8) that he was in charge of his sister (6) in case we did get separated so he HAD to know WHERE and WHAT to do. If he counted on me alone and something happened and we were separated by panic, what would he do? Once he knew that he was in charge, he paid very close attention.

They did count us off when we checked in. And it was cool in AP!

I always get so nervous during those drills, makes the worries real. Then I think of those kids in the movie Titanic and get all weepy and nervous. But, then it's over and it's off for ice cream and the sailaway party!