Why is DCL the last line doing the old fashioned Muster Drills?

[Mzznlink]

Simple, the passengers.

I cant remember the exact report, but the reason Disney switched back to the in person Muster was because of the large % of non compliance of passengers doing the E Muster on embarkation day. The Muster is a legal requirement and the coastguards reports showed that too many people were not doing the E Muster. So Disney had no choice, they had to switch back to in person Muster, to make sure they hit the legal requirement.

So, only DCL passengers were not complying? No issues with other cruise lines? Nah, not buying it.

 

[Dug720]

Do you think that doesn't happen even with RC's way?

Having been on RCCL with their method, you can basically set the video playing and do anything else while it's going on. And even if one person in the stateroom were to watch it, there is no way to verify that every person in the stateroom watched it.

Does everyone pay 100% attention in person? Of course not, but at least they are hearing the instructions - listening, maybe not, but in the event of an emergency maybe part of what they heard will sink in.

As for the experience on the Wish this summer, that was not a lack of preparation, that was a lack of people having the common courtesy and sense to listen when the captain said EVERYONE was to report to their stations and thought it didn't apply to them since they were already in their stateroom. (And then in one case the father showing up but saying that his family would NOT be coming - which meant that their cabin had to be searched to verify everyone was there.)

 

[Wedgeout]

Just back from the Fantasy. Cabin was “O” in the comfort of The Tube with “P”. About 5 no show cabin numbers. Glad they didn’t delay us. Good presentation & we were released. I feel we need the muscle/mental memory to train ourselves to know exactly where to go under stress.

 

[Dug720]

I will say, the one part of the stations inside I don't like is that there are times wet butts go into the seats because people have come straight from the pool. When the seats are cloth, that can mean a rude awakening for people going to those lounges, restaurants, or the theater after Muster.

 

[Kwami]

I will say, the one part of the stations inside I don't like is that there are times wet butts go into the seats because people have come straight from the pool. When the seats are cloth, that can mean a rude awakening for people going to those lounges, restaurants, or the theater after Muster.

I find it harder to hear the instructions at the indoor stations. There are just too many people.

 

[71 Truck]

Disney Cruise line has been back to inspersion muster drills for over 2 years? and we are still talking about it.
In my opinion it is simple, Disney must have had a reason to go back to the old way. I had mentioned this several times in several post, including this post back on page 1 post #10 as to why they may have done this, just my guess though.

Again it is simple, if you want to sail on Disney you have to do what they consider what is the best drill not only for the guest but also the crew to do.

 

[Wedgeout]

Yep..bet it’s Disney always one step ahead of the rest. Crap hits the fan, someone gets lost & confused. Goes down with the ship. Family will have no chance with a lawsuit fight, having “had” a real safety drill.

 

[Sykes]

Royal Caribbean has reported that their virtual drills have created better retention of critical safety information than the in-person drills. It turns out that a) forcing people to find their own way to the muster stations rather than following others enhances information retention, b) 1:1 safety and life jacket briefings are more effective than cast members shouting inaudible instructions over a loudspeaker, and c) people retain the information better when they aren’t miserable.

Disney is an outlier in the industry and it’s because of cost and staffing rather than safety. It also don’t help that Disney’s temporary implementation of the virtual muster drill was significantly less effective than what other cruise lines did.

My personal (and mostly-unsupported) suspicion is that DCL is especially affected by the staffing differences because a lot of other cruise lines require the show performers and other entertainment staff (who otherwise get the afternoon off) to work the virtual muster to fill in those staffing gaps, but Disney’s stage performers and other entertainment staff have a lot more pull.

 

[Dug720]

I find it harder to hear the instructions at the indoor stations. There are just too many people.

That would come down to the crew members in charge. Whenever I've had one inside the crew has been very good at keeping people quiet.

 

[Dug720]

Disney’s stage performers and other entertainment staff have a lot more pull.

I've almost always had cruise staffs and entertainment people leading my muster stations on DCL.

 

[Sykes]

I've almost always had cruise staffs and entertainment people leading my muster stations on DCL.

For the full 6 hours of embarkation day?

 

[Dug720]

For the full 6 hours of embarkation day?

DCL doesn't do virtual for muster.

 

[Skippyboo]

I've almost always had cruise staffs and entertainment people leading my muster stations on DCL.

Maybe not the Broadway show performers, but I definitely had entertainment team members as my muster station leader. One was calling the bingo numbers, the other was Match Your Mate host.

I don’t mind in person muster drill. The worst part is the stair climb afterwards for sail away party.

 

[Sykes]

DCL doesn't do virtual for muster.

So you can see how virtual muster creates different staffing burdens. NCL and Carnival have been quite clear about the fact that the increased staffing burden has been one of the biggest challenges for them in implementing virtual muster.

 

[Dug720]

So you can see how virtual muster creates different staffing burdens. NCL and Carnival have been quite clear about the fact that the increased staffing burden has been one of the biggest challenges for them in implementing virtual muster.

Never said it wasn't an issue for the lines that do it.

 

[greensombrero]

So I recently got some new insight on this topic. If you read Richard Fain's book (former CEO of Royal Caribbean Group) Delivering the Wow he talks about how they created Muster 2.0 before Covid AND patented it. They had to do trials and work with the Coast Guard etc. They planned to fully launch right before/as Covid hit. When the shutdown occurred they agreed to let other cruise lines use the same patented approach for virtual musters.

The book is not clear if they granted permanent patent licenses or only temporary during Covid. I strongly suggest this plays a part in Disney's decision. It could be they don't want to pay licensing fees to Royal to do virtual muster and don't want to risk a patent lawsuit.

Even if Royal is still granting royalty free licenses there could be strings attached or some other reason why Disney doesn't want to deal with the licensing legal agreement. I've seen patent situations cause companies that have deep pockets (like Disney) avoid anything that could possibly create a legal risk.

Again I'm reading between the lines after reading the book. It says nothing about Disney just that they did let other cruise lines use their virtual muster patent during Covid. However this explanation makes the most sense to me so thought I'd share.

 

[PinkPixel]

The in person drill absolutely helped me understand where I was supposed to go on day 1 if there was an emergency.

 

[CruiseGoon]

I loved during Covid they went to more of a virtual Muster Drill. I don't know why Disney went back to the in-person mass chaos that is their Muster Drill. The assembly stations are a mess, you can't hear much of the announcements and then there is a mass stampede once it is done. They tell people to be off their phones but many are still on them during the exercise. It just makes no sense.

It would be much better to change this up as every other cruise line has done. Watch a safety video before hand, then each member in your party has to go to the assigned muster station to check in and confirm you watched the video and get 1-2 minute safety instructions from the crew. This would be allow for a smoother experience, enhance the vacation instead of interrupting it with the muster drill and provide for more safety ask there is one-on-one instructions given to each member as they need to check in at the station some time before the ship sets sail. Safety and comfort wise this makes so much sense. I don't understand why DCL does not change.

Totally agree with the OP. The DCL app is built out well-enough that it can act as verification for muster check-in. Have the safety video in the comfort of your stateroom or on your personal device. Then report in-person to your muster station with your app or KTTWC and complete your check-in. DCL did this in 2022 when sailing resumed and the traffic flow of passengers was incredibly smoother.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The in person drill absolutely helped me understand where I was supposed to go on day 1 if there was an emergency.

Not for nothing but so did the virtual muster I did on Seabourn. Both my husband and I had to check in at our muster station after watching the video in the room and by a certain time before sail away. It's also printed on the card used for entry to your room and to enter/exit the ship not by letters or numbers (though they are on there that's for the ships's information) but spelled out along with your lifeboat number

From our cruise in March/April 2025


From our July 2023 cruise

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Those of you who dislike in-person muster drills will want to steer clear of Celestyal Cruises. Not only did we have to report in person for a presentation, we had to line up and put our life jackets on for inspection! I wasn't bothered one bit, but it was the most intense muster drill I've ever attended.