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

[GhostHost24]

On treasure now... And all they talked about was showing us how to put on our life jacket. Nothing else. It's a complete waste of time to do in person. Oh and no one was paying attention. Everyone was just talking amongst themselves

 

[Uncwmark]

I commented years ago on one of the original threads on this topic.. but, as someone who cruises on multiple lines, it makes me laugh at how folks on here will so blindly defend the Mouse and fail to acknowledge that other cruise lines can, AND DO, handle muster way better than Disney does. I love the "Disney cares more about safety than other cruise lines" argument? Really? Give me a break... all major lines are fairly well vested in ensuring the safety of their guests. "More kids" -- false narrative. Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Icon class ships carry considerably more children week-to-week than does any of Disney's ships.

As an aside, our last Disney cruise was on the Fantasy a couple years ago... our muster station was outside on the promenade and the drill commenced during the middle of a thunderstorm (not uncommon in Florida during the late afternoon). It was utter chaos. Nobody could hear anything. There was thunder & lightning. Kids were crying.. some were scared. Parents were stressed out. I'm sorry, but nobody will be able to convince me that was a "safer" approach (quite the contrary, in fact) than what's being offered now on almost every other major cruise line with regard to handling the muster drill.

Disney will do what they want to do. That's fine. And, many folks on here will stanchly and blindly defend this antiquated process as well. That's fine too. To each their own...

 

[dreamer17555]

I commented years ago on one of the original threads on this topic.. but, as someone who cruises on multiple lines, it makes me laugh at how folks on here will so blindly defend the Mouse and fail to acknowledge that other cruise lines can, AND DO, handle muster way better than Disney does. I love the "Disney cares more about safety than other cruise lines" argument? Really? Give me a break... all major lines are fairly well vested in ensuring the safety of their guests. "More kids" -- false narrative. Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Icon class ships carry considerably more children week-to-week than does any of Disney's ships.

As an aside, our last Disney cruise was on the Fantasy a couple years ago... our muster station was outside on the promenade and the drill commenced during the middle of a thunderstorm (not uncommon in Florida during the late afternoon). It was utter chaos. Nobody could hear anything. There was thunder & lightning. Kids were crying.. some were scared. Parents were stressed out. I'm sorry, but nobody will be able to convince me that was a "safer" approach (quite the contrary, in fact) than what's being offered now on almost every other major cruise line with regard to handling the muster drill.

Disney will do what they want to do. That's fine. And, many folks on here will stanchly and blindly defend this antiquated process as well. That's fine too. To each their own...

I am not a blind DCL supporter but I can say that I think there is a huge difference in having some time on the ship and then reporting to muster en masse vs being sent directly there when you first board and do not have your bearings, including getting the crew used to directing thousands at one time vs over a few hours.

That lightening and thunder situation sounds awful and I am surprised DCL did not move that station inside (my DD has worked as a lifeguard for Disney and they are strict about lightening within so many miles).

I don't think DCL has more kids than Royal but I know for myself personally I could not tell you where my muster station were on either my Royal or NCL sailings because I was directed there immediately upon boarding and still was not sure what direction fwd and aft were at that moment. With DCL even on my first cruise I had a better idea as I had even had a chance to visit my stateroom first to know the layout of the ship.

Royal does much better shows that DCL. And its Muster Drill is easier. But I still feel that DCL's has guests more prepared.

 

[Marley21]

I assume DCL will follow its practice of in-person muster drills on the Adventure, but I’m curious if the problems/complaints discussed here are only compounded when DCL has to get 6,000 passengers to their stations and not just the 4,000 passengers like the Wish- and Dream-class ships. I guess if the ship can hold 6,000 passengers, then it should be no problem to get 6,000 people to show up to their stations at the same time, but I’m skeptical.

 

[dreamer17555]

I assume DCL will follow its practice of in-person muster drills on the Adventure, but I’m curious if the problems/complaints discussed here are only compounded when DCL has to get 6,000 passengers to their stations and not just the 4,000 passengers like the Wish- and Dream-class ships. I guess if the ship can hold 6,000 passengers, then it should be no problem to get 6,000 people to show up to their stations at the same time, but I’m skeptical.

I dont see it being an issue on the Adventure. It was not an issue when DCL went from 2,500 guests on the Magic and Wonder to 4,000 on the Dream. Also thinking of the market it is primarily for I cannot see an in person muster drill being an issue at all.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I dont see it being an issue on the Adventure. It was not an issue when DCL went from 2,500 guests on the Magic and Wonder to 4,000 on the Dream. Also thinking of the market it is primarily for I cannot see an in person muster drill being an issue at all.

I would worry if a ship couldn't handle a 6000 person muster drill - what would that bode for an actual emergency?

 

[brentm77]

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.

I think there is something to this. On Celebrity, which does it the same way they do on their sister company RCL, I can literally still picture exactly how to get to the muster station from our trip last summer. The self-guided process appears to aid retention. DCL is a bit more of a blur for the last cruise I took, but that admittedly could be due to the blending of memories of many different DCL cruises.

I personally feel just as safe, or even safer, with the video and check-in that Celebrity does. I get the arguments against it, but I also think we all need to take responsibility for our own safety, and those who don't are likely not paying attention to the cast member shouting into a megaphone on DCL either.

That, and while something could happen, the odds are absolutely minuscule compared to the everyday risks we take. The probability of a passenger fatality on a cruise ship is roughly 1 in 6.25 million, making cruising ridiculously safer than driving in a car to the cruise port. Therefore, I am comfortable doing the Celebrity version even if there is some small percentage of additional risk because of it. Of course, the counter argument is that you wear your seat belt and this is a small thing to do to improve safety, but this is just a different version of the metaphorical seatbelt, not removing it entirely.

I wish DCL would be able to find a way to make it work like all the other lines have, but am not holding my breath. We did their check in version during covid and I was happy with it. But in the end, it's a rather small inconvenience to enjoy a DCL cruise.