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

[xiphoid76]

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.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

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.

 

[OKW Lover]

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.

Imagine what it would be like in an actual emergency

 

[Skippyboo]

I think everyone should have to show up at the muster station to at least know where it is. Do you have to listen to the safety instructions as a big mass then try to all go up to deck 11 for sail away party? I would be ok watching it in the stateroom and having a window where you all have to check in at physical location but not stay there.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I think everyone should have to show up at the muster station to at least know where it is. Do you have to listen to the safety instructions as a big mass then try to all go up to deck 11 for sail away party? I would be ok watching it in the stateroom and having a window where you all have to check in at physical location but not stay there.

Thats what Disney were doing in 2022 and 2023. But people could not even do that. My first cruise was in September 2022 on The Magic from Dover, England. After the Welcome On Board Announcement, everyone was supposed to go straight to the Muster Station and get their PAT form scanned by the CM and THEN go for food. But what ended up happening was all the repeat cruisers didnt bother, as "we have cruised before, we know where our Muster Station is"

The safety video was played in the stateroom and on Funnel Vision and on The APP.

 

[Flossbolna]

Most people don’t even know that you are supposed to go from your cabin to your muster station in order to find out how to get there in an emergency. The instructions for emergency are to go to cabin, get warm clothes, medication and your life jacket and then head to muster from there, often through some non public staircase. It makes sense to test out that route at the muster drill. And if you listen to the video on the TV, they tell you that this is what you should do, but it’s easy to miss, so loads of people actually go from wherever they are to the muster drill.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Seabourn uses a virtual one. You watch the video in your room and your assigned muster station is listed on your keycard. By X time you are to then check in at your muster station. They just tell you you have to complete the video and check in by the certain time. It leaves it up to the passenger to go get food, get a welcome from their suite host, get their luggage delivered (depending on how busy embarkation is), etc before or after checking in at their assigned muster station.

Both times on our cruise our room host that came by to introduce themselves would verbally remind us make sure to do the video and go check in at your station.

There's pros and cons to no matter what method you do.

As far as the coast guard directive that seems to be something that was regurgitated a lot for long time but never seemed to be proven that was the cause much less that the coast guard required a return to physical muster for Disney. Disney themselves may have seen a pattern of non-compliance but it's never been documented that it was the coast guard who made them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

you can't hear much of the announcements

That's part of the con there. Safety goes both ways, if there can be inattentiveness in watching a video in your stateroom there can also be one in person and most especially if there are too many people, kids talking/crying, etc and you can't hear what is supposed to be critical safety information.

 

[happycamper47]

Many are still LATE........

 

[71 Truck]

This has been discussed in the past.
This a link to that post.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/will-the-muster-drill-process-ever-change.3935882/

This is some of what I posted back then.
This would have been back around December 2023.

I posted this back in March and still believe it to be true.


It was unofficially reported the the main reason Disney went back to the old style drills was because of lack of sufficient participation on the part of the guest. So I guess some may have ruined it for others.

Remember this also gives the crew, especially new crew a chance to also train. These are the people who are going to help save your life in an emergency while people are running around panicking because they do not know where their muster station is.

In an emergency even if people are only half paying attention at the in person muster drill they got some of the information and at least know where to go. If the guest can't remember where to go than thats their fault not the cruise lines. they did their part.

If only one person had to check in at the staging area and no one from the party bothered to watched the in room video because it took up to much time from their cruise this is a problem.
In an emergency especially, if the rest of the party is separate from the person who went to their muster area they might not know where to go.

On our last cruise on the Fantasy in November 2022 from the time the horn blew to start the drill till the time we were released from our muster station it was exactly 20 minutes. And our muster station was on the Starboard side of the ship in the sun.
If there are people who cant stand in the sun for 20 minutes they should find out from the cruise line if there is an alternative place they can meet.

I do not think 20 minutes is a lot to ask from people to help protect their safety in an emergency. this was on a cruise that was 142 hours long so 20 minutes is not a lot to ask..

I posted this in June
One of the things I read was that if a room had four people in it one person would gather all the Key to The World cards and go to the muster station to check in. That meant that potentially three people did not know where the muster station was. Potentially, during an emergency if every one from the room was not together some people did no know where to go.
It may have been apparent to Disney, guest either not knowing what to do or intentionally, possibly not doing what Disney wanted them to due may caused Disney to go back to the old muster drill. This is all of course just speculation as that Disney has never as far as I know put out an official statement.


This is also part of what I posted in 2023

I still think the in person muster drill is the best way to make sure everyone has been shown what is expected of them in an emergency.

Of all the times I have sailed Disney (14 times) I have not thought the in person muster drill was an inconvenience.
For my wife and I 20 minutes is not a lot to ask of us to ensure we have been told what to do and where to be in an emergency.

I have also said in the past, maybe Disney has not heard from a significant number of it's guest that they would like to go to a different kind of muster drill other than the in person drill.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I feel like it’s better for kids to do the in person drill. If there is an emergency they’ve actually practiced it before which makes it a little less scary, like fire drills at school.

I also like the practice (we go from our room to make sure we know the route), but I also watch the safety talk on every flight I take and read the guide. It’s such a short amount of time versus if something did happen and no one knew what to do.

I swear there was a video during Covid on one of the ships where the alarm was going off and people had no idea what to do. That may have played into it.