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

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

A crew drill on other lines does not often involve needing to herd the entire ship to certain locations at the same time.

To the other poster's comments it was about the crew knowing what to do with the unexpected and getting them the information they need. That is done during the team member safety drill where the alarms do go off on the ship and the crew practice what happens in the event of an emergency from where to go, what tasks they need to complete beforehand, etc. The crew aren't getting information read to them, or they reading information they are physically acting like it's an emergency and carrying out a practice of this.

Getting people to a station is such a very small part of what needs to be done and what information needs to be known for a crew member. The muster drills (whether in person or virtual) are primarily and realistically majority for the passenger. The tasks a crew member take on during an emergency are not really covered during that.

Considering how hard it was to get guests to show up for the issue on the Wish with the suspected man overboard, I think an in person Muster Drill is sadly a good thing- for both guests and crew.

That's a fallacy argument . You know how the United flight had people still grabbing their personal belongings when they needed to get out during that emergency? That is human nature, some people will be amazing at hearing and retaining the instructions, others aren't. And the vast majority of plane emergencies have not had people grabbing their personal items.

On the one hand you mention that issues arise when fellow guests are inconsiderate (that's me paraphrasing) but say the in person is needed because people's lack of showing up in the actual event of the emergency, an emergency by the way that occurred recently and with an in-person muster drill. When emergencies happen you will always have a good amount of people panicking and forgetting what they learned. But not for nothing your example of using an actual emergency when an in person muster drill had occurred would actually show (if we were to use purely one example like you did) that an in person drill didn't work to get people to actually get to their stations, the correct stations, in a timely manner and from what I read it was fairly chaotic as to what people were supposed to be doing.

 

[xiphoid76]

I think if they truly cared about safety then doing in the way other cruise lines do it would be beneficial for all. Everyone watches the video on the app or in the stateroom and then has to check in at the muster station. They then have one-on-one experience with the video and the muster station and can ask personalized questions.
Instead with Disney's version they create this unsafe mess of people during the muster drills that in no way enhances learning.
For comfort and safety the virtual muster drill works much better than DCL's current in-person version.

 

[tvguy]

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.

I think this, and the fact that Disney carries SOOOOO many more children than other lines are the reason. Kids learn better my doing, rather than watching a video. That could be critical in a real emergency. I'm just off a Princess Cruise and virtual muster drill is such a let down. Part of the excitement the first day is first stepping on the ship, getting your first meal at the buffet, the muster drill, the sail away party and meeting your server team at the first dinner. But I've been cruising 45 years. No fast food cruising for me.

 

[Wedgeout]

Blame it on the Titanic & the Costa Concordia. A Muster Drill is all part of a fun cruise experience.

 

[mcd2745]

Part of the excitement the first day is first stepping on the ship, getting your first meal at the buffet, the muster drill, the sail away party and meeting your server team at the first dinner.

A Muster Drill is all part of a fun cruise experience.

I'm totally fine with the muster drill and why you have to do it. However, I certainly don't consider it part of the fun or excitement.

 

[tvguy]

I'm totally fine with the muster drill and why you have to do it. However, I certainly don't consider it part of the fun or excitement.

Well, it was more fun than the 6 hour flight to Orlando.

 

[CamColt]

I think this, and the fact that Disney carries SOOOOO many more children than other lines are the reason. Kids learn better my doing, rather than watching a video. That could be critical in a real emergency. I'm just off a Princess Cruise and virtual muster drill is such a let down. Part of the excitement the first day is first stepping on the ship, getting your first meal at the buffet, the muster drill, the sail away party and meeting your server team at the first dinner. But I've been cruising 45 years. No fast food cruising for me.

While I love the first day of the cruise, especially the sail away party, I can't say I look forward to the muster drill.

We recently sailed on the Magic, followed by a cruise on RCCL's Utopia. We just loved the ease of getting on board and going to our Muster Station (stopping to ride the carousel on the way) and having that done in about 2 minutes. RCCL definitely beat out DCL on that.

 

[tvguy]

While I love the first day of the cruise, especially the sail away party, I can't say I look forward to the muster drill.

We recently sailed on the Magic, followed by a cruise on RCCL's Utopia. We just loved the ease of getting on board and going to our Muster Station (stopping to ride the carousel on the way) and having that done in about 2 minutes. RCCL definitely beat out DCL on that.

Well, like I said, 45 year cruiser so I expect it. But true, I still miss the nightly midnight buffet. Although I was on Princess week before last and they do have a 24/7 food option, and NCL's Pride of America has a 24/7 sit down restaurant. The muster drill kind of filled the gap between lunch and the sail away party, while you wait for your luggage to be delivered to your stateroom.

 

[LindaBabe]

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.

In-Person drills are probably best, but it's darn difficult if you're on a mobility device and can't do stairs when 1200 people flood the elevator lobbies all at once.