Will the safety drill make kids anxious?

[GPaLarry]

We have been through seven drills, both inside and out, four with grandkids. Several thoughts:
1. While at the muster we made friends with folks around us that we chatted with when we met them later during the cruise.
2. All five grandkids (from 7 to teens) have been in rowboats, kayaks, ferries, etc. where lifejackets and water safety have been stressed and enforced. They almost expected it on DCL ships. When they were new to DCL, the muster, like a formal tour, showed them a different part of the ship.
3. The cast member, who was in charge of our muster station on our last Magic cruise, was great. He showed us the inside of one of the lifeboats and explained, after the formal drill and while everyone else was scrambling to get to their rooms, where the supplies were, how it would be loaded, etc...very cool. Later we saw him in "Tangled" as the "thug" with the hooked hand at the piano. Met him in the hallways a few times handling characters/princesses and he was always friendly. They keep all their cast members busy day and night.
4. Our granddaughter, now 10, told her mother a while back that during one of the drills she was trying to find out how she could stow away on one of the lifeboats so that her cruise could last longer. This same Gdaughter is more afraid of the way the toilet flushes (too loud & violent) in her stateroom than safety drills.
5. Even on our B2B cruise last Sept. we had to, HAD TO go to each drill for each cruise. I truly don't mind going or waiting for the last, late family. Hopefully, everyone from every country is more aware of what to do, in case of an emergency on a DCL ship, and Titanic fears can be quelled.

 

[JW9DVC]

No. It won't. Usually the parents are the ones that make a big deal and cause the problems and the kids follow. At the age of 7 I would hope they would understand to stand quite and listen.

JW

 

[GPaLarry]

Use it as a learning/teaching experience instead of a negative. It is necessary and worth the time.

 

[Dug720]

No. It won't. Usually the parents are the ones that make a big deal and cause the problems and the kids follow. At the age of 7 I would hope they would understand to stand quite and listen.

JW

This. The kids are going to take their cues from you. If you are calm and chill about it, odds are high they will be calm and chill about it.

Heck, my sister was 6 and I was 11 on our first cruise - SS Emerald Seas - and their muster drill was full out. As in wait in your cabin until the alarm sounded (yes, people were sent back to their cabins), have the life vest on and secured, and have a small bag with and prescription meds and things 100% necessary, and then report to your muster station at the sounding of the alarm. It was just presented as "We have to do this in order to cruise. It's a fire drill." And my parents were very nonchalant about it. As a result, we were pretty nonchalant about it too. (I'd actually been through two bomb threats at schools, so a "fire drill" was nothing to me.

 

[Notyourtypicaldisney]

If you make them anxious then I would imagine they would be. Only you can answer if you have created an environment where being anxious about routine things in life then this will probably be a big deal. I have skipped many of these. Kinda my thing. I nap in the room quietly. My family laughs at me.

 

[elvispursley]

Hopefully everyone gets to the muster drill on time! Like @Dug720 mentioned, DCL takes their muster drill very seriously and will track those who are missing down. We had a one family who was late (not quite an hour, but it was up there). When they finally arrived, the entire theatre was dead silent as they walked in. Not a good way to start a vacation!

In all likelihood, your girls will probably be bored waiting for it to start (and hopefully it won't be hot if your muster station is outside and you have to stand in the sun).

 

[MikeGS]

The only problem I had with my kids during the safety drill was boredom from our 8 year, who clearly thought he was too cool to bother with things like that! A chat about his sulky behaviour and the consequences of not going and being prepared did change his mind, so hopefully we won't have to contend with that again. My 2 and 4 year old both enjoyed mixing (sort of) with the other kids next to us.

I think some of my eldest sons sulkyness also came because we had been playing in the slash zone, and the twist and spout until they closed them for the drill, so he'd been having lots of fun having never been on anything like the Magic before, then we'd had to go back to our cabin, get dressed and wait for the drill.

 

[Dug720]

The only problem I had with my kids during the safety drill was boredom from our 8 year, who clearly thought he was too cool to bother with things like that! A chat about his sulky behaviour and the consequences of not going and being prepared did change his mind, so hopefully we won't have to contend with that again. My 2 and 4 year old both enjoyed mixing (sort of) with the other kids next to us.

I think some of my eldest sons sulkyness also came because we had been playing in the slash zone, and the twist and spout until they closed them for the drill, so he'd been having lots of fun having never been on anything like the Magic before, then we'd had to go back to our cabin, get dressed and wait for the drill.

Excellent point!! If you and/or your kids have been swimming and your Muster station is indoors (theatre, restaurant), PLEASE put on something dry prior to the drill - and I'm not talking just a cover-up or sitting on a towel. It is NOT fun to discover that a seat is wet because someone couldn't be bothered to change before the drill and sat their wet butts in upholstered chairs.

 

[RedSox68]

Trust me, Disney has one of the better organized and least uncomfortable drills of all the cruise lines we have been on! It may make them anxious, but at least they try to get through it as quickly as possible.