Before the pandemic, the muster drill on Royal Caribbean ships was a kind of miserable experience. The cruise line closed down the entire ship and people had to visit their muster station for a safety demonstration.
That was miserable because the demonstration did not start until every passenger was accounted for. Some muster stations are outside while others are in indoor public venues that don’t have enough chairs for everyone who needs to be there.
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As the set time passed, the cruise line would announce the room numbers of the people who were not where they were supposed to be. At some point, the drill would take place, and anyone missing would be rounded up and put through the drill separately.
The current “muster 2.0” is a much-improved process. Passengers can watch the videos on their phones in the Royal Caribbean app on the day of their cruise. For two of the three videos, they have to check their name to show that they actually watched it, while the third — audio of the emergency horns — is just marked completed once they play it.
After that, all you have to do is check in at your specific muster station (which is printed on your room key/Seapass Card). If you opt to not watch the videos first, a crew member takes you through a quick demonstration.
It’s an easy process, but you do still have to do it.
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Most of the new version of the muster drill takes place in Royal Caribbean’s app.
Image source: Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean shares a muster warning
Royal Caribbean (RCL) tried to warn passengers that they must check in at their muster station with a cheeky video on their X page, or what used to be its Twitter page before Elon Musk changed the company’s name.
“Don’t be the person who the captain calls out by name,” was shared about the video, which showed a crew member wearing a life jacket dancing around with the sign on the pole that designates the muster station.
It was a lighthearted way for the cruise line to address a serious problem. Every person has to do the muster drill on every cruise they sail on. Some people either don’t know that, or they’ve had a few too many adult beverages and take a nap and miss the drill time.
No matter why the people haven’t haven’t shown up, the cruise line has to track them down. That starts with the captain repeatedly calling their names over the public address system asking them to report to their muster station.
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“Why not set it up so that anything you use your Seapass card doesn’t work until you’ve been to your muster station? People would probably be better about going if they couldn’t get that first drink until they went,” wrote The_Jeffrow under Royal Caribbean’s post.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) does a version of that. Carnival won’t let a passenger to buy/order a third drink on their cruise key before they have checked and completed the muster drill. Royal Caribbean has not yet adopted that policy.
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