by James Jack » Wed Jun 27, 2012 2:13 pm
Hi Mike,
Re the elderly couple being removed from their ship because the wife didn't go to the muster station for the life boat drill. My wife & I cruised from May 20 to 27 with Holland America Lines (HAL) on the Statendam from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska. I had noticed previously trips to see my family in Vancouver & went to see cruise ships in port that HAL ships had people at their life boat stations for the drill before they left port. We went through that as well, with rows of people the staff made the tallest people stand at the back & tiered down to shortest at front (us). They asked us all to remain silent so everyone could hear their name called off the roster and hear instructions. You responded when you name was called. If no one answered to a name call, that was communicated to the Captain. When all was done, the peoples names missing & stateroom numbers were announced over the public address by the Captain and told to be at their muster stations immediately. We all had to wait & be quiet. After 5 to 10 minutes a further announcement was made for those still missing and the Captain announced that if they didn't report they would be terminated from the cruise and removed from the ship along with their luggage. After 20 minutes of waiting there were no outstanding missing names called, so it seems everyone was accounted for. The staff apologized for having us waiting so long. Then we were released. Story is get to your muster station as quickly as possible so you don't keep everyone waiting. The cruise lines take this safety drill seriously and passengers should too, one day your life may depend on this keeping you safe or not.
Jim
