The cruise industry had a rough go of it in 2020, but one great change that came out of it was a revamped and substantially better safety drill experience.
All cruise ship passengers are required by maritime law to understand what to do in the case of an emergency, similar to airline passengers that get a safety drill before takeoff.
Known as the muster drill, the process remained the same for decades where passengers stopped what they were doing, lined up outdoors in a single file line, and waited to hear instructions read over a bullhorn or public address system.
Royal Caribbean knew this was not a great way to convey important safety information and that its guests lamented the entire process for how cumbersome and disruptive it was.
In 2021 when cruise ships restarted cruising, a virtual muster drill was implemented for the first time. It was a concept devised before the industry shutdown, but turned out to be the perfect way way to get safety information while social distancing.
Fast-forward a few years later, and it remains one of the best innovations within the cruise industry. In fact, Royal Caribbean openly shared the patented process with any cruise line that wanted it.
"It's the easiest process in cruising," wrote Clbengel on Reddit.
"You'll watch a few videos and listen to a sound of the emergency horn on the Royal app. Then once you board, just go to your designated muster station and they'll scan you in as having completed it. You're good to go and officially start your cruise."
Reinventing the muster drill
If you go on a cruise today, every passenger is obliged to know what to do and where to go in an emergency.
Instead of standing around to hear someone tell you, Royal Caribbean wanted a better way.
Traditionally, in the context of a passenger cruise ship, a muster drill is performed at the beginning of the cruise before the cruise ship departs or shortly thereafter. During the muster drill, each individual passenger reports to an assigned muster station—a specific location on the vessel. A crew member then confirms the presence of each passenger expected to be present at the specific location during the muster drill so that all passengers may be accounted for in the event of an actual emergency and a resultant actual muster.
Further, the old muster drill was confusing for some—particularly the elderly and children—both of whom often require additional assistance locating and moving towards assigned muster stations.
For crew members, trying to perform the drill with thousands of guests may create unnecessary confusion or missed opportunities to educate and inform, in light of the ultimate goal.
A group at Royal Caribbean worked on a new idea to get passengers critical information without disrupting everyone's day at the same time.
A digital approach was conceived, and its not only made it easier to give cruisers the information they needed, but it also allowed it to be done individually and monitored.
The change was widely heralded by passengers who loved the change because of how much easier the process became.
Not only that, more passengers were participating than ever before.
Royal Caribbean International's Senior Vice President of Marine Operations Greg Purdy shared Royal Caribbean has "extremely high percentage rates for guest participation", which is in part due to training of the crew members to facilitate it, as well as plenty of reminder announcements."
Mr. Purdy went on to say participation rates are higher with eMuster than the old way, "we're fairly aggressive about ensuring that you complete the safety drill prior to sailing. "
"That's actually better than the old traditional drill."
Most importantly, guests get the important information while making the process easier overall, "This has been a real win for the guest and a win for those of our crew that are charged with with safety responsibilities in an emergency."
Other cruise lines followed Royal Caribbean's lead, and while their implementation may vary slightly, the general flow is the same.
One cruise line stubbornly refuses to change
Most cruise lines adopted eMuster, but one mainstream cruise line stubbornly have not and it's baffling why not.
Disney Cruise Line initially made the switch to eMuster, but then quickly reverted in November 2022 back to the in-person safety muster drill.
An email to travel agents said, "We regularly review our processes and have made the decision to reintroduce the in-person assembly drills. All Guests will be required to report to their assigned assembly station in person at the scheduled time on embarkation day."
Even after all these years, they are the notable holdout.
Armstrong2Cernan wrote on Reddit how tiresome the old way is, "Crew members with bullhorns and clip boards calling out for a few passengers who felt they were too important to attend. Kids getting tired and cranky, all still standing chest to back, parents holding smaller children, switching them off to their spouse as they got tired. Waiting, waiting, waiting until finally they bark out a few instructions that you would do if there were an actual emergency. So. Very. Tiring."
