The covid pandemic, as terrible as it was and as hard as this might be to believe, did bring a few positives.
You can thank covid, for example, for the rise of telemedicine, which has made some health care a lot more convenient. Covid also gets credit for some markets allowing restaurants to deliver alcohol and for our newfound ability to get out of anything due to even the slightest sniffle.
Covid, of course, devastated the cruise industry but it also forced cruise lines to examine all their procedures. That led to some positive changes passengers can't see, like improved air filtration.
Another is Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) embracing one huge passenger-friendly change that both companies kept long after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped any covid-related restrictions.
DON'T MISS: Royal Caribbean Surprisingly Drops a Popular Onboard Activity
Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival moved from the traditional muster to an e-muster and have kept that policy for the long term. In a traditional muster drill, the ship closes down at a specific time before sailaway and all passengers must report to their muster station to hear some safety announcements and watch a life-jacket demonstration.
With an e-muster, passengers can watch safety videos on their phones or in their cabins and then check in physically at their muster station. If someone opts not to watch the videos, a person is on hand to outline the information and do the life-jacket demo. But unlike the old way, passengers aren't waiting around (often in the open sun) for other people to show up.
It's a very passenger-friendly improvement that does not compromise on safety, and cruisers love it. Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) had been using an e-muster but dropped it in January in favor of the traditional in-person, everyone-all-at-once system that cruise lines had used pre-pandemic.
Now, Norwegian has changed course yet again.
Image source: Shutterstock
Norwegian Cruise Line Brings Back the E-Muster
Passengers were not happy when Norwegian earlier this year dropped the e-muster. The traditional e-muster requires that every passenger on the ship report to their station at the same time. As you might imagine, some people think they don't have to do the drill -- everyone does, even people on back-to-back sailings -- and others simply try to escape it.
Some muster stations are on outside decks, where passengers line up and wait while the cruise line makes announcements about missing guests. In other cases, while the muster location is indoors, it's not a space meant to house as many people as are standing there for a long period.
Overall, it was an unpleasant process that stopped the momentum of the beginning of your cruise. Essentially, passengers would board their ship. have a few hours to eat, maybe have a few adult beverages, and then have to go stand around for 30 to 60 minutes depending upon how other people acted.
It was a surprise when Norwegian changed back to the classic system. The company explained the move in a statement emailed to TheStreet.
“In an effort to enhance the onboard guest experience while keeping the safety of our guests and crew our top priority, we will reinstate e-muster drills through our online check-in for sailings beginning April 1, 2023," a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson said.
"We are committed to delivering an exceptional and safe experience on board and as such will continue to actively evaluate and modify our processes for best practices.”
