The NASA Effect
In some earlier postings, I’ve talked about some of the new systems and processes our people have been developing to improve the OASIS experience. In this posting, I thought I’d describe another one.
Everyone knows that NASA’s space program got us to the moon and gave us many wonderful astronomical discoveries. But it also gave us a lot of other inventions that were developed for the space program but which have more general uses. NASA claims they have help generate some 1,400 inventions with uses beyond the space program. That sounds like hyperbole, but they are certainly responsible for many good things including improved cordless tools, shoe insoles and ear thermometers. By the way, I always thought they invented Tang (the orange drink) but I checked and it seems to be not quite true. I read that Tang was already on the market but NASA did popularize it and proposed certain enhancements. Hell, I say give ‘em credit for that too.
We’re not NASA, but we’ve also have found that the focus on new systems for OASIS is helping improve our product fleetwide. I thought I’d report on another development made for OASIS here.
Every ship needs a good system for mustering the guests in times of emergency. Furthermore, safety regulations require that our guests practice mustering at the beginning of every voyage. This drill is a good safety protocol that ensures that every guest is familiar with the safety procedures.
But it is a royal pain in the ass – an important pain, but a pain nonetheless.
Under our current system, the guests all have to go back to their staterooms, get their lifejackets, and walk through the hallways carrying or wearing their lifejackets. The lifejackets are uncomfortable and bulky and many guests leave the belt hanging. After the drill, they have to take their lifejackets back to their staterooms. It’s also a time consuming and difficult process for the crew. All in all, it’s a laborious, uncomfortable, manual process that can actually distract from the important safety purposes for which it was designed.
So for OASIS we decided to see if we could make it better and more efficient. Our initial idea was simply to automate the record keeping, which we have done with a wireless system that allows for real time accounting of guests at their muster stations. The team however did not stop here and ended up with a dramatically new process that greatly improves the effectiveness and convenience of the drill.
The team quickly realized that the biggest issue was making the guests return to their staterooms to get the life jackets. But there really is no benefit to making them do this and we intend to get away from this practice. On OASIS, they decided to store the lifejackets at the mustering stations instead of the staterooms. This takes up more space at the mustering stations (lifejackets are very bulky) but we have the space. It also frees up a smidgen more space in every stateroom.
The advantages are so overwhelming that you have to wonder why we haven’t done this before. The only answer we have come up with is that we never looked at this process as carefully before OASIS. Just to make sure this is as big an improvement as it seems, we’ve been running extensive testing on other ships. The universal reaction is that this is a dramatically better system. Amongst other benefits, it is safer – the guests can go directly from wherever they are to their muster stations and we don’t have all of the cross traffic with guests wearing bulky lifejackets.
Of course, now everyone wants this on all the ships and we intend to do so as quickly as we can – the NASA effect lives on.
Filed under: Chairman
I have to agree with you, if the ship were sinking you wouldn’t take the time to go to your strateroom to get your life jacket.
I hope this is in effect on all ships when we take our cruise on the Enchantment Of The Seas to New England in Sept. 2010.
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So does that mean each PFD will not have the cabin number printed on it? Seems like a good idea.
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One more thought – off track. How about having Dan start a blog over on Celebrity?
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Hands down RCI is the leader in innovation and creativity! Kudos to you and your awesome team.
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Dear Charman,
I am so excited about the new ship! I love the idea of storing the lifejackets at the mustering stations. But will the life jackets be placed back in our rooms at any point by the staff?. If there should be an emergency and we are not able to get to a mustering station to get a lifejacket that could be a problem.
tmd
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I was wondering if you had a “godmother or “Godfather” for the Oasis? I would like to suggest the President of the United States ~ President Obama. Usually there is a contest for this and I might be early President Obama is my submittance.
We have seen a major change in the Presidential election and what better way to continue on with the change than to make him the “godfather” of this beautiful ship. I don’t think anywhere in history was there ever a President elected to be the “godfather” of any ship. The slogan for Royal Carribean is why not… so “Why Not” ?
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will there be life jackets in the rooms?
– in addition to the ones in the muster station.
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I REALLY like this clever idea !!
I think it is also much safer than having to struggle down 6 flights of stairs with a bulky lifejacket on and not being able to see the stairs clearly below you !!!
Well Done RCI !!!
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This is one of the greatest changes to cruising ever!
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Having just returned from Celebrity Equinox and experienced the new style emergency drill, it really does make a big difference.
Thank you for another beautiful Celebrity Ship!!!
The Group is going from strength to strength.
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Just took a quick 3 day to the Bahamas and we did this muster drill. It was so much more convenient. You could be anywhere before the muster and go anywhere when it was over. In 90 degree heat what a pleasure to not have to wear the lifejacket.
Can’t wait for the inagural cruise!!!
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Great Idea! Thats why we Travel RCL every year. You and your team are on top of it! Thanks for making it so easy for our familys travel memories!
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Well done!! Very good idea. Pat on the back to who thought this up.Hated wearing jacket while trying to go up and down the stairs. Cumbersome and very hot if you are in the Caribbean. Wonder why no one thought of this before.
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I love the idea of President Obama as “Godfather” of Oasis of the Seas!
As for the lifejackets, I’m concerned about making SURE that everyone has THEIR lifejackets, and (in an emergency) passengers not just grabbing the nearest lifejacket from someone else’s muster station, and therefore some passengers getting to their assigned muster station and finding a shortage of lifejackets there. Also, the issue about some muster stations being damaged or dangerous and the lifejackets there no longer being accessible.
I’m intrigued by the wireless real-time guest accounting at the muster stations…. is this by an RFID chip in the passengers’ boarding/charge/ID cards or something?
On a ship the size of Oasis, this kind of thing might make it interesting to log passengers as they move about the ship! If a passenger needed to be paged or located, it would be nice to know where on the ship they were (recently) and what neighborhoods they are NOT in… rather than having to page them or search for them across the entirety of such a huge ship.
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It is much safer to have them at the muster stations then locked away in the passenger’s rooms. In an emergency, I would rather be at the muster station waiting to board the lifeboat then trekking back to my room and then on to the muster station. This is an excellent idea and I hope it goes well. There is no need for the redundancy to keep them in the room and at the muster station. I look forward to this change when aboard on the 12th.
USCG 3rd Mate, Oceans Unlimited/Naval Architect
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[...] Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Richard Fain says every ship must have a good system for mustering guests in times of emergency, but the current ubiquitous lifeboat drill isn’t rocket science and is made harder than it has to be. The problem is lifejackets, they are a “pain in the ass” noted Fain in his Chairman’s Blog. [...]
Great Idea. For most ships, you must wear jacket to muster and THEN you’re taught how to put it on. My question is, on Oasis, where do you store that amount of life jackets and in an emergency, how long doe it take to get them in place?
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I think that’s a WONDERFUL idea. My wife uses an electric scooter for mobility and it has always been a problem getting to, and returning from, the muster station. Now, as long as you know where your station is, which is one of the most important reason for the muster in the first place, you can go directly there and avoud the rush for elevators, etc.
They always say there are extra life jackets at the muster stations anyhow, so why not store them all there?
Good thinking RCCL!
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I think that’s a WONDERFUL idea. My wife uses an electric scooter for mobility and it has always been a problem getting to, and returning from, the muster station. Now, as long as you know where your station is, which is one of the most important reason for the muster in the first place, you can go directly there and avoid the rush for elevators, etc.
They always say there are extra life jackets at the muster stations anyhow, so why not store them all there?
Good thinking RCCL!
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Great idea. Just one thing more your muster station should be on your sea pass card
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A couple points to ponder….In the event of a fire in or near one of the muster stations, where would the passengers get the life jackets from? And, although passengers don’t need to get their PFD from their cabin, they still need to get warm clothing.
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As a Celebrity crewmember, I am very happy to hear that there may be some changes coming down through the fleet regarding muster drill.
My emergency station is in a muster station, assisting guests with proper wearing of lifejackets (you’d be surprised how many variations of this simple process guests have come up with!), and guiding to lifeboats, and I hear dozens of complaints EVERY voyage about the discomfort, the inconvenience, the crowds, the weather (yes, during boat drill…).
If we can implement changes that cut down on even SOME of those complaints, you’ll see a much happier crew! And trust me, if the crew is happier, that’s going to show when interacting with our guests. A happy crew means a happy cruise for all.
Actually, I submitted a suggestion to Celebrity’s safety chief at head office back in 2007 (shortly after my 2nd or 3rd guest muster drill) about using RFID tracking in the SeaPass cards, or wireless handheld barcode scanners to scan each guest into the muster station, but never heard back from anybody.
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Keep up the good work.
Keep asking the question, “If I weren’t already doing it this way, would I start doing it this way now?” to see if old patterns are no longer the best way.
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Makes more sense to have lifejackets at muster station sinct that is where you have to go in an emergency to get life boat. Why would you want to waste precious time going back to cabin to get life jacket
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