While Carnival Cruise Line has moved to a digital muster drill platform during the pandemic, select sailings are still required to have traditional, in-person emergency exercises.

According to the company’s Brand Ambassador John Heald, the occasional full muster is required by safety regulations.

“These are required by SOLAS, which every cruise line sails under and stands for Safety of Life at Sea,” he explained in a video.

“Every six months we have to do a full muster. It does not take an hour but is something that we are required under SOLAS and the United States Coast Guard,” Heald continued.

“Please bear with us if we do this on your cruise. We’ll send you an email (about it) ahead of time,” he added.

Carnival is not planning to return to full musters on every cruise, he said, noting that the brand will continue to focus on its e-muster platform.

“All of this has been decided under the regulations of the United States Coast Guard. We’ll continue to inspect the ships randomly and periodically,” Heald added.

While guests can take advantage of the e-musters, Heald noted the crew is still required to do weekly in-person emergency drills.

“Each and every week, without fail, every single ship, whether its sailing from Sydney or Port Canaveral, there are full crew rehearsals for every single scenario.”

The musters simulate a range of emergency scenarios, including man overboard, fire onboard, muster station and evacuation situations.

“The guests don’t take part on that, but it is consistent and total training. As a crew member myself, I have total fate that in case of an emergency, our wonderful crew members will know exactly what to do,” he added.

Carnival’s current safety procedures were introduced during the pandemic in 2021. At the time, the new digital muster aimed to avoid large gatherings, allowing guests to walk individually to their muster stations after watching a safety video.