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Your bags are in the cabin, the buffet is open and a drink with an umbrella in it is already in your hand.
Then the PA crackles and a polite voice reads out a list of cabin numbers. One of them is yours.
That’s the gentle version of what happens when you skip the muster drill. The other end of the scale is being walked down the gangway with your luggage.
What Happens If You Miss the Muster Drill?
Usually, the crew tracks you down and makes you do it late, either alone or in a small catch-up session. You don’t get to skip it. If you keep refusing, the big lines’ contracts let them put you ashore without a refund, and you pay your own way home. Royal Caribbean Group’s conduct policy and Carnival’s ticket contract both spell that out, and it has happened.
Why Can’t a Ship Just Let You Skip It?
Because the ship is the one breaking the law if it doesn’t muster you. The international safety treaty, SOLAS, used to give ships 24 hours after embarkation. After the Costa Concordia disaster in January 2012, the International Maritime Organization changed regulation III/19. From January 1, 2015, the IMO says passengers “must undergo safety drills, including mustering at the lifeboat stations, before the ship departs or immediately on departure.” Ship insurer Skuld gave the same summary in 2015: a muster before leaving any port where new passengers board.
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Send me the free kit →The same amendments added a separate safety briefing. Lloyd’s Register’s summary says cards, posters and videos can support that briefing but “may not be used to replace it.” That’s why even the app-based “eMuster” versions still end with you walking to your station and seeing a crew member.
The U.S. Coast Guard explained the split in 2012. “The only enforceable piece is that the ship completes the passenger muster as required,” Lt. Cmdr. Dan Brehm told the Associated Press. “What [officers] do to the passengers who don’t show up is a company policy at that point.” So the law sets the duty, and your cruise contract sets the punishment.
From a Catch-Up Briefing to the Gangway
We pieced this together from the lines’ own rules and the cases on record. Most people never get past the second row.
| Stage | What happens | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. You don’t check in | Crew check you in at your station by scanning your cruise card or ticking you off, so the ship knows who is missing | Royal Caribbean FAQ; Carnival’s 2026 drill notice |
| 2. Catch-up briefing | You’re given a safety briefing on your own or in a group, as soon as practical | Royal Caribbean FAQ; Royal Caribbean Group policy |
| 3. They chase you | Announcements and calls to your cabin asking you to report | The 2012 Seabourn case |
| 4. Removal | You’re put ashore with no refund or compensation, and you pay for your own hotel and flight home | Royal Caribbean Group policy; Carnival ticket contract, section 9(a) |
| 5. The fallout | The rest of your booking can be removed with you, and future cruises can be refused | Royal Caribbean Group policy; Carnival ticket contract |
What the Rulebooks Actually Say
Royal Caribbean. Its muster FAQ splits the drill into three parts: watch the life jacket video, listen to the emergency horn (both in the app or on the cabin TV), then visit your station, where “a crew member will verify you’ve completed both steps.” It musters every new passenger “even if they have sailed previously,” and anyone who boards after the muster is “promptly provided with individual or group safety briefings.”
Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean and Celebrity). The shared conduct policy opens with the rule: “All guests must attend the mandatory safety drill (also known as ‘muster’).” You get “a window of several hours” after boarding. Breaking any of its rules or crew instructions can mean “removal from the ship or private destination without any compensation or refund.” Guests removed “are responsible for their own accommodations and transportation home, at their expense.” It also warns that enforcement “MAY RESULT NOT ONLY IN REMOVAL OF THE GUEST, BUT THE REMOVAL OF ALL OTHER PERSONS IN THE GUEST’S TRAVEL PARTY.”
Carnival. Section 9(a) of the ticket contract says you agree “to follow the directions of the ship’s Master, or his authorized officer,” and that any violation “may subject Guest to disembarkation with no refund” and may get you “prohibited from sailing with Carnival in the future.” On most sailings, Carnival’s FAQ tells you to “navigate to your assigned muster station to check-in with a team member upon boarding.” Cruise Hive reports that each ship also runs a full drill twice a year. Carnival’s notice for six October 2026 sailings, quoted by Cruise Hive, said: “This is a mandatory procedure, and all guests will be required to participate.” Cruise Industry News reported the same mix in 2025: mostly self-mustering, with full drills “on random sailings.”
Norwegian. NCL has changed its mind more than once. It brought back group drills in January 2023, as reported by CruiseMapper and The Points Guy, then told agents it would “reinstate e-muster drills through our online check-in for sailings beginning April 1, 2023,” Cruise Mummy reported. Its FAQ still says the drill “usually takes place right before the vessel departs” and lasts 30 to 40 minutes. Read your own sailing’s pre-cruise emails to see which format you’ll get.
Has Anyone Really Been Kicked Off for Skipping It?
Yes. In May 2012, four months after Costa Concordia, Seabourn Sojourn was in Lisbon at the start of the second leg of a three-leg cruise. An 84-year-old passenger skipped the drill, saying she felt unwell and had already done it. Her 90-year-old husband attended. Travelers Today reported several announcements and phone calls to their cabin. The AP, via NBC News, quoted a passenger aboard: “He was not bluffing, and they were re-packed, removed and escorted off the gangway.”
Both reports rest on the same Cruise Critic poster and on the couple’s travel agent, and neither says whether any money was refunded. The AP report also said Seabourn’s sister line Holland America had put a passenger ashore that February for muster “non-compliance.” We found no other details of that case.
One lesson from Lisbon catches people out: doing the drill on one leg doesn’t cover the next. On back-to-back cruises, expect to muster again whenever a new voyage starts.
How to Make Sure It Never Gets That Far
- Do it early. Royal Caribbean Group gives you “a window of several hours” after boarding, but some ships set a time. Check yours and get it done before the bars and the pool claim your afternoon.
- Find your station before you need it. It’s on your cruise card or in the line’s app. It may be a lounge, restaurant or casino rather than the lifeboat deck, Cruise Mummy notes.
- Take your card. The check-in is how the ship knows you came. Turning up without being scanned doesn’t count.
- Every person checks in. Royal Caribbean Group’s policy says “all guests,” so a partner can’t do it for you.
- If you missed it, go to Guest Services. Royal Caribbean’s own FAQ promises a catch-up briefing for latecomers. Asking for one looks far better than being found by the crew.
- Remember the alarm: seven short blasts and one long one is the general emergency signal Carnival’s notice describes. Hear it for real and you go to your station.
Quick Answers
Do you have to do the muster drill if you’ve cruised before?
Yes. Royal Caribbean musters every new passenger “even if they have sailed previously.” The 2012 Seabourn removal happened to a passenger who said she’d already done the drill on an earlier leg.
What if a medical condition makes the muster drill hard?
Tell the crew. Royal Caribbean’s FAQ says that if a condition affects your ability to complete the drill, crew “will arrange for you to comply in the best possible way.” You still have to complete it, just in a way you can manage.
Are the bars open during the muster drill?
Not during a full drill. Carnival’s October 2026 notice, quoted by Cruise Hive, said “Food and beverage service is temporarily closed during the safety briefing.”
Cruise Chaos earns nothing from cruise lines, travel agents or booking links. Every fact in this guide links to where we read it, using the IMO, the cruise lines’ own contracts and FAQs, and named news reports, checked on October 25, 2026. Muster formats change often, and your line’s pre-cruise documents are the final word. If something has changed, tell us and we’ll correct it.
Coming up on Cruise Chaos: how does disembarkation work on a cruise? Luggage tags, time slots, and how to get off the ship without queueing for an hour.
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Keep Reading
- What to Expect on Cruise Embarkation Day
- Boarding a Cruise Ship: The Deadlines That Catch People Out
- What Do I Need to Know Before Going on a Cruise?
Sources
- International Maritime Organization: SOLAS amendments entering into force on 1 January 2015 (press briefing, December 23, 2014)
- Skuld: Passenger ship safety drills (January 12, 2015)
- Lloyd’s Register: Class News 42/14, passenger drills and safety briefings (August 6, 2014)
- Royal Caribbean: What is a muster drill (safety briefing)?
- Royal Caribbean Group: Guest Health, Safety, and Conduct Policy, on royalcaribbean.com (updated September 17, 2025) and celebritycruises.com (updated February 28, 2023)
- Carnival Cruise Line: Ticket contract (sections 6 and 9) and FAQ
- Norwegian Cruise Line: What is the timing of the mandatory safety drill?
- Cruise Hive: Carnival tells guests on six ships to expect full muster drills (Melissa Mayntz, October 2, 2026)
- Cruise Industry News: Carnival advises guests of safety briefing update (May 16, 2025)
- NBC News / Associated Press: Elderly couple booted from cruise ship after refusing to attend safety drill (May 16, 2012)
- Travelers Today: Couple booted from cruise ship for refusing to attend safety drill (Katie McFadden, May 21, 2012)
- CruiseMapper: Norwegian Cruise Line reinstates synchronized muster drills (John Stansfield, January 25, 2023)
- The Points Guy: Cruise ship muster drill changes (Gene Sloan, January 27, 2023)
- Cruise Mummy: NCL muster drill changes (March 22, 2023)
- Islands: Why missing this safety drill on your cruise can get you booted off the ship (Sharon Kong Perring, February 24, 2025)
