This morning at 0900 we had the official Coast Guard-inspected fire & emergency and abandon ship drills. It took about 90 minutes, and appeared to run smoothly, so we now have the official seal of approval to ship out! We have less than 24 hours until we depart, though you might not know it from the atmosphere on board. Everyone is continuing to go about business as usual, and I think it’s a testament to the planning and execution of pre-departure tasks that nobody seems to be feeling rushed or pressed for time.
The past three days we’ve done emergency drills every day. We have practiced fire & emergency and abandon ship drills each day, usually taking a total of about one and a half to two hours. Tomorrow we’ll be doing the official drills required by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard inspectors will be on board to ensure that we know exactly how to respond to the different emergency situations. Hopefully things go as well tomorrow as they did before the Orientation Mini Cruise, when the Coast Guard didn’t require us to do more than one of the drills since we executed the first one so perfectly.
