Carnival Orders Full In-Person Muster Drills on Six Sailings Across Six Ships
If you are booked on one of the six listed Carnival sailings, watch your email for the notification letter, which arrives shortly before embarkation. Plan to be at your assigned muster station for the drill shortly before departure, and bring your Sail and Sign card, since crew will check it. Expect food and beverage service to be closed during the briefing. If your sailing is not on the list, the usual self-mustering format applies. In very exceptional circumstances, a drill can be cancelled.
My read is that this is regulatory housekeeping rather than a change of course. John Heald said in October 2025 that every ship needs an in-person drill twice a year under US Coast Guard, Australian Coast Guard, other agency and SOLAS rules, so the six sailings look like the places where that requirement gets satisfied while self-mustering stays the norm everywhere else. The Carnival Sunshine case is the telling detail. When the September 27, 2026 Norfolk departure slipped to September 28 because of the noreaster, the drill was cancelled to get the ship moving, and it will likely be rescheduled on another sailing. That shows the drill is a compliance box that gets moved, not dropped. Guests on the six sailings lose a little time and the food and beverage service during the briefing. Carnival avoids regulatory exposure. If I were booked on one, I would simply be on time with my Sail and Sign card in hand and treat it as a short formality.