[Travelandtourism] Cruise Lines Agree to Mandatory Safety Drills before Departures and TSA plans widescale rollout of trusted-traveler program

[cheryl echevarria]

Here are a few items in the travel news that will affect everyone.
Cruise Lines agree to mandatory safety drills before departure.  I will go into this in a minute, this is mandatory that the cruise lines must do this,  it is also mandatory that every single passenger on that voyage participates as well.  If you are disabled, there are ways of doing this as well, since I am blind and have done these myself, it is not difficult at all, and the cruise lines are enforcing that you participate. Make sure that this is done prior to departure, and if you do not attend the mandatory Muster Drills, you can and it has already been done, be forced to leave the ship and will not be allowed to sail, as well as no money will be returned to you for this infraction.
Here is the information, all information if provided by Travel Weekly Magazine and US World News.
Cruise lines worldwide agreed on a new emergency-drill policy requiring mandatory muster for embarking passengers prior to departure from port. CLIA, (which, Echevarria Travel, meaning myself is a paid member of)  the European Cruise Council and the Passenger Shipping Association put forward the new policy with the support of their member cruise lines. The new policy takes effect immediately. According to a CLIA statement, on rare occasions when passengers arrive after the muster has been completed, they will be promptly provided with individual or group safety briefings that meet the requirements for musters applicable under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The formal policy is designed to help ensure that any mandatory musters or briefings are conducted for the benefit of all newly embarked passengers at the earliest practical opportunity. The change in policy follows the Jan. 13 Costa Concordia accident in Italy, where 16 died and 16 more are missing. The cruise industry announced in Jan. 27 that it would undertake a Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review, including a “comprehensive assessment of the critical human factors and operational aspects of maritime safety.” 
TSA plans widescale rollout of trusted-traveler program
After a measured launch and rollout last year of PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday announced plans to broadly expand the airport trusted-traveler program this year to more than two dozen large U.S. airports. Through PreCheck, TSA absolves some vetted frequent flyers and members of other Department of Homeland Security trusted-traveler programs from removing shoes, laptops, jackets and belts during airport security screening. Though TSA still characterizes the program as a "pilot," the expansion represents another step toward permanence. Already active at airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Minneapolis, PreCheck this year is slated to launch in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, New York, New Orleans, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, among other locations. After launching last year with American Airlines and Delta, the program is growing to include US Airways, United and Alaska Airlines. TSA claimed it has screened more than 336,000 passengers through PreCheck, which provides benefits to travelers while allowing TSA "to focus its efforts on passengers the agency knows less about while providing expedited screening for travelers who volunteer information about themselves prior to flying," according to TSA's announcement. Still, participants in the program are not guaranteed its benefits each time they are screened, and program members must wait in line like other travelers for document and ID checking. According to TSA administrator John Pistole, the program represents a shift "away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system.” Pistole in an interview with Business Travel News last month said TSA is "interested in expanding it as broadly as possible, moving from the pilot concept to making it a formal part of TSA." Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
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