There's a show on (I think) The Weather Channel that covers a lot of the questions about the planned route/crew/ship. It also shows the rescue of the crew members.

As to the life raft, you would figure there should be a "training" raft someplace they could have used. I was Army and have had life vest/raft training simply because I was in aviation units and overwater flight was common.

I reckon if I was going to be a crew member on a ship, I would want to be familiar with all the safety equipment. But I'll also bet a shiny nickel that the younger crew members weren't even trained on fire extinguishers.