Balcony smoking not taken seriously

Just returned from Ventua, had a problem with the people in the next cabin smoking. We reported this to reception several times, and the reply we got was that they can't do anything unless they see them actually doing it. I can only presume that P&O are now teaching all their staff to absail down the side of the ship to catch illicit smokers on their balconies. We spent a full week not being able to use our balcony in comfort.

Has anyone else had this problem, I have taken it further with P&O and am awaiting a reply.:mad::mad:

That is disgusting, you paid for your holiday to use a balcony. I would have been fuming. a couple of years ago the cabin below us had a whole washing line of knickers strung across her balcony. I asked at reception what the policy was regarding hanging washing out. It was definitely not acceptable was the reply. I mentioned about the lady below and they changed their mind as to what was acceptable and what wasn't. I think they are too scared to confront people. Hope you get a satisfactory outcome from head office.

Just returned from Ventua, had a problem with the people in the next cabin smoking. We reported this to reception several times, and the reply we got was that they can't do anything unless they see them actually doing it. I can only presume that P&O are now teaching all their staff to absail down the side of the ship to catch illicit smokers on their balconies. We spent a full week not being able to use our balcony in comfort.

Has anyone else had this problem, I have taken it further with P&O and am awaiting a reply.:mad::mad:

I'm staggered that this wasn't taken seriously. I would have escalated the complaint and asked to speak to a senior officer and done so every day until they stopped. It's an issue that can't really be resolved after the cruise and needs to be rectified urgently on board. I'm rather surprised that the cabin steward didn't report them. Even if they had deviously hidden cigarette butts, the stench of it on their clothes and hair would have made it very obvious even within the cabin that they were smoking on the balcony. Some people....

I'm staggered that this wasn't taken seriously. I would have escalated the complaint and asked to speak to a senior officer and done so every day until they stopped. It's an issue that can't really be resolved after the cruise and needs to be rectified urgently on board. I'm rather surprised that the cabin steward didn't report them. Even if they had deviously hidden cigarette butts, the stench of it on their clothes and hair would have made it very obvious even within the cabin that they were smoking on the balcony. Some people....

We did report the matter to a senior officer who just passed it back to the deck manager, also the steward was aware and reported to the deck manager but they said they could not get in as they had put the do not disturb sign in the door. We felt we were just banging our heads on the wall especially after the reply that they have to see them doing it. Other than breaking into the bridge and reporting it too the captain I am not sure how much further we could have gone. My big concern was that my wife is in remission from cancer and I did not want this to compromise her recovery. It was an all day occurrence so we were not even able to open the patio door.

As most cruiser will know it is possible to see people on the next balcony through the reflection in the glass, this guy seemed to spend all day mixing large piles of tobacco (duty free on this cruise) not sure what he was mixing it with but there was a stream of young men knocking on the door every day, so make up your own minds on that.

I also spoke to a school lad who was with a ship acquaintance he told me he had been smoking cannabis on the deck each night with a group of young men, again no action from the staff.

I think you are right about these companies not wanting to confront individuals over various problems they cause whilst onboard. Not only is smoking next to your cabin disrespectful but it is also a major fire hazard and i wouldnt want to be in P&O's position if a stray cigarette butt landed on deck & caused a fire somewhere, especially when theyve known about this & not had the guts to act.

I am still waiting for a reply from P&O to say it is against their human rights not to be able to smoke on the balcony even though you are not allowed to do it.

Just seen an advert on P&O's website looking for experienced ab-sailer's and bungee jumpers willing to jump off the top deck of ships with a camera;p

Apart from being unfair and unpleasant for you this is also a major health&safety issue and should have been dealt with immediately. It does not really matter whether it was cigarette or cannabis smoking. However all cabin stewards on every cruise line are advised to report any evidence of cannabis use in cabins immediately. The smell would be very noticeable even if the cannabis was hidden.

I would have asked to see the Hotel Director and Chief Security Officer immediately and put my concerns in writing to them. They cannot ignore a letter.

When this happened to us last year on Celebrity we were told to summon the steward as soon as we smelled smoke, the steward came straight to our room and leaned around/over the balcony and caught the guy in the act. I don't know the "official" outcome but I never heard anyone on the balcony and the smoke wasn't an issue again.

I have found that for some reason Ventura seems to attract more passengers who take pleasure in flouting the rules. After our last cruise on Ventura in March I wrote to P&O because no one on board was prepared to address our problems (we even had meetings with the customer services manager and the hotel manager on board but to no avail). I received a reply that said that they are aware that there are problems with Ventura and are working to resolve all of the complaints that passengers are making. Each time I read posts like this one I am convinced that they are actualitylly afraid to tackle these people. We were given extra OBC and a welcome on board package for our next cruise. We have decided that we will continue to cruise with P&O because we like the cruises on their other ships but we will never go on Ventura again.

I hope that you get a satisfactory answer from P&O. We have been on Oriana with no problems since and are looking forward to a hopefully problem free cruise on Azura next week.

One way to complain phone the cabin from a deck phone and ask them to stop also when they start smoking knock loudly on there cabin door and nip back to your cabin a bit sneaky but it's one way without confrontation 👍👍

One way to complain phone the cabin from a deck phone and ask them to stop also when they start smoking knock loudly on there cabin door and nip back to your cabin a bit sneaky but it's one way without confrontation 👍👍

Or, shout "FIRE" and throw the contents of the ice bucket over them :D

Or, shout "FIRE" and throw the contents of the ice bucket over them :D

Love it.:D:D

On our cruise on Ventura last month, I could often smell smoking when on our balcony. I reported it but no action was taken. They also did nothing about the sun bed hoggers or the children in the jacuzzi. By contrast, on Thomson discovery last year, they not only confiscated towels from sun beds after 30 minutes, but also nailed a female smoker. I know this because she spent two weeks complaining about it to anyone in earshot!

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Write a letter with your comments addressed to the Captain and hand it in to reception. He/she is ultimately responsible. I have done this in the past when I have been hitting my head against a wall. You should expect a reply and action to be taken.

Longer term don't book Ventura again, I only sailed on that ship once and vowed never again.

David.

I'm staggered that this wasn't taken seriously. I would have escalated the complaint and asked to speak to a senior officer and done so every day until they stopped. It's an issue that can't really be resolved after the cruise and needs to be rectified urgently on board. I'm rather surprised that the cabin steward didn't report them. Even if they had deviously hidden cigarette butts, the stench of it on their clothes and hair would have made it very obvious even within the cabin that they were smoking on the balcony. Some people....

We were on a RCI ship in June 2017 and smelled smoke on our balcony and next door were watching a loud DVD on the balcony.

I went onto you tube on my phone and put a Vera Lyn song Me And My Gal) on and my wife and i started singing to it on our balcony.

The American next door didn't like my out of tune voice and turned his DVD off and stopped smoking.

Result after 1 song.

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On P&O I would have ultimately gone to the Cruise Director (probably wrongly) to sort out such problems. They have always (apart from Hugh Taylor) sorted out any issues I've had. With the discontinuation of the CD it is now impossible to sort out problems without going to reception and waiting a week for any action.

On P&O I would have ultimately gone to the Cruise Director (probably wrongly) to sort out such problems. They have always (apart from Hugh Taylor) sorted out any issues I've had. With the discontinuation of the CD it is now impossible to sort out problems without going to reception and waiting a week for any action.

They now have a Customer Service Manager on board. This is a more senior role than the Reception Manager that used to exist. We had a problem on our recent Britannia Cruise and I have to say that he was brilliant, calling us each day to check on progress. Also, the deck manager visited us regularly and was also excellent. As I have often said, I have found the shore based customer services teams, certainly when it comes to complaints, to be pretty useless, but their on board resolution to complaints, in my experience, has always been excellent.

I'm afraid I've had this problem twice, both times in aft balcony cabins on Azura. I think people think you can't smell it there! Didn't report it the first time but the second time we couldn't use our balcony because the man chain smoked. I reported it as soon as it happened and twice after....nothing was done. He even threw his lit cigarette end over the balcony! It spoilt our holiday. I got back and immediately sent and email to the CEO telling him of the situation. Two days later I had a phone call from his pa apologising and refunding the difference between an outside cabin and a balcony cabin at the time of booking (to be used as onboard credit on a future cruise) she told me to not report it to reception if it happened again but to find a member of staff in full white uniform and report it to them. I hope I never have to do it but I wouldn't hesitate if I needed to.

If you study brochure information it often says; cabin size 220 square feet including balcony. This tends to imply that the balcony is part of the cabin. Many lines impose a cabin cleaning charge of say $150 to clean a room following a "smoking in the room incident". It seems to me logical to ascertain whether a smoking on the balcony incident has occurred by having someone from some sort of special cleaning services department (not the room steward) to come along advise cabin occupants that an incident has been logged, see if they deny it, and warn them that if another report happens they will likely have the cleaners visit and a charge be levied. Seems a good system to introduce as I feel it would be successful and not upset the passenger/steward relationship. How many people would persist at $150 a day?

Regards John

On P&O I would have ultimately gone to the Cruise Director (probably wrongly) to sort out such problems. They have always (apart from Hugh Taylor) sorted out any issues I've had. With the discontinuation of the CD it is now impossible to sort out problems without going to reception and waiting a week for any action.

Cruise Directors are now called Entertainment Managers because they manage the entertainments and before passengers could think they managed the cruise!.

If you study brochure information it often says; cabin size 220 square feet including balcony. This tends to imply that the balcony is part of the cabin. Many lines impose a cabin cleaning charge of say $150 to clean a room following a "smoking in the room incident". It seems to me logical to ascertain whether a smoking on the balcony incident has occurred by having someone from some sort of special cleaning services department (not the room steward) to come along advise cabin occupants that an incident has been logged, see if they deny it, and warn them that if another report happens they will likely have the cleaners visit and a charge be levied. Seems a good system to introduce as I feel it would be successful and not upset the passenger/steward relationship. How many people would persist at $150 a day?

 

Regards John

I would be happy if such a system as you suggest was introduced although the idea of deep cleaning the fresh air, slightly polluted, makes me chuckle.

I had an issue with a smoker on the balcony of the adjacent cabin on Azura. I asked them to stop, but was ignored. I phoned reception, and an officer, was knocking on the smokers door before they had finished their cigarette. It was a first class response. I had no further problems.

Find it very surprising that any cruise line doesn't take reports of smoking on balconies seriously after the number of serious fires caused by such an issue or the action of throwing cigarette butts over the side. There is nothing worse for any ship than to have a fire while at sea.

I am a smoker but would never dream of lighting up on the balcony and think that the ban on smoking there was a good idea. Besides annoying the neighbours the fire risk is just too great, I read a few years back about an American ship that lost about 100 cabins because of a carelessly discarded cigarette end.

We only ever had inside cabins before the ban but having had balconies since I can honestly say it hasn't been a problem for me so I can't understand why people need to flaunt the rules.

Would I light up if allowed? Possibly yes, but would cease if I thought I was annoying anyone nearby and certainly make sure it was properly extinguished.