1 HappyCruiser

On both the Ruby and the Sapphire this year it was the starboard side of the promenade deck which was a designated smoking area.

I wish they would standardize the ships. I prefer not to be above the smoking section of the promenade deck even though it might not be a problem but when in port the smoke could drift upward.

Does Princess allow you to smoke on your private balconies? I thought I remember reading somewhere that you can smoke on the balconies on one side of the ship. I'm going on the Ruby and since we are not smokers, I am trying to decide which side of the ship we should stay in.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Unless the Ruby varies from all the other ships the port side of promenade deck is the deck that allows smoking and that smoke doesn't seem to affect the other decks, although I did hear one person complain a while ago. All the balcony cabins and all the rooms are designated as no smoking & we only encountered one of two people sneaking a smoke during very early morning hours. (3 AM) During the day everyone seems to be adhering to the new rules.

:D Sometimes, it is better than Princess entertainment!

Sounds like you're easy to please. :p

As long as they don't try passing this sort of stuff off as Princess entertainment in place of a guest entertainer - let em sing. :rolleyes:

The last prices I had in Nov. were,

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv147/OLD_CRUISER/EMERALD%20PRINCESS/LAUNDRYPRICES.jpg

Yes - you won't find many kids on a 14 night cruise over Thanksgiving.

 

They used to have a special Thanksgiving menu which included a ton of "pumpkin things" which they have since discontinued. I am not a fan of the turkey breast/roll that they serve. I want a leg with skin!

Occasionally, they'll have a whole roasted turkey at the Horizon buffet on embarkation day (not only on a Thanksgiving cruise) and ONLY if you get there among the first to arrive, the legs will be available. They'll never serve a whole turkey in the dining room and never give anyone a leg. It's always the sliced turkey roll. :(

But the number of kids makes no indication on how the kids will behave.

That says it in a nutshell.

On 7 night cruises, we have had kids. Far more then I expected (500 approx). I don't think you will have them if you take a 10 night cruise.

You've got to watch those 7 night cruises anytime of the year. :D

They usually have a display in the atrium with lots of different decorated turkeys (a big waste of good turkeys) and although there won't be loads of kids on board like Christmas time there will be more than usual. The turkey dinner in the dining room wasn't all that impressive either. It was a turkey dinner & you couldn't ask for a leg like I have in the buffet many times when they serve a whole turkey. It makes me think the turkey is processed turkey breast.

They've changed the system now. On our last cruise on the Grand last month, I asked at the desk what happens to any left over credit, and they now refund it regardlesss of the type of OBC.

I don't care what they've told people - I don't trust them & will take it out in the casino. You might get a big surprise one day when asking for your money & the day before arriving home they tell you you going to forfeit a couple hundred dollars if not spent.

The restricting of cigar and pipe smokers to the Cigar Bar was in effect before the Smoking Policy Change this year. Smoking of cigars and pipes in cabins and balconies was not allowed under the old policy.

 

Hopefully the lack of posts on this thread indicates that people are adjusting to the new policy.

What you're saying is true but when smoking was allowed in cabins & balconies it was somehow hard to tell the difference between cigarette & cigar smoke

- (at a distance). I only noticed smoke one time late at night on the balcony & that was only briefly.

I was talking to a security officer at a lunch & asked about the compliance to the new rules & he said it's been very good so far. On his ship there have been no fines and smokers have accepted the new rule.

I would guess Princess is being cautious. The use of electric cigarettes is so new that investigations as their safety are being done but have not been completed. Your assertion that there is nothing left in the surroundings is something made by the marketers of e cigarettes but actually has not been proven. The marketers make many claims as they are trying to sell their product. It should not be forgotten that tobacco companies at one time advertised cigarettes as being healthy. There should be caution until some studies are done. I hope that it turns out to be true that they are safe and the vapor is safe.

 

I don't think people will complain but then again as I mentioned I have never encountered anyone using them. If I did encounter them I don't think I would complain unless someone was vaping at me real close. That does not seem likely but then agian I have had people stand next to me and light up a cigarette with the smoke coming right at me.

I can agree with your thinking but my limitations might be a little more strict than yours.

I have gone out on my balcony late night and early morning. Certainly I would be calling if I smelled cigar smoke. As for catching them, they have cameras now. They are there because of the unfortunate people who go overboard. The cruise line can now often determine the circumstances. I think they could also catch someone smoking if there was a call in about it. Also many Princess balconies are not exactly private......

First let me say that I do agree with you, but all the security cameras & smoke detectors can't prevent people from sneaking a smoke on the balcony during the late night/early morning hours. They simple don't stand at the railing but sit there with smoking whatever. There's no way to stop it from happening that I can see. The Caribe balconies are secluded near the doorway as are the very top balconies.

(Riviera ?) Calling the passenger desk would get you no where at all unless you could give them an exact cabin location.

Not really a solution - may keep the smoke out of the areas outside of the casino - but there is then a build up of even more smoke inside the casino.

And how is that a problem? During smoking times that's exactly what anyone would expect to find in a casino and the people outside the doors should be offered some protection.

I totally agree. The casino (especially on rainy or cold sea days) is a smoking lounge with inadequate exhaust equipment.

And it's such a simple solution to add some doors to the casino entrance. :(

On April 23 Princess introduced a more restrictive smoking policy for cigar and pipe smokers. On Crown class ships smoking of cigars and pipes is confined to the Cigar Bars only; there is NO outdoor venue for those smokers. It is really a farce for Princess to claim that the ships are virtually smoke free when cigarette smoking is allowed in the casino which is a public space. On our recent transatlantic on the Emerald Princess, the cigarette smoke from the casino was not only unbearable but disgusting. While one could argue that you can avoid that area it is not so if you are at the Passenger Service Desk; Captains's Circle desk or anywhere else at that level other than those Princess employees BEHIND the Passenger's service desk. Cruisers on scooters wanting to cut through on deck six to the Princess theater (using the ramp provided) have to pass through the Casino to get to the theater. The smoking policy as of January has moved cigarette smokers to the Casino. The updated more restrictive policy for cigar and pipe smokers has eliminated all outdoor venues for them. The reality is there is no place for them to smoke without cigarette smokers who are also permitted to smoke in the Cigar Bars.

The smoke situation by the Passengers Service Desk has always been a problem and I could never understand why they simply can't put automatic opening doors leading into the casino on both sides to at least contain the smoke so it can be vented out.

The only way to avoid going through the casino to get to the theater is to use the elevator or go outside the ship on the promenade deck.

We are currently booked on Diamond to Alaska in Sept 2012. Can you advise if they are enforcing smoking ban on balconies? Also do you have any sense of residual smoke in staterooms? I am somewhat allergic so it really is irritating o my sinus'. We have traveled Celebrity historically and they do a good job of making space for smokers while reducing impact across ship ( eg no smoking in the casino).

I can't speak specifically about the Diamond but the new smoking regulations appear to be working for the most part at least on the balconies. If you do encounter a smokey room it probably would be a rare occurrence and you would never know how many people actually did run across one since many don't post on CC. Only once did I smell smoke on the balcony & that was early morning around 5 AM when someone was sneaking a quick smoke & it was impossible to tell where it came from.

The casino is another thing altogether sine it smells like stale smoke even on any non smoking nights. It's impossible to rid the place completely of any odors like the cabins since it's become the indoor smoking room for many people.

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I guess she'll have to either go on an open deck somewhere that is not populated or on our balcony.

Good luck on finding an unpopulated spot. Possibly on deck 16 forward but the wind might limit hearing the sound.

Darn....wife will be disappointed again. We are bringing my iPhone and portable speakers. I hope they don't mind her playing her music and dancing in the gym when there are no seminars or classes.

As long as she uses earphones she might me OK but I doubt others would appreciate her music while exercising.

Having just returned from the Crown Princess (the first cruise for us since the new regulations went into effect) we found the rules to be working fairly well for the non smokers except for 2 locations that could be improved without any more inconvenience to the smokers areas.

• At the Cafe Caribe on deck 15, the automatic doors at the rear of the where the smokers congregate should be closed during the peak meal times. At times there were numerous smokers standing right outside the doors & when they opened there would be a cloud of smoke sucked into the dining area. Simply keeping those door shut would eliminate the disgusting smoke problem.
  
  
• Just as before the new rules took place the casino was reeking with smoke (or the after smell of it on the non smoking night) but now it has become the new indoor smoking room for many people and the whole area near the pass services desk and is much more noticeable than previous. A set of doors on both sides of the ship could at least contain the smoke in the casino.
  
  

We were on the port side, balcony, Caribe deck, forward, and did not get affected by any smoke from the promenade deck although a few times I noticed smoke early in the morning & late at night.

I was speaking with the head of security and asked if they had many problems with enforcement and he surprised me saying that most people have adapted to the new rule without many problems.

If Princess's egg creates were like that photo it would be a great option. Unfortunately the one they provide are only 1/4" thick & don't do a thing to increase comfort.

There are very few movies offered that haven hit the DVD market & although they are shown on the cabin TV we never seem to be able to watch a complete movie from start to end. Either we have somewhere to go or we usually fall asleep before the end of the movie. :p

Currently on the Crown the smoke problem have been VERY GOOD comared to what it used to be. People are abiding to the regulations much better than I assumed they would be- even at night time on the balconies. I spoke to the head of security & he even said that there have been very few problems with enforcement sine the new rule went into effect.:D :p:)

Your Welcome Wright, I really did just want to reach out to the apprehensive smokers out there. Have a great time, we loved it so much that we booked the Sapphire again for 28 days in October, Hawaii/Tahitti. Really not a big adjustment.

 

I did have one thought though that came to me on the cruise and I'm sure will come up at some point. It's never happened to us, but we have had friends who have been quarantined for three days while on a cruise. What happens if a "die hard" smoker gets quarantined? DH and I talked about it and really wondered, the ecigs "helped", but to be quarantined - then what? We both decided we would totally freak out!!!

 

I wonder if Princess has any decissions on that one. But then again, I don't really know anything about being quarantined (I don't even know if I'm spelling it correctly). Anyone have any thoughts on that one? Does your room steward basically act like a security guard and would you be "in trouble" for going out to have a smoke? Would you have to have an escort to ensure that you did not touch anything on your way to a smoking area - or would it be a new Princess At Sea Program - "Quit Smoking NOW" - LOL.

 

Happy Sailing Everyone!

Tammy

I suspect they could make some special allowance in that case. After all how many cabins were really made uninhabitable when they did allow smoking in them?

I thought this was a test on three ships sailing out of the UK, I could be wrong. If it does come to the rest of the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships, I'm sure if your husband were to show is medication which indicates no alcohol, he would not have to purchase it.

Thanks for the great idea in case they do require every eligible person in the cabin to purchase the package. I hadn't thought of that one. :p