worried about smoke Help? HAL and RCI

[williamson_ja]

We booked a cruise on HAL because of the 3rd and 4th person in the room free deal that they have going on right now. There have been quite a few threads over on their board lately about the smoke and now I am frankly a little worried about it. I should have looked into the smoking policy before I booked, but I didn't. The only other ship we have cruised before is Disney and they don't let you smoke inside anywhere. There are only a few outside decks that allow smoke- that' it. I assumed that was a cruise industry wide policy. Yes, we are a little naive about cruising. The HAL says that they allow smoking pretty much everywhere inside and that all the cabins allow smoking inside them.

 

At any rate, our problem is that we have a daughter with extreme asthma that cannot be around smoke at all. Has anyone with this sort of problem been on HAL? How was it really? My other kids (we're bringing 6) all have asthma as well, just not as bad as the one daughter. I am thinking of switching to RCI which costs us a couple hundred extra, but seems to have a much more smoke free environment.

 

Who has sailed both and can give me some advise here.... or who has sailed either one and can tell me how the smoke was for sensitive people?

 

Understand that I am not trying to bash those that wish to smoke, but asthma is a serious thing to deal with and I want my kids to have a fun vacation without feeling sick.

[mbleackl]

We booked a cruise on HAL because of the 3rd and 4th person in the room free deal that they have going on right now. There have been quite a few threads over on their board lately about the smoke and now I am frankly a little worried about it. I should have looked into the smoking policy before I booked, but I didn't. The only other ship we have cruised before is Disney and they don't let you smoke inside anywhere. There are only a few outside decks that allow smoke- that' it. I assumed that was a cruise industry wide policy. Yes, we are a little naive about cruising. The HAL says that they allow smoking pretty much everywhere inside and that all the cabins allow smoking inside them.

 

At any rate, our problem is that we have a daughter with extreme asthma that cannot be around smoke at all. Has anyone with this sort of problem been on HAL? How was it really? My other kids (we're bringing 6) all have asthma as well, just not as bad as the one daughter. I am thinking of switching to RCI which costs us a couple hundred extra, but seems to have a much more smoke free environment.

 

Who has sailed both and can give me some advise here.... or who has sailed either one and can tell me how the smoke was for sensitive people?

 

Understand that I am not trying to bash those that wish to smoke, but asthma is a serious thing to deal with and I want my kids to have a fun vacation without feeling sick.

 

I think you better go with Celebrity that also doesn't allow smoking in the cabins or on the balconies. As well, they have only a few outside designated smoking areas on their ships.

[imsulin]

I'm a non-smoker, and have cruised on HAL three times. Never ONCE noticed a smoke-smell in any of my cabins. RCI does not allow in-cabin smoking, but DOES allow balcony smoking, which can "waft". Just remember that most RCI ships DID allow in-cabin smoking at one time, so those cabins have already been smoked in. The RCI non-smoking in cabins is a fairly new policy. My experience has been that I really didn't notice any smoke-smell in any cabin. The lines seem to do a good job of eradicating the in-cabin smell. The problem you MAY run into - either on HAL or RCI - is that there ARE certain areas of their ships that DO allow smoking. Mainly on certain outside areas of certain decks, and a few inside venues. Disney has never allowed any in-cabin smoking, but it's $$$$. Celebrity does not allow in-cabin OR balcony smoking, but is more expensive, and does have designated smoking areas. Most of their ships have also previously offered smoking in cabins. I think there are one or two lines that are completely non-smoking, but don't think they leave from the US. Years ago, Carnival offered the "Paradise", which was 100% non-smoking, and you could be fined or kicked off just for having smoking paraphernalia! It only lasted a few years because it lost a ton of money. It's a chance you take when cruising from the US. There will be smoking somewhere on any ship. However, chances are you will hardly notice it. You will run into some noticeable pricing differences switching to RCI (that 3rd/4th passenger thing). Good luck to you!

[kitty9]

As a severe asthmatic, I understand completely. I found the smoke on HAL to be noticeable. But, if you keep the kids out of the public areas where they allow smoking, and stay on the side of the ship, outdoors, where they have no smoking, you might be ok. I now cruise Celebrity because they have the most restrictive smoking policy of any cruise line. You cannot smoke in cabins, on balconies, in almost every indoor space, including the casino, and you're restricted to one side of the ship in the outdoor spaces. It's the best cruise line for me because of nearly no smoke anywhere, and they enforce the no smoking policy.

[cantw8togo]

We have sailed on both HAL and RCI and have not noticed a smoke smell in either cabin. I have read that you can request a deep cleaning of your cabin if there is a problem. The public areas that don't allow smoking were generally fine too. I would find out where exactly smoking is allowed and study the deck plans so that you are familiar with the layout and are aware of the best ways to avoid the smoking. You may want to print off and carry maps of the layout so that you don't inadvertently wander through the smokey areas.

[6rugrats]

The HAL says that they allow smoking pretty much everywhere inside and that all the cabins allow smoking inside them.

 

 

I don't know where you read this, but it's simply not true. HAL does not allow smoking "pretty much everywhere inside". I also have a child with asthma, she had no problems, and I honestly did not notice smoke anywhere but in the casino, and a section of one of the bars.

[schoolinmy3]

I have asthma and sailed on HAL for our first cruise in 2008. I did not notice smoke in our stateroom, no lingering smells. The only place I noticed it was on our balcony. Also, the smoking was allowed in areas we didn't frequent such as the casinos so that wasn't a problem. We are cruising again in May with our daughter age 10 who has asthma as well and my son 19 again with asthma. I don't forsee a problem as we won't be frequenting the casino or bar areas anyway with a 10 yo and 19 yo. My only concern is really whether we will notice smoke on our balcony. Our neighboring cruiser did smoke on his balcony on the cruise to Alaska and that was an annoyance, although not enough to keep me from cruising HAL again. :)

diane

[williamson_ja]

We have sailed on both HAL and RCI and have not noticed a smoke smell in either cabin. I have read that you can request a deep cleaning of your cabin if there is a problem. The public areas that don't allow smoking were generally fine too. I would find out where exactly smoking is allowed and study the deck plans so that you are familiar with the layout and are aware of the best ways to avoid the smoking. You may want to print off and carry maps of the layout so that you don't inadvertently wander through the smokey areas.

 

On the HAL area right now there is a thread about a guy who also has problems with smoke and requested a deep clean of his cabin beforehand. They didn't deep clean the cabin and gave him one that had previously had a very heavy smoker in it. He requested a change, they told him the ship was full and they couldn't do anything about it. It seems that after about 3 days they miraculously found another cabin for him to be in... but that would be a trip breaker for us. If we were given a cabin where a heavy smoker was in it just previous, my dd could end up needing hospital care.

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

We sailed on the Eurodam in November and had no problem with smoke. I travelled with my DH and DD3 and the only place I ever saw people smoking was in the casino and on the back deck at the adult pool.

 

Our room had no smoke smell what so ever and I wasn't even aware that people were allowed to smoke in the rooms. I don't think they are because one of the flyers in the room stated that for safety reasons you can't smoke in the rooms and they provide a list of places to smoke.

[williamson_ja]

This is a strange question to "havekidswilltravel". Do you happen to homeschool your kids? I have a book called, "have kids will travel" by a homeschool family. Just curious if that was you.

[jerin]

The percentage of smokers overall seems to be dropping, which would hopefully work in your favor. With a family of 8 and two cabins, even if you had one cabin that was smoky, the odds are low that both cabins would be affected, giving you the option of putting the most smoke-sensitive people in the non-smoke cabin.

 

I've only sailed Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity, but on all, there were only a few places to avoid (casinos, some bars, one corner of the pool deck), and everywhere else was pretty much smoke-free.

[kcocat]

We've cruised both and this was a concern for me as well as I'm super sensitive to cigarette smoke and residue (instant headache that doesn't go away until the smell does).

 

We had a cigar smoker on the balcony next to us on 2 cruises, one RCL & the other HAL. It wasn't all the time and I just kept the slider shut to the balcony when he'd light up. I did notice a bit of smell when going through/past the casino towards the dining area, but it was such a short trek that I could hold my breath as I walked past and the smell was contained to that area. Other than that we've had no issues with smoke.