Celebrity cruiser wonders about smoke on HAL ships...

[elena7seas]

For any non-smoking Celebrity regulars who have sailed on Holland America lately, did you have any problem with stale smoke in your cabin, or smoke in public rooms on your HAL cruise? How was the casino re: smoke? Did you have any problems with adjacent balconies?

 

We are booked with HAL for a 3 day mini-cruise on the Zuiderdam in the fall, and after reading some HAL threads, I am beginning to wonder how much trouble I am going to have with the smoke.

 

I have posted similar questions on the HAL board, but was wondering what regular Celebrity cruisers think.

 

Thanks in advance :).

[Fblack]

We had a balcony on a long b2b on the Westerdam over 18 months ago. The smoke was so bad from the other balconies we almost never could use the balcony. Morning or night it seemed like someone near by was smoking. It got so bad I swore off balconies. Then came the new Celebrity policy and we got an aft cabin on the Equinox. We never smelled any smoke and really enjoyed the balcony again. I have been on numerous HAL and Celebrity cruises, and I will not go on HAL again unless they stop smoking on balconies.

 

Here is HAL's current policy right off their web site:

 

Smoking

 

For the comfort of all of our guests, designated smoking and nonsmoking areas are available in most lounges. Smoking is not permitted at any time in dining areas. Our ships do not have "nonsmoking" staterooms; however, all rooms are thoroughly cleaned after each cruise to assure the comfort of our guests. All showrooms are nonsmoking during performances.

[CRUZBUDS]

You'll find a lot more smoke than Celebrity.

 

The Casino will most likely be very smokey - it was for us on the Zaandam

 

Our cabin didn't smell, but people across the hall were very uncomfortable. They had chain smokers next door and the smell came through the ventalation into their cabin. They were very unhappy about it.

 

We wouldn't spend the money for a balcony on HAL until the catch up with Celebrity on their smoking policy -- otherwise we thought HAL was teriffic

[CruisinManiac]

No. never had a problem with smoke/smokers on any of my 3 HAL cruises. ;)

 

Now, ask me about my experience at the Holiday Inn Express over the weekend. :rolleyes: Brand new, totally non-smoking motel. Had to sign a special waver, stating that we understood the NO SMOKING policy. We understood it, but apparently some guest around us did not! The smoke was so bad that my eyes were burning last night.

 

My point with the above mentioned? Whether you have a good or bad experience can and will vary from ship to ship, line to line.:rolleyes: It's a crap shot! On a RCCL cruise where no smoking is allowed in the stateroom, we had chain smokers in the stateroom next door. We had a connecting, so our stateroom and the adjacent hallway wreaked. We complained, but nothing was ever done.

[Denny01]

I'll politely disagree with the statement of 'its a crap shoot', at least for Celebrity. Although there are people who will break the rules and smoke outside designated areas, our experience is the rules are followed. There are instances where people have posted Celebrity wasn't able to 'find and stop' the smoker, but in most cases, including our own experience, Celebrity was proactive and smoking rules were enforced and when reported were able to identify the source, and took appropriate action.

 

So, yes there are 'instances' but it isn't a crap shoot - Celebrity is serious about their rules. Smoking should not be an issue. It seems most who cruise Celebrity understand the rules; smokers smoke where they are allowed, and when someone decides to 'sneak a puff' and it is an issue for someone, Celebrity takes actions to curtail it. But personally, I think it is mostly our fellow passengers - those that smoke do so appropriately and it isn't an issue.

 

Denny

[takemewithyou]

For any non-smoking Celebrity regulars who have sailed on Holland America lately, did you have any problem with stale smoke in your cabin, or smoke in public rooms on your HAL cruise? How was the casino re: smoke? Did you have any problems with adjacent balconies?

 

We are booked with HAL for a 3 day mini-cruise on the Zuiderdam in the fall, and after reading some HAL threads, I am beginning to wonder how much trouble I am going to have with the smoke.

 

I have posted similar questions on the HAL board, but was wondering what regular Celebrity cruisers think.

 

Thanks in advance :).

 

Hi Elena,

We were on the Millie wine cruise with you in Sept....

We have cruised HAL 5 times - from 2003 - 2009. We no longer cruise on that line and one of the main reasons is the smoking situation. We took 3 cruises where the main concern was smoking in the casino (unbearable) and in the bars (pretty bad).

 

The fourth cruise.....that's when we really had our worst experience....a cruise to Hawaii 15 days and we had a smoker next door who loved to smoke at the break of dawn on his balcony....right when we would be sailing in to some of the most beautiful ports.....smoking and hacking next door......(you get the picture.....) . Made the balcony unusable for us when he was out there and he was a chain smoker so it was most of the time. We also had cigarette smoke coming thru the ventilation sytem in to our cabin from his room. The hallway smelled, also. We also smelled pot in the hallway on that cruise, as well.

 

We just decided that we would try Celebrity again - especially with their new smoking policy. We have never looked back! We like many things better than HAL. Smoking is allowed on HAL and it's their right to smoke on their balcony and in their cabin....but we can choose to spend our $$ on another line that better suites us and that's what we have done.

 

If you sail HAL and haven't had the experience of a smoker on their balcony next door.....sooner or later, the odds catch up to you! Thjey have been doing a smoking survey on that line for probably close to 5 years now.....and nothing has changed. If anything, I think more smokers have switched to HAL for its smoking policy....:eek:

[babyorca]

I sailed in Feb last year and had a balcony on the Westerdam. I was lucky not to notice any smoke on the balcony or in the room. The neighbours must not have been smoking. It seems like this is a hit and miss depending on the cruise and the room you have in relation to other smokers.

 

There definitely was smoke in the casino. For me, there's two points to make regarding that. In general, I don't mind that there's smoking in the casino because I'm not a casino person so i don't spend any time there. What I do have a problem with is that you have to walk through the casino to get from the different areas on that part/deck of the ship. So unless you're crazy and go up/down a deck to go around (or outside, although i don't remember thinking to do that so not sure if it was inconvenient to do so), you have to walk through the casino. I also wonder about how that may affect kids (are they allowed to walk through? i'm not sure).

 

I guess I've been blessed to live in a city (Vancouver BC) where the non-smoking laws are pretty strict. no smoking indoors (no restaurants, no casinos, no pubs/bars/clubs and now no smoking within 6 metres of doorways).

hope this helps.

[Infi]

We just got back from a cruise on the Westerdam last month, our first on HAL. Our cabin did not have any smoke smell, and the ship itself wasn't too bad. Found stray butts on the promenade deck and by the pool a few times, but no odor. But the worst was the casino! You could smell the casino a mile away. And, unfortunately, if you wanted to enter the main level of the theater, you had to walk through it. For us it's just a minor annoyance, but for others with breathing problems, that's an issue. So, if you're especially sensitive to smoke for whatever reason, I would definitely avoid the casino.