Is It Time For a 100% Smoke-Free Cruise?

[pseudoware]

Does anyone think the cruise industry is ready for this? If not a dedicated ship, maybe select sailings?

 

Given an appealing ship and/or itinerary, would anyone be interested in this?

 

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[curcurt]

Yes

[Flatbush Flyer]

Does anyone think the cruise industry is ready for this? If not a dedicated ship, maybe select sailings?

 

Given an appealing ship and/or itinerary, would anyone be interested in this?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

 

It's already almost there with Oceania. One indoor bar-adjacent glass-enclosed room and one outdoor pool corner are the only allowed smoking spaces. This includes restricting e-cigs as well.

[cb at sea]

Carnival tried that with 1 ship....didn't work.

[Shorex]

Then what should the cruise line do when someone sneaks a smoke? Because someone will. Put them (and their cruise mates) off the ship at the next port? Put them in the brig? Bar them from ever sailing again?

 

If a steward comes across a pack of cigarettes on the night stand, should they be confiscated? Should the entire room then be searched ATF style for smoking contraband? Then what?

 

These are serious policy questions that cruise lines don't want to be compelled to answer. It's better to just give smokers a designated outlet for their habit.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Shorex
spelling

[fishywood]

When Carnival tried their non-smoking ship both passengers and crew had to agree not just to not light up on board but to never have any tobacco products in their possession even if only to use while in port. Officers and Security was so busy putting people off the ship--a few passengers, but mainly crew--simply for having an pack of cigarettes in their pocket that all other services on board suffered.

 

And still the threads continue of people reporting their neighbors smoking on the balcony and no action is taken by ship's personnel. Can you imagine what would happen if the passengers who specifically chose this hypothetical "smoke-free" cruise (note that the OP used that term rather than "tobacco free") did smell smoke and the ship's entire security staff did not stop all their duties just to ferret out a possible offender? No cruise line will take the risk of making such a promise these days.

[spookwife]

Does anyone think the cruise industry is ready for this? If not a dedicated ship, maybe select sailings?

 

Given an appealing ship and/or itinerary, would anyone be interested in this?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

while I would absolutely book one of these, my guess is is the itinerary/ship and other factors would never line up for us.

 

I know one line tried it once before and it failed miserably, but that was many years ago before the trend of not smoking picked up. and IIRC it was only one ship which kind of limited people.

 

currently most lines have gone strict enough that it is an easily avoided annoyance.

[Keith1010]

It will happen.

 

Remember Carnival tried it something like 15 years ago. Back then smoking was commonplace in cabins, and in many lounges around ships.

 

Yes it will happen and the industry continues with each passing year to move in that direction.

 

Keith

[MCC retired]

I enjoyed the Carnival Paradise when it was the worlds only 100 % Smoke Free cruise ship.

After a couple years , the drop in onboard income from bars and casino ,

along with the decrease in Group bookings led to the change to the Paradise as it is now .

It was Paradise for a non smoker .

[Pyrate13]

In answer to the original question, yes, we would be very interested. Will it ever happen, one can only hope, but I don't see it anytime soon.

[OCruisers]

No, we would not be interested in a 100% Smoke-Free cruise.

[John Bull]

As others have posted, it's been tried - and failed.

Numbers of smokers are falling, but currently it's still around 17%. Add those whose party includes smokers & who therefore also wouldn't book, and those who use e-cigs, and that's a big chunk of the market for a cruise line to lose. There would be nowhere near that number attracted to a ship simply because it's totally smoke-free.

 

The Flyer mentioned the smoking restrictions on Oceania.

Brit lines P & O and Thomson and a few minor lines have no designated areas indoors, only designated deck areas. Probably wouldn't appeal to smokers on cruises to the North Cape or Antarctica :D

 

I suspect that those tighter restrictions will extend to other cruise lines in the near-to-mid future. Only after that are we likely to see a cruise line once again experimenting with a stem-to-stern ban.

 

Yes, as Keith says, the day will come.

But methinks not yet a while.

 

JB :)

PS Sir Walter Raleigh introduced tobacco to England in 1578.

From America, but I can't remember from which State. Can you jog my memory, CB ? :p

Edited November 15, 2015 by John Bull

[BlueRiband]

Will "Smoke Free" include marijuana?:confused:

 

It's still rightly or wrongly illegal in many countries. But once prescription medical use is legal would that mean anyone who uses it cannot sail on that ship?

[Shorex]

Will "Smoke Free" include marijuana?:confused:

 

It's still rightly or wrongly illegal in many countries. But once prescription medical use is legal would that mean anyone who uses it cannot sail on that ship?

 

No one knows. Rather than turn this thread into a debate on the legality of medical marijuana on cruise ships, let's agree that cruise lines will deal with this theoretical eventuality only after lengthy consultations with their attorneys.

[SteveH2508]

You will struggle to crew said smoke-free ship - never mind filling the cabins, having effectively debarred 15-20% of your customer base.

 

That is without considering the drop in booze and gambling take on said cruise ship...

Edited November 15, 2015 by SteveH2508

[John Bull]

Will "Smoke Free" include marijuana?:confused:

 

It's still rightly or wrongly illegal in many countries. But once prescription medical use is legal would that mean anyone who uses it cannot sail on that ship?

 

Not too sure if this is an urban myth, but ............

since the banning of smoking in indoor public places in Holland, it's been legal to smoke cannabis in Amsterdam's "coffee" shops but not in the street. And legal to smoke tobacco in the street, but not in "coffee" shops.

 

It's a funny old world that we live in ;)

 

JB :)

Edited November 15, 2015 by John Bull

[moniquet]

I would be just happy to see a smoke free CC:mad:

[dioxide45]

We have sailed on three Carnival cruises this year and even while they limit smoking, you can smell smoke in a lot of places. The Casino allows smoking as does the bar on the Promenade of the Fantasy class ships, so just walking the Promenade you could smell smoke. We were also staying in a porthole interior cabin. We could often smell smoke in our cabin. I suspect because there is a crew smoking area somewhere close to the air intakes for those forward cabins.

 

I like Celebrity's smoking policy which doesn't allow smoking in any indoor areas of the ship. I didn't have any issues with smoke smell anywhere on the Summit last year.

Edited November 15, 2015 by dioxide45

[donaldsc]

Then what should the cruise line do when someone sneaks a smoke? Because someone will. Put them (and their cruise mates) off the ship at the next port? Put them in the brig? Bar them from ever sailing again?

 

If a steward comes across a pack of cigarettes on the night stand, should they be confiscated? Should the entire room then be searched ATF style for smoking contraband? Then what?

 

These are serious policy questions that cruise lines don't want to be compelled to answer. It's better to just give smokers a designated outlet for their habit.

 

I have no problems with any of these actions. In fact, I might even suggest putting them off in the middle of the ocean on a rubber raft - al la Captain Bligh.

 

Unfortunately, it just will not happen although I wonder if the income a ship gained from the non-smokers by being totally smoke free might be more than the losses from the smokers. Also, if the same line started a "smoke anywhere and as much as you wish" cruise, this would balance out the losses from the smoke free cruises.

 

I know that this was tried several years ago but the world is more anti-smoking than it used to be. Remember that when they banned smoking in restaurants, everyone said that the restaurants would go out of business. It just did not happen.

 

DON

[sgb]

With cruise lines building larger cruise ships and holding more people, I guess it would depend if the cruise lines thought they would be able to fill all their cabins. Who's to say for sure what will happen in the future, it's all about revenue.

[Christine Frances]

It's already almost there with Oceania. One indoor bar-adjacent glass-enclosed room and one outdoor pool corner are the only allowed smoking spaces. This includes restricting e-cigs as well.

 

Celebrity has no indoor smoking at all and neither does Azamara.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Christine Frances

[Christine Frances]

It's already almost there with Oceania. One indoor bar-adjacent glass-enclosed room and one outdoor pool corner are the only allowed smoking spaces. This includes restricting e-cigs as well.

 

oops double post:(

Edited November 15, 2015 by Christine Frances

[Cruisin' Chick]

I enjoyed the Carnival Paradise when it was the worlds only 100 % Smoke Free cruise ship.

After a couple years , the drop in onboard income from bars and casino ,

along with the decrease in Group bookings led to the change to the Paradise as it is now .

It was Paradise for a non smoker .

 

We were on the Paradise in March 2001, and it certainly was Paradise on board. It was the cleanest smelling ship. No cigarette burns in the carpet. I imagine it had to be easier to clean for the staff -- they didn't have to deal with emptying ashtrays nor trying to get the smell out of drapes after a smoker stayed in a cabin for several days. And to top it off, it seemed that the passengers were in a better mood in general. It has been the only cruise that I actually went into the casino and dropped more than one coin in a slot machine.

 

I think one reason Carnival stopped the experiment because the level of bookings wasn't the best. But I think Carnival dropped the ball in marketing the no-smoking cruises. When I went into a travel agency to price out a cruise on the Paradise, I mentioned to the TA that we were looking forward to going on this ship because it was strictly no-smoking. The TA didn't even know about this! We put on our end-of-cruise survey that the ship should be moved to the West Coast because of the potential passengers there (California was probably one of the first states to ban smoking in restaurants...and at that time, when we went to a restaurant in Miami, there were still smoking and non-smoking sections there).

 

We stayed in Florida for a week, post cruise, and talked the ship up to families at the same hotel -- the adults didn't know about the Paradise.

 

Now that there's fewer smokers (many are dying off or listening to their doctors about quitting), it may be time for a cruise line to consider no-smoking cruises. But the advertising and marketing needs to get out when this happens.

[pseudoware]

We put on our end-of-cruise survey that the ship should be moved to the West Coast because of the potential passengers there (California was probably one of the first states to ban smoking in restaurants....

 

CA might be the perfect location for a pilot program today, and potentially any regular sailings.

 

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[SantaFeFan]

Carnival tried that with 1 ship....didn't work.

 

How quaint that people trot out this chestnut as an argument. :rolleyes:

 

Carnival tried it almost two decades ago (1998, to be precise) when smoking restrictions were not even close to what they are now in almost every American city, and many major European cities. It was a good idea way ahead of it's time.

 

Today, there is much more awareness of the dangers of smoking, both first hand and second hand, and societal norms have moved solidly towards heavily restricting where smoking is allowed. Rare is the restaurant, cocktail lounge, and bar where smoking is allowed. Most hotels ban smoking in all areas. Even public areas are seeing more and more restrictions.

 

Plus, only about 18% of Americans still smoke, and the percentages of smoking in many developed countries are dropping rapidly as people become educated on the dangers.

 

So, cb-at-sea, trotting out that old statistic is a fools errand. I strongly believe that a totally non smoking ship would do just fine today. The fact is that the cruise lines that restrict smoking the most have done quite well. Celebrity was one of the first lines to ban smoking in all inside areas, and they saw a jump in bookings immediately after the new policy was announced. That certainly wasn't what the naysayers predicted.

 

Times have changed. Some people are dinosaurs when it comes to their defense of smoking. :rolleyes:

Edited November 16, 2015 by SantaFeFan