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

[mikedw]

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

 

That was over a decade ago and smoking laws have become much more strict here in a lot of states. Here in Maryland, no smoking in any restaurant, bar, or private club. In the county I live in, smoking is prohibited in all public parks, so it's a lot harder to find a place to smoke now.

[SantaFeFan]

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...

 

Another worn out urban legend trotted out by the smoking defenders. When California banned smoking in bars, lounges, and restaurants, the pro-smoking faction gleefully predicted many places would go out of business due to lack of customers. Fact of the matter is, business INCREASED in all categories when smoking was banned. Seems that simple math is the reason - satisfy 83% of the population who don't smoke and the meager 17% who do smoke become non-essential. Must make the smokers feel pretty disenfranchised when losing their patronage actually increases business. ;)

Edited November 16, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[fishywood]

It doesn't matter how smoking laws on land have changed, or how much less of the population smokes regularly. It is valid to refer to the failed Carnival Sunshine experiment because of the reason it failed: not lack of public awareness or demand, but due to the impracticality of enforcing the rules even when 99.9% of those on board support such enforcement.

 

Fast-forward twenty years to the present and all mainstream cruise lines do a miserable job of enforcing the rules of decorum they have in place now. The dress code? Chair hogging? Sharing drink packages? Saving whole rows of seats in the theatre? Disembarking with your assigned group? Little to no effort made by the officers and crew who are deathly afraid of arguments and complaint letters fired off in this customer-is-always-right atmosphere no matter how blatant the violation of the rules.

 

The expectation of laissez-faire enforcement of the rules is now the norm. And no matter how unanimous the praise for any new regulations, when it comes to actually penalizing rule-breakers you will hear the expected chorus of "that rule was meant for those bad guys, not me!" While most of us want cleaner air, none of us seem to want a "nanny state" to take hold on board.

[Julie MacCoy]

I remember reading an article written by a woman whose extended family cruised on the Paradise. She said that everyone had to sign a paper saying that they wouldn't smoke or bring any tobacco products on the cruise.

 

She said that her teenaged son's cabin steward (the son was sharing a cabin with an older cousin) claimed that he smelled smoke, and he searched the cabin and found a pack of cigarettes. Both her son and the cousin denied having brought cigarettes with them. Nevertheless, the two of them had to leave the ship at the next port, along with their fathers, since both of them were under 21, which meant that they couldn't be left all alone in a foreign country without a guardian. The woman suspected that the cabin steward was given a reward for finding the cigarettes.

 

When I read this article, I decided that I would never sail on the Paradise. What's to prevent a cabin steward from smuggling cigarettes onto the ship and then planting them in someone's cabin, and then finding them to get a reward?

 

If I should go on a no-smoking cruise, I wouldn't care if people had cigarettes with them. Unlit cigarettes in someone's suitcase don't bother me. And I wouldn't care if those people smoked while in port. Yes, they might smell a little for a little while, but so what? But I wouldn't want to have to worry about someone planting cigarettes in my cabin.

[BlueRiband]

....It is valid to refer to the failed Carnival Sunshine experiment because of the reason it failed: not lack of public awareness or demand, but due to the impracticality of enforcing the rules even when 99.9% of those on board support such enforcement.

 

...Little to no effort made by the officers and crew who are deathly afraid of arguments and complaint letters fired off in this customer-is-always-right atmosphere no matter how blatant the violation of the rules...

 

Amen to that.

 

....

 

When I read this article, I decided that I would never sail on the Paradise. What's to prevent a cabin steward from smuggling cigarettes onto the ship and then planting them in someone's cabin, and then finding them to get a reward?...

 

If even possession of tobacco products was cause to be kicked off the ship, then the duty free shops wouldn't be able to carry tobacco. Ships make their money off on board spending and that would cut into revenue. How hypocritical would it be for the ship to hold them until the night before disembarkation yet still sell them?

[navybankerteacher]

I would love to see smoking completely banned on ships, but doubt it will happen in my lifetime. Lines are unlikely to write off the 18 (or so)% of US smokers - not to mention the much higher percentage of Asian smokers (Asians are frequently cited as being the next untapped market of cruise passengers) - nor the significant number of crew - many of whom are from higher smoking Asian areas.

 

Sure, the failed experience was a few years back - but is still the only empirical data.

[Ms Jo UK]

I am a smoker and have tried many times to quit and failed yes I am a failure.

 

I am from the UK and so therefore I am very used to smoking outside only, I do think that cruiseships could ban smoking in the inside spaces as long as they provide a small outside space to smoke or a few outside spaces.Hopefully this would satisfy the non smokers

 

An observation from my last cruise on Oasis in September was that the smoking side of the casion was horrible choking smokey and yes I am a smoker, but was packed out every night. The non smoking side was virtually empty ever night so not sure what conclusions can be drawn from this.

[dioxide45]

An observation from my last cruise on Oasis in September was that the smoking side of the casion was horrible choking smokey and yes I am a smoker, but was packed out every night. The non smoking side was virtually empty ever night so not sure what conclusions can be drawn from this.

 

I think this is why it won't work. Smokers gamble and gamblers tend to smoke. People who smoke are also likely to drink. I don't know the numbers, but I could guess smokers on a cruise probably account for 50% of onboard alcohol and casino spending even though they probably only make up 20% of all the people on the ship. Wish I could get some real data on that...

Edited November 16, 2015 by dioxide45

[Langley Cruisers]

Just back from a Royal Caribbean cruise, and the Hotel Director stated that the smoking policy is going to be getting more restrictive. However, my opinion is that they will never go smoke-free. As others have said, people will still smoke on their balcony anyway - they do now. *shrug*

[CaveDiving]

We are not smokers but really don't give a hoot whether smoking is permitted or not. We consider the smell of smoke in the same vein as many perfumes and antiperspirants.

 

Scott & Karen

[greensnow]

I'm all for it.

[moniquet]

I remember reading an article written by a woman whose extended family cruised on the Paradise. She said that everyone had to sign a paper saying that they wouldn't smoke or bring any tobacco products on the cruise.

 

She said that her teenaged son's cabin steward (the son was sharing a cabin with an older cousin) claimed that he smelled smoke, and he searched the cabin and found a pack of cigarettes. Both her son and the cousin denied having brought cigarettes with them. Nevertheless, the two of them had to leave the ship at the next port, along with their fathers, since both of them were under 21, which meant that they couldn't be left all alone in a foreign country without a guardian. The woman suspected that the cabin steward was given a reward for finding the cigarettes.

 

When I read this article, I decided that I would never sail on the Paradise. What's to prevent a cabin steward from smuggling cigarettes onto the ship and then planting them in someone's cabin, and then finding them to get a reward?

 

If I should go on a no-smoking cruise, I wouldn't care if people had cigarettes with them. Unlit cigarettes in someone's suitcase don't bother me. And I wouldn't care if those people smoked while in port. Yes, they might smell a little for a little while, but so what? But I wouldn't want to have to worry about someone planting cigarettes in my cabin.

 

Sounds like the Gestapo not a pleasure cruise:(

[moniquet]

We are not smokers but really don't give a hoot whether smoking is permitted or not. We consider the smell of smoke in the same vein as many perfumes and antiperspirants.

 

Scott & Karen

 

Agree. Sometimes I find a strong smoke smell unpleasant but no different from lots of other bad smells.

 

I wonder how some of these cruisers manage ashore, especially in Europe where smoking is very much in your face in some Countries.

[Bonnie J.]

We were on Carnival's Paradise for New Years Eve when there was no smoking. And that meant the crew also. It was wonderful! But it didn't work so smoking was then allowed. Now ships are close to completely non smoking with only certain places smokers can smoke. You can no longer smoke in your cabin or balcony, only one side of the deck by the pools and only certain areas of the casino.

We were surprised because the 4 times we were on Costa you didn't smell the smokers in the casino. Never found out why.

When we started cruising and we both smoked we had an ashtray in our cabin and you could smoke anywhere including the dining room. Tables had ashtrays on them!

We no longer smoke and hate walking thru the casino of the smoke smell. Once at dinner we had two men who left the dining room after each course so they could go have a cigarette!

[Bonnie J.]

Premier Parking -

Sorry forgot to check to get replys!

[chengkp75]

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...

 

Just got to agree with the bolded portion of Steve's post. While every CC member calls out the casino as the boogey-man of smoke, you haven't been in crew bar during hours of operation. It makes the casino look like a NIH clean room. While smoking in the US has dropped, I don't believe that it has changed much overseas in the Philippines, Indonesia, or Easter Europe, where much of the crew come from.

[DirtyDawg]

We are not smokers but really don't give a hoot whether smoking is permitted or not. We consider the smell of smoke in the same vein as many perfumes and antiperspirants.

 

Scott & Karen

 

Unfortunately, some people are very sensitive to smoke, others to perfumes etc. My DW is one of them. When we sail cruise lines that allow smoking in the casino it is almost comical how we have to plan routes around the ship so we avoid going anywhere near it. She has walked out of a non-smoking hotel room within seconds because someone lit up in the place a month before.

 

So we would selfishly love it if all cruise lines were non smoking. But I don't think it will happen anytime soon. Most lines have reasonable restrictions on where people can smoke. MY DW likes Celebrity's policy of no smoking in inside areas so she can go to the casino. :D (her) :mad: (me)

[akcruz]

I am a smoker and have tried many times to quit and failed yes I am a failure.

 

I am from the UK and so therefore I am very used to smoking outside only, I do think that cruiseships could ban smoking in the inside spaces as long as they provide a small outside space to smoke or a few outside spaces.Hopefully this would satisfy the non smokers

 

An observation from my last cruise on Oasis in September was that the smoking side of the casion was horrible choking smokey and yes I am a smoker, but was packed out every night. The non smoking side was virtually empty ever night so not sure what conclusions can be drawn from this.

 

I think this is why it won't work. Smokers gamble and gamblers tend to smoke. People who smoke are also likely to drink. I don't know the numbers, but I could guess smokers on a cruise probably account for 50% of onboard alcohol and casino spending even though they probably only make up 20% of all the people on the ship. Wish I could get some real data on that...

 

The problem is the smoke travels to the non smoking side chasing away those non smokers who don't want to deal with it. We would definitely go to the casino much more if it were completely non smoking (look at Celebrity, the casino revenue has supposedly gone up since they went non smoking!) so any data you get now will be flawed. We try on our cruises and sometimes stay, sometimes not depends on the crowds in there.

 

As for the original question, while I would love to see a non smoking ship I don't think it will happen for a long time yet. Too many families that have one smoker in them that will keep them all away. Its not like a flight that is a set amount of hours, it is days where they would be restricted. I can see smoking areas getting smaller and smaller, but never going away altogether.

 

As for the Paradise, the other problem I heard was that it did the same itineraries over and over so people who like to change it up a bit didn't have an option. It was do the same cruise again and again for the non smoking aspect.

Edited November 16, 2015 by akcruz

[maywell]

Personally, I think it depends on the cruise line and type of passengers they make money off of. I can see Oceania, Disney and some luxury / premium lines going smoke free since most of their passengers probably don't smoke or barely makes profits for them in other related revenue activities. While other lines like Carnival or NCL, most smoke while gambling and that's one of their biggest money-makers or have a higher population of smokers overall.

 

Will there be a cruise line that has no smoking whatsoever? Yes there will be, but it going to be the ones that actually don't need any large number of smokers for revenue for any massive onboard profits.

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

I think this is why it won't work. Smokers gamble and gamblers tend to smoke. People who smoke are also likely to drink. I don't know the numbers, but I could guess smokers on a cruise probably account for 50% of onboard alcohol and casino spending even though they probably only make up 20% of all the people on the ship. Wish I could get some real data on that...

 

Untrue. Real gamblers get free drinks in the casinos on ships. I don't smoke, but I do always get free drinks - usually starting the first or second day of a cruise. BTW, I'm a real gambler and I don't smoke and would strongly prefer a smoke free casino AND a smoke free cruise ship.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Personally, I think it depends on the cruise line and type of passengers they make money off of. I can see Oceania, Disney and some luxury / premium lines going smoke free since most of their passengers probably don't smoke or barely makes profits for them in other related revenue activities. While other lines like Carnival or NCL, most smoke while gambling and that's one of their biggest money-makers or have a higher population of smokers overall.

 

Will there be a cruise line that has no smoking whatsoever? Yes there will be, but it going to be the ones that actually don't need any large number of smokers for revenue for any massive onboard profits.

 

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

 

 

This makes sense. The concern, however, remains for those non-smokers on the mass market smoking lines whose health will still be attacked by secondhand smoke or the toxins associated with vaping.

[SuiteTraveler]

This makes sense. The concern, however, remains for those non-smokers on the mass market smoking lines whose health will still be attacked by secondhand smoke or the toxins associated with vaping.

 

That and also the possibility of someone causing a fire onboard the ship with their cigarette. Honestly, I am very concerned about the possibility of a fire at sea and this, even more than the health issue, makes me want to sail on a non-smoking cruise ship. For both of these reasons, any cruise line that switched to No Smoking at all would have my patronage in a heartbeat.

 

I was thinking about how cruising has changed. It used to be that most cruisers were adults. But with the types of cruises we have nowadays - extremely family oriented on NCL, RCCL and Disney, and many people nowadays are very health oriented, I'm really surprised that some of these lines have not switched to non smoking.

[moniquet]

Carnival has enough ships to make some smoke free. However, I fear the whingers will then be complaining they want to cruise on the ships that aren't:D

[pseudoware]

We no longer smoke and hate walking thru the casino of the smoke smell. Once at dinner we had two men who left the dining room after each course so they could go have a cigarette!

 

Another argument in favor. You might not be exposed to their actual smoke, but I'd hate to have to eat my meal next to a couple of dudes reeking like these guys.

 

As far as the crew and smoking, I'd hope a cruise line can come up with a viable sol'n - like a area for them where smoke is guaranteed not to drift to any passenger areas, or incentives for non-smoking crew to come work on these sailings. I'd have to think there are employees for whom a smoke-free ship would be an appealing work environment.

 

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Edited November 16, 2015 by pseudoware

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I think Celebrity does it right, no smoking in any indoor venue, including cabins, no smoking on balconies and limited out door smoking, (about 4 small areas or less). I thing a mass market line that bans all smoking will have more passengers breaking the rules by trying to smoke in cabin or on balcony. Maybe a small luxury line could get away with it.