Smoking in the casino

[lavic8]

Does anyone think that Carnival will ever ban indoor smoking on its ships. Im not a big smoker. I do enjoy an occasional cigar. On every cruise I spend a lot of time in the casino. I tolerate the smoke but it gets pretty bad in there and the smell is sometimes awful. People aren't even gambling there just sitting around smoking. I really think enough is enough already. It may be time for a ban. 

[gtouch]

Even though the percentage of people who smoke keeps dropping it will be awhile before they change it. "Cigarette smoking is associated with increased severity of gambling problems in treatment-seeking gamblers".....National Institute of Health".......the percentage of gamblers who smoke is far greater than the general population and Casinos are profit making centers on ships. So they will cater to those who bring the most money and spend the most time in there.

[Anyislandwilldo]

I just quit smoking a month ago.  Yeah me!!  As a smoker I was sensitive to smoke...I know..oxymoron...anyway I very rarely found the casinos to be so smokey that it bothered me.  I do see lots of non gamblers smoking in the casino as well and it's my guess that they don't want to go out on deck 11 to have a cigarette.  There are very limited smoking areas on the ships.

[Cruiser_1977]

@lavic8 Does anyone think that Carnival will ever ban indoor smoking on its ships. IMO, not until some sort of "law" forces them to OR there is a decline profits that can be directly related to smoking.

 

...On every cruise I spend a lot of time in the casino. I tolerate the smoke but it gets pretty bad in there and the smell is sometimes awful. People aren't even gambling there just sitting around smoking. I really think enough is enough already. It may be time for a ban. I have read about non-smoking ships (Paradise was smoke free from 1998-2004) and cruise lines (Renaissance) both are no longer in existence. This tells me there is enough demand for smoking areas on ships.

 

@Anyislandwilldo Congrats!!!

Edited April 17, 2019 by JennyB1977

[Butterbean1000]

I don't get it, there are more non smokers than there are smokers.  We stay away from the casino because of all the smoke. It would seem to me that if they want to make more money then they would not allow smokers in the casino.

[jean0151]

Just off the Carnival Horizon.  Most casinos are smokey.  This one was by far the worst I've been in.  It certainly curtailed my gambling time.  People were in there not playing just smoking.  

[bjfitz0703]

Smart question asked about whether or not the casino would make more money if they banned smoking.  I suspect they know that answer as does Vegas, thus it continues.  I have no problem with it in fact it will for sure keep me out of the casino while I might go there otherwise, so it is helpful.  I just wish they had better ventilation to deal with it.  I assume Disney doesn't allow smoking...not sure...they don't have casinos neither.  Seems like there are fewer and fewer places to smoke on board than before which is ideal.  The market will decide at the end of the day.

[sc4125]

7 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I don't get it, there are more non smokers than there are smokers.  We stay away from the casino because of all the smoke. It would seem to me that if they want to make more money then they would not allow smokers in the casino.

There may indeed be more non-smokers than smokers in the general public; however, it seems that in the "gambling" world, smokers far out number non-smokers.  If CCL (or any other land based casino), thought that their profit would go up if they switched to non-smoking, they would. 

 

There is now a non-smoking casino in Biloxi (can't remember the name right now), but I'm not sure how it is doing.  I've heard through the grape vine that it's not doing great, but who knows.

[Aplmac]

14 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I don't get it, there are more non smokers than there are smokers.

We stay away from the casino because of all the smoke.

It would seem to me that if they want to make more money

then they would not allow smokers in the casino.

.

LOL - There you go again - thinking logically!

[Aplmac]

13 minutes ago, jean0151 said:

Just off the Carnival Horizon.  Most casinos are smokey. 

This one was by far the worst I've been in.

It certainly curtailed my gambling time.

People were in there not playing -just smoking.  

.

Time now to seriously do something

about the grossly-inadequate smoke extraction system? Naaaaah...

[Cruiser_1977]

18 minutes ago, bjfitz0703 said:

...I assume Disney doesn't allow smoking...not sure...they don't have casinos neither. ...

Disney Cruise Line does allow smoking in designated areas.

[ProgRockCruiser]

40 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I don't get it, there are more non smokers than there are smokers.  We stay away from the casino because of all the smoke. It would seem to me that if they want to make more money then they would not allow smokers in the casino.

 

Smoking is an addiction for most.

 

Gambling is an addiction for many.

 

Chances are high that the Venn diagram of non-smokers, non-gamblers, smokers, and gamblers has a large common overlap for smokers and gamblers, and possibly just as large of one for non/non.

[Keys2Heaven]

One of the easiest ways to make money is to prey on someone's addiction.

[thenexus2k]

The problem is in the design. They disallow smoking in most places on the ship, which herds all the smokers into the casino (hence the amount of non-gamblers smoking). What they really need to do is seal that area off and ventilate it better. Vegas has pulled this feat off wonderfully for years. 

 

As to the question of a non-smoking gaming market, there certainly is a niche for it. I spend some time in the Toledo, OH. Casino, and have spoke with a ton of people who drive the hour from Detroit (which has 3 casinos, plus one across the river in Windsor), because the Toledo casino is non-smoking. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by thenexus2k

[BBigfoot613]

7 minutes ago, Keys2Heaven said:

One of the easiest ways to make money is to prey on someone's addiction.

 

or cater to it...

 

1 hour ago, gtouch said:

...the percentage of gamblers who smoke is far greater than the general population and Casinos are profit making centers on ships. So they will cater to those who bring the most money and spend the most time in there.

 

even though you worded it a little wrong I completely agree. The % of gamblers that DO smoke is great enough that if they banned smoking they would lose a LARGE percentage of their revenue from the casinos

 

1 hour ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

I just quit smoking a month ago.  Yeah me!!  As a smoker I was sensitive to smoke...I know..oxymoron...anyway I very rarely found the casinos to be so smokey that it bothered me.  I do see lots of non gamblers smoking in the casino as well and it's my guess that they don't want to go out on deck 11 to have a cigarette.  There are very limited smoking areas on the ships.

 

Congrats! I too just quit (almost 2 months now). When I smoked I was only bothered by the extreme amounts of smoke or those that smoked a ton and didn't have great hygiene. Now without cigarettes my senses are extremely heightened and had me worried about the casino. I figure at worst it'll help me not blow as much $$!!

[Butterbean1000]

56 minutes ago, sc4125 said:

There may indeed be more non-smokers than smokers in the general public; however, it seems that in the "gambling" world, smokers far out number non-smokers.  If CCL (or any other land based casino), thought that their profit would go up if they switched to non-smoking, they would. 

 

There is now a non-smoking casino in Biloxi (can't remember the name right now), but I'm not sure how it is doing.  I've heard through the grape vine that it's not doing great, but who knows.

Smokers do gamble with their health. 

[thenexus2k]

5 minutes ago, BBigfoot613 said:

 

even though you worded it a little wrong I completely agree. The % of gamblers that DO smoke is great enough that if they banned smoking they would lose a LARGE percentage of their revenue from the casinos

 

 

Truthfully, they do not want a smoker to leave a table/slot/game to take a smoke break. Same reason they bring people drinks. Or keep spouses busy at the spa or golf course. If casinos could figure out a way to service your bathroom needs without leaving the table, they would do that too!

[BBigfoot613]

17 minutes ago, thenexus2k said:

 

Truthfully, they do not want a smoker to leave a table/slot/game to take a smoke break. Same reason they bring people drinks. Or keep spouses busy at the spa or golf course. If casinos could figure out a way to service your bathroom needs without leaving the table, they would do that too!

 

Agreed! I remember when they removed smoking from bars here in PA without some loophole or permit. the bars that went smoke free suffered BIGTIME! I'm betting similar thought process

[Joebucks]

54 minutes ago, thenexus2k said:

The problem is in the design. They disallow smoking in most places on the ship, which herds all the smokers into the casino (hence the amount of non-gamblers smoking). What they really need to do is seal that area off and ventilate it better. Vegas has pulled this feat off wonderfully for years. 

 

As to the question of a non-smoking gaming market, there certainly is a niche for it. I spend some time in the Toledo, OH. Casino, and have spoke with a ton of people who drive the hour from Detroit (which has 3 casinos, plus one across the river in Windsor), because the Toledo casino is non-smoking. 

 

I agree with you on the first part. The ventilation system and process to keep it clean sucks. I've been to plenty of smoking casinos in Vegas and you would almost never know people smoked in there unless you saw it. I get it there are differences between the two though.

 

There is a niche for almost everything out there. If you cater to it, are you better off? Are you alienating a bigger base? First post nails it. The gambling/smoking addicted crowd brings in the big bucks. I don't see that going away anytime soon, so I don't expect that to change. I do think there is more they can do to keep it clean though.

[Scurvy Seadog]

The casinos in Delaware are 100% smoke free and they are always packed. Aside from the Seminole owned casinos, all of the casinos in South Florida are 100% smoke free and they are always full as well. Smokers simply go outside and smoke. 

[cruisecraze96]

Here they legalized gambling casinos and Hard Rock was on the list to put up a hotel and casino in the area.  Then they banned smoking in casinos in this area and shortly after that Hard Rock pulled out of their contract and a different group came in to put up the Casino, and they yet to have been profitable enough to put in the hotel.  To me that says that gambling and smoking does go hand and hand, I do not smoke and I do not gamble but my sister and mom both do and this last cruise both walked away with free cruises due to the amount of money spent/won in the casino that week.  When I book trips I stick with 3 lines due to the smoking and smoking in the casino polices for them to want to go.

 

 

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, thenexus2k said:

 

Truthfully, they do not want a smoker to leave a table/slot/game to take a smoke break. Same reason they bring people drinks. Or keep spouses busy at the spa or golf course. If casinos could figure out a way to service your bathroom needs without leaving the table, they would do that too!

 

Well, it Depends...

 

Bah dah bum tish.  I'm here all week.  Try the veal, tip the waitress.

[grandmarnnurse]

2 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I don't get it, there are more non smokers than there are smokers.  We stay away from the casino because of all the smoke. It would seem to me that if they want to make more money then they would not allow smokers in the casino.

I totally agree. There are far more non smokers than smokers now days, because the majority of people have smartened up. The amount of information and education out there describing the health hazards of smoking cannot be ignored.   We would gamble more if it wasn’t so smokey in the casino, but we spend very little time—and money—in the casino because of the smokers. It is horrible! It chokes you! I see someone light up, and I’m out of there! 

Someone mentioned the failed Paradise. Well, that was a long time ago, and as I said, we are a much more educated society now. I don’t believe it would hurt the cruise line’s bottom line one darn bit to ban smoking. I think the cheers for doing so would be deafening. 

[Schoifmom]

As a non-smoker, I completely understand that when I enter the casino, I am entering a smoker's environment.  There are very few non-smoking slot machines (not areas, machines) surrounded by other smoking-allowed machines.  I understand that, as well.  It's a choice that I make.  I do wish, though, that Carnival would (1) improve the ventilation system and (2) enforce the non-smoking designation at the non-smoking machines.  I have found that smokers tend to take over the entire casino as though they are entitled to it, including smoking at the non-smoking slots.  The casino hosts refuse to enforce it.

[RRLLAL]

2 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

As a non-smoker, I completely understand that when I enter the casino, I am entering a smoker's environment.  There are very few non-smoking slot machines (not areas, machines) surrounded by other smoking-allowed machines.  I understand that, as well.  It's a choice that I make.  I do wish, though, that Carnival would (1) improve the ventilation system and (2) enforce the non-smoking designation at the non-smoking machines.  I have found that smokers tend to take over the entire casino as though they are entitled to it, including smoking at the non-smoking slots.  The casino hosts refuse to enforce it.

 

I'm a smoker and have been on many cruises. I agree with you and in truth, I think they have too many machines for smokers. Plus the set up is weird. They'll have a set of smoking machines, then a set of non smoking, then a set of smoking etc. It almost seems random. They'd be better off by just splitting the room in half. One side smoking one side non smoking. And also improve ventilation. They did it here at our casino, The Turning Stone.