Vaping Signs Removed…My conversation with the Revenue Director

[hiccups]

1 minute ago, mailmama said:

Is there an email to corporate where we can voice our concerns/opinions? I also cruise Celebrity due to the no smoking policy.

 

ExecutiveOffice@celebrity.com

[1Virgo]

I spoke  with Celebrity Captain Club this afternoon and was told the vaping test program is in effect until August 19 and August 20 on Eclipse and Equinox (forget which ship dates apply to).      Emphasized all the concerns re health, asthma, allergic etc concerns and that, people wont obey rules.   

 

Call.  email.   
 

 

[mailmama]

13 minutes ago, hiccups said:

 

ExecutiveOffice@celebrity.com

Thank you. Message sent!

[Northern Aurora]

Thank you so much to @Georgia_Peaches for reporting her conversation with the Revenue Director.  It has been so helpful to have someone on the spot to report.  

 

I am just stunned at the disregard for the health of passengers and casino staff.

[gold1953]

so now people can vape in the casino .. no signs.. so now they will think they can vaper anywhere on the ship

[REEtired]

Just sent my email of displeasure. No regard to those with health conditions. Yeah healthy at sea my a%%. 

[Rebels82]

Sent my email….pointed out, as a RCL shareholder, Celebrity needs to differentiate itself from Royal Caribbean. In addition to all of the negative feedback from customers, think about negative impact on Casino staff.

[LaCal]

I think they should ban the people who wear over bearing amounts of strong perfume more than the vaping   Pewwwww

[zitsky]

18 minutes ago, LaCal said:

I think they should ban the people who wear over bearing amounts of strong perfume more than the vaping   Pewwwww

Maybe instead of banning vaping they should ban people that don’t wash their hands or people that talk in the theater.  Any other ideas?

[LaCal]

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Maybe instead of banning vaping they should ban people that don’t wash their hands or people that talk in the theater.  Any other ideas?

yes those and chair hogs at the pool 🤣

[Baynanno1]

Well done @Georgia_Peaches 🤩

 

To those who make the point that vaping is still allowed in the casino in spite of the removal of the signs, might I remind them this is an 8 week trial due to end next month.

[bnurick]

Seems they are boxed into the August date with top-end casino guests they have made previous commitments to like free cabins and vaping while playing (a come try X idea). Thus, the removal of the signs are a signal it’s one and done to me.

[Charles4515]

45 minutes ago, LaCal said:

I think they should ban the people who wear over bearing amounts of strong perfume more than the vaping   Pewwwww

Often the heavy perfume is worn to hide the stench of cigarette smoke. I had two coworkers who applied heavy perfume and they were both smokers. I am pretty sure it was to hide the cigarette smell on their clothes. They were heavy smokers. Personally I would rather smell perfume than cigarette stench. I can smell a stinky smoker many feet away. I don't want to be exposed to vape but it definitely is a lessor evil than cigarette oder. 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Charles4515

[hcat]

10 hours ago, LaCal said:

I think they should ban the people who wear over bearing amounts of strong perfume more than the vaping   Pewwwww

I am highly sensitive to some perfume and cologne "odors",  but the offending individuals are not a large group.  Once I get away or off the elev asap, my allergy clears,.  No potential lasting lung  exposure!  

 

[hcat]

Talking at shows, pool chair hogs and failure to wash hands ( bad hygiene) do not create potential lung exposure equivalent to vaping.

 

Please do  not trivialize  a serious concern of many cruisers. Lucky are those without breathing challenges!

[Dar & Bob]

10 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Often the heavy perfume is worn to hide the stench of cigarette smoke. I had two coworkers who applied heavy perfume and they were both smokers. I am pretty sure it was to hide the cigarette smell on their clothes. They were heavy smokers. Personally I would rather smell perfume than cigarette stench. I can smell a stinky smoker many feet away. I don't want to be exposed to vape but it definitely is a lessor evil than cigarette oder. 

However, with perfume, it isn't going to have long term effects on you.  Vaping does have second hand effects on the other guests to breath it in.  Vaping even leaves a residue on items in the vicinity.  It's not just the odor.  

[Dar & Bob]

I wrote the Executive office on the 3rd and got an answer yesterday.  I sent a response to there pat answer.   It states there has been minimal impact to the guest experience.  In other words people don't know we're putting their health at risk. 

 

 

This test is currently in place on the Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Eclipse through August 20, and at this time there has been minimal to no impact to our guests experience onboard.  Vaping will only be allowed in certain areas of the casino for casino guests, during operating hours only. Cigarettes, pipes, and cigars will still be prohibited in the casino.

 

My response.

Thank you for your response.  

You state that there has been minimal to no effect on casino guests. I want to reiterate that vape exhaust does affect people around the vaper.  Vape also leaves a residue on surfaces - what precautions are being taken to make sure that the Health and Wellbeing of all guests are being safe guarded.  

Why even have this trial and not leave it as it was.  Celebrity puts out these wonderful marketing pieces about the health of it's guests but it seems to me that this is all talk

Very sorry to hear this

[sammee]

11 hours ago, LaCal said:

I think they should ban the people who wear over bearing amounts of strong perfume more than the vaping   Pewwwww

I realize they can't do that, but love to daydream about it. I've had to leave my fair share of slot machines over it. A few vapors will nail me, but they are over the top with the plume so the whole room can appreciate it. But some of the colognes, you can still smell after you leave the area. It feels like it's stuck in your nose, lol. Several scents trip the major coughing attack that my inhaler will not fix. If someone asks if you are okay, you can't even get the words out.

[terrydtx]

I do not Vape or smoke, but isn't the reason for vaping is to replace the nicotine from smoking? Wouldn't that residual nicotine be in the vapors given off by system and anyone in proximity would then be inhaling nicotine? This would then be a huge health hazard.

 

Yesterday I emailed to Celebrity Corporate my displeasure with this new policy. I cited their failure to enforce most other rules on cruises, including cigarette smoking, and that I believe vaping will end up in other areas of the ship like on balconies. Last month on the Equinox someone close to our cabin smoked on their balcony all day long and their secondhand smoke was intruding to my balcony. I complained many times to guest services, but the smoker never quit. All I got from GS was we will look into it. 

[jgmorgan]

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Wouldn't that residual nicotine be in the vapors given off by system and anyone in proximity would then be inhaling nicotine?

Excellent point.  See: https://www.healthline.com/health/second-hand-vape

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, jgmorgan said:

Excellent point.  See: https://www.healthline.com/health/second-hand-vape

Here is a key quote from that article that confirms my fears:

What we do know so far is that vape aerosol contains a number of harmful substances, including:

• nicotine
• ultrafine particles
• various other toxins, including several cancer-causing agents

There’s evidence that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand vape aerosol absorb similar levels of nicotine as people exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke.

Along with nicotine, nonvapers are also exposed to ultrafine particles from secondhand vape aerosol, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Secondhand vape aerosol also contains several known carcinogens that may increase the risk of certain cancers.

[mahdnc]

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I felt like it was easier to start a separate thread so as not to get lost in the shuffle of the current threads on the subject of the new vaping policy. 
 

The Marketing & Revenue director took time to sit down with me and hear my concerns about the new policy. She was extremely engaging and took notes to pass along to corporate. While she maintained that this is only a test and no final decision has been made, she admitted that A LOT of feedback has been received and based on this, corporate has instructed that the signage be removed in favor of word of mouth instead. 
 

I raised several concerns including:

 

1. Enforcement of the “while actively playing” rule and mentioned the vapers who were vaping while watching the slot tournament. 
2. The awkward position it puts the crew in who have to enforce the policy. 
3. The health concerns for everyone. 
4.  The changing of the Celebrity brand and what attracted me to Celebrity in the first place

5.  What changes will this open the door to if this is implemented permanently?

 

Our conversation concluded with assurances that the feedback was valuable and would continue to be collected and analyzed. 
 

My take away from this is that they are already walking back on this little experiment by removing the signs. Experienced Celebrity cruisers already know the policy and those who are new will not know the difference as long as the signs remain hidden….hence, making word of mouth more difficult. 
 

She is also aware of the threads here on CC as well as other social media platforms. 
 

Don’t let up on the feedback…it’s working!

 

Thank you for the update, GP.  I find their no-signage-just-word-of-mouth response to be bizarre.  It may be a measure taken with the sole objective of eliminating the negative feedback noise without having to actually end the trial.  We may need another field observer present on the next sailing to see if the signs go back up, etc.

 

Or perhaps this word-of-mouth policy is how Celebrity intends to do soft walk backs of other unpopular changes: "psssst, you can get the secret good food menu at the MDR if you tell the waiter, the geese fly south in the winter"--so as not to tip off your un-informed tablemates".  

Edited July 6, 2023 by mahdnc

[mayleeman]

No signs are worse than signs. How will smokers react upon seeing vapers being allowed? Word of mouth will have all types of wrong info spreading around. This approach is also guaranteed to generate confrontations as traditional cruisers complain to smokers of both types that they are breaking the NS rules. The staff doesn't like enforcing simple pool chair rules--Lord knows how willing they will be settling fights between gambling and nicotine addicts.

 

Thanks for your efforts, @Georgia_Peaches! 

Edited July 6, 2023 by mayleeman

[Georgia_Peaches]

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

We may need another field observer present on the next sailing to see if the signs go back up, etc.

Yes!  I have also wondered if the signs will reappear for next cruise. I hope someone will report out. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

No signs are worse than signs. How will smokers react upon seeing vapers being allowed? Word of mouth will have all types of wrong info spreading around. This approach is also guaranteed to generate confrontations as traditional cruisers complain to smokers of both types that they are breaking the NS rules. The staff doesn't like enforcing simple pool chair rules--Lord knows how willing they will be settling fights between gambling and nicotine addicts.

 

Also, if it's just "word of mouth" what is to stop that word from going to other ships? And then if anyone is called on it, they can say "There were no signs, but we were told it's by word of mouth. We heard!"