Smoking Rules on NCL?

[krufrank]

We are a non-smoking couple who have never cruised with NCL before. We have been faithful Princess cruisers and find they have an awesome smoking policy. I was wondering what we will encounter with NCL. Anyone willing to speak to this?

[scooter6139]

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/smoking

[krufrank]

6 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/smoking

Awesome. Thanks. I couldn’t find that article when I looked. 

[omahabob]

Stay away from the casino. It gets really thick there. Even on ships that have isolated smoking areas it often drifts out. Otherwise, you'll only catch an occasional whiff when passing a smoking area.

[scooter6139]

9 minutes ago, omahabob said:

Stay away from the casino. It gets really thick there. Even on ships that have isolated smoking areas it often drifts out. Otherwise, you'll only catch an occasional whiff when passing a smoking area.

Depends on the ship.  I know Joy, Encore and Bliss all have closed off area's for smoking, so it really reduces it in the rest of the Casino.  But get anywhere near those glass doors and all bets are off.

[Ellis1138]

As someone very allergic to tobacco smoke, I've found the NCL ships I've been on (Sun, Jade) to have been really good as far as my encounters with it. Like omahabob said, the casino will probably be thick with it. I always check the specific smoking areas on the ship I will be going on. 

 

And most of the smokers I've seen on NCL ships do seem to keep to the proper area.

[omahabob]

You can't technically be allergic to smoke, but your reaction to it can be very similar. It can be an incredible irritant to some. The wife and I are both former smokers. While we bear no ill will toward them, as many other ex-smokers do, the smell is still very irritating to us.

[bluesea777]

Spirit's casino is "non-smoking" 😁

 

 

[RB9643]

4 hours ago, krufrank said:

Princess cruisers and find they have an awesome smoking policy.

 

 

If would help a lot if you would define what you find "awesome" about Princess. Then we can compare it to NCL.

 

 

[kitkat343]

I've sailed the Coral princess twice and never had any trouble with smoke there.  On the Getaway, there are areas you need to avoid if you are highly sensitive to smoke.  The casino is dead center of the ship, and if you are sensitive to smoke you'd want to not cross the ship on that floor.  Also, one of the smoking areas was on the pool deck, and depending on which way the wind blew, I could smell smoke at the children's splash pad blowing from the smoking section on that deck.  

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by kitkat343

[Ellis1138]

7 hours ago, omahabob said:

You can't technically be allergic to smoke, but your reaction to it can be very similar. It can be an incredible irritant to some. The wife and I are both former smokers. While we bear no ill will toward them, as many other ex-smokers do, the smell is still very irritating to us.

 

I'm allergic to the tobacco and will get hives if I touch the chewing stuff. Also allergic to hemp and MJ. Weirdly, no reaction to someone smoking clove cigarettes next to me the few times someone did that. I even react if I go into a room where someone had smoked a week ago and it can't be smelled. And some brands are worse than others; I react the strongest to Marlboros. I have pretty unusual allergies, across a broad range. It's not fun.

[omahabob]

I'm just going by what doctors say. You can be sensitive and get symptoms, but it isn't an allergy.

[UKstages]

15 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

And most of the smokers I've seen on NCL ships do seem to keep to the proper area.

hmmm… many smokers on the ships I’ve been on do not.
 

they smoke on their balconies, they smoke at the pool, they decide somehow to extend the area of the designated smoking section all on their own and smoke outside the periphery of that section. and they smoke in the cigar room, which is prohibited.  (the reason this matters is because it leads to more frequent opening of the doors through which the smoke escapes and spreads to the adjacent areas.)

 

cigarettes, marijuana and e-cigarettes. 

 

vaping is quite common throughout all ships, indoors and out, even though it is allowed only where smoking is allowed.

 

 

[ggTexasGal]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

hmmm… many smokers on the ships I’ve been on do not.
 

they smoke on their balconies, they smoke at the pool, they decide somehow to extend the area of the designated smoking section all on their own and smoke outside the periphery of that section. and they smoke in the cigar room, which is prohibited.  (the reason this matters is because it leads to more frequent opening of the doors through which the smoke escapes and spreads to the adjacent areas.)

 

cigarettes, marijuana and e-cigarettes. 

 

vaping is quite common throughout all ships, indoors and out, even though it is allowed only where smoking is allowed.

I've also noticed these occurrences much more frequently. 

[genealogyfan]

Unfortunately I have seen self centered people sneak vaping in non smoking areas on ships. As soon as they saw me they put it away and walk away before I could report them.

 

I could smell smoke off my balcony and thought I saw someone vaping but wasn’t sure enough to report the right cabin. I wish people would stay in the smoking areas, it’s so dangerous and selfish.

[Ellis1138]

That's distressing to hear, about people smoking and vaping where they shouldn't. As much as I have compassion for others, it ends where it affects me. If I'm eating a donut, the person next to me is not ingesting the sugar. But someone smoking and vaping can cause issues for multiple other people. 😞

[njkate]

5 hours ago, UKstages said:

hmmm… many smokers on the ships I’ve been on do not.
 

they smoke on their balconies, they smoke at the pool, they decide somehow to extend the area of the designated smoking section all on their own and smoke outside the periphery of that section. and they smoke in the cigar room, which is prohibited.  (the reason this matters is because it leads to more frequent opening of the doors through which the smoke escapes and spreads to the adjacent areas.)

 

cigarettes, marijuana and e-cigarettes. 

 

vaping is quite common throughout all ships, indoors and out, even though it is allowed only where smoking is allowed.

 

 

Probably because the smoking areas have shrunk down considerably. Bliss, Encore, Joy the only smoking areas are Spice H2O that’s quite a hike if one’s cabin is forward. 
 

Smoking is a legal substance that isn’t going away, no state wants to give up those taxes. People just need to learn to coexist and perhaps if the mega ships scattered a few more smoking areas on the ship you wouldn’t have people breaking the rules of course this is just my opinion 

[graphicguy]

Smokers want more smoking spaces...non-smokers want less (or eliminated entirely).

 

I'm not an anti-smoking zealot.  If smoking/vaping/"dipping" is your thing, it's your body.  Every ex-smoker I know says quitting was the hardest thing they've ever done.  I don't know of any smokers who DO NOT WANT TO QUIT!  So, I empathize.

 

That said, from strictly a demographic perspective, those who smoke/vape/dip, etc has dropped dramatically in the last 5 years, and continues to drop.  It stands to reason that cruise lines restrict it more and more as fewer and fewer people are doing any of that.  It saves them from providing spaces for such a small guest count.  And, it allows them to have less clean up crew to accommodate that small guest count.

 

Personally, I think in the near future, you're going to see cruise lines restrict smoking even further.  Cruise lines don't want to police their guests for smoking infractions.  And, as much has cruise lines like fees, they don't want to clean and sanitize areas where they charge hefty fees for the infractions.  There will come a point where it costs more for the cruise lines to allow smoking than losing any customers who insist on smoking.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by graphicguy

[Twolittleboys]

I have been on various ships and never noticed anything about smoking (also didn't pay special attention). However, the Getaway was the first time I really noticed smoking. I didn't mind in outside areas (i.e. didn't really bother me) but on deck 7 it was pretty bad. A smell of stale smoke from the casino that extends through a good part of this deck. Quite unpleasant (at least on my sailing to me).

[Ellis1138]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

 

 

I'm not an anti-smoking zealot.  If smoking/vaping/"dipping" is your thing, it's your body.  Every ex-smoker I know says quitting was the hardest thing they've ever done.  I don't know of any smokers who DO NOT WANT TO QUIT!  So, I empathize.

 

I sympathize and don't consider myself to be anti-smoking. Like, if everyone who was addicted to tobacco decided to chew it on a cruise, I'd be fine with that as long as they spit it into the correct receptacles. It's unfortunate that smoke has the potential to disrupt so many more people than just about any other legal addiction... except for DUI, which can really affect others. 

 

The technology does exist to make indoor smoking rooms with hepa air scrubbers, so it just comes down to a matter of cost for the cruise line to do so. 😕

[RB9643]

33 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

The technology does exist to make indoor smoking rooms with hepa air scrubbers, so it just comes down to a matter of cost for the cruise line to do so. 😕

 

I'm guessing cost, space, and perhaps weight.  What I can't understand is why they don't at least have negative air pressure in the enclosed smoking rooms. That would suck air in the room, not out. I'm no physics major, but I wouldn't think it's that difficult.

 

 

[eileeshb]

18 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

I'm allergic to the tobacco and will get hives if I touch the chewing stuff. Also allergic to hemp and MJ. Weirdly, no reaction to someone smoking clove cigarettes next to me the few times someone did that. I even react if I go into a room where someone had smoked a week ago and it can't be smelled. And some brands are worse than others; I react the strongest to Marlboros. I have pretty unusual allergies, across a broad range. It's not fun.

There are different levels of sensitivity, I only figured out my “travel sickness” as a kid was actually due to the stale smell of smoke in my dad’s car when I got my own car and it came back from a service with the smell of smoke in it. I always knew the instant someone lit a benson & hedges in a pub before smoking in indoor venues got banned in Ireland. But that ban has also reduced my tolerance considerably, the moment I smell cigarette smoke now I get nauseous. 
I wound up in a hotel room once that was not a non-smoking room and my eyes were in bits the next morning, not a good look for someone manning a stand at a trade show.

 

Of the NCL ships I’ve been on the level of smokiness varied depending on the guests aboard but there were 3 main areas .. casino on deck 7 and that the smoke would drift down to deck 6 in the open area towards the aft on the breakaway/+ class ships; Spice H2O bar; and outside the cigar room. The pool deck smoking area was really bad on getaway, whenever I was passing the main pool I had to make sure I was on the opposite side to that.  But what really annoys me is when we have to queue up for tenders or disembarkation through the casino with that horrible stale smoke lingering. 

[Ellis1138]

1 minute ago, eileeshb said:

But what really annoys me is when we have to queue up for tenders or disembarkation through the casino with that horrible stale smoke lingering. 

Yeah. I hate that, too. Aside from wearing my Covid N95s, not much else I can do for that.

[debenson0723]

Like @graphicguystated, smoking cigarettes is on the decline. I work in a large office with over 100 people and only one person smokes (a woman in her 60s). I was in Vegas last weekend and when checking into the Wynn, we were told that if cigarette smoke is smelled in the room, the cleaning fee would be an additional $250. If cannabis was smelled, the cleaning fee would be $1000. And a waiver was signed to that effect. I loved eating and gambling in the Park-MGM...totally smoke free hotel and casino.

 

I was never much of a gambler on the ships, but since Bliss, Encore, Joy and Prima all have the enclosed smoking rooms, I spend much more time in the casino (as do many others I know). If you time it just right, you can smell smoke when the door opens but it doesn't permeate the whole deck and down to the deck below, as it does on the Getaway. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by debenson0723
forgot something

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, RB9643 said:

 

I'm guessing cost, space, and perhaps weight.  What I can't understand is why they don't at least have negative air pressure in the enclosed smoking rooms. That would suck air in the room, not out. I'm no physics major, but I wouldn't think it's that difficult.

 

 

I think all of those reasons are valid.

 

Investing into smoke remediation equipment for a relatively small number of cruisers that will become fewer and fewer is probblay the biggest reason.