Casino Smoking areas on Symphony

[TeeRick]

Sorry to bring up this topic of casino smoking.  Not trying to start an anti-smoking thread as there are thousands of those.  But really a policy question that I brought up with an officer on board Symphony on our cruise last week.

 

Symphony has a very small smoke-free casino and a very large casino that allows smoking.

 

There were about 5500 passengers on board.  The vast majority were non-smokers.  A few percent of people on board were smokers, reflecting the general population these days.  

 

So why not just switch the casino areas?   Smaller one for smokers and large one for non-smokers?  Reasonable?

 

I do not think this is about revenue from smokers.  We are non-smokers and usually gamble a decent amount on a cruise. Not this time.  There was a very small selection of tables and slots in the non-smoking casino.  The main casino had people smoking who just came in to smoke (not gamble) and left.  Easy to see them doing that.  They could easily use the side of the pool deck for that.  

 

So why does the RCCL casino policy cater to the very few (smokers) instead of the vast majority (non-smokers)?  Just switch casinos!  Am I missing something?

 

PS.  We usually sail Celebrity with smoke-free casinos so this was a big change for us on Symphony. 

[leisuretraveler223]

Has something changed?  In my previous trips on Symphony, one side was smoking, one was non-smoking. They were the same size.

[RobInMN]

2 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Has something changed?  In my previous trips on Symphony, one side was smoking, one was non-smoking. They were the same size.

Yes. On the Oasis class ships, they removed Jazz on 4th and made it a non-smoking casino. The main casino still has a smoking and non-smoking half, but there is no physical barrier between the 2 sections and the smoke definitely drifts. People like to compare it to having a peeing and non-peeing section of the pool. It's also typically smoky next to that spiral staircase in the Promenade that goes down to the casino.

 

I agree with every point @TeeRick makes, but Royal seems deathly afraid of loosing gambling revenue by limiting smoking any further in the casino. I think they should at least try putting the smoking casino in the small casino on 1 Oasis class 7 day ship (out of Florida), and compare the gambling revenue to another Oasis class 7 day ship out of Florida. Apples to Apples. I'll be there's statistically no difference.

 

RC won't even put doors on the casino to keep the smoke from drifting out. This is especially bad on the Radiance class ships where the central Atrium acts as a giant chimney under the right conditions. We were on Jewel for 24 nights and there were multiple days where it smelled smokey on deck 10 even 20 feet down the cabin hallways.

 

[leisuretraveler223]

Okay, so just to be clear. They have actually EXPANDED the non-smoking portion of the casino to now include a physically separate room.  Got it.

 

I'm an ex-smoker (twenty years!) and certainly don't need any extra smoke in my life, but I think the smokiness of the non-smoking half of the Oasis class casinos has been ridiculously overstated on these boards for years.  Can you smell smoke? Yes.  Is the non-smoking side in fact "smoky"?  No, not really.  Do I wish Royal would just follow the lead of sister line Celebrity and get rid of all indoor smoking? Absolutely!  Sadly, Royal still draws a clientele that evidently includes a lot more smokers.

 

Good thing is, there are lots of lines with lots of differences.  I suggest that if this is a deal breaker for you you just look at another line. Trying to reason that you know Royal's business model better than they do is a bit of hubris.

[spunks]

to be honest....( I am a non smoker) ...if they would simply enforce their own regulations about limiting smoking in the smoking section to only the people actively gambling it would help tremendously. They dont even have to send in the smoking police during Casino hours. If they would simply not allow people in the casino to smoke when the casino is not operating it would be a great help.

 

On our last months cruise on the Symphony, there was a chain smoker that brought his laptop into the casino and sat there all day everyday lighting one after another. He never played a dime. If they would run those guys, then there would be less "heat" on smokers that gamble.

[ajtaylor29]

As a former smoker and current vaper, i'll weigh in with my 2 cents on this very sensitive subject..

First, i totally understand the questions and frustrations from non-smokers as to why they won't change the policy.

My big question is why won't they ENFORCE the policy that smoking is only allowed while playing?!? 

Years ago (when i still smoked) i was shocked and disappointed when they outlawed smoking on the balconies. Outlawing that forced me and others to 2 areas on the whole ship - either pool deck or the casino. Pool deck was great during good weather and/or while sailing, but the main go-to place was the casino and we smokers would congregate in there from the minute we got on the ship. It was NASTY (but there I was as it was the only place to go)....This still happens (non gamblers hanging out just to smoke) but nobody does anything to enforce the rules.

Now that i'm a former smoker, i'll admit that the strong smell really bothers me. I hate having smoke blown in my face and/or ashes spilled all over the machines. However, i am sympathetic to the smokers since there's really nowhere else for them to go.

My situation is also complicated because as a vaper, i can only vape in smoking areas. I know many non-smokers feel that these should be lumped together, but please remember that my vape discharges NO smoke, very little smell, disapates quickly, etc. But in order to enjoy my vape i have to play in the smoking casino.

If they would outlaw smoking in the casino but allow vaping, most everybody would have a MUCH better experience, the smell would be gone, and most smokers (i think) could tolerate this rule because they could vape while gambling then go out to the pool deck for a regular cigarette. I doubt this will happen but imo it's a viable solution.

 

[TeeRick]

My experience last week on Symphony was that in the entire main casino there was very much a strong smoke smell.  Coming out into the nearby areas.   People seemed to be smoking everywhere particularly at night.  Not sure if there was any kind of enforcement of the sections.  People would come into the bar, smoke and leave.  I am not judging the smokers.  In fact, I enjoyed a cigar outside one afternoon in the designated outdoor smoking area.

 

I am just asking the very simple(?) question - can they switch the casinos?  That would not eliminate smoking, just distribute it differently.

[TeeRick]

12 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

If they would outlaw smoking in the casino but allow vaping, most everybody would have a MUCH better experience, the smell would be gone, and most smokers (i think) could tolerate this rule because they could vape while gambling then go out to the pool deck for a regular cigarette. I doubt this will happen but imo it's a viable solution.

 

They had a recent trial on Celebrity allowing casino vaping on a few ships in the previously non-smoking casinos.  The experiment was abandoned due to negative customer feedback.

[leisuretraveler223]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

I am just asking the very simple(?) question - can they switch the casinos?  That would not eliminate smoking, just distribute it differently.

 

And there is an equally simple answer: Yes they can. But it doesn't matter, as they have chosen not to.  You can waste all the time you want speculating about this and it won't make any difference.

So I in turn as a simple question- is this a deal-breaker for you?  If so, easy choice is pick another line.  If not, then let it go.  Share your thoughts on your post-cruise survey and move on.

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

And there is an equally simple answer: Yes they can. But it doesn't matter, as they have chosen not to.  You can waste all the time you want speculating about this and it won't make any difference.

So I in turn as a simple question- is this a deal-breaker for you?  If so, easy choice is pick another line.  If not, then let it go.  Share your thoughts on your post-cruise survey and move on.

Brought it up as a discussion topic.  That's all.  I did bring it up on my post-cruise survey.

[mets123]

31 minutes ago, spunks said:

to be honest....( I am a non smoker) ...if they would simply enforce their own regulations about limiting smoking in the smoking section to only the people actively gambling it would help tremendously. They dont even have to send in the smoking police during Casino hours. If they would simply not allow people in the casino to smoke when the casino is not operating it would be a great help.

 

On our last months cruise on the Symphony, there was a chain smoker that brought his laptop into the casino and sat there all day everyday lighting one after another. He never played a dime. If they would run those guys, then there would be less "heat" on smokers that gamble.

I totally agree with what you're saying. All Royal needs to do is make a stand. On the Anthem last week, they were constantly making announcements in the casino that you must be physically gambling if you want to smoke. Many non smokers appreciated that. I wish they would do that on all ships.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Am I missing something?

The detailed financial records of RCI which show casino revenue.

[TeeRick]

Just now, Biker19 said:

The detailed financial records of RCI which show casino revenue.

Yes for sure!

[SplashOfWater]

29 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I am just asking the very simple(?) question - can they switch the casinos?  That would not eliminate smoking, just distribute it differently.

I bring this up in every after-cruise survey. I mention that the newer NCL ships have the main casino as non-smoking and have a separate smaller glassed-in casino as the smoking casino.

 

On every cruise we see people sitting at machines, smoking and not playing. Sometimes there will be announcements that you need to be actively playing to smoke. Even when the casino is closed, there are always a few people using it as an indoor smoking area.

 

On our last cruise, there were a few people vaping on the non-smoking side of the main casino. 

[ajtaylor29]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

They had a recent trial on Celebrity allowing casino vaping on a few ships in the previously non-smoking casinos.  The experiment was abandoned due to negative customer feedback.

hmmm, what was the negative feedback? Celebrity is already non-smoking in the casinos, right? So, they introduced vaping as an option to totally non-smoking and got complaints....i can imagine why?!? in RC's case they would be taking away some form (smoking) which i think would be met with cheers?!

[TeeRick]

7 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

hmmm, what was the negative feedback? Celebrity is already non-smoking in the casinos, right? So, they introduced vaping as an option to totally non-smoking and got complaints....i can imagine why?!? in RC's case they would be taking away some form (smoking) which i think would be met with cheers?!

Yes exactly.  The experiment on Celebrity was bound to fail for that reason.

They presumably studied revenue on the vaping-allowed ships vs. the smoke-free ships over a month.  They did not release the data of course but they decided against introducing vaping casino areas fleet-wide.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Has something changed?  In my previous trips on Symphony, one side was smoking, one was non-smoking. They were the same size.

Kinda like the peeing and non peeing sections of the swimming pool. 

[TeeRick]

5 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Kinda like the peeing and non peeing sections of the swimming pool. 

Yes that was mentioned above by @RobInMN.  😁

I do remember smoking vs non-smoking sections in airplanes.  And in restaurants.

Edited February 20 by TeeRick

[not-enough-cruising]

Just now, TeeRick said:

 

I do remember smoking vs non-smoking sections in airplanes.  And in restaurants.

Equally as asinine

[leisuretraveler223]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

Yes that was mentioned above by @RobInMN.  

I do remember smoking vs non-smoking sections in airplanes.  And in restaurants.

 

I think most of the people here would have absolutely lost their minds if they ever tried to take a commercial flight in the 70s or early 80s.

[TeeRick]

Just now, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

I think most of the people here would have absolutely lost their minds if they ever tried to take a commercial flight in the 70s or early 80s.

You know back then I didn't even think about it as smoking everywhere was the norm when I was growing up.  Both of my parents smoked.  As did most of my aunts and uncles.

[jstewie23]

Is there a craps table in the non-smoking casino, or is it just slots/tables (Oasis class ships, Symphony specifically)? 

[ajtaylor29]

52 minutes ago, jstewie23 said:

Is there a craps table in the non-smoking casino, or is it just slots/tables (Oasis class ships, Symphony specifically)? 

We just got off a couple of weeks ago and my husband played video poker in there (but i played vp in the regular smoking casino because, you know - vaping.... 🙂 ) but i'm pretty sure there was not a craps table in there. maybe roulette, bj, one other like texas hold em....someone else should confirm this for sure as i only walked thru a few times so i wasn't really paying much attention.