Smoking on board...

[Cotton]

.....I'd like to avoid having to be a prisoner in my own cabin, and to have more of a choice of where to sit on deck. QUOTE]

 

Hmmm, I wasn't going to get into this discussion, but...... On the Lido Deck on ALL Carnival ships, there is a smoking side and a non-smoking side. Signs are posted, and ashtrays are evident on the smoking side.

 

A little story:

On my last cruise, I was smoking (yep, on the smoking side at the pool area, but 'way up against the windbreaker), and a lady sat down at the next table. She started making all these exaggerated coughing noises and said, rather loudly to her companion, "I don't know WHY people have to smoke here." I didn't even look at her, continued looking out at sea.

 

She went on and on about it for about 5 minutes, and I FINALLY (very politely) told her that I was in the smoking area, and that she had chosen to sit down next to ME, although there were several other empty tables. She asked me if I was going to put my cig out, and I told her (again nicely) no, and smiling as sweetly as I could, I said that she might be more comfortable in the non-smoking area.

 

She got up in a huff, loudly proclaiming to everybody around that "You'd better not sit over here.......there's smoke everywhere!" (This was, of course, outside in an open area, with the smoke going up into the air.)

 

Geez.

 

There are going to be smokers on every cruise, on every line that I know of. Most of us are considerate smokers, and wouldn't even consider lighting up in areas other than those designated as smoking.

[Arlene F]

My husband and I are light (on/off) smokers. When we cruise we book a balcony so that we can smoke there and not force our second hand smoke on non-smokers.

 

I thought we were doing a good thing. But after reading other threads on this issue I found as many complaints about balcony smoke as there were about smoking in other areas of the ship.

 

While I still do not wish to force the effects of my nasty habit on anyone else, I still feel that by smoking on my balcony I am contributing to the comfort of others. We do not flick our ashes over the railing nor do we toss our butts over board. I bring plastic bags to empty our ashtray into and clean the ashtray so our cabin steward doesn't have to.

 

Until the cruise lines address this problem it will always exist.

[MrNobody]

Arlene F...are you sure you didnt toss your butt over the side of the balcony???...when we were re-boarding the ship in the Grand Caymans on our last cruise we saw a woman hanging her butt over the balcony mooning us...I think it was YOU...LOL...Jake

[Cotton]

Arlene!!! Where have you been, girl? I've posted several times, looking for you! My computer crashed and I lost all my email addys.....and yours is not listed in your profile.

I talked w/Emeril. PLEASE email me.:)

[Arlene F]

Mr. Nobody:

Was the butt sunburned?

Arlene

[atonal1]

I am a non-smoker who LOVED the Paradise. But, as was said earlier, there was not enough variety to keep me on that ship. Plus, Fantasy class ships only have a limited number of balcony cabins. I think Carnival (or any other cruise line) would do well if they would try designating different ships (maybe 4-5 sailings per year) as non-smoking, offering the variety that Paradise did not.

 

The only consideration that I would ask from a smoker is if they saw me on the balcony next to them, ask me if smoking bothers me. That way, I could go in my cabin to avoid the smoke, then return to the balcony when you finish.

 

Is this too much to ask?

[pholter]

I think the different sailings or itineraries idea is a nice one to try. If they try it, I would hope that they might also consider doing the same thing with Adults Only sailings too!

 

Atonal1- is the smoke bothering you on the balcony when the ship is moving and the wind is blowing 50 MPH or only when the ship is in port and there may be no place for it to go?? I'm just curious, cuz my SO is very bothered by smoke and I do smoke sometimes (light to medium I guess), but he has never been bothered in the slightest even sitting right next to me on the balcony with the wind blowing & ship moving.

[ulmo]

just don't take away my two standbys that stand well together.

[pnjkeith]

The cigar is a great resource. It is necessary to have traveled for a long time on a ship to understand that at least the cigar affords you the pleasure of smoking. It raises your spirits. Are you troubled by something? The cigar dissolves it. Are you subject to aches and pains (or bad temper)? The cigar will change your disposition. Are you harassed by unpleasant thoughts? Smoking a cigar puts one in a frame of mind to dispense with these. Do you ever feel a little faint from hunger? A cigar satisfies the yearning. If you are obsessed by sad thoughts, a cigar will take your mind off of them. Finally, don't you sometimes have some unpleasant remembrance or consoling thought? A cigar will reinforce this. Sometimes they die out, and happy are those who do not need to relight too quickly. I hardly need to say anything more about the cigar, to which I dedicate this little eulogy for past services rendered."

-- The Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, 1794

[lieutenant al]

Why do smokers always cloud (no pun intended) the issue by bringing in issues that are so far removed from smoking? Fatty foods and overweight Americans have nothing to do with my right to breath fresh air. Unless a fat person steps on my foot or pushes me off the buffet line, they do not effect my life at all. The bottom line is, there is no worse anti-smoking advocate than a former smoker!

[pholter]

You have every right to breath fresh air! My comments in particular were in conjunction with other posters comments regarding alot of foods on board being just as bad for your health as 1st or 2nd hand smoke. As long as smoking is legal and Carnival can't survive without smoker's revenue (as proven by the Paradise), then I'd recommend anyone wanting to breath only fresh air stay out of Casino, Piano Bar, and the specific side of the Lido Deck that allows smoking. I personally don't care for the smell of farts after we've all eaten ourselves into oblivion, but the wind takes care of that :) :)

 

I still think we can all live and cruise in peace and in respect....

[atonal1]

pholter,

 

If I'm down wind from a smoker, then YES, it bothers me because even though there is a breeze, the smoke still blows towards my balcony.

 

I have discovered that if I'm lucky enough to get an aft cabin, the smoke doesn't bother me as much, since it blows towards the ocean. :D

 

my Serenade pictures

[DeckCadet]

You have every right to breath fresh air! My comments in particular were in conjunction with other posters comments regarding alot of foods on board being just as bad for your health as 1st or 2nd hand smoke. As long as smoking is legal and Carnival can't survive without smoker's revenue (as proven by the Paradise), then I'd recommend anyone wanting to breath only fresh air stay out of Casino, Piano Bar, and the specific side of the Lido Deck that allows smoking. I personally don't care for the smell of farts after we've all eaten ourselves into oblivion, but the wind takes care of that :) :)

 

I still think we can all live and cruise in peace and in respect....

A very very very large percentage of the US population does not smoke. The problem with Paradise in my opinion is that this percentage doesn't know about Paradise!!!

Smokers' revenue, as you put it, is not at issue. Many nonsmokers drink and gamble. This is where lots of the profits exist. Normally this would be no problem at all.

Of course, the people who do drink and gamble and don't smoke by and large do not KNOW about Paradise, and so many of the people aboard are nondrinkers/nongamblers. The millions of dollars in the red are not a result of not having cigarette sales, I don't think.

The week after one of our cruises, there was a group of a few HUNDRED Jehovah's Witnesses coming aboard. I wonder how much profit that cruise made.

Now, I wouldn't mind banning smoking internationally and offering immediate life imprisonment to those who smoke ;).......I'm not very happy with our smoking culture and I have bad reactions to smoke, as far as my body is concerned.

the one lesson smokers have yet to learn:

NO MATTER WHAT, THE SMOKE IS ALWAYS MAGNETICALLY DRAWN TO THE NONSMOKERS NEARBY!!

It can be downwind, upwind, next wind or broken wind, but the smoke always reaches the wrong nostrils.

 

The problem with this is that if that study is correct, the points made about 'they can't stop smoking if they don't stop the fatty foods' and so on, are absolutely ridiculous.

EATING PREFERENCES are UP TO YOU! YOU CONTROL YOUR EATING!

SMOKING IS YOUR CHOICE, BUT THE NONSMOKERS ABOARD CANNOT AND I REPEAT CANNOT

CHOOSE

NOT TO BREATHE!

 

 

 

For now, I'll have one more cruise on....

 

 

the Smoke Free FunShip:

De.Az PARADISE

(Carnival Cruise Line) USCG Callsign 3FOB5 LR#9120877

[halos]

A little off topic, but to keep things lite:

 

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on

nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those

conflicting medical studies:

 

1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than

Americans.

 

2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than

Americans.

 

3. Africans drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks

than Americans.

 

4. The French drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer

heart attacks than Americans.

 

5. Germans drink a lot of beer, eat lots of sausages and fats, yet

still suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

 

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is

apparently what kills you.

 

 

I just ROFLMAOPMP!!!!!!!!!

 

Very good!!!!! :D

[Cotton]

.........Of course, the people who do drink and gamble and don't smoke by and large do not KNOW about Paradise......

 

If these folks are reasonably intelligent, they can find out. If I hated smoke so much, I'd certainly make it MY priority to find out if there is a non-smoking ship! So, I think saying "they don't know about Paradise" is a moot point. If it's so important to them, then it's THEIR responsibility to ASK a travel agent, get on the internet, or anything else to FIND OUT for themselves if such a ship exists.

 

 

.........The millions of dollars in the red are not a result of not having cigarette sales, I don't think......

 

WHO is in the red? Certainly not Carnival! Have you by any chance seen Carnival Corporation's figures for the past two years? I don't think any corporation that owns seven (7 !!) cruise lines and is continuing to build new ships is anything but in the BLACK.

 

 

......The week after one of our cruises, there was a group of a few HUNDRED Jehovah's Witnesses coming aboard. I wonder how much profit that cruise made.....

 

A few hundred passengers is a drop in the bucket on a cruise of thousands. :rolleyes:

[halos]

I am extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke, as are both my daughters. [SIZE=4]I have never experienced more than a slight irritation while cruising[/SIZE]. [COLOR=Indigo]My last cruise I didn't smell smoke inside the ship at all except in the bar areas and the casino, and the air (at least on the Miracle) seemed to be filtered very well and I really didn't get the overwhelming feeling of choking to death like I would if I were in a bar on land....so I have to say that the smoking honestly didn't affect me at all.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]My daughter (the youngest) did have problems with being out on her balcony...in fact she had a few problems...first being the smoke that drifted from the cabin next door seemed to hit her all the time...and secondly, these smokers next door to her were tossing their butts out off the balcony and intentionally making a pile of them on the lifeboat below (we had 7A balconies)...which is disgusting.
I know all the smokers on this board may get pissed at me but I will say this anyway...your smoking would be a LOT less disgusting to us non smokers if you weren't such pigs with and inconsiderate of how you tend to 'trash' the place wherever you go.
[SIZE=5]My apologies to the 'neat and considerate smokers' who do not fall into this category. [/SIZE] The rest of you should take a good look at where you toss the butts and actaully open your eyes and see how it looks to walk down city streets, along beaches, or wherever and see butts all over the place.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Something really great is happening in a small beach town up here in Maine, called Old Orchard Beach.
Currently, the laws in Maine are extermely strict with smoking. They took smoking out of all restaurants, then they took it out of BARS!!! (this was huge!!) Even the prisons took smoking away from prisoners....amazing!
Now, because smokers are forced to always be outdoors to smoke (unless they are in their own homes) there are butts littering some streets where there are concentrations of restaurants/bars.
The powers that be in lovely Old Orchard are trying to have laws passed that have the restaurants/bars clean up outside their establishments, any trash (meaning butts) or else be fined heavily.
God, I love Maine!!!![/COLOR]

[Cotton]

[b][color=darkslategray]Hi Halos. (I'm one of those considerate smokers, I promise.):) We have similiar ordinances here, as well. I would never even think about throwing a butt out the car window or on a street. That IS disgusting, and I'm very anti-litter - as well as being on a 'coast beautification' committee. [/color][/b]

[b][color=#2f4f4f]That is awful about those folks tossing their cigarettes into the lifeboat! (I hope you reported it to the purser!?) That is definitely a safety hazard. I'm sure those idiots had ashtrays in their cabin. Tossing cigarettes overboard is such a hazard. Anybody with any common sense should know that the wind could carry a lighted tossed cigarette onto another deck. That's downright scary! On deck, there are built-in ashtrays all along the outside walkways, so there's no reason to toss one overboard. How stupid of folks to do that.[/color][/b]

[sutton]

I don't smoke, and I prefer to avoid being around people who choose to smoke. I've sailed on PARADISE, and other "smoking" ships as well, so I've seen both sides of the coin.

All things considered, maybe I've been fortunate that the smokers I've sailed with have, with few exceptions, been quite considerate and have limited their smoking to the designated areas. And in those areas where smoking is permitted, I can usually manage to avoid them.

Smoking is very addictive (some say it's worse than heroin), so I don't expect smokers to stop smoking just because I'm there. But on the other hand, us non-smokers are entitled to our space (and clean air), too. Mutual consideration is needed, and this, IMHO, is what's lacking - on BOTH sides.

What gets me riled-up is the rising cost of health care...govt. subsidies of the tobacco industry...yadda-yadda-yadda...but that's a discussion for another thread, eh? ;)

[hilltopfamily]

[size=3][color=blue]If I knew how to do a poll, I think the results of this question would be interesting. [/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff][/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff]For those that do NOT smoke and HAVE sailed both on: [/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff]1). Carnival ships that allow smoking and on [/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff]2). the Paradise during non-smoking itineraries, [/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff][/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#0000ff]how did the 2 compare? Were you "bothered" by smoking on the 1st choice enough to ONLY sail on the 2nd choice in the future? Or, was the smoking a small enough disturbance that you would continue cruising on ships allowing smoking in order to have the wider variety of itineraries & cruise ships & cruise lines to go on? Maybe this is what "did in" the Paradise as a non-smoking ship? Perhaps those that are disturbed by smoke are not "all that" bothered by it (except encountering the occasional rude & gross smokers as mentioned above who have no consideration for litter or for others). Hope this makes sense! Just sitting here wondering?! :rolleyes: [/color][/size]

[DeckCadet]

[quote name='Cotton'][quote name='DeckCadet'].........Of course, the people who do drink and gamble and don't smoke by and large do not KNOW about Paradise......[QUOTE]

[b][color=darkslategray]If these folks are reasonably intelligent, they can find out. If I hated smoke so much, I'd certainly make it MY priority to find out if there is a non-smoking ship! So, I think saying "[i]they don't know[/i] [i]about Paradise[/i]" is a moot point. If it's so important to them, then it's THEIR responsibility to ASK a travel agent, get on the internet, or anything else to FIND OUT for themselves if such a ship exists.[/color][/b]
[b][color=#2f4f4f][/color][/b]
[b][color=#2f4f4f]--------------------------------------------------------------------------[/color][/b]
[b][color=blue]If there were more nonsmoking ships I'd expect them to do research, but if they haven't heard about it by chance from someone they know, the internet, their TA or the small print next to Paradise in the brochures, they aren't likely to know......Carnival doesn't advertise it now, and hasn't done any i've seen for the only nonsmoking cruise ship on TV or any other media in the past several years. I'm sure if they put forth some extra money to get the word out, they would have no problems.[/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]--------------------------------------------------------------[/color][/b]

[QUOTE].........The millions of dollars in the red are not a result of not having cigarette sales, I don't think......[QUOTE]

[b][color=darkslategray]WHO is in the red? Certainly not Carnival! Have you by any chance seen Carnival Corporation's figures for the past two years? I don't think any corporation that owns seven (7 !!) cruise lines and is continuing to build new ships is anything but in the BLACK. [/color][/b]
====================================================
[color=blue][b]Not Carnival as a whole, but Paradise as a unit is (or at least was prior to the 12/7/03-12/14/03 cruise, when Captain Garuccio sent out the message to the crew about the loss of the nonsmoking status and canal voyage in September) operating in the red. This was the reason the men upstairs chose to make the change....[/b][/color]
=====================================================

[QUOTE]......The week after one of our cruises, there was a group of a few HUNDRED Jehovah's Witnesses coming aboard. I wonder how much profit that cruise made.....[QUOTE]

[b][color=darkslategray]A few hundred passengers is a drop in the bucket on a cruise of thousands. :rolleyes: [/color][/b][/QUOTE]--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[b][color=blue]What I neglected to mention here was:[/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]1) a few hundred means I cannot remember the number of hundreds I was told. this could be anywhere from 300 to 700 or more! I know it was a very large figure..even for a cruise ship.[/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]2) It's a big splash at least on a ship with a double occupancy capacity of 2052.[/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff][/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff][/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]------------------------------------------------------------------[/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]many of our family friends smoke, but my grandmother and i are pretty much allergic to the smoke. Paradise was a safe haven. We know a large part of smokers are very considerate. Not that they have a choice where the wind blows the smoke, right at the bullseyes painted on the noses and mouths of every nonsmoker. I like to go out on deck and onto the balcony to smell the sea air, not cigarette smoke. [/color][/b]
[b][color=#0000ff]What I am most nervous about is not cabins, not the majority of the smokers, but the few inconsiderate smokers. The ones who drop and stamp out their butts on the hallway carpets, railings, in cups on the stairways, or who smoke on the nonsmoking side of the public areas, and may cause the results shown in the original article that was posted here, to the people attempting to avoid it. As I said before, you can choose to smoke, but if you smoke in a nonsmoking area or near nonsmokers, they can't choose not to breathe. If they don't move away quickly, the smoke will affect them. My grandmother starts coughing and sometimes gets short of breath. I would hate to experience her having problems on a cruise, which we both love, because of one of the inconsiderate and rude smokers who don't care about their fellow passengers, unlike the majority of those who share their little vices :)[/color][/b]

[imsulin]

Cotton - can you visualize me applauding your posts? I hope so, because it seems that you and I have very similar takes on the smoking issue. I always ask those around me - even in the open-air smoking areas, if they mind if I smoke. I always ask those on either side of my balcony if they mind if I smoke, and to please let me know if it bothers them. I don't like rude and inconsiderate smokers, either, and several times have politely pointed out that they are in a no-smoking area, and have offered to show them the smoking areas where we can all light up together. I was once on a Holland America ship where a group of very vocal non-smoking ladies came to our aft outside area of exactly six tables with ashtrays, removed the ashtrays (threw them in a trash can!) from two tables, and pushed them together. They then proceeded to complain loud and long about the smoking, while they chose to sit in the very small smoking area with tables. We didn't even have to say anything. One of the crew confronted them about removing the ashtrays, and asked them to leave. They did, and he separated the tables and replaced the ashtrays. Consideration about smoking works both ways. I try to do my share - hope the other side does the same. Cotton, just want to say that I enjoy all of your posts - you always have great information! Thanks.

[halos]

I applaud you as well, and I say this as a non-smoker.
You are right on about some non-smokers. Not all rude folks are ones who smoke. I know a lot of non-smokers who act like idiots, pulling stunts like the one you mentioned...it's disgraceful.
If everyone took a minute and thought/cared about what affect the things they said or did had on other people, the world would be a nicer place.

As for my cruise, I am sure there were a huge amount of people on that ship that were smokers, but it honestly was not all that bad, and like I said, I really hate cigarette smoke.
So, as for the poll by hilltop, I'd fall into the category where I'd definitely not need to look for a non-smoking ship. The smoke was not that bad at all. My cabin never smelled of smoke and it isn't allowed in the dining areas...that's all that matters to me!! I don't like to sleep in it or feel like I'm eating it!!

[imsulin]

Thanks, halos! I've never experienced a smoke smell in any of my cabins, either. I don't even smoke in my own house (go outside), and I'm the only one here, except for the two rescued kitties who have chosen to live with me, and rule my domain! I appreciate your post very much, and if you and I are ever on a cruise together, trust me...I will NOT offend you by smoking near you! However, I will treat you to the drink of the day.....:)!

[halos]

imsulin,
I WILL take you up on that!! I like those Miami Vice's a LOT.
My girlfriend (after having a few of them) started calling them 'Don Johnsons'!!

Have you read the Miracle review by valentina yet???

[SallyMay]

[size=3][color=purple]For some reason I feel like I'm watching a boxing match. Smokers in one corner and non-smokers in the other. In most cases these same people are very nice and are willing to give out advice in any other thread than this one, jeans, etc. When will we learn that everybody has their own opinons and just be nice? I respect both sides and yes I do smoke and consider myself to be considerate of others. I stay on the smoking side, don't throw butts overboard and never put cigs out on the deck. I do stay away from the non-smoking side and Lord knows I don't smoke in the hallways, elevators or light up outside the dining area while I wait. Lets consider both sides and be nice to one another. You would in other circumstances. Peace[/color][/size]