Official : Celebrity Revamps Smoking Policy Effective 10/1/08

[zalusky]

Due to this new smoking policy - We will be freeing up a Sky Suite

on the Millie for Feb 09 - My DH is a smoker but he only smoked

on the balcony or in the bars that allowed smoking. So now with

this new policy - Celebrity is loosing our business which was over $12,000

Yes you will probably Flame me but he has smoked for over 50 years

and not about to stop but he is very considerate of others.

Francine

 

Thank you for that.

[FinelyCruising]

The cruise line is not entirely smoke free at this point and I agree that there might be a way to offer a particular block of cabins to those who smoke and indicate those cabins with balconies are smoke free balconies and still maintain goodwill and eliminate the alienation they have now created. I feel pretty certain that there would be a large amount of respect and compliance by smoking cruisers since one of the major changes that have occurred over all these years is a cognizant consideration by smokers to others who do not smoke.

 

The cruise line obviously feels pretty good about being able to clean up cabins and convert them from smoked to freshened since they assigned a fee of $250.00 to enable them to do so for guests who fail to comply. So if smoking cabin demand falls short of the block, they do know how to sanitize them for the next guest.

 

Over time the placement of ashtrays have eliminated the areas of opportunity to use cigarettes. I recall on ships the ashtrays used to be right at the elevators. Alot has changed, and I think there ought to be a fairness for those who enjoy tobacco without all the rock throwing. Particularly since many here have been cruising Celebrity with the policy as it was up until now and haven't died from it.

[Captain Jake]

 

Over time the placement of ashtrays have eliminated the areas of opportunity to use cigarettes. I recall on ships the ashtrays used to be right at the elevators. Alot has changed, and I think there ought to be a fairness for those who enjoy tobacco without all the rock throwing. Particularly since many here have been cruising Celebrity with the policy as it was up until now and haven't died from it.

 

 

I must agree the non-smokers here haven't died from it:cool:

[DC2OC]

The cruise line is not entirely smoke free at this point and I agree that there might be a way to offer a particular block of cabins to those who smoke and indicate those cabins with balconies are smoke free balconies and still maintain goodwill and eliminate the alienation they have now created. I feel pretty certain that there would be a large amount of respect and compliance by smoking cruisers since one of the major changes that have occurred over all these years is a cognizant consideration by smokers to others who do not smoke.

 

The cruise line obviously feels pretty good about being able to clean up cabins and convert them from smoked to freshened since they assigned a fee of $250.00 to enable them to do so for guests who fail to comply. So if smoking cabin demand falls short of the block, they do know how to sanitize them for the next guest.

 

Over time the placement of ashtrays have eliminated the areas of opportunity to use cigarettes. I recall on ships the ashtrays used to be right at the elevators. Alot has changed, and I think there ought to be a fairness for those who enjoy tobacco without all the rock throwing. Particularly since many here have been cruising Celebrity with the policy as it was up until now and haven't died from it.

 

 

I believe the new policy is fair to both smokers and non-smokers though I feel that if some slots are set asides for smokers some game tables should be also.In the past when non-smokers tried to get half the cabins set aside as smoke free we were told it wasn't possible,something about spoilage.While I see your point the industry feels it's all or nothing as far as cabins go and in this case the majority should win.

[Drew B]

I would like to go to the casino every night; not just on formal nights! Plus, smoking on non-formal nights makes the casino stink 100% of the time.

 

I have news for you, deeva. Under the announced policy, smoking will be allowed in part of the casino all day, every day. Don't you think that will make the casino stink 100% of the time, too? You're not going to get away from the issue of "stinking" any better under the announced plan than you would under Gonzo's plan...

[Bozo]

Due to this new smoking policy - We will be freeing up a Sky Suite

on the Millie for Feb 09 - My DH is a smoker but he only smoked

on the balcony or in the bars that allowed smoking. So now with

this new policy - Celebrity is loosing our business which was over $12,000

Yes you will probably Flame me but he has smoked for over 50 years

and not about to stop but he is very considerate of others.

Francine

I agree with you

[Drew B]

I believe the new policy is fair to both smokers and non-smokers though I feel that if some slots are set asides for smokers some game tables should be also.In the past when non-smokers tried to get half the cabins set aside as smoke free we were told it wasn't possible,something about spoilage.While I see your point the industry feels it's all or nothing as far as cabins go and in this case the majority should win.

 

<big hug>

 

I was fantasizing last night and was thinking how they should just take the space that is currently Michael's club and turn it into an auxilliary smoking casino. Then, they could get all of the smoking out of the main casino and have some actual separation so that those who want clean air would actually have it (instead of just the pretense that the smoke will stay in the smoking section of the slot machines). Meanwhile, smokers could still gamble and have both table games and slot machines.

 

It seems there are so many bars on board. I don't know if people would miss Michael's as it is now. I know I wouldn't, but if many others would, then this might not be a good idea. It always looked pretty empty on the 2 X cruises I've taken, but who knows?

[usha]

<big hug>

 

I was fantasizing last night and was thinking how they should just take the space that is currently Michael's club and turn it into an auxilliary smoking casino.

What....no Perry Grant??????

I'm kidding; I can't take 5 minutes of that guy, (or most other piano bar lounge lizards):rolleyes: so I don't hang out in Michael's club anyway.

Drew, you might be onto something....:)

[blong2200]

Can anyone on this forum........Captain Club member, just regular Celebrity cruiser, or a stockholder, tell me if they received a survey asking their opinion about smoking in the staterooms, balconies or casinos? I have been a member of the Captain Club for seven years and have never received an email from them, or a Captain Club newsletter with coupons in it. I have to go to Celebrity web site to look for the Captains Club newsletter.

 

I have been on six Celebrity cruises, I have never spend time in my stateroom or balcony smoking cigarettes all day and can't imagine that any other smokers have either. Most of us smokers have a cigarette in the morning in our stateroom bathroom when we are doing our 'morning business' and then head to the pool or excursion, or go do something to entertain ourselves. The only other time I have smoked in my room is when I am having a glass of wine before dinner or right before I go to bed at night.

 

I also do not believe that Celebrity can enforce this rule with their staff or entertainer who smoke. I am aware that staff is allowed to smoke in their rooms as long as everyone in the room agrees and they have a smoking lounge for employees.

 

So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

[deeva211]

I have news for you, deeva. Under the announced policy, smoking will be allowed in part of the casino all day, every day. Don't you think that will make the casino stink 100% of the time, too? You're not going to get away from the issue of "stinking" any better under the announced plan than you would under Gonzo's plan...

 

I am fully aware that there will be a small slot area for smoking and I agree that smoke will drift into the non-smoking area. Hopefully, they will have the ventilation system working well over there. If smoking were allowed at some tables though, the smoke would be more centralized in the casino and it would be much more difficult to evade the smoke.

[marle7]

Can anyone on this forum........Captain Club member, just regular Celebrity cruiser, or a stockholder, tell me if they received a survey asking their opinion about smoking in the staterooms, balconies or casinos? I have been a member of the Captain Club for seven years and have never received an email from them, or a Captain Club newsletter with coupons in it. I have to go to Celebrity web site to look for the Captains Club newsletter.

 

I have been on six Celebrity cruises, I have never spend time in my stateroom or balcony smoking cigarettes all day and can't imagine that any other smokers have either. Most of us smokers have a cigarette in the morning in our stateroom bathroom when we are doing our 'morning business' and then head to the pool or excursion, or go do something to entertain ourselves. The only other time I have smoked in my room is when I am having a glass of wine before dinner or right before I go to bed at night.

 

I also do not believe that Celebrity can enforce this rule with their staff or entertainer who smoke. I am aware that staff is allowed to smoke in their rooms as long as everyone in the room agrees and they have a smoking lounge for employees.

 

So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

 

Nope.

[usha]

at night. So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

I did not get a survey asking my opinion on the subject, but something tells me that your votes & my votes would have cancelled each other out.

Consider it a draw.:o

[Karynanne]

Can anyone on this forum........Captain Club member, just regular Celebrity cruiser, or a stockholder, tell me if they received a survey asking their opinion about smoking in the staterooms, balconies or casinos? I have been a member of the Captain Club for seven years and have never received an email from them, or a Captain Club newsletter with coupons in it. I have to go to Celebrity web site to look for the Captains Club newsletter.

 

I have been on six Celebrity cruises, I have never spend time in my stateroom or balcony smoking cigarettes all day and can't imagine that any other smokers have either. Most of us smokers have a cigarette in the morning in our stateroom bathroom when we are doing our 'morning business' and then head to the pool or excursion, or go do something to entertain ourselves. The only other time I have smoked in my room is when I am having a glass of wine before dinner or right before I go to bed at night.

 

I also do not believe that Celebrity can enforce this rule with their staff or entertainer who smoke. I am aware that staff is allowed to smoke in their rooms as long as everyone in the room agrees and they have a smoking lounge for employees.

 

So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

 

I got that survey. It was sent via email, after one our recent cruises. It addressed the general post-cruise questions, and then continued with questions regarding smoking.

[Drew B]

I am fully aware that there will be a small slot area for smoking and I agree that smoke will drift into the non-smoking area. Hopefully, they will have the ventilation system working well over there. If smoking were allowed at some tables though, the smoke would be more centralized in the casino and it would be much more difficult to evade the smoke.

 

Depends where they put it. They COULD rearrange and simply move 2 or 3 tables into whichever area they determine to be the smoking section. All it would take is a little elbow grease and adjusting a few cameras... I know that on Mercury, one of the tables was separate from all of the others, but I'm not sure why.

[blong2200]

So far, we have ONE PERSON, who actually received a survey with a mention of smoking.

 

How many passengers does Celebrity accomodate each year? Their is no way I will ever believe that a majority of Celebrity Captain Club members or stockholders were ask their opinion on this subject!

 

Anyone else?

[JCDeck]

Both my husband and I received the survey in our separate e-mails.

[TRadle]

Can anyone on this forum........Captain Club member, just regular Celebrity cruiser, or a stockholder, tell me if they received a survey asking their opinion about smoking in the staterooms, balconies or casinos? I have been a member of the Captain Club for seven years and have never received an email from them, or a Captain Club newsletter with coupons in it. I have to go to Celebrity web site to look for the Captains Club newsletter.

 

I have been on six Celebrity cruises, I have never spend time in my stateroom or balcony smoking cigarettes all day and can't imagine that any other smokers have either. Most of us smokers have a cigarette in the morning in our stateroom bathroom when we are doing our 'morning business' and then head to the pool or excursion, or go do something to entertain ourselves. The only other time I have smoked in my room is when I am having a glass of wine before dinner or right before I go to bed at night.

 

I also do not believe that Celebrity can enforce this rule with their staff or entertainer who smoke. I am aware that staff is allowed to smoke in their rooms as long as everyone in the room agrees and they have a smoking lounge for employees.

 

So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

 

I got the survey and expressed my desire for a smoke free ship. I'm a happy cruiser!!:D

 

I also didn't notice that many people smoking on our cruise in March.

[jerseyk]

No we did not receive one and we have sailed with them 5 times.

[coffeebean]

We are talking about two different things here. Ohio also banned smoking indoors about the same time with similiar results. A lot of outdoor patios popped up where smoking was allowed but thats not the point.

 

The point is that RCL's competitors do allow smoking, be it Princess, Carnival, NCL, HAL. Its a lot easier to pick a cruise line based on your addiction than say "Hey, I want to smoke, lets drive to Indiana tonight."

 

They ARE going to lose revenue over this.

 

Lose revenue??? I don't think so....Celebrity will lose their smoking customers but gain non smoking customers who may not have sailed on them before. In fact, Celebrity will probably have more customers now than ever before. I keep reading on this thread that the US population is 80% non smokers. I think that's a bit high but I do see so much less smoking now. Chances are there will be lots of folks coming to Celebrity from other lines who will embrace Celebrity's new smoking policy.

[JCDeck]

I still am of the mindset that these decisions are not made lightly, I think they are fully aware they are going to pi$$ off a certain number of people and they are prepared for that. I do feel empathy for all that do smoke and I can't say I'm unhappy about the change but I take no glee in their unhappiness about it. I hope eventually it will all work to everyones' satisfaction.

[hajekfam]

Can anyone on this forum........Captain Club member, just regular Celebrity cruiser, or a stockholder, tell me if they received a survey asking their opinion about smoking in the staterooms, balconies or casinos? I have been a member of the Captain Club for seven years and have never received an email from them, or a Captain Club newsletter with coupons in it. I have to go to Celebrity web site to look for the Captains Club newsletter.

 

I have been on six Celebrity cruises, I have never spend time in my stateroom or balcony smoking cigarettes all day and can't imagine that any other smokers have either. Most of us smokers have a cigarette in the morning in our stateroom bathroom when we are doing our 'morning business' and then head to the pool or excursion, or go do something to entertain ourselves. The only other time I have smoked in my room is when I am having a glass of wine before dinner or right before I go to bed at night.

 

I also do not believe that Celebrity can enforce this rule with their staff or entertainer who smoke. I am aware that staff is allowed to smoke in their rooms as long as everyone in the room agrees and they have a smoking lounge for employees.

 

So, did you get a survery asking your opinion on this subject?

Several pages ago in this thread, I mentioned the smoking survey that I received after my last cruise(s) and asked if others had received it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=14194899#post14194899

At the time I received the survey, I figured that some sort of change was in the works even posting to that idea on another thread days ago where someone was questioning their docs that said the cabins were non-smoking.

[lovesublime]

Lose revenue??? I don't think so....Celebrity will lose their smoking customers but gain non smoking customers who may not have sailed on them before. In fact, Celebrity will probably have more customers now than ever before. I keep reading on this thread that the US population is 80% non smokers. I think that's a bit high but I do see so much less smoking now. Chances are there will be lots of folks coming to Celebrity from other lines who will embrace Celebrity's new smoking policy.

 

Very true. If you read any of the other boards everyone would see that people are jumping ship on other cruise lines and making plans for X. This is what a LOT of people have been waiting for. I am one of them. Our next cruise is on Celebrity.

[usha]

Very true. If you read any of the other boards everyone would see that people are jumping ship on other cruise lines and making plans for X. This is what a LOT of people have been waiting for. I am one of them. Our next cruise is on Celebrity.

This is no surprise, and I'm guessing we'll see LOTS more "new" Celebrity pax as a result of the new smoking policy.:)

[Dalmar]

So far, we have ONE PERSON, who actually received a survey with a mention of smoking.

 

How many passengers does Celebrity accomodate each year? Their is no way I will ever believe that a majority of Celebrity Captain Club members or stockholders were ask their opinion on this subject!

 

Anyone else?

 

I wasn't asked either and I am both Captain's Club member and a stockholder. I don't recall seeing anything mentioning that a majority of any type of customer was polled though. Most "polls" are BS anyway. I guarantee you a professional pollster can word a survey that will result in whatever outcome is desired.

[raudacruise]

Lose revenue??? I don't think so....Celebrity will lose their smoking customers but gain non smoking customers who may not have sailed on them before. In fact, Celebrity will probably have more customers now than ever before. I keep reading on this thread that the US population is 80% non smokers. I think that's a bit high but I do see so much less smoking now. Chances are there will be lots of folks coming to Celebrity from other lines who will embrace Celebrity's new smoking policy.

 

OK, you agree that 80% of US is non-smoking is probably high. Lets say its 75%. Lets add on that European non-smoking is considerably less. But lets say 75%.

 

Thats still 75% of the population.

 

Frankly, I don't smoke but I do like to cruise. And Celebrity has made cutbacks to ship maintanence to the point it would be nice if they focused on that instead of this.

 

And they will lose revenue. A respected TA on this thread said she had 10 cancellations today (thats just one). Others have said they would be doing the same thing.

 

Less revenue, more cutbacks. RCL's credit is now at junk level, if they can't get it together expect some ships to depart.