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

[marle7]

Well then you would win. How old is your son, it seems quite off to me for the cruiseline to ask a kid tell his parents this....does your son smoke? Sounds like someone was telling on someone as I predicted will happen on X, but you were on the balcony. This new rule says no smoking out there....

 

So how well were the stewards tipped after that debacle??? That's my point.

 

He is 15 and he doesn't smoke. We had a meeting in our room with the cabin attendant, the room supervisor, the chief housekeeper and the hotel director. the cabin attendant at that meeting stated that he knew we HAD NOT been smoking in our cabin and that he had never been asked by anyone if we had been.

 

His boss, the housekeeping supervisor, had been in to check his work in our cabin. We had just left, so it is possible that some smoke drifted in from the balcony. So she smelled a "bit" of smoke, which is a whole lot different than she would have smelled if someone had actually been smoking in the cabin, and took it upon herself to decide that we had been. The hotel director and the chief housekeeper were appalled when they were apprised of what had happened. What we got was an overzealous supervisor trying to enforce a new policy. I don't have a scanner, or I'd post the apology letter I received.

It was more unacceptable that she chose to lecture my son, who was then put in the position of arguing with a person who was in officer clothing or defending his parents since he knew we hadn't been smoking in there. she should have just said to him, please tell your parents I stopped by and would like to speak with them.

 

In fact, I was always yelling at my husband and son to "close the balcony door" when they were going in or out.

 

We still tipped our cabin attendant. He was great the whole trip and he did speak up for us in front of several higher ranking people on the ship. He's got to work for them, us he'd never see again.

[dkjretired]

There have been smoking sides of the ship and its cabins and non smoking sides of the ship and its cabins. Did you know that you could have selected a balcony on the non-smoking side the whole time?

 

That was not possible as Celebrity never had non smoking cabins or veranda's on either side of the ship. The port/starboard regulations only applied to public areas.

[raudacruise]

There have been smoking sides of the ship and its cabins and non smoking sides of the ship and its cabins. Did you know that you could have selected a balcony on the non-smoking side the whole time?

 

There have never been smoking/nonsmoking cabins on Celebrity based on what sides of the ship. The smoking/nonsmoking was only for public areas.

[esther e]

Oceania has a zero tolerance towards smoking in staterooms and balconies as well as no smoking at all in the casino. There are 2 small areas where one can smoke. Interestingly enough, every ship they own are filled on each cruise.

[FinelyCruising]

He is 15 and he doesn't smoke. We had a meeting in our room with the cabin attendant, the room supervisor, the chief housekeeper and the hotel director. the cabin attendant at that meeting stated that he knew we HAD NOT been smoking in our cabin and that he had never been asked by anyone if we had been.

 

His boss, the housekeeping supervisor, had been in to check his work in our cabin. We had just left, so it is possible that some smoke drifted in from the balcony. So she smelled a "bit" of smoke, which is a whole lot different than she would have smelled if someone had actually been smoking in the cabin, and took it upon herself to decide that we had been. The hotel director and the chief housekeeper were appalled when they were apprised of what had happened. What we got was an overzealous supervisor trying to enforce a new policy. I don't have a scanner, or I'd post the apology letter I received.

It was more unacceptable that she chose to lecture my son, who was then put in the position of arguing with a person who was in officer clothing or defending his parents since he knew we hadn't been smoking in there. she should have just said to him, please tell your parents I stopped by and would like to speak with them.

 

In fact, I was always yelling at my husband and son to "close the balcony door" when they were going in or out.

 

We still tipped our cabin attendant. He was great the whole trip and he did speak up for us in front of several higher ranking people on the ship. He's got to work for them, us he'd never see again.

 

Yikes, what an ordeal....

 

And they don't stop people from entering the dining room when they are obviously, openly, and clearly in deference to the attire....

[FinelyCruising]

There have never been smoking/nonsmoking cabins on Celebrity based on what sides of the ship. The smoking/nonsmoking was only for public areas.

 

I don't think that's true by policy...I think savvy smokers have understood more often than not which side was which in courtesy and consideration of others.

[Dalmar]

After ten years of sailing, we will now consider a balcony cabin. In the past we have refused to pay for a balcony, knowing that chances were very good that we would be inundated with desperate smokers around us. Kudos to Celebrity!

 

Come on. Unbelievable premise and insulting. You can do better.

[FinelyCruising]

Don...ditto.

[Captain Jake]

what a great day for the cruise world.This will be a huge success for RCI.3 Cheers for Celebrity.HIP HIP HORRAY!

HIP HIP HORRAY! HIP HIP HORRAY!

[raudacruise]

Sorry, your argument that this will "narrow its market" doesn't fly. Here in the state of Washington smoking was banned in almost every public indoor area two years ago. Thousands of bar and restaurant owners said they would be out of business in no time. In reality, two years later--bars and restaurants who said they would be out of business are thriving. I think that this move will make X grow. I am betting that there are plenty of cruisers on Princess, Costa and HAL alone who may switch because like the majority of non-smokers who have posted on this thread, they are sick of smoke.

 

We had a horrible time in the tiny Martini Bar on Century last November and all I can say today is HALLELUJAH!!!

 

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.

[dkjretired]

Don...ditto.

 

As much as I hate to, I have to disagree with you but in a couple of months its a moot point...

[FinelyCruising]

Wouldn't it be more acceptable and friendly to consider smoking on these boards a preference?

[Drew B]

I predict that this new policy will be a big hit and the casinos will not suffer. If a smoker can't sit for a couple of hours at the tables or sleep overnight without having withdrawal, he/she is dire need of help.

 

I freely admit that I can't be at a blackjack table and not smoke. In all other areas of my life, I can curtail my smoking to almost nothing. It's almost 7:00 P.M. right now, and I have yet to smoke my first cigarette. That is not unusual for me, and I will often only smoke 2-3 cigarettes a day. If I choose to, I can go days without smoking with very little difficulty.

 

Put me in a casino, though, and the urge becomes overwhelming. I can barely go a half hour without a cigarette. It's clearly a response to the adreneline rush that comes from gambling, but at those times, I feel the actual addiction. It's biochemical and it's intense.

[Captain Jake]

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.

 

Hey,I want a ship where I can enjoy my balcony smoke free.Lets sail with Celebrity...........If they have any cabins left

[FinelyCruising]

As much as I hate to, I have to disagree with you but in a couple of months its a moot point...

 

Don't worry about it...in a few months there will be new issues we might not have dreamed of at this time. Look at the nonsense Marle7's son went through. That's criminal.

[raudacruise]

I don't think that's true by policy...I think savvy smokers have understood more often than not which side was which in courtesy and consideration of others.

 

Don't know what a "savvy smoker" is but on 4 X cruises their have been smokers port/starboard/aft. Don't smoke anymore but it doesn't bother me. But there has never been rules or even suggestions about smoking on your own balcony.

[FinelyCruising]

I freely admit that I can't be at a blackjack table and not smoke. In all other areas of my life, I can curtail my smoking to almost nothing. It's almost 7:00 P.M. right now, and I have yet to smoke my first cigarette. That is not unusual for me, and I will often only smoke 2-3 cigarettes a day. If I choose to, I can go days without smoking with very little difficulty.

 

Put me in a casino, though, and the urge becomes overwhelming. I can barely go a half hour without a cigarette. It's clearly a response to the adreneline rush that comes from gambling, but at those times, I feel the actual addiction. It's biochemical and it's intense.

 

Drew I think it's anxiety, but I just drink a bit to hold it off...ergo my desire for free drinks while gambling!:D

[FinelyCruising]

Don't know what a "savvy smoker" is but on 4 X cruises their have been smokers port/starboard/aft. Don't smoke anymore but it doesn't bother me. But there has never been rules or even suggestions about smoking on your own balcony.

 

There has been plenty of dialog on these boards for years about smoking and considering others than there have been raised digits in defiance of others who don't IMHO. Smokers know where to go me thinks, they have to in order to avoid an awful lot....

[Drew B]

Everyone, be honest with yourselves. Carnival tried this with one ship and had disastorous results.

 

I think this is a very different scenario than Carnival had with the Paradise. That was an ENTIRELY NON-SMOKING ship. There is no way that smokers could take a trip on it without suffering withdrawal. What Celebrity is implementing is not a total non-smoking policy. It is a set of restrictions. Smokers still CAN choose to sail on this line without suffering anything more than some inconvenience. Many will refuse to sail with them based on the inconvenience, but some smokers will stay. Also, if other lines follow suit, many smokers will come back. They would rather cruise with limited smoking permitted than not cruise at all. And with the possibility to smoke SOMEWHERE aboard, they can make that choice...

 

I congratulate Celebrity for making a change. I just think that they swung the pendulum too far. They could have made SOME cabins/balconies non-smoking, but maintained some that still allowed it. They could have kept the casino, both tables and slots, open in some areas to smokers and to other areas to non-smokers...

 

We will see if the result is good. The all-or-practically-nothing paradigm puzzles me, though. I would think more of a compromise would have made more sense.

[Drew B]

Drew I think it's anxiety, but I just drink a bit to hold it off...ergo my desire for free drinks while gambling!:D

 

Drinks don't curb my anxiety like a cigarette does. At least not this particular anxiety...

[FinelyCruising]

Well that's because you are still a smoker.:rolleyes:

[greeneg]

For what it's worth, my source told me that the actual, bottom line reason for the policy change was input from the Insurers as a result of the Princess fire which apparently was blamed on a cigarette. I'm sure that the smoking/no smoking polls had some effect, but increased costs/risks was the reason that I was told.

 

As an additional aside, the rules certainly were inforced on Azamara Quest last January, and I understand that some passengers have been disembarked by Azamara for not following the rules.

 

Given the fact that you can no longer smoke in the Cafes of Paris, I suspect that Celebrity can make this work.......

[raudacruise]

I think this is a very different scenario than Carnival had with the Paradise. That was an ENTIRELY NON-SMOKING ship. There is no way that smokers could take a trip on it without suffering withdrawal. What Celebrity is implementing is not a total non-smoking policy. It is a set of restrictions. Smokers still CAN choose to sail on this line without suffering anything more than some inconvenience. Many will refuse to sail with them based on the inconvenience, but some smokers will stay. Also, if other lines follow suit, many smokers will come back. They would rather cruise with limited smoking permitted than not cruise at all. And with the possibility to smoke SOMEWHERE aboard, they can make that choice...

 

I congratulate Celebrity for making a change. I just think that they swung the pendulum too far. They could have made SOME cabins/balconies non-smoking, but maintained some that still allowed it. They could have kept the casino, both tables and slots, open in some areas to smokers and to other areas to non-smokers...

 

We will see if the result is good. The all-or-practically-nothing paradigm puzzles me, though. I would think more of a compromise would have made more sense.

 

We are in agreement here. I could see making the entire penthouse deck non-smoking and then alternate smoking/non-smoking sides on the way up. I doubt they would have problems selling the PH/RS regardless of the smoking restrictions, its the bread and butter staterooms where I don't think they will be able to sustain this. And if they enforce it as hapharzadly as they do the alchohol policy it only makes it worse.

 

With regards to the casino, doesn't matter to me. In Vegas, I am a bad boy and do smoke. I play BJ and wait until the end of a shoe and find an ash cansister near the slots with no one around to puff.

[Toothfairy754]

I booked a PC cruise for next year on X. I am a smoker, my son will have one now and again (and I mean rarely) our friend cruising with us smokes only on vacation. My daughter is totally against smoking. So as you see I get the full range here of what we should/should not do.

When on my last sailing I was on my balcony talking to my neighbor, who was not a smoker and I asked her if she minded if I smoked and she graciously said no. (at least I do ask)

My DD was worried about the smell of smoke in her cabin on our last trip, and said there is no smell at all.

I can understand not smoking in public areas, restaurants etc, but banning smoking in your room, just does not seem fair to me.

I will keep my booking for my RS next year on X (and I am a first time cruiser with them) but will definately be looking into another line for my NZ sailing the following year. I know this makes all the non smokers happy more rooms for you...are you going to *grab* that RS I would have booked because it will be a Non smoking ship? And BTW this will be a family reunion cruise so thats two more suites there will be available.

[Garrick]

Hurray !!!! It's wonderful news.... IF they enforce. I personally will have no problems ratting out a passenger in violation....it'll "make my day".

 

 

That's just sad, a beautiful port, a wonderful day at sea, a cute towel animal, those might "make my day" but running to tattle on a fellow passenger smoking on her balcony just isn't going to make my travel diary.

 

 

I'd guess that the one lounge will be Michael's Club?