Have booked Antarctica/Patagonia over the holidays BUT ... (smoking and kids?)

IF we go ahead and take this cruise, it will be our first on Seabourn.

Being long-ago former smokers, we are both still very sensitive to the smell of smoke. Although we definitely spent a lot of time on the decks watching for wildlife and admiring the view on our four Alaskan cruises, we do enjoy taking a break and spending time indoors at the front of ship, relaxing, sipping a cocktail or a glass of wine, maybe listening to some music, and continuing to admire the majestic views ... and we had every intention of being able to do that in the Observation Bar on the Quest but I have just discovered that smoking is allowed there after 8:00 p.m. REALLY???!!!! :eek: Even Holland America doesn't allow smoking in the Crows Nest anymore ... in fact, we just finished a two week Alaska cruise on HAL and I'm pretty sure the only place to smoke indoors now is in the casino and only when you are gambling (and yes, they still allow it on the verandah but that's another thread :rolleyes:). I noticed that when I walked through the casino when the ship was in port and the casino was shut down or early in the morning when nobody was gambling that there really wasn't a residual smoke smell. I don't know if that's because they have a special filtration system in that area or what. In any case, my question is, for those of you who are non-smokers - are we likely to smell the residual smoke smell in the Observation Lounge during the day? And as long as I'm asking, does smoke drift down to the pool area from the starboard smoking area at the Sky Bar?

And finally, should we expect to (literally) run into many kids on this cruise?

Thanks for any feedback. We've basically got 3 weeks to decide before the penalty phase kicks in so a lot of back and forth discussion going on at the moment before we're locked into a very expensive (for us) cruise.

1. The Observation Bar can become a no-go zone for non smokers. Depends if the smokers on board decide to use it.

2. During the day we have not found a residual smell problem.

3. We have not found the main pool deck ie Deck 8 to have an issue arising from the smoking area at the side of the Sky Bar.

4. Children - unless you are traveling during school vacation times this is unlikely to be an issue. There are NO facilities for kids on board. So when they are present they can be obvious. These circumstances tend to arise on the shorter (7-10 day) legs in warmer places.

5. Back to smoking - it's the luck of the draw, but you could end up with smokers in an adjacent suite who smoke on their balcony. This can be an issue when you have lots of sea days.

By holidays I presume you mean Christmas / New Year.

On Sojourn 14/15 in South Africa there were probably a dozen under 18 yrs.

2013/14 on the Panama cruise there were 2 1/2. (Crew family member :) ).

I would be surprised if your chosen itinerary attracts many children. When we looked it was quite late finishing meaning there was no way we could fit it into school holidays.

Henry :)

We've booked an A1 cabin so verandah smoking won't be an issue.

Sorry, I should have been more clear - yes, by holidays I meant Christmas and New Years as that itinerary only happens between November and February. And you're probably right that most kids will need to be back in school by the time the cruise ends on January 13th.

We've booked an A1 cabin so verandah smoking won't be an issue.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear - yes, by holidays I meant Christmas and New Years as that itinerary only happens between November and February. And you're probably right that most kids will need to be back in school by the time the cruise ends on January 13th.

We did the Antarctica & South Georgia cruise over last Xmas and NY, and yes, there were quite a few (more than usual for Seabourn on a lengthy cruise) children and teenagers on board. For the most part, they were well-behaved. Everyone on board was too focused on wild-life and scenic/glacier viewing to have much time and energy to cause havoc and create much noise.

Smoking was not a problem for us, and we are extremely sensitive to smoke. We mostly avoided the observation lounge at night when there was even one smoker, but we did not feel deprived. There are alternate options. Also, on this itinerary, most people go to bed early; there aren't much late night partying on most nights.

Smoking in the Observation Bar observations (pun intended):

It all depends on the folks on-board. One time there was a couple who apparently could not go 90 seconds between putting out one and lighting up the next, we avoided it after 8 having experienced them and a few others one night - some other regular posters were also on that cruise who have complained about smoking;

On the last cruise we did on the Quest there was one couple in the Observation Bar and they very infrequently smoked and with the filtration system we never had an issue whether sitting at the bar or on the other side - now starboard, for some reason SB changed to port side for smokers in the OB;

On some cruises the SkyBar can have smoke heading your way depending on the winds and the number of smokers, but you normally won't smell it at the pool itself.

For us, although we don't smoke and in this day with all the science can't fathom why anyone would, but in general we don't find smoking on Seabourn to be a problem that would stop us from enjoying the experience. (Yes we once had a suite with neighbors who smoked, it was annoying at times but if you went inside and came back on your balcony 5 minutes later no issue, I get you don't want to be inconvenienced but as I see it they'll have lung cancer at some point so let them mess up their quality of life if they want and I'll keep on sailing Seabourn) We all are different and have our own considerations.

We sailed on The Quest to Antarctica and South Georgia Island over the 2013-2014 holidays. As I recall, there were a total of three children aboard. Two of the three were were in the 8-9 age range and were very well behaved. They caused no problems whatsoever.

The third was a 12-month-old infant, and his wailing (or rather his parents' obliviousness to the wailing) annoyed many passengers. My guess is that infants are quite rare on Antarctic voyages.

I remember only one time when smoking was a serious problem in the Observation Bar. One afternoon when we were sailing through a very dramatic fjord on South Georgia Island, the bar was very crowded (everybody wanted to see the dramatic surroundings, but because of the wind few could stay outside for long). There were several heavy smokers puffing away on their side of the bar. Though the smokers were within their rights, many passengers (including me) felt that it was inconsiderate of them to exercise that right given the crowding.

I never noticed residual smoke in the Observation Bar during the day. But while the smokers were smoking, boy was there a lot of smoke throughout the bar area. Never noticed any smoke from the Sky Bar polluting the pool area. We too had a problem with a chain smoker on the verandah next door, but apparently this won't be a problem for you.

I remember only one time when smoking was a serious problem in the Observation Bar. One afternoon when we were sailing through a very dramatic fjord on South Georgia Island, the bar was very crowded (everybody wanted to see the dramatic surroundings, but because of the wind few could stay outside for long). There were several heavy smokers puffing away on their side of the bar. Though the smokers were within their rights, many passengers (including me) felt that it was inconsiderate of them to exercise that right given the crowding.

I would feel it was inconsiderate as well ... but I'm confused. I thought smoking was only allowed in there after 8:00 pm so would not expect to run into smokers in the afternoon. Perhaps that rule was enacted after you sailed?

Smoking is definitely not allowed in the Observation Bar during the day. Only after 20:00 and then on the port side. So the poster must be mistaken or maybe this 2014 rule upended the more permissive earlier practice?

But if this happened now and the Bar Staff did not immediately intercede, I would report the incident to Security immediately so that they can deal with it. I mean really... smoking in a busy Observation Bar during the day while viewing nature's wonders sounds ridiculous because it is thoughtless.

Of course, until Seabourn's Seattle management further limits smoking- and how they think it's acceptable in an indoor space is beyond me- the Observation Bar after 20:00 is a restricted use space for the health-aware. A sad state of affairs and a pity.

Happy sailing!

After reading the questions about why smoking occurred in the Observation Bar before 8:00 pm, I checked my trip journal. The incident I'm referring to occurred

on the afternoon of 12/28/13, as we cruised Drygalski Fjord. So, now I'm left wondering if the smoking rules were different then, or if the smoking contingent wasn't following the rules. I just don't know.

After reading the questions about why smoking occurred in the Observation Bar before 8:00 pm, I checked my trip journal. The incident I'm referring to occurred

on the afternoon of 12/28/13, as we cruised Drygalski Fjord. So, now I'm left wondering if the smoking rules were different then, or if the smoking contingent wasn't following the rules. I just don't know.

DCTraveler, the smoking policy was indeed changed last year, during spring 2014.

The policy is fleet wide, but the last ship to change to the new policy was Sojourn, which had the policy implemented later than the other ships due to operating the world cruise. The policy was introduced on Sojourn in May 2014.

Thanks for clarifying this policy change, Nigella.

Apologies if my post re an incident covered by the old policy caused unnecessary concern.

DC Traveler - I wasn't overly concerned about what you posted because I suspected that perhaps the policy had changed since your cruise. Thanks to Nigella for confirming that.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. It sounds like we should be able to enjoy the OB until 8:00 pm when we may have to find other non-toxic, non-smelly environs. Why all cruise lines don't ban smoking from ALL interior spaces (AND verandahs) in this day and age continues to baffle us. And yes, tv24, we "spoke" with our wallets by not booking a verandah on this cruise which will be a first for us but we just weren't willing to take a chance on not being able to use something we paid several extra thousands of dollars for. (are you reading this, Seabourn??!!??)

As for kids (and you're right, DC Traveler, their often oblivious parents :rolleyes:), good to know that it's unlikely we'll encounter many and of those who are on board, most should be well behaved. Sorry you had to deal with a wailing baby (been there, done that, don't like the increased blood pressure it can bring), why anyone would bring an infant on an Antarctic cruise that could potentially experience high seas is beyond me. Probably the same people who don't think smoking is harmful.

DC Traveler - I wasn't overly concerned about what you posted because I suspected that perhaps the policy had changed since your cruise. Thanks to Nigella for confirming that.

 

Thanks to everyone for your comments. It sounds like we should be able to enjoy the OB until 8:00 pm when we may have to find other non-toxic, non-smelly environs. Why all cruise lines don't ban smoking from ALL interior spaces (AND verandahs) in this day and age continues to baffle us. And yes, tv24, we "spoke" with our wallets by not booking a verandah on this cruise which will be a first for us but we just weren't willing to take a chance on not being able to use something we paid several extra thousands of dollars for. (are you reading this, Seabourn??!!??)

 

As for kids (and you're right, DC Traveler, their often oblivious parents :rolleyes:), good to know that it's unlikely we'll encounter many and of those who are on board, most should be well behaved. Sorry you had to deal with a wailing baby (been there, done that, don't like the increased blood pressure it can bring), why anyone would bring an infant on an Antarctic cruise that could potentially experience high seas is beyond me. Probably the same people who don't think smoking is harmful.

I actually think that Seabourn does NOT read the posts on this forum. I have seen no evidence of such, as opposed to Azamara, which has a staff person who responds to questions and concerns on CC. Does anybody know otherwise? Markham has been quite assertive in pitching the health and safety issues related to smoking, but he has done so outside of CC and directly to the corporation. My personal opinion, which I am unable to verify as fact, is that Seabourn is still trying to please a number of loyal customers who smoke. That number of loyal smoking customers may in fact be quite small.

Why all cruise lines don't ban smoking from ALL interior spaces

Maybe because some cruise lines like to indulge smokers and have a separate interior space called a humidor. Until smoking is made illegal (and don't wait for that to happen) they will be entitled to indulge in their habit.

Apologies for dropping your baffled comment from the quote!

I never noticed residual smoke in the Observation Bar during the day. But while the smokers were smoking, boy was there a lot of smoke throughout the bar area.

Yep we were on the WC with you, first segment, and the Observation Bar, as I wrote above, had a few chain smokers after 9:30 (would not have finished dinner before that time) in it that kept us away. Sad that a few inconsiderate people can ruin the environment for the rest.

Yep we were on the WC with you, first segment, and the Observation Bar, as I wrote above, had a few chain smokers after 9:30 (would not have finished dinner before that time) in it that kept us away. Sad that a few inconsiderate people can ruin the environment for the rest.

Yes, I remember...and I hope you guys are well. We enjoyed your company on the WC.

And you're probably right that most kids will need to be back in school by the time the cruise ends on January 13th.

That depends on how many locals book this sailing. The summer school holidays in Latin America last from mid December until early February.

Floris