How's the new HAL non smoking policy working out?

[kazu]

I'm almost afraid to look at that cruise. Mrs. K really wants to do a cruise in that part of the world, it's certainly high on her "bucket list". :) Me, I'm more into a full transit of the Panama Canal. We did a partial transit a few years ago and I initially thought that would satisfy my requirement but in retrospect it didn't. Only being able to do one major vacation a year right now means it takes a bit of researching, planning, and scheduling to get that just right cruise or vacation. Silversea has cruises in that part of the world so we'll probably see how our Med cruise goes and if Silversea meets our expectations. Since we're talking smoking issues I'll add that Silversea has pretty much the same restrictions as HAL for public areas. The one major difference is that right now they permit smoking in their cabins but not on their verandas which, if you've read my other posts on other threads, is acceptable to us and actually our preference.

 

Randy I actually looked at Silversea's itinerary (as well as several other lines) - the Prinsendam was the absolute best itinerary for us:):) One thing I have to say about this ship - it's itineraries can be just different enough to add things that the other ships don't do:)

 

I didn't have to twist dh's arm one second for this cruise - he loved the ship and he loves the itinerary. :D No discussion, no what do you think - he said - book it Dan'l (well, he really didn't say Dan'l):)

[kazu]

I guess I'm timing this perfectly. Sounds like I should be one of the first pax boarding the Zaandam who can be pretty sure nobody smoked in the cabin the cruise before. Correct?

 

Roy

 

Roy the policy starts when you sail (going by your signature) - so I would think there is a risk someone might have smoked in your cabin - but with the new policy in effect I would think that any would be very deep cleaned?

[rafinmd]

Roy the policy starts when you sail (going by your signature) - so I would think there is a risk someone might have smoked in your cabin - but with the new policy in effect I would think that any would be very deep cleaned?

 

If I understand the new policy, it should be in effect on the current Zaandam cruise which started January 22. Those people have the worst of both worlds, not being able to smoke in the cabins themselves but possibly with smokers in the cabin the previous cruise. I was originally in that position on QM2 April 27, when their new policy will take effect, but cancelled when the Wind Star crossing I had booked was cancelled by Windstar. I think I'm in the first group on the Zaandam where the previous occupants were prohibited from smoking.

 

This is all a bit theoretical, as I've never actually had a lingering odor of smoke in a HAL cabin.

 

Roy

[kazu]

If I understand the new policy, it should be in effect on the current Zaandam cruise which started January 22. Those people have the worst of both worlds, not being able to smoke in the cabins themselves but possibly with smokers in the cabin the previous cruise. I was originally in that position on QM2 April 27, when their new policy will take effect, but cancelled when the Wind Star crossing I had booked was cancelled by Windstar. I think I'm in the first group on the Zaandam where the previous occupants were prohibited from smoking.

 

This is all a bit theoretical, as I've never actually had a lingering odor of smoke in a HAL cabin.

 

Roy

 

even better, I was going by Carol's post as she showed Feb 5th for your cruise. Normally new policies start with the first new cruise after the deadline. Either way, I am sure you will have a great time:)

[Randyk47]

Randy I actually looked at Silversea's itinerary (as well as several other lines) - the Prinsendam was the absolute best itinerary for us:):) One thing I have to say about this ship - it's itineraries can be just different enough to add things that the other ships don't do:)

 

I didn't have to twist dh's arm one second for this cruise - he loved the ship and he loves the itinerary. :D No discussion, no what do you think - he said - book it Dan'l (well, he really didn't say Dan'l):)

 

Our problem is that we don't have the time, or maybe it would be more correct to say we don't want to spend the time, for the TA portion. Mrs. K is pushing her office pretty much to the max for our Med cruise as she'll be out of the office for basically three weeks. They're more into taking two week vacations but understood the Med cruise as a special case. Not sure she can get that kind of understanding on a regular basis. We're also destination cruises so the sooner we start visiting ports the better. We get kind of antsy even after two sea days in a row much less four or five. Add that we'd have to go out on our veranda to smoke or be squeezed into some other restrictive small area or on deck just doesn't attract us. No easy answer as I freely admit or at least think very few lines offer the mix of itineraries as HAL. To me it's one of their major strengths.

[twinkletoes4445]

Never Mind. Used the ignore feature for GN. :) Life made easy.

 

As for the topic ... it will be interesting to see how the new policy works out, but we've never had a problem in the past with smoke.

[KirkNC]

It's worked well for me....I've stopped getting a lot of HAL mailings and emails as I asked them to remove me from both. I've also stopped wasting time researching HAL itineraries as we have little to no interest in them now. :)

 

Then why do you still visit, read and post on the HAL forum?

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks Kazu and Krazy Kruizers. I reread my initial posting and I suppose, without knowing my mood or sense of humor, folks might take that as a sour grapes comment on my part. It really isn't. Sure I'm disappointed but I'm not throwing a fit or stamping my feet about it. As I did with Celebrity when they changed their policy I simply asked HAL to stop sending me brochures, mailings, and emails. They've very graciously done that and that's all I really wanted or meant to say in my initial posting. I've sailed with a number of fellow HAL CC'ers and communicate off line with them and a number of others. It could turn out we say "to heck with it" and we'll adapt so you'll see us on a HAL ship in the future, maybe not. It's pretty typical of us to get "cruised out", meaning we'll cruise every year for several years and then take a break for a couple of years. We're kind of at that point right now and that has really nothing to do with HAL's smoking policy though it doesn't help either. We're destination cruisers and if we're "full" and don't see an intineary that gets our attention then we'll not cruise. Never say never......

 

We also get cruised out and then take a break and do other types of vacations. I've always enjoyed your posts and thank you for all the help you gave me way back when we were getting ready to take our first cruise on HAL. Happy Vacationing!

[Sea42]

We were on the N. A. the week before and the first week of the the new smoking policies. We noticed no difference from one week to the next. I was surprised that there was no signage placed in the staterooms stating that smoking was no longer allowed in the cabins.

[earljr]

Just got off 14 days on the Ryndamn.

No smoking signs were not present anywhere that we

went. Saw only one person smoke on deck by the pool.

No problem with balcony smokers and no smoke smell

anywhere ----

 

EXCEPT -- the Casino ---

Impossible to enjoy due to smoke -- especially bad at the

tables and dw advised she had to leave the machines due

to smokers. Smell also drifted into MIX.

[sail7seas]

No notices in the cabins?

Well that doesn't make it seem like HAL is very serious about enforcing 'no smoking permitted' in cabins.

 

If they don't tell people the policy in straight language, how do they expect everyone to know?

 

[Sea42]

No notices in the cabins?

Well that doesn't make it seem like HAL is very serious about enforcing 'no smoking permitted' in cabins.

 

If they don't tell people the policy in straight language, how do they expect everyone to know?

 

I expected a little desk top sign like you would see in a hotel room. I thought perhaps I had mixed up the dates that they were starting the new policies but when I asked the room steward he did say that the new policies were in effect. He didn't know if the staterooms would be getting signage. The only indoor places where smoking was allowed (both weeks) were the casino and the Casino Bar. Outdoors the starboard side of the aft pool area and the Promenade deck also had smoking. I did not see any difference from the one week to the next. Maybe the new passengers were given a notice when boarding on the 15th?

[Amuse Bouche]

:D :D :D :D :D :D

 

Does anyone else see the irony here??? This is THE first smoking thread on this site where the flaming posts had NOTHING to do with smoking!!!!!

 

OMG, It's a good time to go to Hades. You could bring skis!

 

On topic- I'm looking forward to the new smoking policy. I only wish they had made the casino (not the casino bar) non smoking too. And guess what, I'm a smoker! I rarely smoke on my balcony. Usually only late at night when I'm in pajamas. I can't stand smoking in the casino. I smoke in the casino bar only when I can get next to the window, and there isn't many others smoking. I don't like to smell the smoke trails off the cigarettes. Otherwise, I'm on the top deck, forget what it's called.

[PattiG]

Still no meaningful posts. Just idle chatter that has nothing to do with the subject.

[kazu]

Our problem is that we don't have the time, or maybe it would be more correct to say we don't want to spend the time, for the TA portion. Mrs. K is pushing her office pretty much to the max for our Med cruise as she'll be out of the office for basically three weeks. They're more into taking two week vacations but understood the Med cruise as a special case. Not sure she can get that kind of understanding on a regular basis. We're also destination cruises so the sooner we start visiting ports the better. We get kind of antsy even after two sea days in a row much less four or five. Add that we'd have to go out on our veranda to smoke or be squeezed into some other restrictive small area or on deck just doesn't attract us. No easy answer as I freely admit or at least think very few lines offer the mix of itineraries as HAL. To me it's one of their major strengths.

 

No worries - you can go for the second segment - it starts in Tilbury :D:D

[m steve]

they don't rush them into the cabins as fast as they do for the price increases from the mini bar.:rolleyes:

[Jo-Bob]

Still no meaningful posts. Just idle chatter that has nothing to do with the subject.

 

Maybe open your eyes and read from those just returning. Seems you're just not getting the information YOU want at the moment....but crabbing and whining about thread content isn't going to get you the information any faster:rolleyes:

[1 HappyCruiser]

Doesn't anyone on this HAL board ever post form the ship?

[Randyk47]

Doesn't anyone on this HAL board ever post form the ship?

 

Occasionally but it takes a lot of minutes and those are expensive.

[Viesczy]

Occasionally but it takes a lot of minutes and those are expensive.

 

I agree that the response time of the old iterwebz is SLOW while on boards.

 

Typically I type everything via Word and then log on to do w/e it was I wanted to do--from replying to email to posting something. I might hop on, c/n/p what I need into Word, fashion the reply and hop on after the reply is done to keep time used to the absolute minimum. I'd bet that the baud rate (remember that???) is like 2400! :eek:;):D

 

Back on topic, I too am waiting to hear of any mutiny!

 

Derek

[dclizcox]

We're just back from 10 days on the Noordam. If someone smoked in our cabin (6097) on the previous cruise you definitely could not tell. The balcony was another story. 6095 was a cabin of smokers. It seemed every time we were on our balcony we were greeted with their unwanted cigarette smoke.

 

I wish their was an amicable solution to smoking on board. I agree with their rights to smoke on their balcony but where are my rights not to have to deal with the unpleasantness of it?

[jtl513]

I'd bet that the baud rate (remember that???) is like 2400!

I've done download speed tests on every ship I've been on since '05, and it's usually in the vicinity of 450>500 Kbps, or roughly 9 times the top dial-up speed. It just seems worse because that's 1/10 of most DSL and 1/20 of cable.

[iamirish]

I wish their was an amicable solution to smoking on board. I agree with their rights to smoke on their balcony but where are my rights not to have to deal with the unpleasantness of it?

 

Here is a solution - make one side of ship's balcony cabins smoking and the other side of the ship's balcony cabins non-smoking.

[kazu]

Here is a solution - make one side of ship's balcony cabins smoking and the other side of the ship's balcony cabins non-smoking.

 

actually in the 'old days' that's how it was. that wouldn't suit a number of people now I'm thinking.;)

[Typhoon1]

The less smoke I see, the better off I am.