This Thread Is To Be Used For All Discussions About HAL's On Board Smoking Policies

[Avril]

Hi Avril! No condemnation here! I am also a smoker! I don't have all the answers but I will share what I know.

 

Smoking is still allowed on all HAL ship balconies. In fact, they are the only cruise line left that still allows it.

 

Smoking is also allowed in "designated" out door smoking areas. The only one that I know of for sure is aft Lido deck... BUT we are sailing Eurodam this Sunday and I will report back! I promise!

 

Smoking is allowed in a certain area of the casino for active players only.

 

HOWEVER - there is not outdoor smoking while the ship is "bunkering" (loading fuel) in Fort Lauderdale. This INCLUDES balconies. :eek: I am not sure how smokers are accommodated - if at all during that time. I will report back on this also!

 

Hope this helps! :D

 

Great to hear from a fellow smoker!! It's awesome that they still allow smoking on balconies!! :D I was just on the Carnival Splendor and it was a real pain in the butt to have to get dressed and leave my cabin in the morning and before bed to go find a smoking area. I think I'll be sailing HAL a lot more now (until they change their policy as well of course).

 

Thanks so much for offering to look into it for me, that'd be awesome!! :D I appreciate it. I'd really like to know about the Casino/Sports Bar (and anywhere else). Good that at least 1 of the pool bars in smoking. It's nice to sit in the sun and have a drink and a smoke. :)

 

Ya, I know about the no smoking during refuelling. That's true of all cruise lines and it's a safety precaution that I really do appreciate, lol. I usually just go to the Casino to smoke during that time. About the casino, are they really strict about having to be an active player to smoke there? I often to go the ship's casino (on every cruise line and I think they all have that rule) for a smoke (I'm not a gambler) and no one has ever said a thing.

 

Have you ever been on the Eurodam? I've sailed on her twice, awesome ship!! Have a great cruise!!!! :D

[Lizzie68]

Avril - I'm not a smoker, but about the casino - it is closed when the ship is in port. I believe that HAL's policy is that you must be gambling in the casino if you want to smoke. So you wouldn't be able to have a cigarette there during bunkering. It was either on this thread or a cruise review thread where someone confirmed that the ship is totally non-smoking while bunkering. Hope that helps.

[SteveH2508]

Avril - I'm not a smoker, but about the casino - it is closed when the ship is in port. I believe that HAL's policy is that you must be gambling in the casino if you want to smoke. So you wouldn't be able to have a cigarette there during bunkering. It was either on this thread or a cruise review thread where someone confirmed that the ship is totally non-smoking while bunkering. Hope that helps.

 

Do they have an indoor cigar bar? On NCL Jade that is where we have gone for a smoke whilst they are bunkering. Just a suggestion.

[sail7seas]

Do they have an indoor cigar bar? On NCL Jade that is where we have gone for a smoke whilst they are bunkering. Just a suggestion.

 

No indoor cigar bar on the ships.

 

[bellalisa]

Well crap, I was just seriously considering HAL and there is no way I will book now. My sister and I love the casino but I cannot be near smoke. The inside of my ears start to itch and I get this odd headache. I guess its back to Celebrity for us. I was hoping to try a smaller ship and other than this HAL sounds great!

[freestyling]

Well crap, I was just seriously considering HAL and there is no way I will book now. My sister and I love the casino but I cannot be near smoke. The inside of my ears start to itch and I get this odd headache. I guess its back to Celebrity for us. I was hoping to try a smaller ship and other than this HAL sounds great!

 

Keep checking ...perhaps HAL will make a change in 2015

[sail7seas]

Well crap, I was just seriously considering HAL and there is no way I will book now. My sister and I love the casino but I cannot be near smoke. The inside of my ears start to itch and I get this odd headache. I guess its back to Celebrity for us. I was hoping to try a smaller ship and other than this HAL sounds great!

 

Tell HAL.

The non-smoking huge majority seems to quietly take their business elsewhere without telling HAL why. The smokers sure let them know how they feel about verandah smoking. Only way they will change the policy is by countable numbers.

 

[kelleherdl]

I just printed my Express Docs for our 15 Dec Noordam. Have I missed it before or is there a change in Policy?

 

'For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and all other indoor areas are designated non-smoking.' (emphasis mine)

 

Is this true now. If so I will be a much more happy gambler. :)

 

Dennis

[kelleherdl]

I did just go the Policy online and there is a direct contradiction between the express docs and the stated policy which still dose allow smoking in the casino. :mad:

 

Dennis

[boulders]

Avril - I'm not a smoker, but about the casino - it is closed when the ship is in port. I believe that HAL's policy is that you must be gambling in the casino if you want to smoke. So you wouldn't be able to have a cigarette there during bunkering. It was either on this thread or a cruise review thread where someone confirmed that the ship is totally non-smoking while bunkering. Hope that helps.

 

On our South American cruise on the Zaandam December, 2013-January, 2014, I frequently saw smokers in the casino. They were not gambling, just smoking.

 

I have loved our HAL cruises so far. I haven't been bothered by smoke on HAL than any other cruise line. However, if smokers are flocking to HAL, I'll postpone my next HAL cruise until their policy changes.

[Europeantraveler1]

Has anyone considered writing the top brass at HAL stating their concerns about this issue?

[sail7seas]

Has anyone considered writing the top brass at HAL stating their concerns about this issue?

 

This conversation has gone on for years and HAL headquarters in Seattle has been flooded with mail supporting both positions. They know they are losing some cruisers because of verandah smoking being permitted but they also know verandah smokers from cruise lines which banned it, have moved to HAL. It seems Carnival Family of Ships chose HAL to be their smoker friendly cruise line catering mostly to North Americans. Costa does sail from FLL as well but some of us think of them more as a European line.

 

[cbr663]

On our South American cruise on the Zaandam December, 2013-January, 2014, I frequently saw smokers in the casino. They were not gambling, just smoking.

 

I have loved our HAL cruises so far. I haven't been bothered by smoke on HAL than any other cruise line. However, if smokers are flocking to HAL, I'll postpone my next HAL cruise until their policy changes.

 

I hope you will reconsider that decision. Your own personal experience is that you love your HAL cruises. I would hope that you would give more weight to your own personal actual experience than the random opinions of posters who are merely guessing that smokers are flocking to HAL.

[pnkandpurple]

Last cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam in November. The casino was nonsmoking except for a small section of slots.

[Sow There]

This conversation has gone on for years and HAL headquarters in Seattle has been flooded with mail supporting both positions. They know they are losing some cruisers because of verandah smoking being permitted but they also know verandah smokers from cruise lines which banned it, have moved to HAL. It seems Carnival Family of Ships chose HAL to be their smoker friendly cruise line catering mostly to North Americans....

 

I'm inclined to agree.

 

Carnival Corp. clearly remembers what happened with the Carnival Paradise's failed experiment where they banned all smoking everywhere on board and went so far as requiring offenders to leave the ship at the next port.

 

They dropped the policy after they had too many vacant cabins and customer complaints to continue the policy.

 

As long as Holland America customers continue to book cruises at the same rate as they are now, I suspect they will leave the smoking policy right where it is today.

 

Seattle will pay more attention to the revenue numbers than they will tha correspondence numbers, just like any enlightened company would do.

[sail7seas]

I'm inclined to agree.

 

Carnival Corp. clearly remembers what happened with the Carnival Paradise's failed experiment where they banned all smoking everywhere on board and went so far as requiring offenders to leave the ship at the next port.

 

They dropped the policy after they had too many vacant cabins and customer complaints to continue the policy.

 

As long as Holland America customers continue to book cruises at the same rate as they are now, I suspect they will leave the smoking policy right where it is today.

 

Seattle will pay more attention to the revenue numbers than they will tha correspondence numbers, just like any enlightened company would do.

 

 

 

Carnival Paradise is so irrelevant to the conversation in 2014. It was an entirely different time and place and society has moved so far from those times that to use that as an example is of no import. It is worth mentioning, Carnival did not change the itinerary for that ship, it became dated, it sailed smoke free for at least 8 years so was not what you would call a failure.

 

Society put up with smoking all those years ago. Vast majority today do not want to be exposed.

 

TODAY, smoke free ships would do great and most any reasonable person would acknowledge that. IMO

 

[Mary Ellen]

I'm inclined to agree.

 

Carnival Corp. clearly remembers what happened with the Carnival Paradise's failed experiment where they banned all smoking everywhere on board and went so far as requiring offenders to leave the ship at the next port.

 

They dropped the policy after they had too many vacant cabins and customer complaints to continue the policy.

This is FAR different than what I remember hearing. What I remember was that the Paradise was actually the heaviest booked ship in the Carnival fleet, but it was also the least profitable. At the time nonsmokers didn't drink or gamble as much as smokers. Those are two of the main revenue streams on a ship, thus the reason the ship didn't bring in the money the other ships did.

 

The main complaint I remember from passengers who enjoyed sailing on the Paradise was the lack of variety in itinerary. There was only one. Not many cruisers want to sail to the same ports, time and time again.

[Sow There]

Carnival Paradise is so irrelevant to the conversation in 2014. It was an entirely different time and place and society has moved so far from those times that to use that as an example is of no import. It is worth mentioning, Carnival did not change the itinerary for that ship, it became dated, it sailed smoke free for at least 8 years so was not what you would call a failure.

 

Society put up with smoking all those years ago. Vast majority today do not want to be exposed.

 

TODAY, smoke free ships would do great and most any reasonable person would acknowledge that. IMO

 

 

A bit of hyperbole, I suspect. If "...most any reasonable person would acknowledge that" is right, then you are saying that all cruise line management are not "reasonable persons." Evidence? There are no smoke free cruise lines operating anywhere.

 

That said, here's a Cruise Critic article worth reading. It supports your perceptions about customer attitudes concerning board smoking evolving to more restrictive policies.

 

By the way, Paradise's experiment lasted 6 years, not "more than 8 years" but their spoilage rate made it clear that it was a revenue loser. I suspect that, if they tried the experiment today on one or two ships, they likely would find it more successful.

[sail7seas]

Actually, a large number of ships are very close to smoke free.

 

HAL has the most liberal smoking policy of ships majority North Americans are sailing. Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCI etc have very limited weather deck smoking areas with no smoking permitted inside.

 

That is VERY close to smoke free. It is close enough to that for people who want to avoid second hand smoke to be easily able to do so. It is unfortunate when a guest pays to use their verandah and cannot because of something someone else is doing that is by far unacceptable behavior in this day and age. The cruise line permits it very close to irresponsibly IMO

 

Edited December 7, 2014 by sail7seas

[cruiseing marly]

Actually, a large number of ships are very close to smoke free.

 

HAL has the most liberal smoking policy of ships majority North Americans are sailing. Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCI etc have very limited weather deck smoking areas with no smoking permitted inside.

 

That is VERY close to smoke free. It is close enough to that for people who want to avoid second hand smoke to be easily able to do so. It is unfortunate when a guest pays to use their verandah and cannot because of something someone else is doing that is by far unacceptable behavior in this day and age. The cruise line permits it very close to irresponsibly IMO

 

 

Agreed should be comonsense !

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

[kennicott]

It seems Carnival Family of Ships chose HAL to be their smoker friendly cruise line catering mostly to North Americans. Costa does sail from FLL as well but some of us think of them more as a European line.

 

 

Did Costa change their smoking policy, from this?:

 

"Costa Cruises

 

Where You Can Smoke: Smoking is permitted on designated spaces on the open decks, and in the Cigar Bar.

 

Where You Can't: All public rooms are nonsmoking. Smoking in cabins an on balconies is also prohibited.

"

[Sow There]

Agreed should be comonsense !

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

 

I suggest reading this:

 

Cruise Line Smoking Policies

 

There are no cruise lines that are smoke free, therefore your presumption must be they all lack common sense.

 

Seems strange. Cruise lines are in business to make money, so I would think that one or two of them would have the common sense to go smoke free, wouldn't you?

 

As S7S suggested in her earlier post, the trend is that more and more people are no longer smokers (or have never smoked) so the policies have become more and more restrictive. However the cruise lines are not willing to lose the business of those who do smoke.

[nb125]

On our South American cruise on the Zaandam December, 2013-January, 2014, I frequently saw smokers in the casino. They were not gambling, just smoking.

 

I have loved our HAL cruises so far. I haven't been bothered by smoke on HAL than any other cruise line. However, if smokers are flocking to HAL, I'll postpone my next HAL cruise until their policy changes.

 

I don't understand your reasoning here, surely all cruise lines allow smoking in part of the casino. Your chances of having a smoking neighbour on your verandah are exactly the same and as far as the outdoor areas go HAL is far more restrictive than other lines we do not allow smoking on balconies. If you have never been bothered by smoking on HAL before, why would you be now?

[boulders]

I don't understand your reasoning here, surely all cruise lines allow smoking in part of the casino. Your chances of having a smoking neighbour on your verandah are exactly the same and as far as the outdoor areas go HAL is far more restrictive than other lines we do not allow smoking on balconies. If you have never been bothered by smoking on HAL before, why would you be now?

 

Celebrity does not allow smoking in the casino.

[CRUZBUDS]

If you have never been bothered by smoking on HAL before, why would you be now?

 

The point was being made that smokers may very well flock to HAL as one of the last major lines that allows balcony smoking.

 

It was fun to stand on the sidelines watch the Carnival board when they first announced an end to balcony smoking. People were declaring left and right that they were done with Carnival and heading to NCL where they would be appreciated. (some to HAL)

 

About two weeks later NCL banned balcony smoking -- where do you suppose the die-hard (no pun intended) smokers who cannot enjoy a cruise unless they can smoke on their balcony will be going?

 

I'm sure some of them were blowing smoke (no pun intended again ;)) , a good number of them will likely end up on HAL - raising the smoker ratio.

 

Many have stated that after HAL finally bans it, they'll be switching to land vacations.

 

And yes Celebrity's casinos have been 100% smoke fee for several years. :)