HAL just lost my business because of cigarette smoke

[JVilleGal]

What to do if you find yourself in a room someone smoked in, and it still smells? What if there are no other rooms available? Would you ask for an upgrade? Yes I know what the rules say but sometimes a room is not cleaned enough.

 

 

 

Smoking in cabins was Banned in January 2012 and on Balconies in Jan 2017. You should not have any in cabin issues.

 

 

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[Mustsea]

Didn’t you read? There is no smoking! So what is disturbing you?

 

 

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... saying this with kindness ... but perhaps you've been following this piecemeal? Yes, there is smoking. The reason why I can no longer consider the Kdam - that is, until it becomes smoke-fee indoors.

[taxmantoo]

Please read the bullet Casino. Active players may smoke - just not on Odam and Edam.

Site has not been updated but you can now add Westerdam to the Eurodam and Oosterdam as it has now been converted to the Billboard Onboard concept next to the open casino.

Edited October 8, 2017 by taxmantoo

[JVilleGal]

Why the rudeness? I thought this was a pretty nice forum. For some, this isn't an inconvenience, but a serious health issue. My understanding is that HAL still allows smoking outdoors, in a few areas.

 

 

 

Apologize for the snark, didn’t intend for it to read that way.

 

 

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[zitsky]

Smoking in cabins was Banned in January 2012 and on Balconies in Jan 2017. You should not have any in cabin issues.

 

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Great! Thank you!

[Mustsea]

Site has not been updated but you can now add Westerdam to the Eurodam and Oosterdam as it has now been coverted to the Billboard Onboard concept next to the open casino.

 

(y) :D

[Cristiano]

I must have been on a different Koningsdam as of the 14 days on board absolutely no 'wiff' of smoke......anywhere.....there were the two designated external areas and even there it was rare to see a smoker....

[jan.dv]

As of February 2018 smoking was still allowed in the casino on the Koningsdam. The smoke did indeed float down to the music venues and made many an evening less than pleasant for me. It's a very bad design and a bad policy.

[sail7seas]

Many of us agree indoor smoking on the ships is bothersome. ( of course, there are those who do not agree with the majority)

[Fouremco]

HAL takes teeny baby steps when it comes to regulating smoking. It took forever to ban it on balconies, and now HAL moves tortoise-like towards restricting interior smoking. We stopped booking on HAL for a period of time, returning after balcony ban. We avoid the casinos and affected areas.

[Lady Arwen]

As disappointing as it was, we cancelled our K'dam Med cruise for May 2019 and rebooked with Celebrity. We really love Koningsdam, but our last cruise was really impacted by the casino smoking. We love to spend our evenings in the casino with a cocktail or two and it was not pleasant. People in the "smoking area" continually drifted (along with their cigarettes) in to the non-smoking area. We would get and up move to another machine and the smoke from across the way was now drifting over to us. We had really hoped that HAL would have by now banned casino smoking, but no. So, back to Celebrity where I can go to the casino at anytime and not have to worry about smoke.

 

Please HAL, we want to sail with you. We love Koningsdam so much, it breaks our hearts. I'll be the first to book with you when you ban casino smoking on K'Dam. Thank you and hope to be back soon.

[OVgirl]

As disappointing as it was, we cancelled our K'dam Med cruise for May 2019 and rebooked with Celebrity. We really love Koningsdam, but our last cruise was really impacted by the casino smoking. We love to spend our evenings in the casino with a cocktail or two and it was not pleasant. People in the "smoking area" continually drifted (along with their cigarettes) in to the non-smoking area. We would get and up move to another machine and the smoke from across the way was now drifting over to us. We had really hoped that HAL would have by now banned casino smoking, but no. So, back to Celebrity where I can go to the casino at anytime and not have to worry about smoke.

 

Please HAL, we want to sail with you. We love Koningsdam so much, it breaks our hearts. I'll be the first to book with you when you ban casino smoking on K'Dam. Thank you and hope to be back soon.

Unless your only HAL choice would be sailing on Koningsdam, there are a number of ships in the fleet that now have no indoor smoking.

Celebrity is very similar to HAL, enjoy your cruise.

[kevingastreich]

NO SMOKING!!!! In the casino or any other INDOOR space, to include cabins and verandahs!

Only 1 or 2 Outdoor smoking areas, Lido Aft "Sea View Bar" and most Observation Decks as far forward and highest deck (usually located OUTSIDE of the Crow's Nest.)

Please do NOT be put off on the OLD reviews of smoke bothering anyone. It just AIN'T true.

Believe me I KNOW!!!

Joanie

Let them go elsewhere. It's their loss. No sense trying to talk them out of it.

[zitsky]

Let them go elsewhere. It's their loss. No sense trying to talk them out of it.

 

Some people are very sensitive to cigarette smoke.

[Lady Arwen]

Unless your only HAL choice would be sailing on Koningsdam, there are a number of ships in the fleet that now have no indoor smoking.

Celebrity is very similar to HAL, enjoy your cruise.

We are Elite+ with Celebrity so we're quite familiar with the product and we received some lovely perks. Itinerary is important to us and Eurodam and some of the others that have no smoking just aren't doing the itineraries that we want at this time. Celebrity does tend to be more expensive, but it's worth it to get great ships, food, service and no smoking! Edited August 2, 2018 by Lady Arwen
spelling

[cruising cockroach]

Celebrity does tend to be more expensive, but it's worth it to get great ships, food, service and no smoking!

 

I've only cruised Celebrity once (last year) and HAL some 4 years ago. If food and service on Celebrity is currently better than HAL, then HAL standards must have really slipped. Thanks for the heads up.

[OlsSalt]

If people cruise primarily to gamble in the casino, how much do itineraries even matter? Celebrity is pretty boring as a travel experience.

[JRG]

If people cruise primarily to gamble in the casino, how much do itineraries even matter? Celebrity is pretty boring as a travel experience.

 

Was it the Queen Mother who said "if you are bored then you must be boring" ?

[Fouremco]

Was it the Queen Mother who said "if you are bored then you must be boring" ?

(y) I've never been bored on any cruise or cruise line, least of all on Celebrity.

[OlsSalt]

Was it the Queen Mother who said "if you are bored then you must be boring" ?

 

Excellent rejoinder. However, i still don't sign up an pay to be on a boring itinerary. That motto works best in involuntary situations.

[Lady Arwen]

If people cruise primarily to gamble in the casino, how much do itineraries even matter? Celebrity is pretty boring as a travel experience.

I certainly don't know anyone who cruises primarily to gamble in the casino. You can go to Vegas for that. We cruise for many reasons, itinerary, food, service, and for enjoying all areas of the ship. We love HAL, but the smoking is an issue for us and many, many people. We don't hang out in the bars or lounges, but we do enjoy the casino in the evening. I have no idea why you would say Celebrity is boring! Funny, they say that about HAL's nursing home ships!

 

We will always sail with HAL, but in a much more limited capacity. No smoking ship with an itinerary we want. To be honest, I think HAL will change their policy in the not too distant future. It's time.

[Lady Arwen]

(y) I've never been bored on any cruise or cruise line, least of all on Celebrity.

I agree with you! If you're bored on Celebrity, then you need to stop cruising.

[Lady Arwen]

I've only cruised Celebrity once (last year) and HAL some 4 years ago. If food and service on Celebrity is currently better than HAL, then HAL standards must have really slipped. Thanks for the heads up.

Food is so subjective so not really right to compare. We like both, but Celebrity IMHO is a notch above. Service is very similar, with maybe HAL in a slight lead.

[sandiego1]

I was on Koningsdam for a Trans-Atlantic cruise in April (24 days). There was a LOT of smoking in the casino. When we left the main show room and headed to dinner, I would go down a flight of stairs, cross to the other end of the ship and then go upstairs to avoid walking through the smoky casino. It was pretty thick in there!!

[cruising cockroach]

Smoke may vary depending on voyage, It wasn't so bad on the 2 HAL cruises I've been on (repos).

 

Food is so subjective so not really right to compare. We like both, but Celebrity IMHO is a notch above. Service is very similar, with maybe HAL in a slight lead.

 

 

 

Did you go in standard class on Celebrity or n Aqua/Suite? I think that makes a huge difference.

 

One thing I've never had happen to me, to the best of my knowledge, on HAL cruises is to be served something that wasn't what was described in the menu. On the Celebrity cruise last year, my wife and I ordered barramundi which is a delicate white fish (we've also enjoyed barramundi, or what passes for such on HAL). We got a white fish that had a very strong smell which was definitely not barramundi. Mackerel perhaps but not barramundi. The other incident that I can remember was ordering a mâche salad (lambs lettuce / corn salad) which didn't have a single leaf of the said vegetable.