Single Smoking Thread (Use for all smoking discussions on HAL) )

[terrydtx]

20 minutes ago, mightycruisequeen said:

That's a difficult question to answer.  Smoking is officially prohibited on all Holland America balconies, but it's been our experience that not everyone thinks this applies to them.  Each and every balcony we've had on HAL, we've smelled smoke coming from other balconies.  It definitely downgrades the value of a balcony cabin for us.

Last year on the Oosterdam the guy in the cabin directly below us chain smoked on his balcony. We even saw him flick his butts over the side of the ship. We complained to guest services and they immediately sent as officer to investigate and after two such trips to our cabin they also saw the guy. He was told if he continued to smoke on his balcony he would be taken off the ship at the next port. He still smoked and we called guest services a third time and when we stopped in Croatia the next day we saw him and his wife being escorted off the ship with their luggage. No more smoke from below us after that. The problem is the ship's crew cannot do anything until they actually catch a smoker on the balcony.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

21 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

...He still smoked and we called guest services a third time and when we stopped in Croatia the next day we saw him and his wife being escorted off the ship with their luggage. No more smoke from below us after that. The problem is the ship's crew cannot do anything until they actually catch a smoker on the balcony.

 

Excellent !

 

Tom

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Excellent !

 

Tom

And I had zero empathy for him.

[Nickelpenny]

Just now, terrydtx said:

And I had zero empathy for him.

I agree!  I am a smoker........ well, soon to be an ex-smoker (quit day was last Tuesday and things are going well!!).  I have NEVER understood smokers who couldn't follow the rules and it would tick me off!!  No wonder smokers are pariahs!!

[Ipeeinthepools]

27 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Last year on the Oosterdam the guy in the cabin directly below us chain smoked on his balcony. We even saw him flick his butts over the side of the ship. We complained to guest services and they immediately sent as officer to investigate and after two such trips to our cabin they also saw the guy. He was told if he continued to smoke on his balcony he would be taken off the ship at the next port. He still smoked and we called guest services a third time and when we stopped in Croatia the next day we saw him and his wife being escorted off the ship with their luggage. No more smoke from below us after that. The problem is the ship's crew cannot do anything until they actually catch a smoker on the balcony.

 

It's always good to use your phone to get a picture of the person smoking.  I had a similar experience on the Rotterdam.  Guest services sent a housing supervisor to the offending cabin and found evidence of smoking and advised the guest that he would be fined on the next infraction and removed from the ship if there were additional infractions.  Guest services is usually very responsive to smoking claims because it is a safety issue as well as an irritation for neighboring cabins.  In our case the person stopped smoking after the first warning.

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

I agree!  I am a smoker........ well, soon to be an ex-smoker (quit day was last Tuesday and things are going well!!).  I have NEVER understood smokers who couldn't follow the rules and it would tick me off!!  No wonder smokers are pariahs!!

 

Congratulations and good luck kicking the habit.

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

It's always good to use your phone to get a picture of the person smoking.  I had a similar experience on the Rotterdam.  Guest services sent a housing supervisor to the offending cabin and found evidence of smoking and advised the guest that he would be fined on the next infraction and removed from the ship if there were additional infractions.  Guest services is usually very responsive to smoking claims because it is a safety issue as well as an irritation for neighboring cabins.  In our case the person stopped smoking after the first warning.

I did have a picture but you couldn't see his face and the security guy told me they had to catch him in the act, which happened on the second and final third visit.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

And I had zero empathy for him.

I agree. Obeying orders is paramount to sailing.  If you want to be a rebel go stay at a campground. I am a non-vigilante ex smoker , I don’t care if people smoke but I do care that they help maintain  the safety of the ship. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Mary229

[Mary229]

@Nickelpenny good luck.  When I quit I kept thinking about how nice it would be to go to an airport and patiently wait for a flight and how it would be to fly transatlantic without worrying about my next cigarette. It was a great motivator for a traveler like myself. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Mary229

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

@Ipeeinthepools  good luck.  When I quit I kept thinking about how nice it would be to go to an airport and patiently wait for a flight and how it would be to fly transatlantic without worrying about my next cigarette. It was a great motivator for a traveler like myself. 

 

I have never smoked.  I think you are probably sending good luck to Nickelpenney

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I have never smoked.  I think you are probably sending good luck to Nickelpenney

Oh, I must have misread the nest .  Edited 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Mary229

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

I agree!  I am a smoker........ well, soon to be an ex-smoker (quit day was last Tuesday and things are going well!!).  I have NEVER understood smokers who couldn't follow the rules and it would tick me off!!  No wonder smokers are pariahs!!

CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope your endeavor goes well.

As a non-smoker married to a lifetime smoker, I'm rooting for you.

[Nickelpenny]

15 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

@Nickelpenny good luck.  When I quit I kept thinking about how nice it would be to go to an airport and patiently wait for a flight and how it would be to fly transatlantic without worrying about my next cigarette. It was a great motivator for a traveler like myself. 

It is an interesting journey.  I am working with the UofA Nursing school with their guided imagery program.  They sent nicotine patches and we decided to use the 14mg first.  Oh my - no, no, NO!!  I felt horrible on Tuesday.  So we are now only applying 1/2 of the 14mg and they sent me 7mg.  I take it off at night.  I am not having any cravings at all BUT the habit of having one at the end of the work day OR after eating is there.  So, in my thinking, even after smoking for 45 years, it is a habit not so much a physical addiction.  I could work 13 hours with no smoking and it never bothered me.  I could be wrong but......  When I go for my yearly physical my PCP will have a great smile on his face!!

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

It is an interesting journey.  I am working with the UofA Nursing school with their guided imagery program.  They sent nicotine patches and we decided to use the 14mg first.  Oh my - no, no, NO!!  I felt horrible on Tuesday.  So we are now only applying 1/2 of the 14mg and they sent me 7mg.  I take it off at night.  I am not having any cravings at all BUT the habit of having one at the end of the work day OR after eating is there.  So, in my thinking, even after smoking for 45 years, it is a habit not so much a physical addiction.  I could work 13 hours with no smoking and it never bothered me.  I could be wrong but......  When I go for my yearly physical my PCP will have a great smile on his face!!

Good luck on your journey, when you are done I imagine you will have a much easier time flying long hours to get on a cruise. I have often wondered how smokers can fly for 10 or more hours without a smoke.🤞

[Nickelpenny]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Good luck on your journey, when you are done I imagine you will have a much easier time flying long hours to get on a cruise. I have often wondered how smokers can fly for 10 or more hours without a smoke.🤞

I have never had a problem.  I lived overseas for 10 years and did a lot of flying 8-16 hours during that time.  I don't know why but it never bothered me.  Plus I worked 12 hour shifts and never had time for lunch or smoke breaks; no problem there either.  I am lucky that way!

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

I have never had a problem.  I lived overseas for 10 years and did a lot of flying 8-16 hours during that time.  I don't know why but it never bothered me.  Plus I worked 12 hour shifts and never had time for lunch or smoke breaks; no problem there either.  I am lucky that way!

In the late 90's I was on a flight from Bejing to San Francisco, a 14 hour flight.  There was one person who kept going to the BC restroom to smoke and set off the smoke alarm twice and was warned about doing so, when we landed, we had to wait to deplane while an airport policeman arrested the guy and took him off in handcuffs.

Edited August 26, 2023 by terrydtx

[Nickelpenny]

Just now, terrydtx said:

In the late 90's I was on a flight from Bejing to San Francisco, a 14 hour flight.  There was one person who kept going to the BC restroom to smoke and set off the smoke alarm twice and was warned about doing so, when we landed, we had to wait to deplane while am Air Marshal arrested the guy and took him off in handcuffs.

Oh my!!  I have done the Beijing/Shanghai to LA several times and the Dubai-Houston another several times.  Luckily that didn't happen.  😂

[terrydtx]

Just now, Nickelpenny said:

Oh my!!  I have done the Beijing/Shanghai to LA several times and the Dubai-Houston another several times.  Luckily that didn't happen.  😂

For 3 years I was doing the SF to Beijing flight 2 times a month all on business and luckily in BC which back then was not lay flat seats more like today's PE. I racked up a lot of United miles that I just finished using on our Flights to San Diego in November for a cruise.

[Mary229]

44 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

It is an interesting journey.  I am working with the UofA Nursing school with their guided imagery program.  They sent nicotine patches and we decided to use the 14mg first.  Oh my - no, no, NO!!  I felt horrible on Tuesday.  So we are now only applying 1/2 of the 14mg and they sent me 7mg.  I take it off at night.  I am not having any cravings at all BUT the habit of having one at the end of the work day OR after eating is there.  So, in my thinking, even after smoking for 45 years, it is a habit not so much a physical addiction.  I could work 13 hours with no smoking and it never bothered me.  I could be wrong but......  When I go for my yearly physical my PCP will have a great smile on his face!!

I tried the patches but I had too many weird side affects like aching joints and headaches.  I froze grape juice and ate massive amounts of shaved ice, just something to keep my mouth busy.  I did gain weight initially, just a few pounds but I stabilized to normal after a year or so.   The focus on the positive benefits like travel, sitting for hours with friends and so on got me through it. It is such a bother to constantly excuse yourself to have a cigarette.  
 

 

[RuthC]

55 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

I am not having any cravings at all BUT the habit of having one at the end of the work day OR after eating is there. 

Try finding some pasta of some sort that's a similar shape and size (I used the household spaghetti, but something closer to ciggy size would have been better). 
You will get to hold it, and roll it between your fingers, as you would a cigarette. If you need to, you can even gnaw on it! 
Truly, it helped. (no, don't cook the pasta.) 

[lyndarra]

6 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

It's always good to use your phone to get a picture of the person smoking.  I had a similar experience on the Rotterdam.  Guest services sent a housing supervisor to the offending cabin and found evidence of smoking and advised the guest that he would be fined on the next infraction and removed from the ship if there were additional infractions.  Guest services is usually very responsive to smoking claims because it is a safety issue as well as an irritation for neighboring cabins.  In our case the person stopped smoking after the first warning.

I have heard of, conveniently positioned, ship CCT cameras catching people out.

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

I have heard of, conveniently positioned, ship CCT cameras catching people out.

 

A picture of the offending cabin can make it a lot easier for the ship's crew to check the video

[Gunther1]

I'm currently on the Westerdam ...I walk lots of laps on the Promenade deck.

 

Is there a procedure to report people smoking out here?  I'm not about to ask the passenger to stop, as I don't want to possibly invite a hostile response.

 

As an aside, why are there absolutely no signs out here reminding the smokers to go to the Lido aft area ?

[kazu]

there is a dedicated smoking thread at the top of the board that is a sticky.  I am sure you will get lots of help there.

 

I have never seen anyone breaking rules there but there have been enough reports to know people do. it happens.  Best bet is to call security and if you have your phone on you snap a pic.  That way they can identify the offenders.

No need for signs - the rules are very clear and these people are risking being kicked off the ship.

[RuthC]

I would stick my nose in the Hotel Manager's office, let him know the what, when, and where, and ask him to go (or delegate) someone to go check on it right away. I would even offer to show him myself, just to be sure he caught the right party.