Non-smoking casino ships?

[edgee]

1 minute ago, edgee said:

Thanks. I am not surprised, although as we phase into a post Covid world I believe that could change.

 

[Villcruise]

I have an email from Michelle Janicki ( Ship Service Coordinator) stating that there will be no smoking allowed in the casino on the new Koningsdam. 

[Aquahound]

26 minutes ago, Villcruise said:

I have an email from Michelle Janicki ( Ship Service Coordinator) stating that there will be no smoking allowed in the casino on the new Koningsdam. 

Wow, I really hope that’s true. I know things have been moved around since then, but when I cruised K’dam, there were times when you could smell the smoke down in Lincoln Center Stage. It was awful. 

[VMax1700]

30 minutes ago, Villcruise said:

I have an email from Michelle Janicki ( Ship Service Coordinator) stating that there will be no smoking allowed in the casino on the new Koningsdam. 

Not trying to be pedantic, but what ship is "the new Koningsdam"?

Koningsdam has been sailing for several years and as mentioned above, smoking is permitted in areas of the casino.

 

[Villcruise]

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Not trying to be pedantic, but what ship is "the new Koningsdam"?

Koningsdam has been sailing for several years and as mentioned above, smoking is permitted in areas of the casino.

 

Sorry, senior moment, the ship I meant to reference is the new Rotterdam.  I know they had allowed smoking on the Koningsdam and Statendam.  Sailed the Statendam and the smoke in the casino was horrible.  I think the new regulations, after this pandemic, may change smoking policies.

[VMax1700]

12 minutes ago, Villcruise said:

Sorry, senior moment, the ship I meant to reference is the new Rotterdam.  I know they had allowed smoking on the Koningsdam and Statendam.  Sailed the Statendam and the smoke in the casino was horrible.  I think the new regulations, after this pandemic, may change smoking policies.

Thanks for clarifying.  Good to hear and I hope that they carry through with this policy.  You make a good point about new regulations and health concerns changing smoking policy.  

Don't worry about senior moments.  the more senior we get, the more moments we are permitted 😉

[Hlitner]

On 12/15/2020 at 1:17 PM, VMax1700 said:

Not trying to be pedantic, but what ship is "the new Koningsdam"?

Koningsdam has been sailing for several years and as mentioned above, smoking is permitted in areas of the casino.

 

You are talking about HAL where anything less then 70 years old is considered "new" and "young."  🙂

 

Hank

[mcrcruiser]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You are talking about HAL where anything less then 70 years old is considered "new" and "young."  🙂

 

Hank

LOL   we can laugh because I am 82   & my DW  is 81  .We love the koningsdam & sail on her frequently 

[mcrcruiser]

I am a ex smoker of 28 years ago .funny that I never got bothered with smoke in Koningsdam  Casino . Never even noticed it . Perhaps it depends on when the cruise is happening that they allow smoking  or no smoking 

[mcrcruiser]

imo every ship needs a cigar /pipe lounge  . 

[Hlitner]

9 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

LOL   we can laugh because I am 82   & my DW  is 81  .We love the koningsdam & sail on her frequently 

DW and I are in our 70s and sometimes feel like the children on longer HAL cruises 🙂  Even 82 is pretty young.  We watched one gentleman celebrate his 103rd birthday on a Prinsendam cruise :).  My reaction was that is what I want to be doing at 103.

 

Hank

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

DW and I are in our 70s and sometimes feel like the children on longer HAL cruises 🙂  Even 82 is pretty young.  We watched one gentleman celebrate his 103rd birthday on a Prinsendam cruise :).  My reaction was that is what I want to be doing at 103.

 

Hank

Yes absolutely  .Hope we all make it to that ripe age 

[mcrcruiser]

We will be doing a long cruise when  83 on Princess from NZ 

[NCTribeFan]

Happy to read that NA has a non-smoking casino!   I've only sailed HAL 3 times and had the 'usual' non-smoking areas/machines/tables, which I've always found to fairly pointless.  Yes, it keeps anyone from sitting right next to you holding a cig and having the smoke go right up your nose, but you can't contain the smoke to specific areas.  I'm used to Carnival ships where the casino bars allow smoking.  Kind of pointless to have a bank of non-smoking slots located right next to the smoking end of the bar!

 

Anyway, was so looking forward to my first X cruise in March, but we just did a Lift & Shift to April 2022.  The non-smoking casino was one of the things I was most happy about.

 

Now that I know NA's casino is non-smoking, I'll probably need to plan for more of a casino budget! 😁

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, NCTribeFan said:

Happy to read that NA has a non-smoking casino!   I've only sailed HAL 3 times and had the 'usual' non-smoking areas/machines/tables, which I've always found to fairly pointless.  Yes, it keeps anyone from sitting right next to you holding a cig and having the smoke go right up your nose, but you can't contain the smoke to specific areas.  I'm used to Carnival ships where the casino bars allow smoking.  Kind of pointless to have a bank of non-smoking slots located right next to the smoking end of the bar!

 

Anyway, was so looking forward to my first X cruise in March, but we just did a Lift & Shift to April 2022.  The non-smoking casino was one of the things I was most happy about.

 

Now that I know NA's casino is non-smoking, I'll probably need to plan for more of a casino budget! 😁

Just wanted to comment on what you said about you cannot contain the smoke. Many years ago before airlines became totally non-smoking, we flew from NY to San Francisco to attend a wedding (one of my younger brothers.) We were right behind the smoking section, and it was torture. And the people in front of us were not even smoking! What they were doing was holding lit cigarettes the entire cross country flight.😢😢

[Laminator]

On 12/15/2020 at 11:43 AM, Villcruise said:

I have an email from Michelle Janicki ( Ship Service Coordinator) stating that there will be no smoking allowed in the casino on the new Koningsdam. 

Hi Villcruise...Can you please try and reverify that? I received a call from my PCC earlier today stating that there will be smoking in the casino on the Rotterdam. I tend to believe her on this. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 12/16/2020 at 4:06 PM, Hlitner said:

You are talking about HAL where anything less then 70 years old is considered "new" and "young."  🙂

 

Hank

My mother who is 71, and myself whom is about to turn 49, always joke she will be assigned to the Loft teen club and I'll be assigned to Club HAL .......

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 12/13/2020 at 11:11 AM, Hlitner said:

For several years HAL seems to have been a cruise line that was really several lines in one...depending on the vessel.  I guess some of this was dictated by the variety of vessels and their amenities.  But I think some consistency would be helpful in establishing a real identity,  And it also makes it easier to book a cruise when you have a good idea of what to expect without having to carefully research the particular vessel.

 

 

As I always say with HAL - consistently inconsistent.  The application of policies/procedure can even change with the captain, Hotel Director, Bar manager, Executive Chef and the list goes on.  each ship seems to operate in it's own little bubble, and things even change from sailing to sailing, or day by day depending on whom you speak with.  It's a pity because they have the right sized ships, with a decent set of dining/entertainment options and mostly fantastic itineraries.  

 

I'm hopeful that post-pandemic, once the fleet is all back in action and they are out of crisis mode, that Mr Antorcha will make brand/fleet consistency, and raising quality of the overall product, a priority.

[Villcruise]

On 3/5/2021 at 7:35 PM, Laminator said:

Hi Villcruise...Can you please try and reverify that? I received a call from my PCC earlier today stating that there will be smoking in the casino on the Rotterdam. I tend to believe her on this. 

All I know is that I contacted Holland and talked with Michelle Janicki, whose title is Ship Services Coordinator. She sent me an email on 7/27/20 in which she states that she checked with her supervisor, who is in charge of guest services for all ships.  The email states that  the Ryndam ( now named Rotterdam) will not allow smoking inside.  Instead casino guests that wish to smoke can go outside the casino on deck 3 from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am.  I hope they haven't changed their mind.  I intend to call Miss Janicki again and see what the current plan is.

[Laminator]

5 hours ago, Villcruise said:

All I know is that I contacted Holland and talked with Michelle Janicki, whose title is Ship Services Coordinator. She sent me an email on 7/27/20 in which she states that she checked with her supervisor, who is in charge of guest services for all ships.  The email states that  the Ryndam ( now named Rotterdam) will not allow smoking inside.  Instead casino guests that wish to smoke can go outside the casino on deck 3 from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am.  I hope they haven't changed their mind.  I intend to call Miss Janicki again and see what the current plan is.

Thanks for double checking!

[JeffElizabeth]

On 12/13/2020 at 12:59 AM, Roger88 said:

People want to relax and have fun. Maybe they are afraid of losing their clients. In any case, I believe that smoking should be banned on any ship. Its too dangerous to take such a risk. Its dangerous for everyone. There should be any open fire on board 

I actually find more smokers in the crew than passengers these days. They don't seem that worried about setting their ships on fire.

[JeffElizabeth]

On 3/5/2021 at 7:18 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

 

As I always say with HAL - consistently inconsistent.  The application of policies/procedure can even change with the captain, Hotel Director, Bar manager, Executive Chef and the list goes on.  each ship seems to operate in it's own little bubble, and things even change from sailing to sailing, or day by day depending on whom you speak with.  It's a pity because they have the right sized ships, with a decent set of dining/entertainment options and mostly fantastic itineraries.  

 

I'm hopeful that post-pandemic, once the fleet is all back in action and they are out of crisis mode, that Mr Antorcha will make brand/fleet consistency, and raising quality of the overall product, a priority.

Captain Albert misses the old days when the Captains actually ran their ships. Now they are all micromanaged from Seattle.

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Captain Albert misses the old days when the Captains actually ran their ships. Now they are all micromanaged from Seattle.

And the "old days" when "Captains actually ran their ships" led to maritime disasters because the Captains did not follow safety measures.  This led, eventually, to the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster in the UK, and which led to the institution of the ISM (International Safety Management) Code by the IMO, as an amendment to SOLAS.  This requires companies to formulate policies and procedures that incorporate industry best practices, for nearly every aspect of ship operation, and requires that third party auditors check to see that not only the home office, but each ship actually follows the Code, and replaces a "blame culture" where the person involved in an incident is blamed and punished, with a "learning culture" where incidents are investigated without casting blame (so individuals involved are more likely to relate the happenings truthfully), to find ways to prevent the incident from happening in the future.  I have operated under the ISM Code for nearly 30 years, and while I don't always agree with certain policies or procedures in the company's Code, there is a mechanism where I can voice those concerns, and they are treated with respect and investigated to see whether they lead to an improvement in safety management or not.  One thing it does for Captain Albert is to codify the "overriding authority" of the Master to make decisions affecting the safety of the ship, crew, cargo, passengers, and environment, without fear of being overridden by someone ashore who is not on the scene. 

[nymexico]

On 3/7/2021 at 2:46 PM, Villcruise said:

All I know is that I contacted Holland and talked with Michelle Janicki, whose title is Ship Services Coordinator. She sent me an email on 7/27/20 in which she states that she checked with her supervisor, who is in charge of guest services for all ships.  The email states that  the Ryndam ( now named Rotterdam) will not allow smoking inside.  Instead casino guests that wish to smoke can go outside the casino on deck 3 from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am.  I hope they haven't changed their mind.  I intend to call Miss Janicki again and see what the current plan is.

that deck used to have a smoking area on most ships before all the new smoking limitations

[Villcruise]

On 3/5/2021 at 7:35 PM, Laminator said:

Hi Villcruise...Can you please try and reverify that? I received a call from my PCC earlier today stating that there will be smoking in the casino on the Rotterdam. I tend to believe her on this. 

Sorry for the delay in responding.  I talked with Shawn at Ship Services, he said "at this time, the current plan is for no smoking in the casino on the Rotterdam". The only change he could see is one or two nights that would allow smoking ( complete opposite to the past where there was one or two nights that were non-smoking). He did say that was probably not going to happen. New Covid rules also could play into the decision to not have any smoking indoors.