"New" Harmony non-smoking "mini"casino

[cruisegirl1]

On 4/1/2023 at 7:13 AM, marymunro said:

It would have made it a whole different experience for me, for sure 😊

On Wonder, small room, limited bar service, no cashier, limited machines and just a few tables (I think there was roulette and poker.  Luckily the nonsmoking side of the regular casino was fairly smoke free, except near the border of smoking/non smoking.

 

M

[cruisegirl1]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:24 AM, The Scurvy Pirate said:

Was looking at the Harmony deck plans and cruise planner and just noticed it is now showing a dedicated non-smoking "mini" casino where Jazz of 4 used to be located.  I also never noticed before, but it says slot machines are open 24/7 except in restricted ports while the hours of operation are for the tables.  Wonder if the mini-casino will have its own bar or whether your will have to walk back to the main casino for a prime drink.

There is a bar server(s) , but drinks take a while because there is no bar in there.   The small casino is open the same hours of the regular casino. 

M

[Denversail]

49 minutes ago, gavvy said:

If I'm right in my thinking, Wonder's only smoking area is on the pool deck, so at night when most are lower in the ship the smokers are almost forced into the casino to smoke regardless if they want to gamble or not.

 

Maybe if they had another smoking area on the lower outside deck like on Anthem, then less will wonder into the casino bar just to smoke?

Many ships have it as the only indoor place to smoke. If it gets uncomfortable outdoors it is the only alternative. 
 

‘I’m not sure I understand why folks don’t like the nonsmoking room. This is a space that won’t get the overflow smoke. Seems like this should satisfy but doesn’t sound like it is enough. Should be fine for the folks that want to drop in   And donate $20 for the week. 🤷‍♀️

[RFerrington]

I thought I had read that the new smoke free casino annex was going to have its own cashiers cage.  Is that true ?  We left OA just before they finished the conversion so we didn’t get to see what it finally looked like.

[Mikew0805]

51 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I thought I had read that the new smoke free casino annex was going to have its own cashiers cage.  Is that true ?  We left OA just before they finished the conversion so we didn’t get to see what it finally looked like.

I think so. I think there was a cage in the golden room on the Wonder. I cannot be 100% sure, because the money I took in there, did not leave with me. 🤣

Edited April 2, 2023 by Mikew0805

[RFerrington]

4 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

I think so. I think there was a cage in the golden room on the Wonder. I cannot be 100% sure, because the money I took in there, did not leave with me. 🤣

You have my sincere condolences.  My money routinely suffers the same re-allocation. 

[soremekun]

9 hours ago, BND said:

I think it's an easy way to test out smokeless casinos without making the full up one so until they see the results.  It's coming by the way as cigarette smokers are a smaller and smaller percentage of the population.  

What the cause of the attrition?

[Merion_Mom]

Harmony's is up and running.

 

Oasis' is up and running.

 

Allure's is under construction.

[Sigyn]

I walked into this area accidentally earlier today - I'm on the ship now - and it was a rather sad excuse for a casino. there were about four tables for various table games, and a couple dozen slot machines. And it was all totally empty. Rather odd. Of course, it was at noon. But on a sea day. I think most people don't know it exists. It's not directly attached to the regular casino, although it's on the same deck. 

[FireEMT978]

9 hours ago, BND said:

I think it's an easy way to test out smokeless casinos without making the full up one so until they see the results.  It's coming by the way as cigarette smokers are a smaller and smaller percentage of the population.  

Not an apples to apples comparison. No bar service, and a tiny horrible selection of machines is not a way to "Gauge" Non-smoker vs. Smoker revenue for the casino. It's ridiculous how many people walk around the Non-smoking section of the actual main casino smoking and vaping. 

[cruisegirl1]

9 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I thought I had read that the new smoke free casino annex was going to have its own cashiers cage.  Is that true ?  We left OA just before they finished the conversion so we didn’t get to see what it finally looked like.

There is a cage, (or at least there was on Wonder ) but it was rarely  staffed.  Transactions had to be made in the regular casino. 

M

[cruisegirl1]

9 hours ago, Denversail said:

Many ships have it as the only indoor place to smoke. If it gets uncomfortable outdoors it is the only alternative. 
 

‘I’m not sure I understand why folks don’t like the nonsmoking room. This is a space that won’t get the overflow smoke. Seems like this should satisfy but doesn’t sound like it is enough. Should be fine for the folks that want to drop in   And donate $20 for the week. 🤷‍♀️

I like that it is totally non smoking but it is small with limited machines both in number and variety.  Most of the popular machines are in the regular casino.   

 

M

[The Sunset Glow]

19 hours ago, FireEMT978 said:

Not an apples to apples comparison. No bar service, and a tiny horrible selection of machines is not a way to "Gauge" Non-smoker vs. Smoker revenue for the casino. It's ridiculous how many people walk around the Non-smoking section of the actual main casino smoking and vaping. 

 

16 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I like that it is totally non smoking but it is small with limited machines both in number and variety.  Most of the popular machines are in the regular casino.   

 

M

 

I agree with these comments. This is not a fair gauge of a true, full non-smoking casino. I only play a few types of slots and if they are not in there then I won't play in there. Simple. 

 

It's a great start but it's just that, a start. I don't know why they just can't make the smoking sections completely closed in. The smoke smell goes everywhere, including into the elevators (up to deck 12 sometimes) and also in the dining room on Oasis class ships. It permeates onto the promenade and in the centrum on ships with those. Just confine the smoke and the smoking complaints will stop for the most part.

[SimonStern]

I enjoyed the non-smoking casino on the Harmony.  In the evenings, the blackjack table was often full.  I wish they switched and made the main casino non-smoking, and relegated smoker to the smaller area.

[WyKnott]

I was on Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal cruise in November and their casino was non-smoking, I was pleasantly surprised. Downside for HAL, it wasn't very crowded but I sure liked it and spent more time there. I was able to get a seat at the roulette table any time the tables were open. It got so the pit boss recognized me and asked if I was playing whenever I walked through the casino.

[poffles]

On 4/3/2023 at 2:35 PM, WyKnott said:

I was on Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal cruise in November and their casino was non-smoking, I was pleasantly surprised. Downside for HAL, it wasn't very crowded but I sure liked it and spent more time there. I was able to get a seat at the roulette table any time the tables were open. It got so the pit boss recognized me and asked if I was playing whenever I walked through the casino.

 

Is this normal for all HAL ships, was it every night?  I thought I read differently for HAL so I didn't realize their casinos were entirely non-smoking, I thought Celebrity was the only mainstream (large ships) that did this.

[WyKnott]

3 hours ago, poffles said:

 

Is this normal for all HAL ships, was it every night?  I thought I read differently for HAL so I didn't realize their casinos were entirely non-smoking, I thought Celebrity was the only mainstream (large ships) that did this.

I wish I could tell you it was, someone who cruises HAL more often could say better. All I know is it was that way on the Zuiderdam when I cruised it.

[dunrobbin]

Brilliance last week had a casino with a smoking side and a non smoking side. What a joke! The rooms all around the casino reeked of smoke.

Smokers sitting in there not gambling, just smoking. 

Rows of new slot machines being set up, that never came online during our cruise.

Worst  Casino for payouts I have ever been in. 

Guess everyone agreed as it was never busy.

Was a huge disappointment.

[queenfrostine22]

On my last Harmony sailing at the end of January, the casino was packed with smokers. 1 at a slot and 3 of their friends just standing around the player. All of them smoking away. And I have seen many walking around with the ashtray going from smoking to non smoking without a care in the world. I have rarely seen anyone reprimanded or asked to return to the smoking section. I don't care if people smoke but there should be a true designated non smoking section. Not just a kinda, sorta, supposed to be area. 

[poffles]

7 hours ago, WyKnott said:

I wish I could tell you it was, someone who cruises HAL more often could say better. All I know is it was that way on the Zuiderdam when I cruised it.

 

Thanks ... found my answer ... some ships no smoking others (not the case on the newest ships).

 

HAL Smoking Policy

[LVinTennessee]

To Poffles: I was on HAL Nieux Amsterdam, March 2023, and the casino was non smoking and very busy. 

[ShazM]

On 5/16/2023 at 11:42 PM, poffles said:

 

Is this normal for all HAL ships, was it every night?  I thought I read differently for HAL so I didn't realize their casinos were entirely non-smoking, I thought Celebrity was the only mainstream (large ships) that did this.

All cruises into and out of Australia and NZ have the casinos entirely smoke free, I think the UK as well. The only places to smoke are outside on deck 4 or 5 and one side of the pool deck. We did the transpacific from Honolulu to Sydney last October and the casino was busy all the time so not being able to smoke in there didn't seem to bother too many.

[HappyTexan44]

Since I'm on the young end of this group, most people here will remember when restaurants had smoking.  Restaurants didn't want to go to all non-smoking because they thought that people ordered more when they hung around at the table.  They also didn't want to listen to the whining of the smokers.  Then everyone was pleasantly surprised that business actually picked up when an ordinance banned indoor smoking.  I wonder if everyone knew ahead of time that there was a non-smoking casino, if the same thing might happen?   My main interest in a Roll Call for my cruise is to see if we could do a poker tournament in the game room (and therefore non-smoking).     

 

On the other hand, there does seem to be a connection between gambling addiction and smoking.   But those with both problems probably can't afford a cruise.