Has HAL's smoking policy changed?

[cjb-nc]

RE: Paradise - Wasn't she launched about 10 years ago & switched because of finances? Times have changed, haven't they? Perhaps in today's climate it would work - maybe not in Carnival's party-hearty atmosphere, but what about family friendly Disney?

 

Just my 2c as a Disney-phile cruiser... Disney still allows smoking in its theme parks. The activity is restricted to certain locations, but it is allowed. I don't foresee them making the ships non-smoking if they won't do the same to their parks first. Too many Disney dollars (ahem, patrons) like to smoke.

 

For myself, so long as I can have a smoke free room, and my side of the ship on deck, the smokers can have theirs. Respect goes both ways, and works well when it does.

[kryos]

We sure have a society that loves to regulate other's actions. I think I watched a movie like that when I was a kid -- but then it was science fiction.

I agree with you. When our society tries to regulate things for children, yes ... I can agree with that. Children NEED some protection and not all of their parents are capable or willing to provide it. By as to adults, I think we are capable of making decisions as to how we wish to safeguard our health or not safeguard it. I don't appreciate society taking over this role for me.

 

What I'd love to see someday, however, for all these people who wish to tell me I can't smoke or can't eat foods that maybe are not good for me ... is to see someone in power decide that cell phones are injurous to our health and should be banned. Also, driving while talking on cell phones. Hey, that's a safety hazard. Let's make it illegal and place strict penalties on those who break that law. And what about all these automobiles on the road that release their pollutants into the air that I have to breathe? I think they need to be limited. Every vehicle gets a colored sticker. You can only drive on the days of your color. The other days? Oh, well ... guess you'd better find a carpool buddy with a different color than yours.

 

As soon as we start banning things that affect others' way of life, you'll see how quick society will back down. They'll begin to think ... maybe it's not my place to tell others' how to live ... especially if I don't want to be told how I should live.

 

Put the shoe on the other foot and you'll see this smoking and transfat ban crap come to a crashing halt.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

The problem with restricting smoking v. non-smoking cabins to one side of the ship is, I think "spoilage". The lines don't like to sail with empty cabins. It's why none are designated either way & the cabins are just (supposedly) thoroughly cleaned. If all of the non- were sold out & a large group wanted to book but only smoking were left, then the line wouldn't be able to sell to that group.

This is exactly right ... and that's how HAL answered the question when it was asked at a Q&A thing done on the Amsterdam on my Hawaii/South Pacific cruise last January. The officer (I believe it was the hotel manager) stated that if they made all of one side of the ship non-smoking and then sold that side out, people might not be willing to book on the smoking side since ALL of the smokers would be congregated there, rather than spread around the ship. Obviously if you are booking a cabin on the smoking side of the ship, and all of the other cabins around you contain smokers, you are probably gonna get some cigarette odor in your cabin during the course of the voyage. There will simply be a much higher concentration of cigarette smoke that such will be unavoidable.

 

I still can't understand why some workable solution though can't be devised. Maybe have smoking cabins on one deck perhaps, rather than one side of the ship. Of course, there are better minds in the hospitality industry that can surely work this out, and I'm surprised they haven't. Hotels figured it out years ago ... can't they figure it out on a cruise ship ... basically a floating hotel?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

City of Cambridge, MA wants to ban the use of leaf blowers. Noise Pollution. The higher power they have the more noise they make and some people are finding that very annoying.

 

[sail7seas]

I still can't understand why some workable solution though can't be devised. Maybe have smoking cabins on one deck perhaps, rather than one side of the ship. Of course, there are better minds in the hospitality industry that can surely work this out, and I'm surprised they haven't. Hotels figured it out years ago ... can't they figure it out on a cruise ship ... basically a floating hotel?

 

That can't work, Rita.

 

I want a non-smoking cabin, on port side of Navigation Deck for all ships other than Vista. On Vista ships, I want a port cabin, non-smoking, on Rotterdam Deck.

 

If you make one deck smoking and another deck not, then you have displaced a cruiser who does not smoke. If you make port side smoking and starboard non-smoking, I don't get the cabin I want. Why should I not be able to book what I want when I am not offending? I'm not creating the disturbance. Unfortunately, the smoker is the offender. It shouldn't be the non-offender who is penalized.

 

Seeing as I think it is about 20% who smoke, it's more prudent to please the 80% than the 20% IMO

 

[michmike]

At the very least they ought to consider banning cigars. There can't be more than 1/2 of 1% of the population that enjoys being around cigar smoke.

 

I can deal with the cigarette smoke, although I may not like it, but that darn nearby cigar smoker on Westerdam in October really impacted our ability to enjoy our balcony.

 

Failing a ban on cigars I'd love to find a source for "flatulence in a can" so that I can spray THOSE odors back in the direction of the cigar smoker and see how HE (or she) likes it. *ughhhh*

[Sea King]

unfortunately, don't believe we'll see a total smoke free cruise line for a long long time

 

then again, who could have predicted smoking would be outlawed in the pubs of Ireland, on such airlines as Alitalia and JAL or in some entire hotel chains

 

big surprise: I don't smoke:eek: .. but like so many others, I did for many years

 

I absolutely believe smokers have rights .. I also believe non-smokers have just as many and one of the more important is to not have to be exposed to the smell, let alone the health risks, of 2nd hand smoke

 

incredibly enough, you don't realize what a cigarette smells like until you're no longer a smoker

 

quite honestly, if things keep going the way they are, the entrepreneurs are going to "strike it rich" when they open "smoke only resorts" in the form of private clubs to avoid regulation from local or state government

 

as for the cruise industry, it wouldn't surprise me at all if some "creative" TA thought about trying to push for a "smoking charter" just like any other speciality group that now exists

 

as far as Disneyland (or Disneyworld) mentioned by a previous poster, I feel badly for the children .. adults can make their own decisions

[kryos]

If you make one deck smoking and another deck not, then you have displaced a cruiser who does not smoke. If you make port side smoking and starboard non-smoking, I don't get the cabin I want. Why should I not be able to book what I want when I am not offending? I'm not creating the disturbance. Unfortunately, the smoker is the offender. It shouldn't be the non-offender who is penalized.

 

Seeing as I think it is about 20% who smoke, it's more prudent to please the 80% than the 20% IMO

But, the way it is now, you can have your cabin, but have no control over whether the folks in the cabin nextdoor, with the balcony attached to yours, are smokers and will frequently enjoy their cigarettes (or worse, cigars) on their balcony. At least with the proposal I brought forth, you can't have that happening. There would probably only be one floor that would be designated smoking, specifically because 80% of people are non-smoking, by simply not booking a cabin on that floor, you would be likely to have an even better cruise experience ... even if it happened to work out that you had to book a different cabin than the one you normally would have preferred.

 

The other option I thought of ... since the rooms are cleaned so well, and smoke smell is generally not a problem ... have the no-smoking floors of the ship referring to no smoking on the balconies. What you do in your cabin is your own business, but if you wind up having no choice but to book a non-smoking cabin (perhaps all the ones on the smoking floor are taken), that only means you can't smoke at all ... no cigars or cigarettes ... on your balcony. You can still smoke inside of the cabin.

 

From what I read on these boards, that is actually the bigger problem ... smoking on balconies bothering other non-smoking folks who want to enjoy their balconies. Sounds to me that if HAL could work something out whereby only a certain area of the ship allowed smoking on the balconies, everyone would be happy.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

I realize you (and all adults) have the right to smoke. I wish you well. Smoke away. But, in all honesty, I have no desire to go through contortions to make it easier for anyone to smoke.

 

I am not militantly anti-smoking and don't wrinkle my nose and wave my hands. I don't move ashtrays out of areas where smoking is permitted. I do applaud all attempts to have fewer and fewer smoking permitted areas on the ships.

 

I am so happy that for years I have been a non-smoker. As stated above, until you are a non-smoker you cannot understand how very offensive cigarette smoke really is. I didn't know how offensive it can be.

 

 

 

[LizB1]

Getting back to the original question "Has the Smoking Policy Changed on HAL", I am learning that the only changes so far are on the Noordam.

 

Whether this is permanent or just a test I do not know but hope they will realize that smokers do need their small areas as in the past. As it is, there are non-smokers sitting at the bars where smoking is permitted...why don't they sit in the non-smoking areas instead of taking up someone else's space!

[gayle3r]

I called HAL today and asked about the policy and was told that there policy has not changed. I specifically asked about the Noordam and again was told that the policy has not chnaged. So something is fishy. She also asked the supervisor who said the policy had not changed.

 

Now we know that on the Noordam at least it has changed and from what I have read people were told it was a tryout on 3 cruises in a row. I am hoping it has not chnaged for my departure on the 16th. Again it is the issue of knowing in advance that bothers me.

[sail7seas]

Getting back to the original question "Has the Smoking Policy Changed on HAL", I am learning that the only changes so far are on the Noordam.

 

Whether this is permanent or just a test I do not know but hope they will realize that smokers do need their small areas as in the past. As it is, there are non-smokers sitting at the bars where smoking is permitted...why don't they sit in the non-smoking areas instead of taking up someone else's space!

 

We almost always choose to sit at the bar. We like it there. We like to chat with the bartenders. We like bar-sitting. We certainly understand that is the smoking section and if for any reason any smoke is bothering us, we move.

[Sea King]

As it is, there are non-smokers sitting at the bars where smoking is permitted...why don't they sit in the non-smoking areas instead of taking up someone else's space!

 

last time I looked, you could sit anywhere you wanted at the Ocean Bar,l Crow's Nest, Explorer's Lounge, Casino Bar, Piano Bar or Northern Lights:rolleyes:

 

as long as I don't bother anyone or protest or carry on, why shouldn't I be allowed to sit at the bar even though I don't smoke?

 

if the smoke bothers me, I simply move

 

I'm not taking up anyone's space .. I'm just sitting at a bar enjoying myself

 

anything wrong with that?:confused: