This Thread Is To Be Used For All Discussions About HAL's On Board Smoking Policies

The smoking on balconies is not about a health issue, its about a very unpleasant smell that prevents other folks from enjoying them.

Smokers always deflect with inane assumptions that other things are more hazardous to one's health. From obesity, to salt, to smog, to perfume, etc.

That is not the point.

One could bring a better analogy in place. What if there was a very strong sewer smell right in your face when you go out on your balcony. I am sure anyone including smokers would complain about smelling sh*t when they step out on the verandah.

I know that this matter will never be resolved until HAL changes its policies, but so many smokers are really on the short end of common sense on this debate.

...but so many smokers are really on the short end of common sense on this debate.

We've enjoyed many aft balcony cabins, and on almost every sailing I've found cigarette butts on our balcony. Perhaps there are not enough ashtrays, or perhaps some are oblivious to their own actions. ??

I think many lack ashtrays in their cars as well - judging from the quantity of butts I see accidentally "dropped" from smokers hands on a regular basis. I really think that smoking causes a disconnect from common sense (as many addictions do) - as otherwise I doubt that these people are litterbugs. Honestly - seeing this type of behavior all the time from smokers does add to my negative opinion of smoking.

Look at the curb the next time you're at a light - unless the streets have been recently swept, you'll see evidence of the effect of this addiction on peoples actions.

Tom

Like we have discussed other times on this thread, it is going to be most difficult for HAL to eliminate balcony smoking without offering an exclusive smoking lounge on all of its ships, like many other lines with curtailed smoking policies do. When Stein Kruse spoke to a group of C.C.ers on a world cruise last year on this subject he certainly wasn't very optimistic from the non-smoker perspective. All he really said in the way of encouragement was that HAL was going to experiment with other "options".

It is going on a year now since he spoke. I guess we have seen indications that smoking has been reduced somewhat in some locations on some ships like in the casinos and one ship has an exclusive smoking lounge, maybe that is what he was referring to when he said "options". Sounds more like throwing a bone to the whiners than a sincere effort.

Anyway, to establish smoking lounges on all HAL ships it is going to involve one pretty extensive modification effort, which is going to cost HAL big bucks and take some time. If a major effort was afoot to do such, it would appear logical that the brand new Koningsdam, due out in April, would have such a lounge. Apparently it does not.

This thread seems to bring the best/worst out in today's society. It's all about me and what someone else does is wrong.

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Open balconies on the seas doesn't affect your health any more than driving around town in your vehicle. I've never seen anyone complain about obesity, the number one health crisis.

Exactly...it's all about "me," and you just proved it with this post. You want to go off on some tirade that it isn't unhealthy (which isn't true), but completely ignore the fact that the reason most non-smokers hate being stuck next to smokers is the awful stench. But like you said, it's all about you, so you don't care about that.

By the way, I spent 3 hours on a plane yesterday next to someone who spilled over her armrest into my seat, so I will complain about obesity in the proper forum. But that isn't the topic of this thread, now is it?

I wish all these damn non-smokers would change to other cruise lines and stop with this constant barrage of complaints. HAL will not change the policy. Get Over It and Get a Life.

Done. I am not booking any more long HAL cruises until the policy is changed. But thanks for the advice...I am trying to get as a long of a life as I can...which is why I avoid cigarette smoke.

When I can't smoke on my verandah, we will stop cruising.

BS. That's been said on every board of every cruise line on this site. Yet, those people are still here and still cruising...as will you.

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BS. That's been said on every board of every cruise line on this site. Yet, those people are still here and still cruising...as will you.

They may actually believe that or feel that way.

Having said that...

I'd guess that many people who said they'd swear off dining out (when it went non-smoking) have since acclimated to the new normal.

Tom

So HAL just posted on their Facebook site that their smoking policy is aligned with their guests wishes and it's for the comfort of their guests. I guess we'll be cancelling as their heads are stuck in 1975. What a freaking shame.

So HAL just posted on their Facebook site that their smoking policy is aligned with their guests wishes and it's for the comfort of their guests. I guess we'll be cancelling as their heads are stuck in 1975. What a freaking shame.

And they are getting mightily flamed for it.

So HAL just posted on their Facebook site that their smoking policy is aligned with their guests wishes and it's for the comfort of their guests. I guess we'll be cancelling as their heads are stuck in 1975. What a freaking shame.

The FB post was about how the cruise line promotes Walking for the cure. Someone immediately pointed out the hypocrisy of the HAL smoking policy. The HAL reply about the policy being aligned to the comfort of their guests is laughable.

The FB post was about how the cruise line promotes Walking for the cure. Someone immediately pointed out the hypocrisy of the HAL smoking policy. The HAL reply about the policy being aligning to the comfort of their guests is laughable.

No kidding. Good thing Pinocchio doesn't work for them :D.

So HAL just posted on their Facebook site that their smoking policy is aligned with their guests wishes and it's for the comfort of their guests. I guess we'll be cancelling as their heads are stuck in 1975. What a freaking shame.

Don't you just love their response...

"The smoking policy is implemented in the interest of comfort to all guests and is in keeping with the majority preference of our guests today as expressed both onboard the ships and in our guest satisfaction surveys."

Interest of comfort to all guests??!! Majority preference???!!! Are you freakn' kidding me? Wow. HAL would have been better off not responding at all than to post that load of BS.

Don't you just love their response...

 

"The smoking policy is implemented in the interest of comfort to all guests and is in keeping with the majority preference of our guests today as expressed both onboard the ships and in our guest satisfaction surveys."

 

Interest of comfort to all guests??!! Majority preference???!!! Are you freakn' kidding me? Wow. HAL would have been better off not responding at all than to post that load of BS.

Exactly. Maybe the person that is replying is a smoker. After all you never smell more then a whiff of smoke even if the person is chain smoking :rolleyes:.

So HAL just posted on their Facebook site that their smoking policy is aligned with their guests wishes and it's for the comfort of their guests. I guess we'll be cancelling as their heads are stuck in 1975. What a freaking shame.

I hope if you do cancel you let them know why. That comment is so insulting.

I think it might be a constructive move to copy that facebook post and include it in a letter to the Office of the President, via email. Mr. Ashford is going to know exactly what I think of the arbitrary way they have blown off the majority of their loyal customers.

I think it might be a constructive move to copy that facebook post and include it in a letter to the Office of the President, via email. Mr. Ashford is going to know exactly what I think of the arbitrary way they have blown off the majority of their loyal customers.

I took a screen shot of it on my phone. We're definitely cancelling. I'll contact my TA tomorrow. I also sent a copy to my four star friend who only books Neptune suites so she could see how they feel about non smokers. She's more of a staunch non smoker than I am. They've switched to Oceania recently because of the smoking but are doing a 20 day on HAL in late April.

Does anyone have the email address for mr. Ashford? I would like to send him an email about that Facebook message. Thx.

The FB post was about how the cruise line promotes Walking for the cure. Someone immediately pointed out the hypocrisy of the HAL smoking policy. The HAL reply about the policy being aligned to the comfort of their guests is laughable.

Don't you just love their response...

 

"The smoking policy is implemented in the interest of comfort to all guests and is in keeping with the majority preference of our guests today as expressed both onboard the ships and in our guest satisfaction surveys."

 

Interest of comfort to all guests??!! Majority preference???!!! Are you freakn' kidding me? Wow. HAL would have been better off not responding at all than to post that load of BS.

The laughable, ridiculous part of the FB post is the Majority? No place in world society today are the majority population smokers and certainly they are not majority on HAL ships. Not any HAL ship, not any cruise.

When a company makes a public statement about a policy that most any person reading it knows cannot and is not true, why are we to believe future/other 'for the convenience/for the comfort of our guests' policy statements?

The laughable, ridiculous part of the FB post is the Majority? No place in world society today are the majority population smokers and certainly they are not majority on HAL ships. Not any HAL ship, not any cruise.

 

When a company makes a public statement about a policy that most any person reading it knows cannot and is not true, why are we to believe future/other 'for the convenience/for the comfort of our guests' policy statements?

 

 

 

That is exactly why I'm cancelling. My first cruise with HAL was a disaster and I was lied to. This was their second chance. Didn't go so well.

Does anyone have the email address for mr. Ashford? I would like to send him an email about that Facebook message. Thx.

Officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com

Trust me, I had an issue last year that was taken very seriously following my email to this address. And with a satisfactory result.

All new cars for quite awhile have had no ashtrays, nor lighters. Lazy smokers cant be bothered to buy an ashtray, and throw butts out. Most litter are cig packs, and buts.

HAL could take the hint from the automotive industry, and get a clue.

At this point, HAL seems to be OK being the ashtray of the seas.

Officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com

 

Trust me, I had an issue last year that was taken very seriously following my email to this address. And with a satisfactory result.

Thanks.

My email has been sent. And I really do mean that unless there is a change soon, my next long cruise, already booked, will be cancelled.

Smoking on the balconies is a deal breaker for us. I just booked a twelve night Atlantic coast cruise. Will be cancelling today. Back to the drawing board. Too bad because it was a fabulous itinerary.

Not every non-smoker is vehemently opposed to HAL's current policy. Some may have relatives or friends they travel with who are smokers. Some may just not be bothered by it significantly.

We do not have access to the comments HAL receives on its surveys, so in the end we really don't know what the "majority" of HAL passengers think.

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We do not have access to the comments HAL receives on its surveys, so in the end we really don't know what the "majority" of HAL passengers think.

That's true. Having said that, however, I think that many people feel that HAL is blowing smoke. They're going to say whatever supports their current policies - to do otherwise would be illogical.

Tom