New HAL smoking policy

[paulista1950]

So if older passengers smoke, how did they reach that ripe old age? Guess that puts some of the "scientific data" in doubt?

 

I'm not in a trade and I smoke and I make a pretty good buck. Those surveys are really questionable at best.

 

Just curious, what's your concept of science? :confused:

[paulista1950]

"but I am not going to curse HAL for not stepping up to the plate and banning smoking on the balconies."

 

I am.

[sophienfred]

Just had my first and last trip on a HAL ship. Silly me got a balcony, not realising that there is anywhere left in the world where smokers are allowed to inflict their nauseous habits on to others. I mean, this is where I sleep and relax for 20 days and nights, wouldn't you think my $700 a night would buy me clean air?

 

Didn't spoil my trip entirely as I went to see the other side of the world, and I saw it. But there was nowhere on the ship where I could get away from the stench of cigarette smoke. Except in my room, with balcony door firmly shut. The cig butts on our balcony each morning was also a less than pretty sight. :(

 

Now, to start my research on a smoke free cabin and balcony cruise line .......

[Gaucho39]

If Jeopardy is looking for future contestants...

I certainly hope they check this place out:)

[GeriatricNurse]

Just had my first and last trip on a HAL ship. Silly me got a balcony, not realising that there is anywhere left in the world where smokers are allowed to inflict their nauseous habits on to others. I mean, this is where I sleep and relax for 20 days and nights, wouldn't you think my $700 a night would buy me clean air?

 

Didn't spoil my trip entirely as I went to see the other side of the world, and I saw it. But there was nowhere on the ship where I could get away from the stench of cigarette smoke. Except in my room, with balcony door firmly shut. The cig butts on our balcony each morning was also a less than pretty sight. :(

 

Now, to start my research on a smoke free cabin and balcony cruise line .......

 

Well, you might wish to start your research with Oceania! :)

[atraveller2]

As a non smoker myself I wish HAL would step up to the plate and make all their ships NO-SMOKING, you may lose some passngers but gain many more. No selling of cigaretts on board either. Wishfull thinking I know. However give the cabin staff credit with doing an excellent job removing the cabin smell each cruise.

Considering I will be living in my "stateroom" for 75 days soon...

 

MS. Atlas 1983 - 7 days - Mediterranean East - 5 day Greek landtour

SunCruises -Carousel 1998 - 7 days - Carib. South

SunCruises Carousel 2001 - 14 days - Mediterranean West

SunCruises Sundream 2004 - 7 days - Carib. West

Celebrity Zenith 2007 – 7 days – Carib. East

HAL Rotterdam 2007 - 27 days – Baltic to Mediterranean

HAL Rotterdam 2008 - 17 days - Panama Canal

HAL Maasdam 2011 - 25 days - Carib. South

Booked Sept. 2012:

HAL Amsterdam – 75 days Grand Pacific

 

[geocruiser]

Just had my first and last trip on a HAL ship. Silly me got a balcony, not realising that there is anywhere left in the world where smokers are allowed to inflict their nauseous habits on to others. I mean, this is where I sleep and relax for 20 days and nights, wouldn't you think my $700 a night would buy me clean air?

 

Didn't spoil my trip entirely as I went to see the other side of the world, and I saw it. But there was nowhere on the ship where I could get away from the stench of cigarette smoke. Except in my room, with balcony door firmly shut. The cig butts on our balcony each morning was also a less than pretty sight. :(

 

Now, to start my research on a smoke free cabin and balcony cruise line .......

 

You might want to look at X (done lots of cruises on) and Azamara. I have done two cruises on Azamara (12 nights each) and we just loved it.

[chrispb]

As a non smoker myself I wish HAL would step up to the plate and make all their ships NO-SMOKING, you may lose some passngers but gain many more. No selling of cigaretts on board either. Wishfull thinking I know. However give the cabin staff credit with doing an excellent job removing the cabin smell each cruise.

Considering I will be living in my "stateroom" for 75 days soon...

 

MS. Atlas 1983 - 7 days - Mediterranean East - 5 day Greek landtour

SunCruises -Carousel 1998 - 7 days - Carib. South

SunCruises Carousel 2001 - 14 days - Mediterranean West

SunCruises Sundream 2004 - 7 days - Carib. West

Celebrity Zenith 2007 – 7 days – Carib. East

HAL Rotterdam 2007 - 27 days – Baltic to Mediterranean

HAL Rotterdam 2008 - 17 days - Panama Canal

HAL Maasdam 2011 - 25 days - Carib. South

Booked Sept. 2012:

HAL Amsterdam – 75 days Grand Pacific

 

Don't forget that a lof of crew members smoke too, so who's going to cook your food and make your bed?:D

[1 HappyCruiser]

Don't forget that a lof of crew members smoke too, so who's going to cook your food and make your bed?:D

 

We once had a waiter who stunk of tobacco smoke and just changed tables to get away from the smell. If one of the cooks smoke there not to much you can say about it & you'd not even know it.

[sail7seas]

Most Chefs do not smoke. They know smokers' taste buds are diminished and they wouldn't be able to taste their food properl if they were steady smokers. It's rare you'll find a Chef who smokes much if anyl

 

[peaches from georgia]

As a non smoker myself I wish HAL would step up to the plate and make all their ships NO-SMOKING, you may lose some passngers but gain many more. No selling of cigaretts on board either. Wishfull thinking I know. However give the cabin staff credit with doing an excellent job removing the cabin smell each cruise.

Considering I will be living in my "stateroom" for 75 days soon...

 

Carnival tried a non smoking ship and if you notice they no longer have it. Many non-smokers travel with friends, family or a spouse that smoke and they compromise to cruise together on a ship with some smoking allowed. A non-smoking ship does not allow for compromise and evidently they couldn't fill even one ship with non-smokers only, much less their whole fleet of ships like you hope HAL would do.

[azseas]

Most Chefs do not smoke. They know smokers' taste buds are diminished and they wouldn't be able to taste their food properl if they were steady smokers. It's rare you'll find a Chef who smokes much if anyl

 

 

 

hmmm on a popular competition show run by a famous chef (chefs compete for a top exec chef job in a new restaurant) about 2/3 of the contestants smoked each season. Also wouldn't the cooks on a ship be different than the executive chefs? JMHO

[ironin]

Most Chefs do not smoke. They know smokers' taste buds are diminished and they wouldn't be able to taste their food properl if they were steady smokers. It's rare you'll find a Chef who smokes much if anyl

 

 

Agree with your second sentence. As to the first and the third, I'm not so sure: A taste for cigarettes.

[Glacier Park]

Isn't there an easy solution to dealing with smoking v. non-smoking preference on verandahs - just designate one side of the ship non-smoking, that is, no smoking on verandahs on that side of the ship? Then non-smokers, by booking early, could assure themselves of a smoke free verandah, and smokers can puff away on the other side of the ship. It seems this would maximize the interests of both groups and greatly reduce tension between them. The fact that this hasn't been adopted, and I haven't received any response from HAL to my communications proposing this idea, leads me to believe there are other considerations. What am I overlooking?

[peaches from georgia]

When you watch Master Chef and the Next Iron Chef most of the chefs do smoke and they are mostly all Exec Chefs or Head Sous Chefs. I remembered because it surprised me how many smoke.

[Charles4515]

Carnival tried a non smoking ship and if you notice they no longer have it. Many non-smokers travel with friends, family or a spouse that smoke and they compromise to cruise together on a ship with some smoking allowed. A non-smoking ship does not allow for compromise and evidently they couldn't fill even one ship with non-smokers only, much less their whole fleet of ships like you hope HAL would do.

 

That was one ship on one itinerary so it really could not succeed except as a novelty as it would have expected people to keep sailing the same ship and itinerary over and over. It was also a while ago now.

 

That said I don't think the point has been reached that a large cruise line can or should go totally no smoking. Both from a business reason and fairness reason. That 18% is not small enough yet from a business standpoint and the 18% should be allowed a designated area because they are addicts to a legal product and until we succeed as a society, by education, in reducing the number of nicotine addicts to below 10% I think there should be some kind of designated area. That area though should be outside away from others, and not in any inside area since smoke circulates thru ventilation systems.

[regnig]

Hopefully I will not p_ss off some of you loyal HAL cruisers but we are amongst the "loyal" “pom-pom waving” Princess cruisers who are switching to HAL. We have 23 Princess cruises under our belts and as a result receive many great Elite perks and some extra OBCs. But as a result of their new smoking policy we are having our TA cancel out next Princess booking and we will be doing a 14 day cruise on HAL. We don't smoke real cigs much as we are switching to e-cigs and have never smoked in our staterooms. But the attitude demonstrated by Princess blatantly putting us in an undesirable minority who don’t deserve to have “usable primary living space” has really angered us. While we will be giving up the perks and benefits we have earned by exclusively sailing with them all these years it is the only way we can voice our objection and displeasure with the new policy.

 

If any of you find yourselves next to us on a cruise and find our smoking to be an annoyance please just politely ask us to refrain while you are on your veranda and will be most happy to accommodate you.

 

With luck we can all learn to happily co-exist without denying anyone their rights.

[azseas]

When you watch Master Chef and the Next Iron Chef most of the chefs do smoke and they are mostly all Exec Chefs or Head Sous Chefs. I remembered because it surprised me how many smoke.

 

 

Me too peaches! I was really surprised.

[peaches from georgia]

Me too peaches! I was really surprised.

 

I attribute it to working many continuous hours under intense stress and pressure and when service is over they completely relax.

[Meanmama]

Its about time that HAL caught up with the times!! I refuse to go into the Casinos and the bars where smoking is allowed because it stinks!!:(

[GayleArc]

Charles 4515, Yes, outside, as in veranda.

[cruisemom42]

Basically I feel CCL have hedged their bets. They made one of their "brands" more restrictive (Princess) which is equivalent to RCCL making Celebrity more smoke free. Carnival and RCL are, I guess, also more or less equivalent in terms of smoking allowed. (I'm not quibbling about a minor difference here and there but about the major bones of recent contention, e.g., cabins and balconies).

 

So they've gone partway on HAL perhaps assuming that nonsmokers on HAL may migrate to Princess and smokers from Princess may come to HAL. CCL doesn't lose either way. Sounds like a strictly business decision to me.

 

Smoking on a ship has never bothered me one way or another. (I'm a nonsmoker.) And since I plan to mostly cruise solo now, I'll probably not be springing for a veranda anyway. I cruise Princess and HAL and would still choose either based on itinerary and price. My parents are smokers, 4-star Mariners and Elite Princess cruisers. I know they will not be cruising with Princess any longer.

 

Bottom line is that anyone can find another line if the smoking issue bothers you that much. If you are unwilling to give up the other things you like about HAL, then de facto smoking comes lower on the list than some posters might have us (or themselves) believing.

 

Just my dime's worth. :rolleyes:

 

P.S. A great many chefs (and many great chefs) do smoke.

[gillianrose]

When you watch Master Chef and the Next Iron Chef most of the chefs do smoke and they are mostly all Exec Chefs or Head Sous Chefs. I remembered because it surprised me how many smoke.

 

I noticed many of the contestants on Hell's Kitchen smoke. Gordon Ramsay addressed this in a column by the TV Guy, a Canadian blog:

 

 

http://communities.canada.com/shareit/blogs/tvguy/archive/2009/05/14/chef-gordon-ramsay-talks-cooking-hell-s-kitchen-chefs-who-smoke-and-simon-cowell.aspx

 

He said "You know what? My father died at the age of 53, about 10 years ago, to smoking. And my grandfather died at 49. I've never smoked a cigarette in my entire life. So I find it really hard, and it's a bitter pill for me to swallow, to sit and watch these guys smoke their lives away earlier than anticipated. I can't understand how you can taste food, reflect it, smoke, go back and taste it. There has to be an inaccuracy beyond belief.

 

"I'm not their dad. I'm not there to mother them. But more importantly, I wish to hell they could understand the damage in terms their palate. A refined palate is a trained palate. Smoking at the same time - it's hard. Smoking is the one thing that I find it hard to tolerate. And it frustrates me.

 

"Secondly, you know, when you train a palate, it's like being an athlete. Every part of your body is toned. When you bring dishes and an ingredient together and it's missing something, it's complicated. It's your palate that gets you there in the end. So if I could ban smoking for every chef in the world as a mission, I'd start tonight."

[Charles4515]

Charles 4515, Yes, outside, as in veranda.

 

No, outside away from other people as I said in my post. That means not on the Veranda as it effects other people.

[Charles4515]

I noticed many of the contestants on Hell's Kitchen smoke. Gordon Ramsay addressed this in a column by the TV Guy, a Canadian blog:

 

 

http://communities.canada.com/shareit/blogs/tvguy/archive/2009/05/14/chef-gordon-ramsay-talks-cooking-hell-s-kitchen-chefs-who-smoke-and-simon-cowell.aspx

 

He said "You know what? My father died at the age of 53, about 10 years ago, to smoking. And my grandfather died at 49. I've never smoked a cigarette in my entire life. So I find it really hard, and it's a bitter pill for me to swallow, to sit and watch these guys smoke their lives away earlier than anticipated. I can't understand how you can taste food, reflect it, smoke, go back and taste it. There has to be an inaccuracy beyond belief.

 

"I'm not their dad. I'm not there to mother them. But more importantly, I wish to hell they could understand the damage in terms their palate. A refined palate is a trained palate. Smoking at the same time - it's hard. Smoking is the one thing that I find it hard to tolerate. And it frustrates me.

 

"Secondly, you know, when you train a palate, it's like being an athlete. Every part of your body is toned. When you bring dishes and an ingredient together and it's missing something, it's complicated. It's your palate that gets you there in the end. So if I could ban smoking for every chef in the world as a mission, I'd start tonight."

 

The reason they smoke is that being a Chef is a very stressful occupation. They are self medicating.

 

Not to get off topic but about 45% of cigarettes are smoked by the mentally ill. They are self medicating. You can google that. Here is one link.

 

http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Hearts_and_Minds/Smoking_Cessation/Smoking_and_Mental_Illness.htm