Is anyone going back to Princess in light of its new smoking policy

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Actually, I was driven off my Celebrity balcony because my neighbors seemed to bathe in perfume on their balcony. You just never know what will happen.

 

I can relate to the perfume comment of the above poster. Some of that stuff is like napalm. Why do people think that others want to smell that crap?

 

I agree that some scents can be overwhelming and annoying, but at least they're not generally hazardous to your health. DW is so sensitive to secondhand smoke that in strong enough concentrations it could be fatal.

[Tenn4ever]

I haven't sailed Princess, but I have decided to try them on a future Alaska cruise--specifically because their old smoking policy was a deal-breaker and now I can evaluate them evenly against Celebrity and Oceania. On that basis, they seem to offer a lot (especially in Alaska).

 

That's why we chose Celebrity over Princess - the smoking policy. Princess and Hal, both, have superior itineraries to Alaska but the smoking policy kept us from sailing either.

[chloe kitty]

We love Princess and are Elite. We also love Celebrity, so it will depend upon the ports. The new policy is great! Glad to hear they came to their senses.

[Esprit]

We'll be back on Princess when their new ship comes out in a year or so. Can't wait.

[Mercury]

I really enjoy Princess cruises but must say, for us, cruising is all about the ports. I am glad the smoking rules have changed but that will not be the deciding factor.

 

I agree 100%.

[cynbar]

We sail both Celebrity and Princess, don't find either line to be perfect in all ways, but we enjoy many things about both. Yes, I would have to say that the new smoking policy will probably steer us a little more towards Princess, but we will still mix it up because it gets boring to us to sail the same line too often (we tend to see the same menus, same shows, same events fleetwide for the most part.) We also have been lucky and have never been bothered by smoking neighbors on our Princess cruises, but I realize that is just the luck of the draw and could have changed anytime.

[Stelladoro]

This year, we sailed on a Princess ship for the first time and didn't notice problems with smoking. My issues on that cruise were the hard mattresses and sales pitches.

We're still fairly new to cruising and so far, Celebrity has a slight edge. However, we would sail another line, based on itinerary and cost.

[SkystheLimit]

Yes, we are considering Princess again due to this policy change. We loved our last cruise on the Coral Princess. However, we had terrible issues with secondhand smoke in many areas including our stateroom and balcony.

 

We particularly appreciate the Princess policy that allows you to bring wine onboard to enjoy in your stateroom. That is another reason we will return with this new no smoking policy.

[Dena]

So it looks like the policy change on Princess may cost Celebrity some business. Perhaps they will do something else to distinguish their onboard experience. Has anyone heard anything about the September food announcement? It was supposed to be an industry leading revolutionary way of getting our food in the MDR. Sounds good.

[lovevacadays]

Never left Princess. Love both Princess and Celebrity. Smoke never bothered me on Princess except when walking through the casino. On some of the newer or refurbished Princess ships, there is a new hallway with new cabins where one can bypass the casino. I can hold my nose for a few seconds.

 

 

That's what I do too! I find the only place I really noticed smoke on Princess ships was in the casino as well.

 

I'd love to hear your comparison between the two lines if it wouldn't make this thread too off topic. I'm thinking about booking something with Celebrity.

[lovevacadays]

Princess still allows smoking in the casino so the smell can waft into the atrium. But maybe with fewer smokers onboard it will not be an issue.

 

Interesting. I've sailed Princess 9 or 10 times and never noticed/smelled smoke in the Atrium. You must have been sailing with tons of smokers.

[A1A]

Never really noticed smoke on a Princess ship except for the casino. We will continue to cruise with Princess and the new policy will keep us heading back. We will also continue to cruise with Celebrity as they are both very good lines with a lot to offer.

[FloatSomeMore]

We will never sail Princess again. Their ships are beautiful but they are on the intercom all day long hawking junk! Our last cruise with them was a 21 day transatlantic from Copenhagen, wonderful itinerary although rough seas cancelled our stop at Iceland. We were in a suite and our cabin attendant was sea sick for most of our cruise, we never saw him. The worst part was we are nonsmokers and the cabin beside us opened their door to air their room with the balcony door open and the hallway smelled like an ashtray. It was awful. This was our second and last trip with Princess, I don't care what their smoking policy is. Oh, and this was September/October 2008 when the market crashed and mysteriously the Crown Princess internet went out - go figure!!!:eek:

[kitty9]

Until Princess bans smoking in their casino, no, I'll stick to Celebrity.