Smoking on state room balconies....

[che5904]

Here is a working link

 

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm

 

I'm surprised to see it as high as 19% of adults in the US still smoke. What's very interesting is the educational demographic. Nearly 50% of those with a GED smoke. :eek: Under 10% of those with a college degree

 

Don't ya ever wonder where they get these stats. I know I read stats all the time put out of our country. I've lived a lot of years and not once have I ever been polled to see if I smoke, nor have I ever known anyone who was :confused: Did anyone ever consider that perhaps its the areas they are polling.

[blindrid]

Agree. It seems like it's the old liars figure and figures lie. I, being a smoker have never been " asked" as we'll but I do understand statistical analysis. Oh wait, I can't know that since I smoke.:rolleyes:

[sdmike]

Don't ya ever wonder where they get these stats. I know I read stats all the time put out of our country. I've lived a lot of years and not once have I ever been polled to see if I smoke, nor have I ever known anyone who was :confused: Did anyone ever consider that perhaps its the areas they are polling.

 

Absolutley and unequivacally not. Just because you've never been surveyed is irrelevant. Ever hear of sampling? Statistical sigificance? Standard deviation? Effective sample sizes? If they are publishing this data about the US as statistically valid, it means that they gathered information nationwide and ti accurately represents the profile of the nation. It does not say "smoking rate for Detroit", etc.

 

There is clearly a statisical relationship between education level achieved, but nobody said it was a causal relationship one way or the other

[blindrid]

Absolutley and unequivacally not. Just because you've never been surveyed is irrelevant. Ever hear of sampling? Statistical sigificance? Standard deviation? If the are publishing this data about the US, it means that they gathered information nationwide and it's statisically valid. It does not say "smoking rate for Detroit", etc.

 

There is clearly a statisical relationship between education level achieved, but nobody said it was a causal relationship one way or the other

 

What he said......

[Medtech2]

It's not "if" but "when" NCL changes the policy. NCL is hanging in there while governments continue to grow the restrictions around smoking; ultimately, over time, smokers will realize they don't have much choice but to accept the inevitable. That's when NCL will pull the trigger. I predict inside of 5 years, if not earlier. Likely start with a few ships to begin the acclimatization process.

Governments indeed. The city of Charleston has declared a smoke-free zone in the hospital district of the city to include the sidewalks, the streets, and even in your own parked car.

 

I hate smoking but even I think that is way over the top. I'm waiting for someone to file a lawsuit.

[sdmike]

Agree. It seems like it's the old liars figure and figures lie. I, being a smoker have never been " asked" as we'll but I do understand statistical analysis. Oh wait, I can't know that since I smoke.:rolleyes:

 

If you understand statistical analysis you would also understand why the chances of you getting asked a question in a statistically valid study is about nil.

 

I'm going to stop commenting on statistics because it's off track of the thread. My apologies to the folks that are insulted by the data that corrolates smoking to lower levels of education. It's not saying that one causes the other. Also, think about it...if there are still over 6% of people with master's degrees that smoke, that's still a whole bunch of really smart people.

[blindrid]

If you understand statistical analysis you would also understand why the chances of you getting asked a question in a statistically valid study is about nil.

 

You are right. I was being a bit condescending to the PP.....:)

 

Or....I need to get my GED.....

[che5904]

If you understand statistical analysis you would also understand why the chances of you getting asked a question in a statistically valid study is about nil.

 

 

Now Mike, how could I possibly understand those big words you used "statis....whatever"???. Remember I'm un-edumacated and make no money. I don't even know how I could ever even afford to cruise. :D :D

 

Oh, I know I know (she says pumping her arm in the air), I must rely on the kindness of others. Wanna take me with your family on your next cruise ;)

 

Actually it was not your post that I found insulting, it was the post that stated "No way that 25% of cruisers are smokers. Cruising is not cheap...smoking decreases the higher the level of education and the higher the level of income."

 

I've actually never been a person that bought into statistics and studies, could be my skeptical nature.

[sdmike]

Governments indeed. The city of Charleston has declared a smoke-free zone in the hospital district of the city to include the sidewalks, the streets, and even in your own parked car.

 

I hate smoking but even I think that is way over the top. I'm waiting for someone to file a lawsuit.

 

I agree, that's pretty extreme. I can see control of smoking within a certain proximity of a hospital, but I'm assuming a district is pretty big

[sdmike]

Now Mike, how could I possibly understand those big words you used "statis....whatever"???. Remember I'm un-edumacated and make no money. I don't even know how I could ever even afford to cruise. :D :D

 

Oh, I know I know (she says pumping her arm in the air), I must rely on the kindness of others. Wanna take me with your family on your next cruise ;)

 

Oh che...I've known you long enough that I know darned well you know what that meant. lol. Ok...now I correlate smoking with being a smarta$$ ;) Actually, there was no data in there about what anyone makes other than povery level or above...so I'm not buying you not being able to cruze...crooze..kruze...er..whatever

[sdmike]

You are right. I was being a bit condescending to the PP.....:)

 

Or....I need to get my GED.....

 

Whoops! Sorry!... (where was that sarcasm font?) :)

 

I clearly need to step away from this thread. I'm all about smokers and non-smokers respecting each other's rights, but it gets my hackles up when people argue facts/data. Facts are not debatable, but are open to interpretation. And contrary to what che things, I'm not calling anyone here dumb, nor am I saying that the lack of education "causes" smoking. It's just interesting data.

[raylene5]

Are you for real!! I know a lot of high level educated people that smoke. Smoking and higher income have no connection what so ever. The reason Vegas still offers smokers is because most of their high rollers smoke. Hard to be a high roller with no money.

 

Just because "you know a lot of people" means nothing as to the population at large. You can refuse to believe the studies but they are true. People with higher incomes and higher levels of education tend to be healthier as a whole so not sure why this surprises you.

 

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/american-smokers-and-income-charted/

[itzmered]

Even Vegas has banned smoking in certain parts of their hotels! Won't be long :)

 

and cruise ships have banned smoking in certain parts of their ships, your point is :confused:

[Relax@Sea]

No way that 25% of cruisers are smokers. Cruising is not cheap...smoking decreases the higher the level of education and the higher the level of income. I guessing its more like 10% and on the decline.

 

Albert Einstein smoked he had an IQ of 160, maybe if he didn't smoke he would have solved the singularity problem and had a few more points on his IQ.

[raylene5]

and cruise ships have banned smoking in certain parts of their ships, your point is :confused:

 

My point is that if even Vegas has implemented bans on smoking, it's clearly a sign that Americans are growing tired of being around smoke and cruise ships will (hopefully) strengthen their current bans.

 

I obviously feel very strongly about this issue :)

[Richie2pies]

ALL Americans are not against smokers..............Only the rabid anti-smokers are.

[raylene5]

ALL Americans are not against smokers..............Only the rabid anti-smokers are.

 

Yes, I'm a rabid anti-smoker....very happy to admit it.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/majority-in-us-supports-public-smoking-ban_n_899887.html#s244139&title=Alabama_

 

Looks like a strong majority support a ban in all public places. So yeah, the majority of Americans are anti-smoker...but maybe not "rabid" like me.

[mr.purple]

Not to choose sides, just a funny thing.

 

It happened here in Europe, maybe also in US (don't know):

 

After smoking in public areas, inside restaurants, café's,...., was banned. All the non-smokers were obviously very happy.

 

As this law passed during the winter, they even couldn't resist to laugh and point to the smokers who were smoking outside in the freezing cold. (while they were nicely warm inside)

 

Then summer came.....and offcourse the outside-seatings still allowed smoking. Suddenly the aggressive non-smokers weren't so happy anymore and started complaining to the smokers.

 

That's the point when flyers were put up and passed around wich said:

 

Dear non-smokers,

For years you fought for a smoke-free interior and you got it.

We were banned to the outside seating.

Now summer is here, we hope that you enjoy you clean air inside.

And don't bother us with your complaints in our outside smoking area!

:p

 

If I'm a smoker or not, I let the statistics decide.

Level of education: engineer

Level of income: good enough to afford cruising

 

 

Again: not an attack or choosing sides, just a happy note:p

[Blondie008]

Smoked for nearly thirty years - Business Proprietor - last ten years, smoked even more - Husband - STARTED smoking at age 46 - Doctors reckoned going for a smoke break was his way of making himself take 15 minutes out.

 

One day last year, no plan - no reason - just woke up and thought - I cant do this to myself any more. From 40-50 a day - to zero.

I did have patches at home - and once I made the decision to quit - I spent an hour on youtube torturing myself with all sorts of horrors - reality check - Most smokers are in denial. I wept buckets watching those youtube stories - but - for me - it was my time to face up to the truth.

 

Since 2009 - we have cruised only with lines such as Costa who offer very liberal smoking policies. Its been fun - and we have had a lot of terrific cruises. We were booked with Celebrity for 2009, 3 x suites - all non refundable deposits - we cancelled the cruise, PAID to transfer deposits to Royal Caribbean - and of course, were shouting our mouths off about how ridiculous it was to ban smoking on cruise ship balconies. In hindsight now, I cannot imagine how we let our lives be so controlled over something which will kill us...

HOWEVER - It is now SO wonderful - not to be controlled by cigarettes.

I gained a lot of weight since quitting, but am now ready to tackle that issue and am on a plan to address it, in much the same way I quit smoking.

So here I am - glancing through the websites, choosing a ship for its facilities and for a host of reasons - not choosing a ship because it has multiple smoking areas.

The biggest CON of all - is that the fear of quitting is the reason most people dont try. Everyone says to me "oh its soooo tough" - absolute nonsense! With all the help available nowadays - quitting smoking is just a decision away. Its that simple.

I see smokers now (and smell them:eek:) - and I feel sympathy..For I know one day they too - will have to take a reality check OR face the consequences.

I do believe however - that if a smoker has paid to cruise - and - at the time of booking smoking is permitted on their balcony, then they have every right to do so without fear of reprimand.

I truly hope I will not turn into a self righteous anti smoking fanatic - I feel so fortunate to have been able to quit. I do hope - when people ASK me "How did you do it" - that I give encouragement.

I have no idea how I will feel on my balcony next cruise. Will I be the one coughing and waving at smokers in the casino? I hope not.

My husband - encouraged of course by my success - is now three weeks smoke free too.

We did an accountancy analysis from our business books. In twelve months - what we spent at the cash and carry on cigarettes (this is logged expenditure and not counting those we bought at supermarkets, petrol stations, or indeed overseas) was a whopping £9600 GBP - thats around US 15.5K$ -

15.5K buys us a darned nice cruise huh.

I feel fantastic now. I can breathe - smell wonderful - teeth squeaky clean - and aside from the weight gain - can feel week by week improvements to my health. God knows if I am too late - but - hopefully with diet and exercise I can continue to improve my health. One things for sure, continuing to smoke had a one way ticket. I still work silly hours, but - have MADE the time now to twice weekly go to zumba and tai chi/yoga classes. I take long walks in the forest, and enjoy every precious breath - and getting all my senses back is a joy in itself. Smell and taste ..wonderful!"!

And I am having a lot of fun browsing these boards and looking at all the ships I have denied myself these past few years.

Cigarettes control you - and that is the nicest feeling of all..That I AM in control of my own life once more.

NCL Epic is a strong contender - hence why I find myself browsing this forum. I feel as if I have had blinkers on all these years and WHY OH WHY huh -

Great to be back in the world of the living and to have freedom of choice -

Bon Voyage all :)

[terrydtx]

Smoked for nearly thirty years - Business Proprietor - last ten years, smoked even more - Husband - STARTED smoking at age 46 - Doctors reckoned going for a smoke break was his way of making himself take 15 minutes out.

 

One day last year, no plan - no reason - just woke up and thought - I cant do this to myself any more. From 40-50 a day - to zero.

I did have patches at home - and once I made the decision to quit - I spent an hour on youtube torturing myself with all sorts of horrors - reality check - Most smokers are in denial. I wept buckets watching those youtube stories - but - for me - it was my time to face up to the truth.

 

Since 2009 - we have cruised only with lines such as Costa who offer very liberal smoking policies. Its been fun - and we have had a lot of terrific cruises. We were booked with Celebrity for 2009, 3 x suites - all non refundable deposits - we cancelled the cruise, PAID to transfer deposits to Royal Caribbean - and of course, were shouting our mouths off about how ridiculous it was to ban smoking on cruise ship balconies. In hindsight now, I cannot imagine how we let our lives be so controlled over something which will kill us...

HOWEVER - It is now SO wonderful - not to be controlled by cigarettes.

I gained a lot of weight since quitting, but am now ready to tackle that issue and am on a plan to address it, in much the same way I quit smoking.

So here I am - glancing through the websites, choosing a ship for its facilities and for a host of reasons - not choosing a ship because it has multiple smoking areas.

The biggest CON of all - is that the fear of quitting is the reason most people dont try. Everyone says to me "oh its soooo tough" - absolute nonsense! With all the help available nowadays - quitting smoking is just a decision away. Its that simple.

I see smokers now (and smell them:eek:) - and I feel sympathy..For I know one day they too - will have to take a reality check OR face the consequences.

I do believe however - that if a smoker has paid to cruise - and - at the time of booking smoking is permitted on their balcony, then they have every right to do so without fear of reprimand.

I truly hope I will not turn into a self righteous anti smoking fanatic - I feel so fortunate to have been able to quit. I do hope - when people ASK me "How did you do it" - that I give encouragement.

I have no idea how I will feel on my balcony next cruise. Will I be the one coughing and waving at smokers in the casino? I hope not.

My husband - encouraged of course by my success - is now three weeks smoke free too.

We did an accountancy analysis from our business books. In twelve months - what we spent at the cash and carry on cigarettes (this is logged expenditure and not counting those we bought at supermarkets, petrol stations, or indeed overseas) was a whopping £9600 GBP - thats around US 15.5K$ -

15.5K buys us a darned nice cruise huh.

I feel fantastic now. I can breathe - smell wonderful - teeth squeaky clean - and aside from the weight gain - can feel week by week improvements to my health. God knows if I am too late - but - hopefully with diet and exercise I can continue to improve my health. One things for sure, continuing to smoke had a one way ticket. I still work silly hours, but - have MADE the time now to twice weekly go to zumba and tai chi/yoga classes. I take long walks in the forest, and enjoy every precious breath - and getting all my senses back is a joy in itself. Smell and taste ..wonderful!"!

And I am having a lot of fun browsing these boards and looking at all the ships I have denied myself these past few years.

Cigarettes control you - and that is the nicest feeling of all..That I AM in control of my own life once more.

NCL Epic is a strong contender - hence why I find myself browsing this forum. I feel as if I have had blinkers on all these years and WHY OH WHY huh -

Great to be back in the world of the living and to have freedom of choice -

Bon Voyage all :)

 

Congratulations to you both for making the life changing decision to no longer be a slave to smoking. I did the same 20 years ago and today there are no signs in my body that I was a smoker for over 20 years.

 

I can tolerate smokers on balconies, they paid for the right to smoke there and until it is banned by the cruise line no one who books knowing there could be smokers next to them has the right to complain. I do hope that sooner rather than later NCL will ban balcony smoking but until they do I will not complain here if I have a smoker in the balcony next to mine. Its is not the smokers next to my balcony's fault, it is mine for choosing to book on a ship that allows it.

[cod]

Well said, terrydtx! And Blondie008, I went from almost 2 packs a day to zero too without any help from the expensive aids out there. I will say though that even after 10 years, once in a blue-moon I find myself wishing I had a cigarette..but I will NEVER go back to being as dependent on something as I was on cigarettes for many years.

 

I saw on the news this morning that Mayor Bloomberg wants cigarettes off visible shelves and under the counter. They showed a display of Newports for 11.25 a pack. Who but the rich and well educated can smoke in NYC? I grew up in the Bronx and in the early 50's a quarter in a machine got you not only a pack of cigarettes but a book of matches too.

Of course there was no rage against smoking/smokers back then and no Mayor Bloomberg!

[terrydtx]

Well said, terrydtx! And Blondie008, I went from almost 2 packs a day to zero too without any help from the expensive aids out there. I will say though that even after 10 years, once in a blue-moon I find myself wishing I had a cigarette..but I will NEVER go back to being as dependent on something as I was on cigarettes for many years.

 

I saw on the news this morning that Mayor Bloomberg wants cigarettes off visible shelves and under the counter. They showed a display of Newports for 11.25 a pack. Who but the rich and well educated can smoke in NYC? I grew up in the Bronx and in the early 50's a quarter in a machine got you not only a pack of cigarettes but a book of matches too.

Of course there was no rage against smoking/smokers back then and no Mayor Bloomberg!

 

COD, of that $11.25 a pack 90% is Federal, State and Local taxes, which is why tobacco products will never be banned in the US, too big of a tax cash cow for governments. About 12 years ago I was in Tennessee visiting the Jack Daniels distillery and was shocked to find out they were only the number 2 highest Federal taxpayer in the state, Copenhagen chewing tobacco in Memphis was number 1:eek:

[shark with a laser]

COD, of that $11.25 a pack 90% is Federal, State and Local taxes, which is why tobacco products will never be banned in the US, too big of a tax cash cow for governments. About 12 years ago I was in Tennessee visiting the Jack Daniels distillery and was shocked to find out they were only the number 2 highest Federal taxpayer in the state, Copenhagen chewing tobacco in Memphis was number 1:eek:

 

Actually, a lot of that is just the convenience upcharge the delis charge. When I lived in NYC 10 years ago, I paid $7.50 at pretty much any deli. I could go a little further to Duane Reade (a pharmacy chain for those not in the northeast) and pay $3.75.

[blindrid]

About 12 years ago I was in Tennessee visiting the Jack Daniels distillery and was shocked to find out they were only the number 2 highest Federal taxpayer in the state,

 

Geez, imagine that in a dry county. Not able to drink but sure will take in the dollars...... same goes with cigs. :rolleyes:

[smeyer418]

fwiw most of it is local and state taxes. the federal tax is $1.10 a pack. In NY City the state and city taxes are more than $5.85 a pack plus sales tax.

 

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0267.pdf

 

while its a high percentage it isn't 90%...