Do cruiselines usually follow each other on new policies?

[JFontaine]

In the old model, smoking meant more booze sales. Now with the popularity of drink packages, smoking is not only not a factor in more sales, less smioking means less drinking which means a higher profit per drinking passenger. Look for them to further reduce the places where people may smoke in the future.

[gerif]

Why oh why do all the cruise lines have to be the same.

Why can't there be smoking on the balcony its outside for heavens sake.

There is no tolerance anymore its very sad.

 

You are absolutely right. Many of us have no tolerance anymore for things that make us uncomfortable or affect our physical well being. Smoking is one of those things.

[crisndeefromde]

I don't smoke but I do have the occasional drink of the day or a labadoozie you get the idea. I don't care for the cig smoke but unfortunately cigar smoke hurts me far worse. I get bronchial spasms from the smoke as an irritant whether on land or sea. I most always have a balcony to get the fresh air to keep the spasms from triggering. Some ships air filtering systems aren't has high tech as say allure or oasis ships that are so new. though I prefer to be in a non smoking area that sometimes can't happen or I find myself in wrong area of ship. sometimes there is no one in the smoking area and i find quiet and a place for reading....bad idea but at the time it seemed ok....yep...still coughing today...got off the rhapsody last friday...back to home with my 88 yr old mom who is on oxygen, copd, chf, etc...not good and she smoked three packs a day...cause her doc checkups and chest xrays never showed any problem until late 80's...then it was too late...lung disease..even she can tell if i have been somewhere a smoker has been..she smells on my clothes.. and fireplace smoke from wood can do the same to me also...just saying. Will it make me only be loyal to one line? not sure...loyal to royal for now.

[Aquahound]

...and this is based on what verifiable data? Celebrity has had smoking restrictions regarding balconies and casinos for some time now - there rates have remained competitive.

 

Gotta love when people just make stuff up, huh? ;)

[Capt_BJ]

Will others follow this move?

 

20 years ago RC (et al) catered to a 'senior' crowd. It did not take many minutes of walking around their Victorian decorated ships to reach this conclusion. At the same time Carnival was "Party Ship".

 

Then Disney tested the waters with Big Red Boat and followed with Disney Cruise Line ... with a strong 'family' theme. (brb was circa 1986 btw)

 

What cruise line today does not hype their kids program? (I'll admit, some .... WINDSTAR comes to mind . . AMEN)

 

If you build it, they will come.

 

On the other hand - Carnival tried a 'no smoking' ship .... which failed ....

 

maybe they were ahead of their time . . .

[Tucker in Texas]

 

On the other hand - Carnival tried a 'no smoking' ship .... which failed ....

 

maybe they were ahead of their time . . .

 

While I think the no smoking may have contributed to the failure of the Carnival Paradise, I think several other things played in the failure: 1) Same itinerary--been there, done that, kicks in; 2) Slightly higher prices than other ships doing similar itinerary; 3) not only no smoking, you couldn't even have smoking materials with you so you could smoke when in port away from the ship. If they found a lighter, pack of cigarettes, book of matches, on you or in the cabin, fined a lot of money and disembarked at the next port to pay your own way home; 4) revenues were down both in the casino and bars (may or may not be tied to smokers spending in those venues) but may have contributed to the higher price; and 5) group bookings (the bread and butter of the cruise line whether it be a family group or something a TA has organized) were down. Grandpa smokes, the whole family moves to another ship.

 

I think Royal will eventually go to no smoking on the balconies but I think they are going to sit back and let HAL, Disney, and Cunard "test the waters" (pun intended) first to see how much, if any, it impacts the bottom line. Maybe the smokers will start getting inside/ocean view cabins instead of balconies and suites if they can't smoke on them. Will the non-smokers fill up those balconies and suites? That, to me, would be the major impact on the bottom line. With the exception of Disney, which, to me, is a different product than then mass market cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and Carnival offer smoking on balcony alternatives for those that do not want to be restricted. Keep the money in the "family."

 

I find it interesting that both Celebrity and HAL lines that tend to attract older cruisers, restrict the smoking since many older people started smoking before all the negative information on smoking came out. Or, at their age, they want to "die happy" rather than quit (lol).

 

Royal and Carnival, on the other hand, attract younger passengers, many of whom have never smoked because they are well aware of the negativity of the habit. Yet, Royal and Carnival have more of the "bells and whistles" that younger folks like and older folks could care less about (rock climbing wall, ice skating, flow-rider, etc.)

 

But then, I'm not a financial analyst, either (lol).

 

Tucker in Texas

[snownyet]

I find it interesting that both Celebrity and HAL lines that tend to attract older cruisers' date=' restrict the smoking since many older people started smoking before all the negative information on smoking came out. Or, at their age, they want to "die happy" rather n quit (lol).[/b']

 

Tucker in Texas

 

As I thought about this statement and reflected back on the age of the passengers when we sailed HAL, I was almost tempted to take up smoking. Those folks were so old that it created a mental arguement that smoking MUST make you live longer. After all we all want to grow old enough to fit right in on a HAL cruise right? My long retired parents said they wouldnt sail HAL again becuase the clientele was too old and boring, Dad called the ship "Gods waiting room".

[nb125]

Unfortunately I think eventally they will all follow suit. Look how long it has taken Seabourn to ban smoking in cabins but they have finally done it.

[Aquahound]

While I think the no smoking may have contributed to the failure of the Carnival Paradise, I think several other things played in the failure...

 

From what I was told by someone in the industry, that ship didn't fail due to lack of bookings, but because they couldn't maintain a non smoking crew. They took an all-or-nothing approach and it failed.

[cruisingagentone]

First you are not supposed to leave your balcony doors open but oh wait you don't care thats what YOU want to do lets mess up the a/c on the whole deck because thats what YOU want to do.

 

Again tolerance is gone in this country. Just wait until its something that you like and somemone comes along and says oops no I don't like that so stop it.

[Tucker in Texas]

Dad called the ship "Gods waiting room".

 

Or, "the elderly and their parents"

 

Tucker in Texas

[Mark_K]

From what I was told by someone in the industry, that ship didn't fail due to lack of bookings, but because they couldn't maintain a non smoking crew. They took an all-or-nothing approach and it failed.

The official reason was that the ship was getting dated for a ship doing highly competitive 7 day Caribbean itineraries, and following the standard industry practice, it was time to relegate it to shorter 3-4 day ones. And since was it was going to be their only ship doing the 3-4 west coast cruises, they didn't feel it prudent keep it nonsmoking.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[CruiseTobey]

One can only hope.

 

Disney just announced that they are allowing a more casual style of dress in their MDR, including (gasp!) shorts on what was referred to as "formal night. When this catches on (and believe me it will), the rest of the mainstream cruise lines will smell the money and follow suit. Finally. :D

[BillOh]

I think that the people who run RC make their own decisions.

 

:)

 

Always, but they do watch, make note, and possibly reconsider, or reaffirm their policies.

[Aquahound]

The official reason was that the ship was getting dated for a ship doing highly competitive 7 day Caribbean itineraries, and following the standard industry practice, it was time to relegate it to shorter 3-4 day ones. And since was it was going to be their only ship doing the 3-4 west coast cruises, they didn't feel it prudent keep it nonsmoking.

 

...key words being "official reason." ;)

[LMaxwell]

To the original question; do cruise lines usually follow each other for new policies; I would say "Yes". Not down to the exact same thing, but they watch and model their policies closely.

As far as smoking goes I personally am of the opinion that it should be banned from balconies and banned in the casinos. As a former smoker myself the stench stuck in the casinos keeps me away (land and water). Total no-smoking policy? That I would disagree with as well. With the vast size of these ships and the clientele I think designated areas or smoking lounges would be prudent.

Time will tell...but if you look at how policies have changed over the past few decades you will see a lot of cruise companies basically have similar (though not identical) policies.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Thanks guys! I got some good chuckles out of the HAL typical clientele generalities. "The elderly's parents" and "God's waiting room."

:D

[FLACRUISER99]

I though the "no smoking on balcony's" change was already in the works!

[MAHA]

[quote name='FLACRUISER99']I though the "no smoking on balcony's" change was already in the works![/quote]


That's wht Gina (Mommabean) has posted on another thread. She has mentioned potentially September 1 as the start date.

[Maxiecat3]

[quote name='MAHA']That's wht Gina (Mommabean) has posted on another thread. She has mentioned potentially September 1 as the start date.[/QUOTE]

I would have to believe if 9/1 is a date floating around, it would be the date of the announcement, not when the ban would actually start. The uproar would be enormous. If you add something like the 2 bottles of wine policy, short dating isn't minded. Take something away, better give plenty of notice.

Gregg

[FLACRUISER99]

[quote name='Maxiecat3']I would have to believe if 9/1 is a date floating around, it would be the date of the announcement, not when the ban would actually start. The uproar would be enormous. If you add something like the 2 bottles of wine policy, short dating isn't minded. Take something away, better give plenty of notice.

Gregg[/QUOTE]Or none!

[nbsjcruiser]

[quote name='Stormy15']I wonder how Disney's 2 new policies will affect Royal Caribbean. Do they usually follow each other? For those who don't know shorts are now allowed in the main dining room and smoking is not allowed on the verandas effective in November 15th on Disney cruise line. Any thoughts if Royal Caribbean will follow based on past policies?[/QUOTE]

Different lines in this case probably makes a big difference. Disney caters to the kids (obviously) and so I can see a relaxed dress code in the MDR making sense. Can also see the smoking policy making sense too.

[mcd2745]

[quote name='nbsjcruiser']Different lines in this case probably makes a big difference. [B]Disney caters to the kids (obviously) and so I can see a relaxed dress code in the MDR making sense.[/B] Can also see the smoking policy making sense too.[/quote]


More accurately, Disney caters to [I]families[/I]. And more and more, so do the other mass market lines - particularly RCI.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Disney caters to families of all ages who like great service and entertainment like the parks...we have no kids (any of us in our group) and it's our current cruise line of choice... RCI doesn't [B]not[/B] cater to families either, and CCL always has loads of kids on their cruise lines. Yes, the changes make sense for DCL (who competes more on X or Princess level and they already have non smoking balconies), but I am getting a bit tired of the "disney is for kids" idea. Ever been to the Food & Wine fest at EPCOT? Pretty sure wine isn't for kids... *sigh* never ending battle...

[Snooksi]

[quote name='MAHA']That's wht Gina (Mommabean) has posted on another thread. She has mentioned potentially September 1 as the start date.[/quote]

It could possibly be an ANNOUNCEMENT date but I highly DOUBT it would be a "start" date as notice would need to be given so people would have ample opportunity to cancel any future cruises without fear of any type of penalty. Even DCL gave 90 days notice.

And Mommabean also originally stated it would be August 1st, but that date came and went without a word.

C'mon people. We are all adults here. This is how rumors start.

Let's just wait and see if anything is even announced rather than randomly throwing rumored dates out there based on nothing but conjecture thereby getting people's dandruff up.