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

[Sow There]

I don't agree that the booking passenger is responsible to know the smoking policy before they book. In 2014 public smoking in the US has largely been banned. Bars, restaurants, hotels, workplaces and even rental properties ban smoking. If I were a new cruiser smoking issues would not cross my mind. I can only imagine the shock when they walk onto their beautiful balcony.

 

I guess you aren't aware that the cruise contract requires all passengers to agree to the line's policies and that agreement with the contract is required before passage is permitted.

 

It's the obligation of "the booking passenger ... to know the smoking policy" before they agree to the contract.

[sammiedawg]

I'm sorry but in booking 30 some cruises On five different lines with a variety of travel agents I have never had anyone ask if I am familiar with the smoking policy. We all sign paperwork agreeing to abide by the ship policies, just like we sign on the dotted line to check into a hotel. That still does not inform me that my balcony cabin space may be polluted with stinky smoke and it doesn't warn me to avoid a balcony cabin.

I look forward to the day HAL announces the ban on balcony smoking, hopefully soon.

[sail7seas]

I thought you quit going to the casino when they changed from a "coin" payout to having to use your card.

 

 

Post #4 in this thread, paragraph 9

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=21122413&highlight=casino+hopper#post21122413

 

No mention of smoke, just dislike of the card system....

 

Your memory is spot on. I DID stop going when they converted slots to not using coins. That was years ago and that was the end of tolerating smoke in the casino. I got a Two-Fer !!!! :D

 

I'm supposed to prove a negative? Because I didn't mention it then, it wasn't a consideration? Of course, it was. I can't stand second hand smoke and as months/years go by in my very limited smoking state, I dislike it even more. I also didn't mention I don't like sushi in that post but I don't ever eat sushi. :D :D

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2014 by sail7seas

[cbr663]

I'm sorry but in booking 30 some cruises On five different lines with a variety of travel agents I have never had anyone ask if I am familiar with the smoking policy. We all sign paperwork agreeing to abide by the ship policies, just like we sign on the dotted line to check into a hotel. That still does not inform me that my balcony cabin space may be polluted with stinky smoke and it doesn't warn me to avoid a balcony cabin.

I look forward to the day HAL announces the ban on balcony smoking, hopefully soon.

 

The smoking policy is included in the Express Docs that you receive with your boarding pass. When you sign the docs and accept the terms and conditions, you are considered informed. These docs are sent with every booking for a reason. As many others have unfortunately discovered, simply stating, "no one told me" doesn't cut it.

[sammiedawg]

By the time I can print express docs HAL has my money and it is non refundable. I am well aware of the smoking policy and I stopped booking balcony cabins on HAL. Since our bad balcony experience during Eurodam's maiden season I've saved thousands.

[albingirl]

Well, I can sympathize with anyone who has to deal with this issue. I was in a bar/restaurant in Newport, RI yesterday, visiting a wonderful area, and the windows were open. Patrons of the restaurant started smoking outside the open window which led into the bar/restaurant area and the bartender got a whiff and told them to move along. Sure, his tip was certainly affected, but he was concerned about the smoke drift. It did stink.

[jimmy2x]

I guess you aren't aware that the cruise contract requires all passengers to agree to the line's policies and that agreement with the contract is required before passage is permitted.

 

It's the obligation of "the booking passenger ... to know the smoking policy" before they agree to the contract.

 

I have little sympathy for people who spend a significant amount of money on ANY product without doing some basic research. My mother taught me about "buyer beware" a long time ago.

[sail7seas]

Your memory is spot on. I DID stop going when they converted slots to not using coins. That was years ago and that was the end of tolerating smoke in the casino. I got a Two-Fer !!!! :D

 

I'm supposed to prove a negative? Because I didn't mention it then, it wasn't a consideration? Of course, it was. I can't stand second hand smoke and as months/years go by in my very limited smoking state, I dislike it even more. I also didn't mention I don't like sushi in that post but I don't ever eat sushi. :D :D

 

 

 

 

I thought you quit going to the casino when they changed from a "coin" payout to having to use your card.

 

 

Post #4 in this thread, paragraph 9

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=21122413&highlight=casino+hopper#post21122413

 

No mention of smoke, just dislike of the card system....

 

 

 

THANK YOU.

How fun you went back to a five year old post. It was part of a very long review I did of a Maasdam cruise Canada/New England. Brought back great memories skimming through it after all these years.

 

Wonderful you took the time to find it and read through. It was interesting for me to confirm it's been five years since I spent any significant time in an HAL casino. :eek:

Appreciate it. :)

 

Edited September 30, 2014 by sail7seas

[Host Walt]

... It was interesting for me to confirm it's been five years since I spent any significant time in an HAL casino. :eek:

... :)

You made me think about how long it's been for us. I don't think we visited any HAL casino since a Rotterdam sailing in 1998. (Not into gambling, personally, esp. on board a cruise ship where the odds favor the house much more than in Vegas.)

 

But your comment also made me recall way back in the mid-80's when we sailed on the old Nieuw Amsterdam (I think) where the show room and casino were both located midship on the Promenade deck and one had to pass through both to go from forward to aft and vice versa.

 

Back then smoking was permitted in the show room as well as the casino.

[sail7seas]

 

<snip>

 

But your comment also made me recall way back in the mid-80's when we sailed on the old Nieuw Amsterdam (I think) where the show room and casino were both located midship on the Promenade deck and one had to pass through both to go from forward to aft and vice versa.

 

Back then smoking was permitted in the show room as well as the casino.

 

 

I remember that, too, from her sister, Noordam III. When we sailed that ship, you could smoke just about everywhere. :) I know there was smoking section in Lido, MDR, show lounge, all bars........ Whew. How times have changed. :) The funny thing is there were no verandahs on those two ships so that verandah smoking was no problem. :D

 

[nb125]

I am confused by the thread. Where does Hal allow smoking?

 

The casino, I don't know if that is all or part.

Verandahs

One small corner of the Lido deck (Seaview Bar)

[nb125]

Speaking only for myself....... I don't complain about the casino smoke s I stopped going to the casino. My DH and I used to stop in the casino almost every night after we left the upper level of the MDR on the "S" and "R" ships but stopped when we could not bear the smoke. I don't need to complain about the smoke as I stopped feeding the casino my cash. :D

 

I do not wish to stop using the verandah I pay dearly for. And please do not sink to the level of telling someone who has sailed HAL over 80 cruises to go somewhere else. Pretend it is you to whom that is being said in those conditions and try to think what your ''truthful' reaction would be to that dismissive comment.

 

I seriously doubt any casino does not feel the loss of gambling money from non-smokers like me who ceased participating. I am most assuredly not the only one who stopped going.

 

 

Please do not put words in my mouth.

[chrispb]

No bonfires permitted in my area so can't speak to that. We are not even permitted to burn leaves in the fall.

 

 

Aaah,but I'm sure you are young enough to recall a time when bonfires were allowed. I can!

[sail7seas]

Aaah,but I'm sure you are young enough to recall a time when bonfires were allowed. I can!

 

Sadly, I don't recall ever having been at a bonfire. They weren't something we had in the suburbs where I live and are not allowed in most of the cities and towns in our area. Only place I've seen one is on TV/movies. :D

 

Edited September 30, 2014 by sail7seas

[cruz chic]

Please do not put words in my mouth.

 

It may not have come from your month but this is the reply by many, many smokers on this board. It gets tiresome.

[Lizzie68]

Aaah,but I'm sure you are young enough to recall a time when bonfires were allowed. I can!

 

Not so much on this side of the pond, where Bonfire Night does not exist.;)

[Host Walt]

Sadly, I don't recall ever having been at a bonfire. They weren't something we had in the suburbs where I live and are not allowed in most of the cities and towns in our area. Only place I've seen one is on TV/movies. :D

 

I kinda miss those days way back when. I was brought up in NE New Jersey and we always played our interscholastic football games on Saturday afternoon on a field in the middle of a residential area.

 

They say the olfactory sense creates memory elements. I think that's true because even to this day I associate football with the aroma of burning leaves. (It wasn't unpleasant at all except if you were close to the bonfire and the wind shifted blowing smoke in your eyes.

 

I have similar olfactory recollections of beach suppers where my dad would roast corn on an open bonfire followed by burgers and fresh caught fish. Here in California beach fires are verboten.

[kjw869]

Here in California beach fires are verboten.

 

Years ago when I lived up in the Bay area, we spent many nights with a bonfire on the beaches near Santa Cruz. After moving to Orange County, we did the same thing until they were forbidden by the local authorities. Miss those days!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG Note 3 usings Forums mobile app.

[pnkandpurple]

not on ships!

[pnkandpurple]

Always get a verandah cabin, like to sit out there and have coffee. Some cruises have not been able due to ashes and smoke. I realize some people get a verandah just so they can smoke out there. I get a verandah to sit out there and have a drink or read. Smoke doesn't stay on their verandah and goes to neighboring verandahs to the side and above. HAL needs to address this and maybe just have smoking cabins on top deck on back of the ship. I believe smokers will go to where they can smoke, even if they can't smoke on their verandah. It won't stop them from cruising! it will free up some verandahs, HAL can fill more cheap cabins.

[chrispb]

Not so much on this side of the pond, where Bonfire Night does not exist.;)

 

I know you guys don't have "Guys" (Guy Fawkes night - ok, we sometimes call it bonfire night) - but many people used to light bonfires to get rid of garden waste and other rubbish before this Clean Air Act, not just on 5th November:)

[kennicott]

I kinda miss those days way back when.

I have similar olfactory recollections of beach suppers where my dad would roast corn on an open bonfire followed by burgers and fresh caught fish. Here in California beach fires are verboten.

 

That is certainly one of the reasons I like to be on the sea so well.

 

Back when I was little we lived on the coast of Alaska. In those days regular air line flights to Seattle, (major jumping off port for Alaska and still is for that matter), were rare to non existent. So, folks coming from or heading "outside" rode the "boat" to Seattle, Alaska Steamship Company. Sometimes, in the springtime our mother would take us outside to visit relatives in Kansas and Nebraska. Alaska was a Territory in those days. I can recall some of those trips back as far as my memory goes.

 

Anyway, when boarding the steamship the smells were distinct. Galley foods, varnish, sea water, coffee and on and on. Every cruise brings back those recollections. I love em.

[corkpopr]

smoke from a balcony passes by immediately when the ship is traveling at 18-21 knots. I do agree when the ship is in port it does linger or drift up to the next two decks. What is strange though is that for most of the cruise industry history there was smoking in cabins and that was a time when about 40% of adults smoked. Neither myself or anyone else I ever spoke to could tell whether the couple the week before them smoked when we boarded on turn day. since the business is all about revenue, the ships should alternate casino smoking every other day and look at their bar and casino revenue. Seems like an easy way to use the information already available to them.

[kenphy]

If everyone would just honor other adults' choices, the world would be easier!!

[tip]

If everyone would just honor other adults' choices, the world would be easier!!

 

I choose to avoid breathing second hand smoke.;)

Edited October 5, 2014 by tip