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

[JudithLynne]

OK....I just found this in the passenger cruise information on the HAL website:

Anyguest who smokes inside staterooms in violation of our

policywill be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of

violation.

Note that it does not mention balconies/verandas!

This has me worried.

[hal lover]

Since HA has announced that smoking on balconies is no longer allowed they need to make it clear in the Onboard Life portion. This way everyone can make their own choice accordingly.

[cabinluvn]

They may have made an announcement that they could no longer smoke on balconies, but on our recent cruise, not only were there smokers, but someone was smoking marijuana. I made a post here about it on this blog. Don't know if they read it here or someone complained, but did not smell either one after I posted

 

 

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[Becoming]

I did change cabins to a lower deck so I won't be close to the smoking area by the pool. If there are smokers on the balconies close to me, I'll have to address that on the ship.

 

I'm thrilled that HAL has tighten up their smoking policies. Hopefully the policies will be enforced so that we can enjoy the cruise and not compromise our health.

 

Patti

[kennicott]

OK....I just found this in the passenger cruise information on the HAL website:

Anyguest who smokes inside staterooms in violation of our

policywill be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of

violation.Note that it does not mention balconies/verandas!

This has me worried.

 

"Any guest who smokes inside staterooms or on verandahs in violation of our policy will be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of violation and will risk being removed from the ship for repeated violations."

 

 

Smoking Policy beginning January 2017:

 

 

Effective with the first sailings for all ships beginning in January 2017, the following smoking policy is in effect:

 

 

For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. No smoking of any kind will be permitted on any stateroom verandah.

 

 

 

SHIPNEW SMOKING POLICY BEGINSms MaasdamJanuary 2, 2017ms RotterdamJanuary 2, 2017ms VolendamJanuary 3, 2017ms NoordamJanuary 4, 2017ms VeendamJanuary 4, 2017ms ZuiderdamJanuary 4, 2017ms Nieuw AmsterdamJanuary 6, 2017ms EurodamJanuary 7, 2017ms WesterdamJanuary 7, 2017ms KoningsdamJanuary 8, 2017ms ZaandamJanuary 10, 2017ms OosterdamJanuary 13, 2017ms AmsterdamApril 26, 2017ms PrinsendamMay 6, 2017

 

The designated smoking areas for all ships are as follows unless otherwise noted:

 

 

• Sea View (Retreat) Bar/Pool on starboard side only. On Prinsendam, Koningsdam, and Nieuw Statendam, smoking is allowed on the port side only
  
• Sun Bar on Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam
  
• Sports Deck forward and aft of Crow?s Nest on starboard side on Maasdam, Veendam, Volendam, Zaandam, Rotterdam and Amsterdam
  
• Oak Room on Noordam only, including cigar and pipe smoking
  
• Designated areas for active slot players in Casinos*. Oosterdam and Eurodam casinos are completely non-smoking. Noordam Casino is completely non-smoking, with the exception of two nights per cruise.
  

 

Cigar and pipe smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smoking is otherwise allowed.

 

 

Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than designated smoking areas.

 

 

Any guest who smokes inside staterooms or on verandahs in violation of our policy will be charged a US$250 cleaning fee per day of violation and will risk being removed from the ship for repeated violations.

 

 

 

Holland America Line reserves the right at any time to modify the smoking policy onboard or alter the locations where smoking is permissible.

[Aquahound]

Is it actually in writing in the Cruise Contract?

 

About following the rules? Yes.

[bUU]

To wit, "You must at all times obey all the rules, regulations and orders of the Ship, Carrier and the Captain." That condition effectively makes the rules a non-included rider to the contract.

[JudithLynne]

Thank you all for your efforts to find the exact information that I wanted. I did find the official wording in another place on the HAL website and have copied it, printed it and will take it on the cruise.

We're on the Amsterdam July 3rd, their new smoking policy takes effect April 26th which allows, I hope, some time to get the kinks out.

 

Judith

[niklah]

Ok, at the risk of being blasted, I'd like to give my point of view as a smoker. I've cruised many times in the past with HAL. I always have booked a balcony stateroom. I have also always tried to be considerate of my neighbors & told them if i would stop & go inside if I heard them on their balcony. I rarely smoked on my balcony as I likes to go to the Lido deck & meet other passengers. But I always savored my cigarette with a cup of coffee, while pulling into port. Also enjoyed one late at night with my nightcap.

 

The last cruise I was on was mid January to Panama. I had booked 8 months prior. At the time I booked I first reread the policies to make sure smoking was allowed on balconies. I never received any notice of any policy change. I found out it went into effect on a day of departure 1/4. I felt this was very unfair, because I was not given the option to book an earlier cruise or not pay the extra expense for 2 balcony cabins or possibly cancel. Note I purposely booked aft balconies just below the Lido deck figuring I would not possibly offend anyone since my smoke would being going away from the ship as we were underway.

 

Having said all that; I have never intentionally broke any rule. If it was no smoking, so be it. I will follow the rules. I just don't feel that I was treated fairly, and will look at different options for my vacation dollars.

Edited March 3, 2017 by niklah
Spelling

[JudithLynne]

I do not know who you booked with, but you should have been notified by your TA as we were within a week of the new policy being released. I agree that it not fair. If you booked through a TA and not HAL I would question why the TA did not contact you and I would be suspicious that the TA did not want to lose the booking commission.

[bUU]

I have also always tried to be considerate of my neighbors

It is a really tough situation - there is no question about that. The reality is that "being considerate" in the context of smoking means assuring that your smoke doesn't reach your neighbors' noses or eyes, in the same way that "being considerate" in the context of listening to music late at night means assuring that the sound doesn't reach your neighbors' ears. Therefore, I don't know of any way to smoke that is considerate, as such. The problem isn't you, as a smoker, or your neighbors, as non-smokers - the problem is smoking itself. As an activity it is critically flawed in a way that other potential nuisances, like listening to music, drinking alcohol, having sex, etc., are not flawed.

 

The last cruise I was on was mid January to Panama. I had booked 8 months prior. At the time I booked I first reread the policies to make sure smoking was allowed on balconies. I never received any notice of any policy change. I found out it went into effect on a day of departure 1/4. I felt this was very unfair, because I was not given the option to book an earlier cruise or not pay the extra expense for 2 balcony cabins or possibly cancel.

The question is who was unfair to you. First, I'm sure you'll agree that other passengers, passengers who may have been relying on the information they received when they were notified about the new smoking policies, were not the ones unfair to you. Beyond that, if you used a travel agent then 100% of the blame probably rests with the travel agent, not the cruise line, so that's more of a private concern between you and your chosen agent.

[Ekelley8804]

Is chewing tobacco/snuff allowed onboard? Is it better to bring your own or is there a duty free sale on board that is a better deal?

 

I know it disgusts many people but my boyfriend is respectful about it and keeps it discrete. If necessary he can keep it to just our stateroom. But I'm assuming its probably ok on deck where smoking is allowed. We will be sailing on the Eurodam if that makes a difference.

 

Thank you for any help or advice. Just dont want to get sent to the naughty room for him bringing his preferred brand with him. Also, should it go in his carry-on or his checked bag?

[GlennG]

Is chewing tobacco/snuff allowed onboard? Is it better to bring your own or is there a duty free sale on board that is a better deal?

 

I know it disgusts many people but my boyfriend is respectful about it and keeps it discrete. If necessary he can keep it to just our stateroom. But I'm assuming its probably ok on deck where smoking is allowed. We will be sailing on the Eurodam if that makes a difference.

 

 

 

Thank you for any help or advice. Just dont want to get sent to the naughty room for him bringing his preferred brand with him. Also, should it go in his carry-on or his checked bag?

 

Snuff and chewing tobacco are legal substances. You won't have a problem in carrying these products aboard. As a former "spitter", however, I highly recommend that your boyfriend confine his habit to your stateroom. Most people really do believe that this habit is gross and disgusting. Even baseball players avoid using these products in great quantities. In short, don't spit in public and never, ever spit overboard into the ocean.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I think HAL has to do a better job of letting passengers know that smoking is not allowed on balconies. On our cruise last week, we had an aft wrap. First morning, I went out on the balcony and smelled smoke. So I looked along the side, and I could see the woman smoking. I counted balconies and figured out which cabin she had. I was going to slip a note under the door, but then I thought, no let the ship handle this. So I reported the incident to the front desk.

 

The woman at the front desk explained the long process of how they would investigate. They even called the next day to update me. Frankly, the process sounded so Byzantine I sort of zoned out. But it made me curious, so I looked in the "welcome" booklet. Somewhere toward the end there's a section about health, and that lists the smoking policy. A sticker with the new balcony rules had been placed over the old balcony rules. And that's the only way someone would know they couldn't smoke on their balcony. Unless they took the lack of an ashtray as a sign.

 

I never smelled smoke again, so my guess is that this passenger simply didn't know. I think HAL should print up one of those cards like ones that remind you about clocks changing and put it with the paperwork that's waiting for you on embarkation. ("Did you know? Our smoking policy has changed recently...") Or post something on the door like the notice about not leaving the door open.

[JR42]

Just off the Oosterdam and the sticker on the balcony door is the old one in regards to smoking. No new sticker saying no smoking. Fortunately no was smoking on the balconies near us.

 

Janet

[bUU]

I wonder how much the cruise line is intending a slowly phased-in implementation of this new policy. Read these boards enough and you get a feel for the proprietary perspective many repeat passengers have towards the cruise line. I could imagine that the cruise line would be sensitive to that and would intentionally introduce more and more stringency over time. I remember when automobile seat belt laws went into effect in the United States. Police Department's didn't start handing out violations the first day. There was a period of time when there were just warnings handed out, and a period of time during which violations could only be secondary in nature ie handed out only as a second violation on top of some other reason the driver was pulled over.

 

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[Slarty]

I think HAL has to do a better job of letting passengers know that smoking is not allowed on balconies. On our cruise last week, we had an aft wrap. First morning, I went out on the balcony and smelled smoke. So I looked along the side, and I could see the woman smoking. I counted balconies and figured out which cabin she had. I was going to slip a note under the door, but then I thought, no let the ship handle this. So I reported the incident to the front desk.

 

The woman at the front desk explained the long process of how they would investigate. They even called the next day to update me. Frankly, the process sounded so Byzantine I sort of zoned out. But it made me curious, so I looked in the "welcome" booklet. Somewhere toward the end there's a section about health, and that lists the smoking policy. A sticker with the new balcony rules had been placed over the old balcony rules. And that's the only way someone would know they couldn't smoke on their balcony. Unless they took the lack of an ashtray as a sign.

 

I never smelled smoke again, so my guess is that this passenger simply didn't know. I think HAL should print up one of those cards like ones that remind you about clocks changing and put it with the paperwork that's waiting for you on embarkation. ("Did you know? Our smoking policy has changed recently...") Or post something on the door like the notice about not leaving the door open.

 

Good for you for complaining! We had the unfortunate displeasure on one of our last cruises to be downwind adjacent to a cigar smoker (3-week FLL to SAN).

 

At the time, smoking cigarettes on the balcony was still allowed. I did not know that Cigar smoking was not, or else I would have raised bloody hell. He was out there dawn-to-dusk -- ruined our balcony enjoyment.

[OVgirl]

We boarded NA on Feb. 19 and on the first day we spoke to 3 couples that were not aware that they could not smoke on the verandas. They were quite upset that HAL hadn't informed them of the change in smoking policy.

I don't know if they booked with a TA or directly with HAL. Or who is responsible for notifying passengers.

I do know that we received special notices about the change in policy directly from HAL..

I totally understand their frustration that day.

[bUU]

I don't know ... who is responsible for notifying passengers.

Whoever holds your booking, cruise line or travel agent, is responsible for informing you of such things. It is a bad system IMHO because the quality of service varies so much from travel agent to travel agent.

 

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[CRUZBUDS]

We were surprised on our Westerdam cruise that little seemed to be done to inform smokers. A simple decal on the door or balcony divider the the international red line through a cigarette would have helped.

 

There was a smoker at his balcony rail chain smoking five cabins forward and two down, as cruised the Baja coast. Yes, even though the ship was underway, it still smelled enough to bother our enjoyment of the morning. We called and the desk said they would let house keeping know. We never saw him smoking again, but did smell it a few times. We figured he didn't know about the policy, or he wouldn't have be so easy to spot

[kennicott]

Good for you for complaining! We had the unfortunate displeasure on one of our last cruises to be downwind adjacent to a cigar smoker (3-week FLL to SAN).

 

At the time, smoking cigarettes on the balcony was still allowed. I did not know that Cigar smoking was not, or else I would have raised bloody hell. He was out there dawn-to-dusk -- ruined our balcony enjoyment.

 

Where did you get the idea that cigar smoking was not allowed on HAL balconies? It has been allowed all along, same as the cigarette policy as far as I know. A lot of us could probably tolerate the cigarettes but not cigars. Look at the number of posts on this thread where guests have experienced a cigar smoker on the adjacent balcony who invites his buddies to join.

 

Smoking Policy through December 2016:

For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. While smoking is not permitted in staterooms, guests are allowed to smoke on stateroom verandahs. Smoking is also permitted on certain other designated, outside decks. The designated smoking areas for all ships are as follows unless otherwise noted:

• Stateroom verandahs
  
• Sea View Bar (not available on ms Rotterdam and ms Veendam)
  
• Outside Decks
  
  • Sports Deck
    
  • Observation Deck (ms Prinsendam, ms Eurodam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam, and ms Zuiderdam only)
    

  [*]Casino*

  • Active players only, when the casino is open
    
  • Designated slot machines only
    
  • Each sailing will offer one or more non-smoking nights depending upon the length of the voyage
    

Cigar and pipe smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smoking is otherwise allowed. Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than on outside decks designated as smoking areas.

Edited March 11, 2017 by kennicott

[Lizzie68]

Where did you get the idea that cigar smoking was not allowed on HAL balconies? It has been allowed all along, same as the cigarette policy as far as I know. A lot of us could probably tolerate the cigarettes but not cigars. Look at the number of posts on this thread where guests have experienced a cigar smoker on the adjacent balcony who invites his buddies to join.

 

Smoking Policy through December 2016:

For the comfort of all of our guests, all staterooms (cabins), showrooms and most other indoor areas are designated non-smoking. While smoking is not permitted in staterooms, guests are allowed to smoke on stateroom verandahs. Smoking is also permitted on certain other designated, outside decks. The designated smoking areas for all ships are as follows unless otherwise noted:

 

• Stateroom verandahs
  
• Sea View Bar (not available on ms Rotterdam and ms Veendam)
  
• Outside Decks
  
  • Sports Deck
    
  • Observation Deck (ms Prinsendam, ms Eurodam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam, and ms Zuiderdam only)
    

   

  [*]Casino*

  • Active players only, when the casino is open
    
  • Designated slot machines only
    
  • Each sailing will offer one or more non-smoking nights depending upon the length of the voyage
    

   

Cigar and pipe smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the ship; it is only permitted on the outside decks where smoking is otherwise allowed. Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than on outside decks designated as smoking areas.

 

That's an out-dated version. The smoking policy now reflects the no smoking on balconies, and when you get your docs, the policy is up to date in there, also on the HAL website. And it specifies "no smoking of any kind on verandahs".

[kennicott]

That's an out-dated version. The smoking policy now reflects the no smoking on balconies, and when you get your docs, the policy is up to date in there, also on the HAL website. And it specifies "no smoking of any kind on verandahs".

 

That is correct. If you go back to my # 4980, I posted HAL's Smoking policy beginning Jan. 2017. In their latest new smoking policy notice on their web site that follows their Smoking policy prior to Jan 2017 which I just posted and you seem to take issue with.

 

The reason I did not make a redundant post to my # 4980 is that I was responding to the text of a posters question, I did repeat that post in my post, which was in the context of HAL rules prior to JAN 2017.

 

You see, the poster was talking about a cruise where a cigar smoker on a close by balcony was annoying, however, at the time the poster knew cigarette smoking was still allowed on balconies and apparently thought cigar smoking was as well. What she was told later was that cigar smoking was prohibited while cigarette smoking was not.

 

So, I question, when was HAL cigar balcony smoking ever prohibited prior to the elimination of balcony smoking period, in Jan 2017?

[alwaysfrantic]

What is the old (and apparently current) sticker on the verandah door? The red slash circle sounds like a good idea. It honestly couldn't be that expensive to order the thousands needed across the line.

[Mrponderosakid]

I think I will call HAL customer service and ask for the president's email so I can forward these great suggestions to him. I think it is important to get this message to the upper administration who can actually implement new stategies to change behavior for the safety and health of us all.