Unofficial Guide to Designated Smoking Areas on NCL Vessels

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Amadawn1 said:

So for now, we're pretty happy sailing the FUN ships.  We are treated well, and they keep the designated areas fairly clean.  There is also shade and protection from the elements to be had.  I am trying to attach their current policy across their fleet.  They also don't deviate from their website posted policy. 

 

Carnival seems to be more organized/up to date on their website as opposed to NCL. Carnival's fine for smoking in the wrong place is also double the NCL fine. Knowing that, I suspect that NCL will follow Carnival's lead if it can bring in more money....

[Amadawn1]

1 minute ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Carnival seems to be more organized/up to date on their website as opposed to NCL. Carnival's fine for smoking in the wrong place is also double the NCL fine. Knowing that, I suspect that NCL will follow Carnival's lead if it can bring in more money....

Yes, they are serious on their fines/possible removal from the ship.  But since they offer decent designated areas, it makes it much easier to have a quick smoke with coffee in the AM or a last one before heading back to the stateroom to call it a day. BTW, on the Freedom on an early rainy at sea morning, they put ashtrays out on the casino bar (casino and casino bar were closed) and folks were having a cup from the coffee bar there with a morning smoke. 

[Oceangal711]

2 hours ago, Gershep said:

On the Gem they allowed cigarette and cigar smoking in Bali Hai bar. On the Escape is there a place that allows for cigar smoking other than the humidor?

My husband smoked a cigar in spice h20. He wasn't the only one. On both the Breakaway and the Escape.

[Oceangal711]

1 hour ago, Amadawn1 said:

Yes, they are serious on their fines/possible removal from the ship.  But since they offer decent designated areas, it makes it much easier to have a quick smoke with coffee in the AM or a last one before heading back to the stateroom to call it a day. BTW, on the Freedom on an early rainy at sea morning, they put ashtrays out on the casino bar (casino and casino bar were closed) and folks were having a cup from the coffee bar there with a morning smoke. 

Wow that is thoughtful. I might have to give them a try.  We are not cruising as much with NCL as the smoking has become to prohibited. We tried a TUI cruise last winter a ship called Mein Schiff which still allows balcony smoking. Did RCL to Alaska last month as I would never cruise the Bliss or Joy and we are trying Costa this winter as they also allow balcony smoking. 

[Amadawn1]

17 minutes ago, Oceangal711 said:

Wow that is thoughtful. I might have to give them a try.  We are not cruising as much with NCL as the smoking has become to prohibited. We tried a TUI cruise last winter a ship called Mein Schiff which still allows balcony smoking. Did RCL to Alaska last month as I would never cruise the Bliss or Joy and we are trying Costa this winter as they also allow balcony smoking. 

I think it's great that you are trying other lines I would have never even thought of.  You've got me net searching!  Thank you!  Just an FYI, when we were on the CCL Freedom last year, we were dodging a hurricane.  We circled around the Gulf of Mexico for about 24+ hours.  We ended up doing Cozumel first (was supposed to be last) then going to Belize.  We missed Roatan completely because of the storm.  It was heart breaking on the first sea day evening.  It was the first elegant night.  I don't get sea sick, but there were lot's of ladies dressed up so beautifully and having extreme sea sickness.  Luckily the sea settled down for the rest of the cruise.

[coriemarie]

On 8/23/2019 at 5:51 PM, Amadawn1 said:

Thank you, my3sonsnj for creating and updating your spreadsheet.  I last cruised NCL in early 2018.  I was shocked to see the changes to the designated areas since then.  I had seen a review of the Bliss and it looked like a great ship....until I saw only one designated area.  We can't afford the Haven and are not really gamblers.  My husband would never agree to sail on this ship.

Surprisingly, my BF still wants to cruise the Encore, even though the trend says there will only be one smoking area. We will see how this goes ...

 

I was for sure he would want to switch ships!

[my3sonsnj]

On 8/23/2019 at 5:51 PM, Amadawn1 said:

Thank you, my3sonsnj for creating and updating your spreadsheet.  I last cruised NCL in early 2018.  I was shocked to see the changes to the designated areas since then.  I had seen a review of the Bliss and it looked like a great ship....until I saw only one designated area.  We can't afford the Haven and are not really gamblers.  My husband would never agree to sail on this ship.  We jumped back and forth between lines when the balconies became off limits.  The last was HA.  Now they only have one area on each ship (a second, small area on their larger ships).  So for now, we're pretty happy sailing the FUN ships.  We are treated well, and they keep the designated areas fairly clean.  There is also shade and protection from the elements to be had.  I am trying to attach their current policy across their fleet.  They also don't deviate from their website posted policy.  Thank you again for the spreadsheet!

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3490

Thanks for the comments! The lack of communication compared to Carnival is why I started the spreadsheet, lol.

 

And yes, it appears that Carnival has a much better grasp of policy, i.e. the company's laws, along with understanding the need to be current and detailed in expections if they want compliance. 

 

NCL has a laissez-faire attitude regarding policy, probably because they have the wrong person in charge of it and accept internal non-compliance and/or interpretation of written policy. It is a shame that they expect their customers to comply with something they are so unwilling to put sufficient effort into communicating.

 

Just speaking as someone that served on a company policy committee for over a decade and chaired it for 4 years, lol. It is kind of my thing ;-) 

[my3sonsnj]

On 8/23/2019 at 7:04 PM, Amadawn1 said:

Yes, they are serious on their fines/possible removal from the ship.  But since they offer decent designated areas, it makes it much easier to have a quick smoke with coffee in the AM or a last one before heading back to the stateroom to call it a day. BTW, on the Freedom on an early rainy at sea morning, they put ashtrays out on the casino bar (casino and casino bar were closed) and folks were having a cup from the coffee bar there with a morning smoke. 

I wish Carnival had a ship home ported in NY/NJ since that is where I always cruise from. I would change cruise lines in a heartbeat if that were the case, even though I am only 2 cruises away from Platinum Plus on NCL. I have obviously been pretty loyal but I am thinking it is time to change my loyalties, lol.

 

[Two Wheels Only]

31 minutes ago, my3sonsnj said:

NCL has a laissez-faire attitude regarding policy, probably because they have the wrong person in charge of it and accept internal non-compliance and/or interpretation of written policy.

 

NCL is slow with changes on their website for many things. The ship's dailies are more reliable but that doesn't help someone who is planning their cruise based on where they can/can't smoke.

 

Serious question...Has anyone contacted NCL and directed them towards the OP's spreadsheet? NCL was supposedly going to update the website and the spreadsheet could help since the OP has done most of the work.

[my3sonsnj]

15 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Serious question...Has anyone contacted NCL and directed them towards the OP's spreadsheet? NCL was supposedly going to update the website and the spreadsheet could help since the OP has done most of the work.

 

As the author of the spreadsheet, I know that I have sent it to the executive level guest relations person at least five times, maybe more. I don’t know if anyone else has done the same.

[Amadawn1]

4 hours ago, my3sonsnj said:

I wish Carnival had a ship home ported in NY/NJ since that is where I always cruise from.

Carnival does have ships home ported in NY.  Currently the Sunrise is home ported there.  I also found out the refurbished Radiance (currently the Victory) will be porting there in 2020.  There are also some cruises on the Legend scheduled from NY next year.  Also the Carnival Pride is home ported in Baltimore.  I've not cruised out of either of those ports before, but I am guessing that it may be a seasonal issue and they are not there year round?

[kitty-sail]

I apologize because this is off-topic, but doing a Caribbean cruise in a few months and looking for recommendations on places to buy cheap cigarettes.

[coriemarie]

19 minutes ago, kitty-sail said:

I apologize because this is off-topic, but doing a Caribbean cruise in a few months and looking for recommendations on places to buy cheap cigarettes.

On the ship - very cheap.

[NewbieCruiser1231]

Just sent a message asking information on where to smoke on Norwegian Encore.  Norwegian replied that there will be 2 places …(1) Humidor (no cigarettes, no vaping); (2) Smoking room portside on Deck 8.  There will be 3 smokers in our group....one place indoors for the whole ship??????  

[worktocruise610]

2 hours ago, NewbieCruiser1231 said:

Just sent a message asking information on where to smoke on Norwegian Encore.  Norwegian replied that there will be 2 places …(1) Humidor (no cigarettes, no vaping); (2) Smoking room portside on Deck 8.  There will be 3 smokers in our group....one place indoors for the whole ship??????  

so no smoking in the casino?

[NewbieCruiser1231]

I asked if there was outside smoking since there was no Spice H2O on the Encore. That was the response Norwegian gave me so I don't know about the casino. Guess we'll have to wait until the ship actually sails to get "real" answers as to where one can smoke.

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, NewbieCruiser1231 said:

  There will be 3 smokers in our group....one place indoors for the whole ship??????  

Yup. At least it is indoors. Other ships it is out in uncovered deck areas. 

[coriemarie]

At least it is off of the waterfront, likely near a bar, likely mid ship (if that info is true)

 

I just need a bar, close to the smoking, and have it be easy to access.

 

I was hoping there would be one on the pool deck since it looks as if the pool deck will turn into 'spice' at night.

[coriemarie]

14 hours ago, NewbieCruiser1231 said:

Just sent a message asking information on where to smoke on Norwegian Encore.  Norwegian replied that there will be 2 places …(1) Humidor (no cigarettes, no vaping); (2) Smoking room portside on Deck 8.  There will be 3 smokers in our group....one place indoors for the whole ship??????  

 

I suppose my main concern here would be - how big is the single 'smoking room'?

 

If an estimated 15% of the population smokes, and the capacity of the ship is 4000 people, that is around 600 possible smokers on the ship.

 

But that is just my observation.

[MotownVoice]

2 minutes ago, coriemarie said:

If an estimated 15% of the population smokes, and the capacity of the ship is 4000 people, that is around 600 possible smokers on the ship.

 

But that is just my observation.

If all 600 are smoking at the same moment constantly they have a bigger problem than just a nicotine addiction.  Like, "planning" for example.

[coriemarie]

4 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

If all 600 are smoking at the same moment constantly they have a bigger problem than just a nicotine addiction.  Like, "planning" for example.

 

On my last cruise, which had 3 outdoor smoking areas, there was at least 15 people at each area during any given time of the day. I am not saying 600 people obviously, I am wondering if 15 - 30 people could even smoke in there at a time.

 

It will likely be tight no matter what.

[funtocruiselm]

Each cruise line should post the locations of indoor and outdoor smoking areas, so everyone can decide where they want their cabin and non-smokers can avoid these areas.  There are more cigarette smokers than cigar smokers and we deserve a comfortable place indoors, not just the casino.  There should be an indoor cigarette smoking room for the 15-20% of smokers on each ship with seating for 20 and at least 3 outdoor areas on different levels with seating for 20. Just as adults are going to continue to smoke cigars, cigarette smokers will continue to smoke cigarettes.

 

Carnival makes it easy to figure out.   

 

I hope the cruise lines read these posts.

[MotownVoice]

26 minutes ago, coriemarie said:

 

On my last cruise, which had 3 outdoor smoking areas, there was at least 15 people at each area during any given time of the day. I am not saying 600 people obviously, I am wondering if 15 - 30 people could even smoke in there at a time.

 

It will likely be tight no matter what.

When I used to smoke, I was always looking for a place on a flight to step aside and get a quick puff in.

Those little plexi-glass boxes they put you in when you're flying through Chicago O'Hare or McCarren in Vegas are incredible.  They were like little fish tanks completely obscured by smoke where 20 or 30 people at a time got a smoke between flights.

I mean once you have black lung, what's a few more parts per billion?

[my3sonsnj]

On 8/27/2019 at 6:11 PM, Amadawn1 said:

Carnival does have ships home ported in NY.  Currently the Sunrise is home ported there.  I also found out the refurbished Radiance (currently the Victory) will be porting there in 2020.  There are also some cruises on the Legend scheduled from NY next year.  Also the Carnival Pride is home ported in Baltimore.  I've not cruised out of either of those ports before, but I am guessing that it may be a seasonal issue and they are not there year round?

True, Carnival does have ships sailing out of NY/NJ seasonally but there isn't one that is homeported in NY/NJ year round like RCCL & NCL. I like the 14 or more day cruises out of NY after the holidays (during the coldest months of the year) to warm weather    

 

RCCL  always seems to offer fewer days on their cruises compared to NCL's to the same destinations, so I have pretty much ruled them out, even if they were better at providing accommodations for smokers. Maybe if other cruiselines see the popularity of these cruise, some will jump on board to compete with equal or better offerings? Otherwise, I may have to start putting my vacation money into land vacations instead, lol.

[my3sonsnj]

On 8/28/2019 at 6:54 PM, NewbieCruiser1231 said:

Just sent a message asking information on where to smoke on Norwegian Encore.  Norwegian replied that there will be 2 places …(1) Humidor (no cigarettes, no vaping); (2) Smoking room portside on Deck 8.  There will be 3 smokers in our group....one place indoors for the whole ship??????  

Thank you for this information. I have put it in the spreadsheet as tentative