Smoking is such a nuisance on cruise ships

[NLH Arizona]

1 minute ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

That's fair.  I've got no problem obeying the rules. 

 

But it feels like a lot of people would be more comfortable if smokers were pulled along behind the ship in a dinghy.

I for one don't mind smokers, but what I do mind are the ones that won't obey the rules like smoking on balconies or smoking in the casino when not playing.  

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, cruiseseal said:

Smoke definitely gets to the overhead of the balcony, if not the immediate balcony, then the next balcony. In general, if you can smell it, sensors can pick it up. Wind reduces the concentration of smoke, but that just means your sensor needs to support these concentration levels. Given that cigarette smoke sensors can pickup second hand and third hand smoke levels, it's not an issue. If you're interested in learning more about cigarette smoke sensors, you can Google "cigarette smoke sensor". Most commercial solutions are designed for indoors, but technology they use can operate in high levels of humidity and wide temperature range, so it's not an issue to adopt them for balcony use.

So, still no sensor that operates in wind.  Actually, I have googled cigarette smoke sensor.  Humidity and temperature are basically irrelevant (though most of them do not recommend use in high humidity areas), but wind will move any smoke away from the sensors.  Nearly every one recommends locations where drafts and winds do not move smoke away from the sensor.  Also, to get a detection level to detect a single cigarette, you would likely get false alarms from the ship's exhaust.

[SteveH2508]

8 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Empirical evidence with statistical significance indicates NCL would make more money if they banned smokers,  ncl should do some studies/trials to determine if the program would  increase revenue.  If they adopted such a strategy because of evidence then anyone caught smoking should be kicked off the ship at the next port.  I would not be surprised if the study indicated over a 93% reductory therefore concluding it would be in the best interest of ncl corp to BAN smokers from their ships

Translation and evidence please.

 

I call BS at this time.

[jpcdds6]

Another one???

[chengkp75]

8 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Empirical evidence with statistical significance indicates NCL would make more money if they banned smokers,  ncl should do some studies/trials to determine if the program would  increase revenue.  If they adopted such a strategy because of evidence then anyone caught smoking should be kicked off the ship at the next port.  I would not be surprised if the study indicated over a 93% reductory therefore concluding it would be in the best interest of ncl corp to BAN smokers from their ships

Has your empirical evidence been conducted on travel or tourist industry, and with a subject base that is not solely US?  Are you saying that 93% of cruisers would approve of non-smoking, and thereby increase revenue?  I don't think even 93% of the US is in favor of banning smoking, let alone an international clientele.

[Relax@Sea]

36 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And do these air pollution montors work while moving, and in high winds?  Can they detect a single cigarette smoke in a windy condition?  Most of these monitor particulate smoke, which would not normally be able to be collected from a detector on the overhead of a balcony.  Please give an example of a sensor that would work in a ship's balcony environment that could detect a single cigarette, as I'm genuinely interested to see if the technology is present.

Though this is a valid observation there is a larger problem with electronics expose to salty air, most exposed circuit boards in the case of smoke detector will fail due to the reaction that salt has on copper "it will probably fail with the alarm going off". Just changing from copper to to another material can be very costly so I don't believe that the smoke detectors on the balconies would be a cheap solution. Even if you use gold it is very reactive to chlorine so another issue may prevent the smoke detector from functioning  dependably.

[StolidCruiser]

2 hours ago, cruiseseal said:

I was just on my third cruise ...

 

Quite the resume.

 

43 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And do these air pollution montors work while moving, and in high winds?  Can they detect a single cigarette smoke in a windy condition?  Most of these monitor particulate smoke, which would not normally be able to be collected from a detector on the overhead of a balcony.  Please give an example of a sensor that would work in a ship's balcony environment that could detect a single cigarette, as I'm genuinely interested to see if the technology is present.

 

 

 

So am I.

 

19 minutes ago, cruiseseal said:

Smoke definitely gets to the overhead of the balcony, if not the immediate balcony, then the next balcony. In general, if you can smell it, sensors can pick it up. Wind reduces the concentration of smoke, but that just means your sensor needs to support these concentration levels. Given that cigarette smoke sensors can pickup second hand and third hand smoke levels, it's not an issue. If you're interested in learning more about cigarette smoke sensors, you can Google "cigarette smoke sensor". Most commercial solutions are designed for indoors, but technology they use can operate in high levels of humidity and wide temperature range, so it's not an issue to adopt them for balcony use.

 

So essentially there is not proven technology to detect cigarette smoke in high-wind outdoor conditions.  Seems like technology ripe for you to develop a low-cost highly-effective solution you can market to the cruise lines and make yourself a ton of money.

[nclsuncruiser]

No-one should break the rules and smoke on their balcony. But I think smokers should have their areas without being treated like pariahs! I'm an ex smoker so might be biased but it seems like some people get a bit over worried about a bit of smoke crossing through the casino, there's far worse contamination in any city. 

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, cruiseseal said:

Any specific suggestions from your experience? Thanks.

Celebrity only allows smoking is designated outdoor areas.

Here is an article about different policies.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=225

[Fincherson]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

I have only been on one NCL cruise and am going on my second soon. My biggest complaint is the smoking areas. They are very intrusive.

It seems you cannot go form one end of the ship to another without having to go through a smoking area. Of the cruise lines I have been on, NCL seems the most generous to smokers. It certainly takes away from a pleasant experience.

Full disclosure, I am a former smoker but in no way an evangelistic non smoker. I am not disgusted by the smoke but do feel sympathy for those that are and am quite surprised by a cruise line that has all this exercise equipment and spa areas and yet, the largest areas set aside for specialties is the smoking areas.

I am also a bit disappointing in their non enforcement of smoking on balconies. I did report and yet, nothing was done. Several reports later, with similar results.

"Largest areas set aside for smokers." Mmm no.

 

I'm not a smoker but I find the way my fellow non-smokers (on CC) clutch their pearls over small outdoor smoking areas to waffle between irritating and downright hysterical. More than once I've seen women proclaim they had to miss work for WEEKS after their cruise because of the occasional wiff of smoke. Good lord it's bordering on obnoxious. I don't like the smell of smoke either and I think they should put all smokers in one area in the back that is for smokers only and call it a day. Keep it all outside and definitely not around the pool/kids but for crying out loud can we stop whining about it? 

[chengkp75]

16 minutes ago, Relax@Sea said:

Though this is a valid observation there is a larger problem with electronics expose to salty air, most exposed circuit boards in the case of smoke detector will fail due to the reaction that salt has on copper "it will probably fail with the alarm going off". Just changing from copper to to another material can be very costly so I don't believe that the smoke detectors on the balconies would be a cheap solution. Even if you use gold it is very reactive to chlorine so another issue may prevent the smoke detector from functioning  dependably.

Of course there is a larger problem as you say. I've worked on offshore drilling vessels where gas detectors are integral to safety onboard.  These required renewal constantly due to the corrosive nature of the maritime environment.  If there were sufficiently robust smoke detectors for fire detection on outdoors ship's areas, SOLAS would have required them years ago.

[cruiseseal]

5 minutes ago, Fincherson said:

"Largest areas set aside for smokers." Mmm no.

 

I'm not a smoker but I find the way my fellow non-smokers (on CC) clutch their pearls over small outdoor smoking areas to waffle between irritating and downright hysterical. More than once I've seen women proclaim they had to miss work for WEEKS after their cruise because of the occasional wiff of smoke. Good lord it's bordering on obnoxious. I don't like the smell of smoke either and I think they should put all smokers in one area in the back that is for smokers only and call it a day. Keep it all outside and definitely not around the pool/kids but for crying out loud can we stop whining about it? 

What's the difference between sharing opinion and whining? Are you whining about others whining? I think it's a legitimate concern. Often times we had to take the long route just to avoid the casino and surrounding areas, because my kids had to hold their nose to walk through there (and it was because they found the smell disgusting, not because I told them to). It's not occasional, it's practically unavoidable.

[cruiseseal]

31 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Of course there is a larger problem as you say. I've worked on offshore drilling vessels where gas detectors are integral to safety onboard.  These required renewal constantly due to the corrosive nature of the maritime environment.  If there were sufficiently robust smoke detectors for fire detection on outdoors ship's areas, SOLAS would have required them years ago.

If it were up to me, I'd just send a drone out around the ship at random times, and change the policy to kick those who smoke on balcony off the ship at next port. I think that solution would work in most cases. Way cheaper than sensors or dealing with grumpy customers, and it's fun too 🙂

[cruiseseal]

52 minutes ago, StolidCruiser said:

 

Quite the resume.

 

 

So am I.

 

 

So essentially there is not proven technology to detect cigarette smoke in high-wind outdoor conditions.  Seems like technology ripe for you to develop a low-cost highly-effective solution you can market to the cruise lines and make yourself a ton of money.

 

With regards to the resume, I am sorry I don't the the necessary cruise "experience" to post on these forums, or that I forgot to salute your presence.

 

I don't think there is a ton of money in this particular application, otherwise the solution would already exist, but, you're right, sensor networks in general will be a huge industry soon.

 

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

That's fair.  I've got no problem obeying the rules. 

 

But it feels like a lot of people would be more comfortable if smokers were pulled along behind the ship in a dinghy.

 

I'm down with that 🙂

 

I'd just prefer no smoking on ships.  Or, having a sealed off room like they do at European airports.  You go in your glass box, smoke all you want, then come back out.

 

Smoking is unique in the fact that it is absolutely bothersome to other people.  Personally, I'd have way too uncomfortable knowing my smoking may be annoying others.  I could never be a smoker in public for that reason alone.  But many are just shameless, don't care.  I think it's terrible that the adults area, Spice H20, people have to deal with smoking.

 

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, Fincherson said:

"Largest areas set aside for smokers." Mmm no.

 

I'm not a smoker but I find the way my fellow non-smokers (on CC) clutch their pearls over small outdoor smoking areas to waffle between irritating and downright hysterical. More than once I've seen women proclaim they had to miss work for WEEKS after their cruise because of the occasional wiff of smoke. Good lord it's bordering on obnoxious. I don't like the smell of smoke either and I think they should put all smokers in one area in the back that is for smokers only and call it a day. Keep it all outside and definitely not around the pool/kids but for crying out loud can we stop whining about it? 

I made an observation based on the one NCL ship I was on. I have no reason to exaggerate or lie about it. I reported smoking on the balcony and nothing was done. In order to get to (and back from) the theater you had to go through the casino and besides people openly smoking, it smelled like an ashtray. Almost 1/2 the pool deck on the Pearl was for smokers and it made it unpleasant to sit by the pool on that side. I think that NCL does cater to smokers more so than any other cruise line I have been on.

If complaining or posting on an open forum is whining then I think you may have to stop reading forums 🙂

[Sweetnspicy]

1 hour ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

That's fair.  I've got no problem obeying the rules. 

 

But it feels like a lot of people would be more comfortable if smokers were pulled along behind the ship in a dinghy.

The problem comes from people that don't give a flying fu** what they do. They smoke where they want when they want and everyone else is out of luck. You may follow the rules and I thank you for that but those who don't ruin it for people like you. Second hand smoke is scary and something I avoid. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm

 

 

[Oceangal711]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pollution-cruise-ships-po-oceana-higher-piccadilly-circus-channel-4-dispatches-a7821911.html If your looking for clean air maybe a cruise is not for you.

[4774Papa]

We have cruised on NCL, Celebrity and RCI.  NCL allows smoking in the casino, which we didn't care for.  Because of that we avoided the casino totally.

 

Celebrity doesn't allow smoking in their casino.

 

 

[Newleno]

2 hours ago, cruiseseal said:

What's the difference between sharing opinion and whining? Are you whining about others whining? I think it's a legitimate concern. Often times we had to take the long route just to avoid the casino and surrounding areas, because my kids had to hold their nose to walk through there (and it was because they found the smell disgusting, not because I told them to). It's not occasional, it's practically unavoidable.

smoke bothers me I can literally smell it a half a block away outdoors, as I previously stated on the breakaway smokers have the best areas of the ship, including literally right next to the pool

[beerman2]

3 hours ago, Newleno said:

Empirical evidence with statistical significance indicates NCL would make more money if they banned smokers,  ncl should do some studies/trials to determine if the program would  increase revenue.  If they adopted such a strategy because of evidence then anyone caught smoking should be kicked off the ship at the next port.  I would not be surprised if the study indicated over a 93% reductory therefore concluding it would be in the best interest of ncl corp to BAN smokers from their ships

Carnival tried a non-smoking ship years ago on the Paradise, didn't work.

[Oceangal711]

4 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

Carnival tried a non-smoking ship years ago on the Paradise, didn't work.

wow I remember that...had a big non smoking sign painted on the side of it.

[jagsfan]

Luckily for me, I haven’t had a problem with smoke on Princess ships. 

When I breathe in cigarette smoke, my lungs almost close down and I gasp for air. 

Second hand smoke is a threat to life for some people. Not for most people, though, and walking past smokers is a fairly minor inconvenience. I say fairly, because it is bothersome at the least. 

I think a room set up as a comfortable lounge and with an air handler that keeps the smoke away from other areas would give smokers a place where nobody will give them dirty looks. 

An area in open decks could be managed by fans that blow the smoke away from the ship. 

There has got to be a way to make cruising work out better for both sides of this ongoing debate. 

[KimboJam]

3 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

We have cruised on NCL, Celebrity and RCI.  NCL allows smoking in the casino, which we didn't care for.  Because of that we avoided the casino totally.

 

Celebrity doesn't allow smoking in their casino.

 

 

I, along with others, did actually smoke in the casino on the Celebrity Summit this past June. Unless the policy has changed in the past five months, your statement is invalid.

Edited November 16, 2018 by KimboJam

[NLH Arizona]

30 minutes ago, KimboJam said:

I, along with others, did actually smoke in the casino on the Celebrity Summit this past June. Unless the policy has changed in the past five months, your statement is invalid.

Lucky you didn't get caught, because Celebrity's casinos are non-smoking.

 

Smoking is not permitted in any dining venue, casino, theater, lounge, hallway, elevator, or corridor. Celebrity Cruises' Smoking Policy includes smoking-like products such as electronic cigarettes. Smoking is not permitted inside any stateroom, nor on any stateroom veranda.

Edited November 16, 2018 by NLH Arizona