Smoking Areas on Solstice?

[Muffinz]

We cruised on Solstice a year ago and are cruising on Solstice again next year.

I understood there were only 2 areas of the ship where people could smoke - on the pool deck in one area and on the top deck on port side

but reading a review of the most recent Solstice cruise (same cruise we are on in 2020) it appears the Mast Bar and Sunset bar are now 'smoker friendly'

 

This is an excerpt from the review

 Last cruise we spent a lot of time at the outdoor bars - Sunset and Mast but they've changed the rules and they are now smoking bars so we didn't go there much at all. Sunset bar is only supposed to be smoking on port side but this doesn't seem to get enforced. While we were sitting at the centre of the bar, a woman was standing directly behind us smoking while ordering a drink. Bit of a deal breaker unfortunately for us when the best bars are now off limits for the non smokers.

 

can anyone confirm if this is the case and they have relaxed the smoking rules?

We will be very disappointed if they have

[TeeRick]

On 4/3/2019 at 10:59 PM, Muffinz said:

We cruised on Solstice a year ago and are cruising on Solstice again next year.

I understood there were only 2 areas of the ship where people could smoke - on the pool deck in one area and on the top deck on port side

but reading a review of the most recent Solstice cruise (same cruise we are on in 2020) it appears the Mast Bar and Sunset bar are now 'smoker friendly'

 

This is an excerpt from the review

 Last cruise we spent a lot of time at the outdoor bars - Sunset and Mast but they've changed the rules and they are now smoking bars so we didn't go there much at all. Sunset bar is only supposed to be smoking on port side but this doesn't seem to get enforced. While we were sitting at the centre of the bar, a woman was standing directly behind us smoking while ordering a drink. Bit of a deal breaker unfortunately for us when the best bars are now off limits for the non smokers.

 

can anyone confirm if this is the case and they have relaxed the smoking rules?

We will be very disappointed if they have

We were on Solstice last March for 16 nights.  Smoking was allowed in the designated areas only.  One side of the Sunset Bar only.  We did not see anybody smoking outside of these areas.  But on occasion passengers sometimes ignore the rules or don't know the designated boundaries and it is up to the staff to politely point that out to them.

[Mr&MrsCookie]

This was on the last cruise. Our nonsmoking bartender had told us the mast bar had been changed to a smoking bar but couldn’t remember when.

[Muffinz]

disappointed to see the Mast bar has been made a smoking bar 😕

hopefully celebrity will reconsider this move if enough people complain about it

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, Muffinz said:

disappointed to see the Mast bar has been made a smoking bar 😕

hopefully celebrity will reconsider this move if enough people complain about it

Only one side of the Mast bar at a few tables starboard side on the open deck.  Not at the bar itself.  I have seen this on some other S-class ships too.  

[Mr&MrsCookie]

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Only one side of the Mast bar at a few tables starboard side on the open deck.  Not at the bar itself.  I have seen this on some other S-class ships too.  

 All of the mast bar is the starboard side so the whole thing is smoking.  There were ashtrays on all the tables and people sitting at the bar smoking constantly on the last cruise.  

[cruisestitch]

Don’t mix up the mast bar and the mast grill. Mast bar is starboard side, mast grill is Portside.

 

[Mr&MrsCookie]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Don’t mix up the mast bar and the mast grill. Mast bar is starboard side, mast grill is Portside.

 

I haven't mixed anything up.  I was talking about the mast bar which is on the starboard side - which is smoking as per the above smoking policy.  Noone has mentioned mast grill at all.

[snowglobe]

So there are no longer any adult ‘social’ outdoor spaces left at all that are smoke-free?? That’s a shame.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I wonder if this smoking policy was in effect just while the Solstice was in the South Pacific.  Is it possible that, for example, that the Sunset Bar will return to a non smoking area for the Alaskan cruise season.  I was on the Solstice in late September 2018 sailing Seattle to Vancouver (7 day coastal) and I don't recall any smoking in the Sunset Bar area.

[TFLG]

There's no change, It's been the same for years.  I have not seen any changes. The Sunset bar on one side,  The Mast bar, one side of the pool deck (deck 12) and outside on deck 5 port side. Just like the daily shown above says.

 

I don't think the sunset bar has ever been non smoking.  It's smoking on the port side and non-smoking on the starboard side.  Every once and a while if a lot of smokers are seated near the center of the deck the smoke can waft over to the non-smoking side. But if you sit over by the grass it's usually clear from any smoke

Edited April 30, 2019 by TFLG

[Denny01]

3 hours ago, snowglobe said:

So there are no longer any adult ‘social’ outdoor spaces left at all that are smoke-free?? That’s a shame.

No, there is plenty is of area in the Sunset Bar for outdoor adult social with no smoking. The starboard tables are set for smoking and it was relatively small area. Not only is the port side non-smoking, so is the entire center/bar area. the smoking area is pretty restricted area and smoke won’t be rafting around the bar since the smoke is blown straight aft. 

 

And yes, the Mast Grill is portside while Mast Bar starboard, but I’ve had many nice drinks just sitting at a Mast Gill table. With excellent service. So there are numerous places for adults to sit outdoors and enjoy drinks without smoking. And since most Celebrity ships don’t really have tons of kids, most all outside areas are fine places to enjoy ‘social’ adult outdoors. 

 

Den

[Cruise Raider]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:59 PM, Muffinz said:

We cruised on Solstice a year ago and are cruising on Solstice again next year.

I understood there were only 2 areas of the ship where people could smoke - on the pool deck in one area and on the top deck on port side

but reading a review of the most recent Solstice cruise (same cruise we are on in 2020) it appears the Mast Bar and Sunset bar are now 'smoker friendly'

 

This is an excerpt from the review

 Last cruise we spent a lot of time at the outdoor bars - Sunset and Mast but they've changed the rules and they are now smoking bars so we didn't go there much at all. Sunset bar is only supposed to be smoking on port side but this doesn't seem to get enforced. While we were sitting at the centre of the bar, a woman was standing directly behind us smoking while ordering a drink. Bit of a deal breaker unfortunately for us when the best bars are now off limits for the non smokers.

 

can anyone confirm if this is the case and they have relaxed the smoking rules?

We will be very disappointed if they have

 

The smoking areas have been in effect for years now ... I haven't seen any relaxation of the rules, which have been outlined in the threads in this post.  

Just be sure not to book a cabin right above the smoking section on the port side on deck 6 ... we were all the way aft on deck 6 and the smoking was thick when out on our balcony.  I actually think somebody was smoking out on their balcony as you could even smell it in the hallway, but couldn't prove it.  Don't get me wrong, smokers have paid for their cruise as well ... just a little research can save you a lot of displeasure down the road.  There is plenty of room up top where smoking is only on one side at the aft of the ship.  We never had any trouble with it up top.  

 

Of note, we did book an aqua class cabin just aft of midship on the port side, deck 11.  There are windows in the pool area for the smoking section on deck 12.  When moving, it was almost like a vacuum effect and the smoke drew right into our cabin whenever we opened the balcony door to walk out there.  Thus, I would also suggest booking a starboard cabin on deck 11 as well.  It wasn't as thick as from deck 6 but it was still noticeable.  At least in the public areas, you can get away from it .. just move.  Not so easy to just change cabins, though.