Any Smoke Free Cruise ships?

[AZDivers]

Just got back off of our last Norwegian ship and likely headed back to Celebrity. Does Celebrity have any smoke free ships yet?

 

The Casino on the last ship was unbearable. As were the 2 restaurants close to it. The cigarette smoke was just everywhere.

[dkjretired]

5 minutes ago, AZDivers said:

Just got back off of our last Norwegian ship and likely headed back to Celebrity. Does Celebrity have any smoke free ships yet?

 

The Casino on the last ship was unbearable. As were the 2 restaurants close to it. The cigarette smoke was just everywhere.

 

None yet but Celebrity does a real good job. Agree with you about NCL.

Edited June 17, 2019 by dkjretired

[Fogfog]

8 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

None yet but Celebrity does a real good job. Agree with you about NCL.

Agreed.

Celebrity does a nice job.

No smoking in interior proper nor staterooms nor balconies.

 

The two big problem areas and inside the pool area and on deck 4 where you have to hold your breath passing through

 

On a recent TA we couldn't help but shake our heads and wonder at those in wheelchairs puffing away. And we saw one with a O2 tank. Sheesh.. if you can' breath-- WTH are you smoking for?!  Must be a terrible addiction 

 

 

[39august]

X ships are entirely smoke free inside and on balconies. Only designated outdoor venues allow smoking. I wish smoking was NOT allowed at the Sunset bar because the cigar smoke from the port side of that venue can drift over to the starboard (no smoking) side. 

[cruisestitch]

No Celebrity doesn't have any smoke free ships and I doubt if they ever will.  There was one smoke=free ship, for a short time.  All passengers and crew had to sign a pledge not to smoke, but people broke the rules anyway and that experiment was short-lived.   Celebrity with its no smoking inside rule is about as good as you'll find.

[japlanet]

35 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

 

On a recent TA we couldn't help but shake our heads and wonder at those in wheelchairs puffing away. And we saw one with a O2 tank. Sheesh.. if you can' breath-- WTH are you smoking for?!  Must be a terrible addiction 

 

 

 

I can’t believe that Celebrity would allow people with oxygen tanks to smoke. When you get an oxygen tank you have to sign something saying you know you shouldn’t smoke due to the not insignificant risk of explosion/fire. Fire of course is the biggest fear on a cruise ship. If I was in charge of safety on a ship I would absolutely prohibit oxygen tanks anywhere near a smoking area and throw people off the ship if they did so. 

[UFMOM]

Just curious as to which NCL ship you were on. I agree, the casino smoke is the worst offender. We were on the NCL Bliss where they now have a separate completely enclosed gaming area for smokers. We found that that to be a good improvement, but not as good as smoke free. The area near the door to the smoking room did not have actual smoke but the cigarette smell was very strong. Fortunately it was only in that small area and no longer affects any restaurants. Also the only low minimum roulette table was in the smoke room. Not sure if there were differences for other games. Just wondering if you had tried this new casino configuration and still found it intolerable. 

 

 

 

 

Mary Ann

[PTC DAWG]

I guess I'm just not as sensitive as some to smoke smell...non smoker here, but it doesn't bother me all that much.  Especially outside...I've been on two of the away class NCL ships...Getaway and Escape...never really bothered me too much at the Casino...

[dkjretired]

28 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

No Celebrity doesn't have any smoke free ships and I doubt if they ever will.  There was one smoke=free ship, for a short time.  All passengers and crew had to sign a pledge not to smoke, but people broke the rules anyway and that experiment was short-lived.   Celebrity with its no smoking inside rule is about as good as you'll find.

 

That non smoking ship was actually a Carnival ship, Celebrity never had one.   I have to beg to differ a bit with Cruisestitch in that those who broke the rules were thrown off the ship at the next port.  They were so strict that even the possession of smoking materials would get you thrown off.  Cruisestitch is correct about the crew signing pledges and the no smoking pledge went as far as the workers who actually built the ship.   

 

The no smoking experiment was discontinued for a number of reasons.   Among them were going to the same itineraries and lack of revenue in the bars and casino.  I was on the board at the time and there were some interesting threads at the time.  This was in the 90s. 

[cruisestitch]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that it was a Celebrity ship, just that there was such a ship. Thanks for the more expansive answer -- I didn't know that the rule-breakers were disembarked mid-cruise.

[FirstTimeFreddy]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

X ships are entirely smoke free inside and on balconies. Only designated outdoor venues allow smoking. I wish smoking was NOT allowed at the Sunset bar because the cigar smoke from the port side of that venue can drift over to the starboard (no smoking) side. 

Agreed. I admire Celebrity for their non smoking inside the ship policy. However, Smokers have to go somewhere and this means they're sent straight to the Sunset and Mast Bars.  This made these two bars no go zones for us on the Reflection last November. Such a shame as the Sunset Bar is lovely.

 

But even if Celebrity made their ships completely smoke free, you will still have people breaking the policy all over the ship. Smoking is an addiction and you will never truly be able to remove the problem of smoking from cruise ships.

Edited June 17, 2019 by FirstTimeFreddy

[AZDivers]

Just found out Carnival actually has a smoke free implementation now. This is huge. Hopefully other ships follow suit. No use in pandering to the extreme minority here by allowing smoking when the overwhelming large marjority does not smoke.

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, AZDivers said:

Just found out Carnival actually has a smoke free implementation now. This is huge. Hopefully other ships follow suit. No use in pandering to the extreme minority here by allowing smoking when the overwhelming large marjority does not smoke.

Care to share details?

[wwcruisers]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

 Celebrity with its no smoking inside rule is about as good as you'll find.

Yes! And, what's even more important, they ENFORCE it! Over nearly 10 years of cruising on X, we've only had to complain about scoff-law balcony smokers a handful of times. Each time, we had the offender in visual range, and were able to tell Guest Relations exactly where to send Security. One phone call is all that it has ever taken, to put a stop to that behavior on X. Contrast that to our recent 5-night 'family cruise' on Independence of the Seas. Our aft balcony was directly above one of the 'family grand suites' -- whose occupants clearly did not think that the rules applied to THEM. It took several phone calls to the front desk, before it stopped (and we called EVERY time we saw/smelled smoke, coming from that balcony).

[citronella]

Just off the Silhouette and I can assure that some non-smokers don’t mind sitting in the smoking section of Sunset Bar and Mast Grill if they want the sunshine and a chair.

 

2 hours ago, Fogfog said:

And we saw one with a O2 tank. Sheesh..

 

I can also assure you that you didn’t see someone with a O2 tank smoking - not only would the crew jump at someone with O2 lighting a cigarette - so would other smokers - who wants to go up in a puffball on their cruise. People tend to exaggerate greatly when it comes to smoking.   

[wwcruisers]

7 minutes ago, citronella said:

Just off the Silhouette and I can assure that some non-smokers don’t mind sitting in the smoking section of Sunset Bar and Mast Grill if they want the sunshine and a chair.

 

 

I can also assure you that you didn’t see someone with a O2 tank smoking - not only would the crew jump at someone with O2 lighting a cigarette - so would other smokers - who wants to go up in a puffball on their cruise. People tend to exaggerate greatly when it comes to smoking.   

Hmm.. not to contradict the person who posted this (they were there, I wasn't) -- but perhaps the person with the Oxygen tank was vaping? That produces a wicked-visible amount of vapor -- which looks a lot like smoke -- but would (theoretically, at least) be 'safer' around flammable compressed gas tanks. Just a theory....🤔

[citronella]

Whether they were vaping or smoking is not the point - no one, whether crew or other smokers, would tolerate some wheeling a O2 tank into a smoking area. Incineration for all.

[JackB60]

that would be a great idea

[citronella]

9 minutes ago, JackB60 said:

that would be a great idea

 

Maybe you’re the type who would like to include all the overweight and obese people also.  Guess you’re perfect.

[wwcruisers]

27 minutes ago, citronella said:

Whether they were vaping or smoking is not the point - no one, whether crew or other smokers, would tolerate some wheeling a O2 tank into a smoking area. Incineration for all.

 

LOL -- that's why my reply was heavily caveat-ed.The lithium battery problems that were alarmingly common to vape pens, a few years back, also comes to mind. Although you don't hear about them spontaneously bursting into flames so much anymore, you still wouldn't want to risk it, near an O-2 cylinder! 😱

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that it was a Celebrity ship, just that there was such a ship. Thanks for the more expansive answer -- I didn't know that the rule-breakers were disembarked mid-cruise.

 

It was actually the Carnival Paradise which still is sailing. The no smoking ship lasted from launch in 98 to 2003.

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, dkjretired said:

 

 

The no smoking experiment was discontinued for a number of reasons.   Among them were going to the same itineraries and lack of revenue in the bars and casino.  I was on the board at the time and there were some interesting threads at the time.  This was in the 90s. 

 

Same ship and same itineraries.  Also probably the least likely cruise line to have a complete non smoking ship. 

 

Now in the almost 2020's I think some cruise lines could go smoke free, different times now. We have entire condo associations voting to ban smoking here and smoke free rental buildings. I think banning indoor smoking with a few outdoor areas like Celebrity has is the way to go for now. I wish other cruise lines would also ban casino smoking. 

[CHUCKIE50]

Responding to the OP’s question here is a link to a recent survey by Cruise Criticon this very subject

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

 

 

 

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Same ship and same itineraries.  Also probably the least likely cruise line to have a complete non smoking ship. 

 

Now in the almost 2020's I think some cruise lines could go smoke free, different times now. We have entire condo associations voting to ban smoking here and smoke free rental buildings. I think banning indoor smoking with a few outdoor areas like Celebrity has is the way to go for now. I wish other cruise lines would also ban casino smoking. 

 

I agree, really appreciate going into the casino without dealing with the smoke and the S class ships were the first ships we were ever on that you could actually bypass the casino without going to another floor.  We are 7 Stars with Caesars/Harrahs and because of that we have access to casino hosts etc, sort of like Zenith on Celebrity.   One thing I have found in speaking to them and observations is that in Casinos the high limit areas are almost always smoking because high rollers tend to be heavy smokers.  This may add to the reluctance to eliminate smoking in casinos.   

[bEwAbG]

I doubt that any ship will go completely smoke free because that affects anyone a smoker travels with, too.  If you're planning a family reunion and Cousin Pete needs a place to smoke, then you're going to take your large group to a line that has some accommodation for him.  Unlike a hotel, Cousin Pete doesn't have the option of going down the street to smoke somewhere else when he's in the middle of the sea.  Most people I know who smoke are conscientious about where they're lighting up.

 

What I still find puzzling is why so many cruise lines still allow smoking in any indoor venues.  It's been a couple decades since smoking was allowed in the workplace, most restaurants have phased it out, and many bars are now also smoke free.  Smokers are used to going outside at this point.  There really is no good reason why that cannot happen on all ships now.  If you must have smoking in a high-roller setting, then they should be required to build facilities that limit where the smoke can go.