PSA - Don't Smoke on Balconies and Don't Throw Lit Cigarettes Overboard

[ONECRUISER]

11 hours ago, Jkaczanowski said:

I wish cruise lines would increase the fine (room cleaning charge) for people smoking on their balconies, then maybe stuff like this would be avoided.  I was on a Disney cruise in Alaska a couple years ago, and the room down the hall was constantly smoking on their balcony.  I’m highly sensitive to smoke so I was constantly on the phone with guest services and couldn’t use my balcony.  They said the most they could do was fine them $500.  They gave me a $500 voucher but it didn’t come close to making up for my inconvenience.  I haven’t cruised them since. 
 

They first enacted the Fine I "Burned" Cabin next to me, was there to hear my Calls got them Charged $$$. This was first Day of a 13niter and wasnt going let it go on

Edited February 23, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[smokeybandit]

12 hours ago, ryano said:

Several articles out there that said a lit cigarette caused the Star Princess fire years back.  

 

 

I'm not sure how a cigarette could cause metal to melt

 

Edit: I still don't know how a cigarette started the fire, but it was a lot more than that that wasn't supposed to burn that caused the massive damage

Edited February 23, 2022 by smokeybandit

[twangster]

34 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

I'm not sure how a cigarette could cause metal to melt

 

Edit: I still don't know how a cigarette started the fire, but it was a lot more than that that wasn't supposed to burn that caused the massive damage

Lessons learned over 2 decades.  
 

I suspect the balcony chairs now are made from fire resistant material which may not have been the case in 2006.  
 

Also the policy of no clothing or towels on the balcony probably didn’t exist in 2006.  Lesson learned.  
 

Flammable flooring like teak boards, flammable tables made of teak.  Looked great then but composite tables don’t burn, not right away.  
 

Edited February 23, 2022 by twangster

[LGW59]

12 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Isn’t there a crew smoking area below you on the corner aft? 
Wondering if that’s where it came from.  You get some strange drafts on the rear of the ship. 

Stop blaming the crew for something you know nothing about 

[Bobal]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

This afternoon I walked out on my balcony, turned around and saw the person above me standing at his railing smoking.  He immediately lowered the cigarette when he saw me but you could still see the smoke rising from it.  

Since you know exactly which cabin it was hopefully you reported that to Guest Services.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Stop blaming the crew for something you know nothing about 

Especially since it is unlikely that a crew member is going to put his/her employment at risk. Now, some self centered a$$ who paid "good money" to be on the ship might have a bit of a different outlook.

[time4u2go]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

This afternoon I walked out on my balcony, turned around and saw the person above me standing at his railing smoking.  He immediately lowered the cigarette when he saw me but you could still see the smoke rising from it.

Did you report them?

[Seville2Cabo]

Since the pack of cigarettes on my balcony was an unusual brand, I did give it to our steward and he called his supervisor.  They are asking the stewards on the deck above (we are on 9 on Navigator) to let them know if they see any signs of smoking or that brand of cigarettes in any cabins.  

 

Doubt it will go anywhere.  Was actually surprised I got much of a response at all.  

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, Seville2Cabo said:

 

Doubt it will go anywhere.  Was actually surprised I got much of a response at all.  

I'm not that surprised. Between the stench and any actions that could cause a fire at sea I would think that the cruise lines would pay attention to this.

[Seville2Cabo]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm not that surprised. Between the stench and any actions that could cause a fire at sea I would think that the cruise lines would pay attention to this.

I hope they do.  Should be pretty easy to track it down.  Deck 11 is pool deck and if you assume (yes I know) it did not come from there, there are very limited cabins on deck 10 that it could be.  

[Joebucks]

Let's be real, there are other activities that people are doing that are more likely to start a fire than this. As many said, most of the materials used are likely designed to prevent this. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened on almost every mass-market cruise. With that said, the activity absolutely should be stopped. It's disgusting and definitely doesn't need to end up in the ocean. Some people are so addicted that they can't go 30 minutes without lighting up. 

 

I do wonder how much smoking in unapproved areas is due to how few approved areas there are for smokers. All of the "sensitive noses" believe the more you ban it, they more people stop. As we know by any banned activity in the history of the world, some people will still do it. 

[island lady]

13 hours ago, deliver42 said:

I really doubt it was a crew member. If he was caught, he'd be fired immediately.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.  And there are cameras everywhere.  

[twangster]

19 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Let's be real, there are other activities that people are doing that are more likely to start a fire than this. As many said, most of the materials used are likely designed to prevent this. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened on almost every mass-market cruise. With that said, the activity absolutely should be stopped. It's disgusting and definitely doesn't need to end up in the ocean. Some people are so addicted that they can't go 30 minutes without lighting up. 

 

I do wonder how much smoking in unapproved areas is due to how few approved areas there are for smokers. All of the "sensitive noses" believe the more you ban it, they more people stop. As we know by any banned activity in the history of the world, some people will still do it. 

Smoking was allowed in the casino on this cruise.  
 

Its as simple as some smokers just don’t care.  They throw their butts out their car windows, on a playground, overboard a ship and in their mother’s garden. They don’t care about anyone else or the risks.  

[island lady]

12 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Can't believe they resumed smoking in the casino. Not that I hang out there but sometimes you have to walk through.

 

Worst one is the poor Radiance ladies.  Casino entrance without doors is right next to Centrum.  The Centrum acts like a smoke distribution system drifting up and into all the other decks.  It's awful on a sea day.  🤢   I still don't know why they don't simply install a door on that entrance.  

[island lady]

10 hours ago, twangster said:

This afternoon I walked out on my balcony, turned around and saw the person above me standing at his railing smoking.  He immediately lowered the cigarette when he saw me but you could still see the smoke rising from it.  
 

I’d bet money his brand matches the one found on my chair. 
 

 

A crew member smoking in a crew smoking area isn’t a problem.   There is little chance a crew member in a crew smoking area is tossing their lit cigarette overboard.   

 

You should be able to figure out his cabin number and report him to GS, show them those pictures.  I am assuming his cabin attendant is fully aware of it also, as you just can't get rid of that stink. 

[twangster]

5 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

You should be able to figure out his cabin number and report him to GS, show them those pictures.  I am assuming his cabin attendant is fully aware of it also, as you just can't get rid of that stink. 

 

He was in 1388.  

 

As soon as I saw him smoking I notified my cabin attendant who jumped on his phone and got the deck supervisor involved who got security involved. 

 

I had follow ups from security who came with body cameras on to document my statements as part of the investigation as well as a follow up from the HD.

 

The HD informed me that it was all sent to the Staff Captain who is responsible for safety issues on board and it will all be documented in an incident report.  

[island lady]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

 

He was in 1388.  

 

As soon as I saw him smoking I notified my cabin attendant who jumped on his phone and got the deck supervisor involved who got security involved. 

 

I had follow ups from security who came with body cameras on to document my statements as part of the investigation as well as a follow up from the HD.

 

The HD informed me that it was all sent to the Staff Captain who is responsible for safety issues on board and it will all be documented in an incident report.  

 

Fantastic!   🤗  Congrats.  I am very impressed they took the manner seriously as they should!  Was very smart of you to document the pictures.  Now....just hope they do the right thing with that offender. 

[PTC DAWG]

As mentioned above, another note to not keep anything flammable on your balcony..you never know when some a hole is going to flip a burning butt.  

[sgmn]

23 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

UK package.  I guess that will narrow down the A Hole

 

B543EEC7-F693-4FBF-947E-AF1C77066EEC.heic 1.89 MB · 7 downloads

Hope you reported it 

[Seville2Cabo]

13 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Hope you reported it 

Yes I did

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

As mentioned above, another note to not keep anything flammable on your balcony..you never know when some a hole is going to flip a burning butt.  

Does that include me? I'm Irish and I am very flammable!  🙂

[HicksRA]

10 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Stop blaming the crew for something you know nothing about 

I wasn’t blaming anyone. If you read my post, I wondered if it could have possibly come from the crew smoking area below. 

[chengkp75]

11 hours ago, twangster said:

Lessons learned over 2 decades.  
 

I suspect the balcony chairs now are made from fire resistant material which may not have been the case in 2006.  
 

Also the policy of no clothing or towels on the balcony probably didn’t exist in 2006.  Lesson learned.  
 

Flammable flooring like teak boards, flammable tables made of teak.  Looked great then but composite tables don’t burn, not right away.  
 

Okay, while throwing a butt overboard is disgusting, let's all take a step back on the fire safety issue.  As you note, the chair smoldered and melted, which is what those plastics are designed to do.  They will burn if the temperature gets hot enough, but unless there is flammable material around to feed a fire, this kind of "fire retardant" material will not catch fire from a single cigarette.  You would also have to have a blowtorch along with the cigarette butt to get a teak table to catch fire.  As someone who has fought shipboard fires, I know what a lit cigarette can and can't do.

 

Now, we get to the Star Princess fire, which is trotted out every time balcony smoking is brought up.  The cause of the fire was never determined, but it was considered as "likely" a cigarette, since no other cause was found.  Note that in laboratory conditions, the investigators were unable to ignite a Princess towel with a cigarette, no matter how hard they tried.

 

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm not sure how a cigarette could cause metal to melt

Thanks, Captain Obvious.  The cause of the fire was supposed to be a cigarette.  Without the cause, the other materials would not have had a fire to feed.

 

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Edit: I still don't know how a cigarette started the fire, but it was a lot more than that that wasn't supposed to burn that caused the massive damage

Yes, at the time, the balcony furniture, and balcony dividers were made of flammable materials, which have since been banned, unless the balcony has a sprinkler head installed.  But guess what, just like in your home, nearly everything is flammable, you know, things like paint, among other things.  The fire started on a balcony, blew in the window/door to the cabin, and the cabin furnishings started burning.  The fire then carried to adjacent cabins, and should have been stopped at the fire zone boundaries (where the doors are in the hallways), but since the fire zone boundaries did not, at that time, continue out to the balconies, and because the dividers did not open (this fire is the reason that dividers open, for fire teams, not passenger comfort), the fire jumped zones and spread horizontally as well as vertically.  The non-operable dividers prevented fire teams from proceeding down the line of balconies to work the fire from the outside.

[MommaBear55]

3 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Since the pack of cigarettes on my balcony was an unusual brand, I did give it to our steward and he called his supervisor.  They are asking the stewards on the deck above (we are on 9 on Navigator) to let them know if they see any signs of smoking or that brand of cigarettes in any cabins.  

 

Doubt it will go anywhere.  Was actually surprised I got much of a response at all.  

We've had great success reporting smokers. My first approach when I smell smoke is to say really loudly "can you believe anyone would actually be smoking out here?". Luckily last few cruises there has been no one smoking around us. 

[edrussell]

I am a smoker and just took my first cruise.  I would NEVER do something like this.  I did my own research before boarding and determined where the smoking sections were.  On our cruise smoking was not permitted in the casino.  So we had 2 separate designated areas on deck.  That is the ONLY placed I smoked AND I ensured every single butt ended up in the covered ashtray.  It bothers me that smokers can easily get all painted with the same brush when I personally believe it is the minority that are disrespectful.