BREAKAWAY…smell from Smokers

[laudergayle]

I apologize in advance to all the CCs who already read countless times the answer to this question.  Since I don’t know the answer…here goes.  QUESTION:  on the Breakaway, how strong is the scent of cigarette smoke in the public areas on 6/7/8?  Does it linger in the air and cling to your clothes if you spend much time there?  Does the smoke smell penetrate into the dining areas?  Just trying to gauge how intrusive (or not) the smoke scent is.  Multiple opinions are appreciated.  Thanks.

[Middleager]

If it's like the Getaway, the Shanghai's noodle bar is right next to the casino, and the smoke/smell is there.  Last year when we were on the Getaway cruise, in the first few days smoking wasn't allowed.  But when smoking was allowed, it was very apparent, so we stopped eating at the noodle bar.

 

The designers of the ship should never put a restaurant right next to a casino like that.

 

In other public areas away from the smoking, it was fine.

[UKstages]

i am a casino gambler and a nonsmoker. 

 

it's impossible to pass through the casino and the surrounding areas for more than a few seconds and not pick up the smell in your hair and on your clothing. i do have a contrary opinion on shanghai, the noodle bar, however. i ate there a few times, at the counter adjacent to the kitchen and i never smelled smoke. now, this was last december and the ship was at about 30%, so maybe that had something to do with it. also, i was as far into the restaurant as you could possibly be, without actually being in the kitchen, so that may have shielded some of the smoke.

 

as for the implied question about the "smell from smokers," why, yes, most smokers do indeed smell like cigarette smoke. it's in their hair and in their clothing and it's quite apparent when you share a dining table with them or ride with them in an elevator.

[Turtles06]

We were on the Breakaway in October.  The ship was only at 38% capacity, but the smell of smoke in the public areas on all decks around the casino was very strong.  The strange thing is that we never saw many people in the casino, nor many people smoking in there.   Maybe it's a permanent stink. 

 

Every time we walked past the Noodle Bar, the area reeked of smoke.  Had no interest in eating there because of that.  

 

What a terrible design.

 

PS:  We really enjoyed that cruise, our first since the pandemic began.  But we can't imagine being on that ship at anything near its capacity.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Turtles06

[albertamom]

We were on the Breakaway two years ago, and will not cruise on it again for this very reason.  I don't know why it seems worse than other ships, but in our experience it definitely was.

 

We had reservations at Le Bistro and they wanted to seat us "outside", which is right at the base of the staircase on Deck 6.  The smoke smell was so bad, that I could not possibly imagine eating there, so we chose to wait until they had a table "inside" the restaurant.  That really is a terrible spot for a specialty restaurant.

[hoopslover]

Just off the Breakaway on Sunday 4/24.  Smoke in the casino was pretty bad but I didn't notice it most other times.

[laudergayle]

8 hours ago, hoopslover said:

Just off the Breakaway on Sunday 4/24.  Smoke in the casino was pretty bad but I didn't notice it most other times.

Thanks for your very recent account.  Hope you didn’t notice casino smoke because you were too busy winning💰💵💸.

[Warm Breezes]

On 4/27/2022 at 11:19 PM, hoopslover said:

Just off the Breakaway on Sunday 4/24.  Smoke in the casino was pretty bad but I didn't notice it most other times.

Same for me...

[BirdTravels]

On 4/25/2022 at 2:50 PM, laudergayle said:

I apologize in advance to all the CCs who already read countless times the answer to this question.  Since I don’t know the answer…here goes.  QUESTION:  on the Breakaway, how strong is the scent of cigarette smoke in the public areas on 6/7/8?  Does it linger in the air and cling to your clothes if you spend much time there?  Does the smoke smell penetrate into the dining areas?  Just trying to gauge how intrusive (or not) the smoke scent is.  Multiple opinions are appreciated.  Thanks.

Smoking is allowed in the casino which is open to public spaces. I don't notice it in the public areas, but am not out there sniffing the air to make an assessment. 

[Fun4Us2013]

Seems to me that if you want to go to a place where you might encounter smoking smelling smoke would be an anticipated action. Perhaps a trip to the mountains might be more appropriate. People smoke. It’s legal and allowed. Don’t focus your attention on this little inconvenience but rather stay positive on the experiences you will have, the relaxing times, good food, great entertainment that makes up a cruise. Don’t prejudice your experience before it starts. Just accept the fact that there will be smoke smell somewhere, chair hogs, loud people, etc. focus on having a great time. Just saying

[laudergayle]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:39 PM, albertamom said:

We were on the Breakaway two years ago, and will not cruise on it again for this very reason.  I don't know why it seems worse than other ships, but in our experience it definitely was.

 

We had reservations at Le Bistro and they wanted to seat us "outside", which is right at the base of the staircase on Deck 6.  The smoke smell was so bad, that I could not possibly imagine eating there, so we chose to wait until they had a table "inside" the restaurant.  That really is a terrible spot for a specialty restaurant.

Thank you for your experience with LeBistro.  I’m happy to hear that it wasn’t bad inside the restaurant. Also curious about Ocean Bleu.  

[laudergayle]

2 hours ago, Fun4Us2013 said:

Seems to me that if you want to go to a place where you might encounter smoking smelling smoke would be an anticipated action. Perhaps a trip to the mountains might be more appropriate. People smoke. It’s legal and allowed. Don’t focus your attention on this little inconvenience but rather stay positive on the experiences you will have, the relaxing times, good food, great entertainment that makes up a cruise. Don’t prejudice your experience before it starts. Just accept the fact that there will be smoke smell somewhere, chair hogs, loud people, etc. focus on having a great time. Just saying

Thanks for your reply.  I did ask for multiple opinions…and I do appreciate your wisdom and advice about focusing on the positives.  
 

[Nanannjen]

We spent a good amount of time at Maltings Bar, and we were not thrilled about the amount of cigar smoke that came into the bar. The cigar room is right there, and it blows in whenever the door opens. 

[Fun4Us2013]

2 hours ago, Nanannjen said:

We spent a good amount of time at Maltings Bar, and we were not thrilled about the amount of cigar smoke that came into the bar. The cigar room is right there, and it blows in whenever the door opens. 

See. That’s what I mean. In the south we have a saying…there you go

[UKstages]

there's another expression in the south... "well, bless your heart."

 

that might me appropriate here, as the logic in post #10 is a bit fuzzy.

[Nanannjen]

4 hours ago, Fun4Us2013 said:

See. That’s what I mean. In the south we have a saying…there you go

Exactly what I was going to say.. Bless your heart.... 🤣🤣

[tgloersen]

Just off BA 6 months ago, the Smell is horrable and goes all through Deck 7 and rises to sometimes on Deck 8

[DaisyGoldberg]

On 4/25/2022 at 5:48 PM, Turtles06 said:

PS:  We really enjoyed that cruise, our first since the pandemic began.  But we can't imagine being on that ship at anything near its capacity.

I did a solo trip in the Haven on Breakaway that year when the hurricane hit and so many cruises were cancelled/rerouted. Got an awesome deal. But I would never sail it in a non-Haven cabin. As pointed out, the layout of the entire ship is lousy - the public areas are just all bottlenecked and crammed all the time, the crowds lined up to get off for excursions blocking the elevator banks, games/shows held in atrium room that makes walking across the ship difficult, elevators are limited, no real smoking barriers, etc.  (I did think the buffet was amazing, especially the expanded Indian section, shows were good and I liked the small club entertainment aspect). But I was always extremely grateful to get back to the Haven area just to escape the press of all those people.

 

The Haven has workarounds so you're not caught up in the chaos getting on/off for excursions or shows.  As a solo traveler, a balcony cabin is perfectly adequate, but on that ship I would have ended up spending way too much time in my own cabin just to retain my sanity. 

 

[craig01020]

Just got off my first-ever cruise on Breakway with 3,000 passengers. Like the OP, I was concerned about the smell of smoke in the atrium. My experience is that it was not an issue! There was a slight stale-cigarette smell, but nothing too strong. It smelled worse on my balcony sometimes! 😡

[dexddd]

The noodle bar is just aft of casino so you get smell in there as well.

[cruiseny4life]

We spent a bit of time walking decks 6, 7, and 8 to see what was there, as well as time spent in the casino giving NCL some more money! We got lucky, then blew it on blackjack. 

 

Sailing on 4/17 out of NYC on the Getaway, I'm not sure if smoking was allowed. I do not recall the smell of cigarette smoke. My entire family, except my husband and I smoke, so I definitely recognize the smell. I didn't smell it and our ship was at 100% capacity so if there was smoking the ventilators must have worked really well. 

To be fair, though we wandered around decks 6, 7, and 8 a bit, we didn't really spend a ton of time there so perhaps no one was smoking when we were galivanting about.