Ships with better layouts for cigarette smoke from casino?

[rbxlady]

We just disembarked the Getaway today, and I found the cigarette smoke from the casino to be overwhelming anywhere in/near the atrium. We found it unbearable, so the only events we attended were in the theater.

 

Are other NCL ships better about this (or have non-smoking casinos)? This was our first NCL cruise— we last cruised RCCL a few times 12 years ago and before, and I don’t remember this being as much of an issue because those ships we were on were far more open in the middle, and I remember the casinos being more closed off from the main areas.

 

I understand that people like smoking in the casino, and I am not complaining about that but am wondering if there are other ships we should consider in the future that are better about this because I would like to go to trivia, games, etc., especially as our kids get old enough to participate meaningfully in those events.

 

Thank you!

Edited October 29, 2022 by rbxlady

[dandelpino]

Joy, Bliss, Encore, and Prima all have nonsmoking casinos with a small fully enclosed smoking section. The smoke smell doesn’t escape the smoking area so it’s very pleasant in the casino.
 

I got off Breakaway earlier thin month and it was unbearable. I’ll be on Joy next month and looking forward to the smoke free casino. 

[rbxlady]

2 hours ago, dandelpino said:

Joy, Bliss, Encore, and Prima all have nonsmoking casinos with a small fully enclosed smoking section. The smoke smell doesn’t escape the smoking area so it’s very pleasant in the casino.
 

I got off Breakaway earlier thin month and it was unbearable. I’ll be on Joy next month and looking forward to the smoke free casino. 

Oh, awesome! I would love to go out on the Joy. I appreciate the info— have a great time!

[hallux]

2 minutes ago, rbxlady said:

Oh, awesome! I would love to go out on the Joy. I appreciate the info— have a great time!

I've enjoyed both the Joy and the Bliss..

[Sand and Seas]

4 hours ago, dandelpino said:

Joy, Bliss, Encore, and Prima all have nonsmoking casinos with a small fully enclosed smoking section. The smoke smell doesn’t escape the smoking area so it’s very pleasant in the casino.
 

I got off Breakaway earlier thin month and it was unbearable. I’ll be on Joy next month and looking forward to the smoke free casino. 

Yes, these are our favorite ships and always look to book cruises on them.  Boarding Prima Monday!

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, these are our favorite ships and always look to book cruises on them.  Boarding Prima Monday!

Have a wonderful cruise!

[pickle11]

9 hours ago, rbxlady said:

 

 

I understand that people like smoking in the casino, and I am not complaining about that

Yes you are.  Smoking anywhere to a non smoker is always a problem(observation).  Maybe the filters and air ducts on the next ship will be better

[rjm11]

I have respiratory issues that are sensitive to smoking and LOVED the Bliss. The casino itself had no smoke smell, nor did any other area. It was lovely!

[dexddd]

Breakaway was a mess and many complaints about smoke leaving casino into other areas so likely same as GA.

 

I've heard the newer ships had special sections for smokers but newest ship after Escape we've been on is Prima.  I'd go way out of way to avoid smoke so no short cut via casino for me but on Prima not a hint of smoke so we'd go through casino especially since that was the floor they had us leave for Port.

[Treasure Hunter]

Yes I’ve been on the Getaway and Breakaway recently ( I’m a gambler) and would go more often out of Mew York but the ships are limited. The smoking is a terrible problem and often the smokers aren’t even playing but come into the casino to smoke. Especially on cold weather cruises. NCL is losing money by allowing this. 

[rbxlady]

12 hours ago, pickle11 said:

Yes you are.  Smoking anywhere to a non smoker is always a problem(observation).  Maybe the filters and air ducts on the next ship will be better

Well, maybe I am but indirectly. If you want to smoke, have at it, and I (hopefully obviously) don’t care that the ship has a designated place for that. If they want to allow smoking in the casino, that’s totally fine with me, I just won’t go in there, but it’s frustrating that even walking to the shops or enjoying a trivia game means I have to smell it. So while I’m not complaining about passengers’ being allowed to smoke in the casino, I’m complaining about the fact that there’s no containment whatsoever so the rest of us who don’t want to be around smoke are subjected to it.

[rbxlady]

6 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

NCL is losing money by allowing this. 

Agreed, we spent zero time/money in the casino. We intended to do some gambling but smelled the casino long before we got there and did a 180.

[rbxlady]

18 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, these are our favorite ships and always look to book cruises on them.  Boarding Prima Monday!

I definitely have my eye on this ship, as it does sail out of Port Canaveral sometimes, which is the easiest port for us to get to. We did stock up on CruiseNext certificates 🙂 Please share your experience, and enjoy your cruise!

[EvanBedar]

I’m a non smoker.   In fact I’m a former smoker who quit the day of my first visit to the cath lab 14 years ago.  If I want to gamble I will and I couldn’t care less if someone is smoking or not. 

[pickle11]

53 minutes ago, rbxlady said:

Well, maybe I am but indirectly. If you want to smoke, have at it, and I (hopefully obviously) don’t care that the ship has a designated place for that. If they want to allow smoking in the casino, that’s totally fine with me, I just won’t go in there, but it’s frustrating that even walking to the shops or enjoying a trivia game means I have to smell it. So while I’m not complaining about passengers’ being allowed to smoke in the casino, I’m complaining about the fact that there’s no containment whatsoever so the rest of us who don’t want to be around smoke are subjected to it.

The truth comes out.

 

7 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

 NCL is losing money by allowing this. 

Smokers make up the difference.

[hallux]

Glancing at the deck plans, it shouldn't be that difficult to retrofit the casino to have a smoking/non-smoking casino layout, at least on the other BA and BA+ ships.  I wonder why they haven't done it yet...

[eileeshb]

The level of smoke drift varies depending on the itinerary and guests. I’ve been on escape, breakaway, getaway and epic and am not fond of the smell of smoke, heck I discovered it was the stale smoke smell in my dad’s car was the actual cause of my “travel sickness” as a kid. 
the level of infiltration around 678 ocean place and atrium definitely varied from cruise to cruise depending on the number of smoking gamblers. I also found the main pool deck on getaway and breakaway had to be approached from the correct side as there’s a poorly designed smoking area up there too. Not to mention the smokers abounding around the spice h2o bar and the leakage from the cigar lounge.  
getaway was the worst of the bunch because the cruise I did on that one had us queueing through the casino a couple of times and the stale smoke smell there was horrendous.