Paradise Casino is going Smokeless

[KruznKel]

Poster who said "misleading" was referring to the OP posting it twice, not the posting itself. I didn't get how posting it twice was misleading.

 

No I was not referring to posting twice.. again read what I said.. and I just gave another explanation.. As did GoinCruisn!;)

[StuartLittle]

When the title doesn't state that this is a TRIAL.. that is how it is misleading.. :rolleyes:

 

I agree.

[Wennfred]

Anyone off the Paradise these few weeks??? Are they still doing this?

[Sundagger]

I don't know about the Paradise, but HAL's Noordam, which sails 10 day cruises out of New York has gone completely smokeless in the Casino. Other HAL ships are trying variations of smoking rules. Since Carnival and HAL are owned by the same company, they are probably sharing the feedback that they are getting.

 

If I spent more time in the casino, I'd be very unhappy.

[MississippiMom]

I don't know about the Paradise, but HAL's Noordam, which sails 10 day cruises out of New York has gone completely smokeless in the Casino. Other HAL ships are trying variations of smoking rules. Since Carnival and HAL are owned by the same company, they are probably sharing the feedback that they are getting.

 

I'll be following these HAL and Carnival non-smoking trials. I would pay more for my family to travel on a ship that leaned toward the non-smoking side.

[DarkJedi]

Why would you post another thread about this.. this is a TRIAL.. your post is mis-leading:rolleyes:

 

 

They tried removing the topless deck on the Holiday and no one complained. So they took it off all the ships.

 

Smoking is bad for children's health and Carnival doesn't want anything that might be bad for "families".

[CaptainEdwardJohnSmith]

................I would pay more for my family to travel on a ship that leaned toward the non-smoking side.

 

:D the Captain thinks that you should NOT take your family on any ship that leans towards any side :D :D lol

 

Happy cruising :)

[Lakeman953]

They tried removing the topless deck on the Holiday and no one complained. So they took it off all the ships.

 

Smoking is bad for children's health and Carnival doesn't want anything that might be bad for "families".

 

 

 

I believe everyone know's it is bad for a Child's health. But Children are not in the Casino.

 

 

And I will say that I am a Smoker and I can understand why they would be trying this. I personally hate sitting at a table and having someone next to me have a Cig lit the whole time and the smoke just rises right into my eyes.

Gosh I hate that. But I am one that will always ask other around me if they mind and if they say no prob. then I light up and always hold my cig in the air.

To bad they didn't have two seperate araes for tables one smoking and one Not.

[bab15316]

Captain, you crack me up!!

[jaymay36]

i doubt it will work .... but will see.. it wouldn't bother me either way , but will see what happens.

 

Someone mentioned the Paradise use to be smoke free,, exactly - liquor sales were down.

 

Also , they mentioned it was sold out , remember , that cruise you were on , was the 15 day panama canal crossing.. IT ALWAYS SELLS OUT, SINCE IT RARELY SAILS. THERE'S ONE THIS YEAR ON ELATION AND THAT SOLD OUT QUICK.

 

Majority of peeps on that ship are middle age to seniors - especially on a cruise like that (2weeks) , so chances are they would appreciate the non smoking even more so . In any case , I don't mind which way it goes , I just want to win some money , lol.

[PACURN]

:D the Captain thinks that you should NOT take your family on any ship that leans towards any side :D :D lol

 

Happy cruising :)

lol. You're to funny.

[DarkJedi]

I believe everyone know's it is bad for a Child's health. But Children are not in the Casino.

 

Haven't been on a cruise yet that I did not see kids in the casino. On the Miracle you have to go through the casino to get from the front to the back of the ship on that level so kids were always going through it. And many stayed in it with their parents.

[noblepa]

We sailed on the Paradise back when she was only three months old and still in her non-smoking period. We were not on a Panama Canal transit, although it WAS during spring break. The ship was full, or very close to it.

 

I've heard all the claims that the Paradise was not profitable, or at least not AS profitable as the other ships that allowed smoking. I'm not sure I buy that, however. She lasted almost five years in her non-smoking period, sailing out of Miami. That is more than enough time for Carnival to decide she was not profitable, yet they kept her non-smoking for that entire period.

 

In the press release when they re-assigned her to LA, they stated that it was not feasible to have a non-smoking ship on the shorter trips. Maybe that's bogus. I don't know.

 

I also find it hard to believe that non-smoking venues will automatically lose money. Only about 20 percent of the population smokes these days. That's still a significant fraction, but that leaves 80 percent that don't smoke. I'd guess that most non-smokers don't like to be in smoking environments. Everyone seems to assume that only smokers gamble and that most gamblers smoke.

 

I've heard a lot of non-smokers say they avoid the casino or spend very little time there because of the smoke. I've only heard a few smokers say that they will quit going to the casino if it becomes non-smoking. The question for Carnival and the other cruise lines is: will they lose more smokers than they will gain in non-smokers.

 

Here in Ohio, the voters approved a ban on smoking in public places that went into effect last December. During the campaign, those apposed to the ban argued that restaurants and bars would go out of business. At least, in the restaurants that I frequent, there seem to be just as many people eating as before. Now, there are groups of smokers huddled outside the door, getting in their last puffs, before going in to eat.

 

I suspect that the experiments will be successful. Carnival and the other cruise lines all insist that they pay close attention to the passenger comment cards that we all fill out at the end of our cruises. I'd bet that quite a few non-smokers mention that the casino is too smokey for their taste. I doubt that many smokers write that they like the casino the way it is.

[sharecruises]

I have said before that it is only logical that the cruiselines will find ways to limit and control smoking more..that is the trend. Heavy smoking countries like Ireland, UK, Spain are smoke free in pubs, restaurants, offices etc now..

more and more states are passing smoking laws and restrictions..the trend is towards more non smoking areas

 

I have said it before ..I don't think they will be totally smoke free on most ships, just more restrictions...I can imagine a new ship built with a confined smoker area with slot machines/bar etc...and a deck/maybe upper deck for smokers...less and less places

 

I think the next steps will be more non smoking casinos or seperated areas....more NON smoking bars....and restricting pipe/cigars (ugh) to ONE lounge ONLY...not allow on the balconies....

 

It is inevitable....there are less smokers every year. More anti-smoking, non smoking laws. More and more hotel chains are going NON smoking. Here in Florida if you want a non smoking hotel nowadays you can bet on a dump like a motel 6...most are non smoking now. We have not had indoor smoking in years here and it felt "odd" to be in bars with smokers frankly. Outdoors? yes, still smoke outdoors

 

the trend is here..it is coming, and you can expect more restrictions, not less

 

I think as long as they have a few places to smoke and can smoke outside the smokers will still cruise..after all they can't smoke many other places, even in Europe now

[CarnivalCruiseLover]

I sailed the Paradise back in early February, and the casino was smoke free... and it was dead. Nobody bothered to gamble. Very few people were at the slot machines, not to mention the bickering with the guests and staff members with the guests learned it went smoke free. It was a nightmare. I spoke with 3 bartenders that said they are trying it, but don't expect it to last long, because the cruises that had went out with no smoking in the casino were lacking in gamblers wanting to play without smoking, not to mention the lack of drink orders purchased in the casino.

 

I also spoke with a lady that worked on the Paradise when it was smoke free, and she told me that the cruise never went out 100 % full, and most often was under 50% during the smoke free sailings. It was a financial decision by Carnival because it is common knowledge that smokers drink more, and gamble more. It's all about money. Not to mention that alot of Europeans, who can smoke freely take alot of cruises.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

I sailed the Paradise back in early February, and the casino was smoke free... and it was dead. Nobody bothered to gamble. Very few people were at the slot machines, not to mention the bickering with the guests and staff members with the guests learned it went smoke free. It was a nightmare. I spoke with 3 bartenders that said they are trying it, but don't expect it to last long, because the cruises that had went out with no smoking in the casino were lacking in gamblers wanting to play without smoking, not to mention the lack of drink orders purchased in the casino.

 

I also spoke with a lady that worked on the Paradise when it was smoke free, and she told me that the cruise never went out 100 % full, and most often was under 50% during the smoke free sailings. It was a financial decision by Carnival because it is common knowledge that smokers drink more, and gamble more. It's all about money. Not to mention that alot of Europeans, who can smoke freely take alot of cruises.

 

We sailed the Paradise on one of her last few non smoking cruises. The crew pleaded with the passengers to put on their comment cards to leave her smoke free. This came from the CD down and they could not understand why Carnival was doing what it was doing. According to them she matched every other ship in the fleet with bookings and even did better than other ships in some areas such as shore excursions. The only are she was off on was casino bar sales and the casino revenues were off a percent or two. I can't believe Carnival would run a losing experiment for five years before correcting it.

[CarnivalCruiseLover]

Well I was just on the Paradise, like I said in my post, 5 weeks ago, and the casnio was dead. Like it or not, people smoke. If you want to live in a bubble without cigarette smoke, then stay home. I am not a smoker, but I don't whine about smoke eiter. I move away from it if it bothers me. I don't expect everyone in the world to conform to my likes/dislikes.

As far as Carnival goes, they tried the non smoking ship, and it failed.. terribly. No other ship on any line has done it, and with how this wound up, I doubt the do. Like I said, I was just on the paradise, and I can tell you, the casino, at any time of the day or night, was only about 10% full.. if that. The ship was sold out, but they weren't gambling.

[CruiseReg]

Well I was just on the Paradise, like I said in my post, 5 weeks ago, and the casnio was dead. Like it or not, people smoke. If you want to live in a bubble without cigarette smoke, then stay home. I am not a smoker, but I don't whine about smoke eiter. I move away from it if it bothers me. I don't expect everyone in the world to conform to my likes/dislikes.

As far as Carnival goes, they tried the non smoking ship, and it failed.. terribly. No other ship on any line has done it, and with how this wound up, I doubt the do. Like I said, I was just on the paradise, and I can tell you, the casino, at any time of the day or night, was only about 10% full.. if that. The ship was sold out, but they weren't gambling.

I more or less agree with what you've said here. The main point that I do *not* agree with is you judging the performance of any business with as small of a timeslice as you are working with. Any cruise ship, for a number of reasons, can have an off sailing in any given area of revenue generation. Do you think strategic decisions are made with that much granularity? Absolutely not.

 

I sailed the Paradise twice and was thankful for the non-smoking policy as I introduced my daughter to cruising at the ripe old age of 12 months. Without the smokefree environment, my wife and I would not have been able to share our love of cruising with our daughter for many months later (our own standards).

 

On the contrary, as a gambler, both instances that I went on the totally smokefree Paradise sucked. The casino host was nearly sleep and said that she couldn't wait for the ship to go to smoking friendly status. Most of the people in the casino during my two sailings were real gamblers for the most part (generally on tables with bankrolls measured by hundreds, not tens and twenties).

[CarnivalCruiseLover]

I wasn't meaning that the cruise I was on in February, since it was smoke free, was slow all the time. I was basing my decision on what the employee's were telling me that have been on the ship for 6 to 9 months. Along with employees that worked on it when it was a smoke free ship.

 

I agree that smoking stinks, and it is a nasty habit, but also I feel that it is a legal activity, and should be allowed on cruise ships if closely monitored.

I agree with the no smoking in the dinining areas, and other "family" type area of the ships, but a casino.. come on, people are in there downing booze that kills more people every year that smoking and second hand smoke does. Not to mention all of the overweight people stuffing their faces at the buffets? Is that healthy? I don't think so.

[luv2cruz44]

FYI,

 

I called Carnival today to book the Paradise for 12/07. The PVP I talked to (new to me as my old one left) flatly denied this information. She said that if the Paradise casino had gone smokeless, they would be the first to know. Even when I told her I had read an email from the CD, she implied it was a lie as they (I assume PVP's) would have known. Never could convince her otherwise. She did mention that they have now made all the area around the pool smokefree which I didn't realize. In fact when I sat briefly on a chair by the pool, there was a full ashtray under my chair. Someone needs to enlighten PVP's, or at least this one...I tried but didn't do it!

[Wennfred]

I told her I had read an email from the CD, she implied it was a lie as they (I assume PVP's) would have known.

 

We here at Cruise Critic know more about Carnival then any PVP out there, Most of them have never been on a ship to begin with and are dumbfounded when we ask them questions we already know. I email Michael Mullane on issues we find here and he always returns my emails with the answers. He knows who I am because I sailed with him 3 times now. The Email posted on post number one is truely his response.

 

Besides CarnivalCruiseLover confirmed it already.

 

 

 

 

Fred

[luv2cruz44]

Fred,

 

I never doubted your information. I was just amazed that an employee would be so emphatic in her "wrongness". I have made mistakes along the way and shared mis-information but I just hope I was never as rigid as this person appeared to be.

[steveNcindy]

Just wondering if with the ginormity (don't think this is a word for really really big but I am using it) of the new ships, they would ever think about 2 casinos - one smoking and one non smoking??

 

If this is really that big of a consideration to the cruise lines and the casinos are that big of a money maker for cruise lines, would this not solve all the problems?? Take one bar, make it a N/S casino and problem solved. Don't lose any bar revenue and make all the smokers and non smokers one big happy family again.

[Stircrzy]

Just wondering if with the ginormity (don't think this is a word for really really big but I am using it) of the new ships, they would ever think about 2 casinos - one smoking and one non smoking??

 

If this is really that big of a consideration to the cruise lines and the casinos are that big of a money maker for cruise lines, would this not solve all the problems?? Take one bar, make it a N/S casino and problem solved. Don't lose any bar revenue and make all the smokers and non smokers one big happy family again.

 

The idea makes too much sense...

 

they really should try it out!

[lisabrooke1130]

On the March 5th Paradise cruise (a 4-day one) the casino was NOT smoke-free. I traveled with 14 women, some of whom smoked in the casino every night. And, I came back to my cabin smelling like an ashtray the night I joined them. Maybe the trial has ended?