Infinity Alaska, Just back May 27

[Mouthdoc]

Greetings. We just returned from our 7 night cruise to Alaska. I read Tromvest's post and agree with his comments for the most part. We had a wonderful time so all of you waiting for your cruises should rest easy... you're in for a great cruise. This was our 3rd cruise as a family, our first on Celebrity. Some comments: The Ship...great! All of the public spaces were clean and well maintained. I saw no areas of wear or problems. The rooms were small (as are all cruise lines) but clean and well appointed. Our sofa bed was broken, and couldn't be fixed at sea. That wasn't too big of a problem - our kids had to sleep with the grandparents next door! The only major complaint was the smell of smoke!! Obviously the previous occupants (even though in dry dock the week before) were smokers. They replaced our bedding and curtains, deep cleaned the room, and provided an air purifier. This helped greatly but it took 3 days of complaining to make it happen. That leads me to a general statement about smoking on cruise ships. Celebrity and every other cruise line need to take a lesson from the hotel business. They should have smoking and non-smoking rooms, and confine all the smoking rooms to aft cabins. Also, walking through the lounges and casinos was difficult with all of the smoke. They keep smokers on the port side and non-smokers hang out on the starboard, but it is still one room and gets tough to handle at night. Public spaces should be kept smoke-free, perhaps having a cigar or smoking bar available. We choked on smoke from someone two cabins forward of us - constantly smoking on his balcony.

 

Regarding Vancouver: We stayed at Le Soliel hotel. Priced around $180 per night for a suite, its a great hotel located close to Canada Place. We took taxis to the Ballantyne Pier (about $30 canadian with tip). We arrived around 1:00 p.m. There were some short lines at check-in but they went quickly, We were on board in about half an hour. Our luggage arrived very quickly to our rooms. Our rooms were immediately available (remember just out of dry dock).

 

Weather: We had some overcast days, some sun at times, and one day (Hubbard Glacier) of rain/sleet. I would highly recommend rainwear, including rain pants and either a hood or rain hat. Also, waterproof shoes are a must - especially going on excursions, and walking up to Mendenhall Glacier, etc.

 

Excursions: We did the float plane over Misty Fjords with a great crab lunch. That was at Ketchikan. I highly recommend it even though the flight was pretty short. We talked to other that did the Helicopter to Glacier tours in Juneau and others that did the dog sledding tour - they had a great time. At ICP, the zipline looks neat - but quite expensive for 90 seconds. I wouldn't recommend the hike or shuttle into Hoonah - nothing there. Stay at the dock and tour the cannery or do an excursion. We saw a few whales, porpoises, and bunches of bald eagles from the ship. If you want to see more whales, you'll need to do an excursion.

 

Disembarkation: We met in the Celebrity theater at 7:50 a.m., and were lead off of the ship about 8:30. The customs lines were quick, and we easily gathered our luggage. Taxis were readily available. We had a 12:15 flight out of Vancouver and made it to the airport by 10:00 a.m.

 

Overall a great cruise. Please ask questions if you like. Alaska is absolutely beautiful!!

[DrKoob]

That leads me to a general statement about smoking on cruise ships. Celebrity and every other cruise line need to take a lesson from the hotel business. They should have smoking and non-smoking rooms, and confine all the smoking rooms to aft cabins. Also, walking through the lounges and casinos was difficult with all of the smoke. They keep smokers on the port side and non-smokers hang out on the starboard, but it is still one room and gets tough to handle at night. Public spaces should be kept smoke-free, perhaps having a cigar or smoking bar available. We choked on smoke from someone two cabins forward of us - constantly smoking on his balcony.

 

How does turning over the best cabins on a ship (aft) solve this problem? The answer is easy. Ban smoking on all cruise ships. Or go the Carnival route (I can't believe I wrote that) and ban smoking on a ship. Or better yet, ban smoking on all ships but one in the line. But turn over the aft cabins, the glorious aft cabins, to smokers only. Never.

[Gonzo70]

Glad you had a nice cruise.

 

I too am shocked how far behind the cruise lines are in restricted smoking. My understanding is that they do not have deisgnated non-smoking rooms as they fear it may lead to difficulty selling unbooked cabins last minute. I wish they would put the health and safety of their employees and passengers ahead of this and realize that their revenues quite likely would increase as a result of banning or significantly restricting smoking. I think all non-smokers need to e-mail their cruise line(s) of choice and request at the very least non-smoking cabins & balconies be designated.

[Drew B]

I think all non-smokers need to e-mail their cruise line(s) of choice and request at the very least non-smoking cabins & balconies be designated.

 

 

As a smoker, I am TOTALLY behind that suggestion. I have no idea why they can't make the port side of the ship smoking and the starboard side non-smoking for cabins as well as for public areas... Of course, I smoke, but I would never smoke in my cabin. Smoking in a tiny, enclosed area without much ventilation is unpleasant, even for a smoker!

[kehlx2]

The only major complaint was the smell of smoke!! Obviously the previous occupants (even though in dry dock the week before) were smokers. They replaced our bedding and curtains, deep cleaned the room, and provided an air purifier. This helped greatly but it took 3 days of complaining to make it happen. That leads me to a general statement about smoking on cruise ships. Celebrity and every other cruise line need to take a lesson from the hotel business. They should have smoking and non-smoking rooms, and confine all the smoking rooms to aft cabins. Also, walking through the lounges and casinos was difficult with all of the smoke. They keep smokers on the port side and non-smokers hang out on the starboard, but it is still one room and gets tough to handle at night. Public spaces should be kept smoke-free, perhaps having a cigar or smoking bar available. We choked on smoke from someone two cabins forward of us - constantly smoking on his balcony.

quote]

 

We were on a Costa cruise & someone down 2 cabins(would that be up wind?) from us was always on his balcony smoking a CIGAR...now I used to smoke--25 years ago--but never could handle cigars..sure wish it had been no smoking on ship at all...now this was a cruise were we saw Princess ship before AND after she had her fire..which I don't know if they ever found out for sure if it WAS smoking or not...anyway--hated using our balcony & you pay more to have one--might have been better had he been down wind.

[Kapricorn]

The problem with the port-smoking and starboard-nonsmoking idea is that sometimes smokers and nonsmokers travel together. On which side would they book a cabin? I'm a nonsmoker, but have cruised with smokers who have respected me by smoking on open decks or on our balcony.

 

On a recent cruise to Alaska, my smoker companion smoked on the aft section of our balcony, while I enjoyed the scenery from the smoke-free forward section. Going into Hubbard Glacier, however, the guy in the cabin forward of us smoked twice within ten minutes, his fumes wafting into our balcony. I had to retreat into our cabin.

 

A recent survey in my health-conscious province, British Columbia, showed that only 17% of the population are smokers, and I believe that it's no more than 25% elsewhere in North America. Why should smokers have half of the ships?

 

Before I am flamed, I have to say that I have absolutely no problem with smokers indulging in their habits (let no sinner cast the first stone, and all that ... I'm not perfect, either). There has to be a common ground somewhere.

 

Respectfully,

Donald.

[Drew B]

The problem with the port-smoking and starboard-nonsmoking idea is that sometimes smokers and nonsmokers travel together. On which side would they book a cabin? I'm a nonsmoker, but have cruised with smokers who have respected me by smoking on open decks or on our balcony.

 

Simple. If the smoker insisted on smoking in the cabin, they would have to take a cabin on the smoking side. If the smoker was willing to smoke elsewhere (as in your case), then they could take a cabin on EITHER side, but would most likely aim to take one on the non-smoking side to avoid OTHER smokers.

 

A recent survey in my health-conscious province, British Columbia, showed that only 17% of the population are smokers, and I believe that it's no more than 25% elsewhere in North America. Why should smokers have half of the ships?

 

My feeling is that an arbitrary separation (by blocks of rooms or deck numbers) would be meaningless for the balconies. Who cares if the previous occupant of your cabin was a smoker or not if somebody 2 doors down or the deck below or whatever is chain smoking all day? No, the only REAL division that would keep smoke away from non-smoking cabins is which side of the boat you're on. If somebody on a port balcony is smoking, nobody on the starboard side will mind. Nobody is saying that non-smokers CAN'T book rooms on the smoking side, and nobody will force them to smoke if they do. However, they may (emphasis on may, as this is rarely a huge problem) have a smoke smell in their cabin or on their balcony. To those for whom this is a hugely important issue, I would suggest you book early to guarantee that you get a cabin on the non-smoking side.

[Mouthdoc]

So, the consensus is to put smokers on one side of the ship and non-smokers on the other. I agree. But current statistics show that 21% of Americans are smokers. This number can be a lot higher for other countries (East Asia - 60%). So, put about 20 - 25% of the cabins on one side of the ship as "smoking" and the rest non-smoking. Then, enforce the rules, and no smoking except in a few outside areas and, say, one lounge. I say the aft cabins (on the side of the ship) because no one wants to be downwind from a smoker on the balcony. But the coveted large cabins facing aft could remain smoke-free. Let us hope that Celebrity is listening.

[Drew B]

So, the consensus is to put smokers on one side of the ship and non-smokers on the other. I agree. But current statistics show that 21% of Americans are smokers. This number can be a lot higher for other countries (East Asia - 60%). So, put about 20 - 25% of the cabins on one side of the ship as "smoking" and the rest non-smoking. Then, enforce the rules, and no smoking except in a few outside areas and, say, one lounge. I say the aft cabins (on the side of the ship) because no one wants to be downwind from a smoker on the balcony. But the coveted large cabins facing aft could remain smoke-free. Let us hope that Celebrity is listening.

 

 

See, that's the problem with the anti-smoking activists. A reasonable compromise is never enough. I am looking for FAIRNESS. It makes little-to-no difference to me, as I don't smoke in my cabin/balcony, but it doesn't bother me if others do. However, I respect the feelings of both sides and want both to get what is a fair and reasonable compromise.

 

You just said that other nationalities have smoking rates that are much higher than 20-25%. Celebrity, like every other cruise line, caters to an international market and not just to North Americans! Moreover, you are proposing 20-25% of the cabins on one side of the ship as smoking cabins. That comes out to 10-12.5% of the TOTAL cabins on the ship, which as you have said is substantially less than even the American numbers of smokers! Finally, you are trying to keep ALL of the aft cabins smoke free? Whatever percentage of smoking cabins are decided should cut across ALL categories, including desirable aft cabins. The fair way to do that is to cut the ship down the middle...

 

Oh, and you should remove the thought of restricting indoor smoking to only one lounge from your mind right now. The only way I imagine that a ship will not allow smoking in the casino is if it becomes an entirely non-smoking ship. Even if they ban smoking absolutely everywhere else, the casino will be the last holdout.

 

My personal ideal situation would be to allow smoking on all public decks on the port side of the ship, in the casino, and NOWHERE else (including cabins, balconies, and all other lounges). I recognize, though, that what is ideal for me is not necessarily what should be imposed on everybody else.

[phoenix_dream]

Can you tell me if they upgraded the bedding during dry dock?

[phoenix_dream]

Boy, this really opened up into a smokers versus non-smokers chat. So I can't help but join in as I feel very passionate about this.

 

What people do in their own time and their own space is up to them. But the bottom line is 1) smoke stinks. It stinks to breathe other people's smoke, and it stinks up the room. So when someone smokes in their room or in public areas it is now affecting my space, and 2) breathing second hand smoke has proven medical affects. Even if you don't do it long enough to give you cancer or something, many people have allergies and such that they cannot be around smoke.

 

So the bottom line is that I really wish the ships would be stricter with their smoking rules. Setting up areas for smokers to comfortably enjoy their smoking time is fine, but keep it out of the space of the rest of us.

[Kapricorn]

The only way I imagine that a ship will not allow smoking in the casino is if it becomes an entirely non-smoking ship. Even if they ban smoking absolutely everywhere else, the casino will be the last holdout.

 

Just a thought ... why should there be just one casino on cruise ships? Why not one for non-smokers and another for smokers?

 

Donald.

[Lois R]

Your comment was right on point.....this is turning into something

other than the original poster's review of his cruise:(

 

Come on folks, someone can always start a new

thread...."The Smoker's Debate"......rather than taking

away from what I had read, overall the OP had a great cruise.:)