Smoking

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wendyandbarry

Guest
I think it is time that we talk about this issue in the open. and not yell at each other.
We are X smoker's so I am of the worst type of non-smoking group, I would like to see the whole ship non-smoking. Now with that said let's see what could really be done.

I am willing to give a little bit and let you smoke on the back deck, and in your room, (not out on the Balcony in case mine is down wind) and 1/3 of the Bars/lounges to go with the amount of smoker's at the most on board.

Now with that part said, I think HAL should enforce the smoking rules and have smoking and non-smoking cabins, with the smoking cabins on the back area of the ship.

Any more ideas would be welcome, not rude comments about smokers or non-smokers.
I am trying to let HAL see that there is a way this can be done, without to many people getting upset.

Barry
 
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sail7seas

Guest
I know of no cruiseline which has non-smoking/smoking cabins. HAL would be very foolish IMO if they think will be the first and do it successfully. Seeing as many of HAL's frequent cruisers/many time repeaters are more senior and more seniors smoke than any other demographic.....Duh, they'd lose too many pax at a time when no cruiseline can affort to lose loyal customers. Renaissance tried no smoking; they're bankrupt. Carnival built their one and only no smoking ship....never built another. Guess it is safe to say it wasn't/isn't a booming success.

There are many cruisers who will not book cabins at the stern of the ship and whether a smoker or a non-smoker, anyone paying their money should have their selection as to the location they desire to book their cabin,. Can't just shove 'em to the back of the boat no matter how much some would like to. And, of course, that raises the issue of those non-smokers who LOVE their stern, wake views and will raise holy (&$# if they are militant non-smokers and want that cabin. So....whadyagonna do with the smokers who got forced out of those cabins too? First you tell 'em they have to book stern, then the non-smokers want those cabins too. Where 'ya gonna let 'em sleep? Hey, yaknowwhat??? Smokers' money is green too.

HAL does enforce their smoking rules. HAL does have smoking/non-smoking sections in lounges. There is no smoking allowed in any interior dining area, no smoking in the show lounge, no smoking in movie theater, hallways, elevators, a very small smoking section in each lounge........
Face it,. Barry, you live in the world with loads of other people and some of those people smoke. They are not going to stop in order to please the nose-wrinkling, handwavers so badly how much you wish they would. You live in the world "in your hometown", and there are actually people who smoke there and you manage. You certainly can manage while traveling. Many cities/states do not allow smoking in dining areas....either does HAL.



Post Edited (05-22-03 16:25)
 
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peaches

Guest
Obviously there is no general problem with the smoking regs as they are now. I guess there are always extremists who want to create a problem where none exists. The present rules are not being abused from what I have seen and heard and rarely do you see the topic even mentioned here; the major smell problem appears to be sewage.

My advice would be for you to certainly never book a balcony cabin if your problem is that extreme or to cruise only on the non-smoking Carnival ship. Since no other cruise line has a designated non-smoking ship (and who knows how long Carnvival will be able to sustain it), you certainly appear to be a small minority that the cruise business sees no necessity to satisfy by being more restrictive re smoking. I guess you'll just have to solve your problem yourself without expecting the rest of the passengers and the cruise lines themselves to change for your benefit. The last thing cruise lines want to do now, when they can barely fill their ships even w/ heavy discounts, is to make booking a cabin location even more difficult for smokers and non-smokers.

Me thinks you are just trying to stir things up on a rainy afternoon.
 
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wendyandbarry

Guest
Let me reply to a couple of things, other cruise lines have smoking on one side of the ship, and non-smoking on the other. Renaissance went broke because of the way they sold there product(without T/As), and to much expansion at a time when the economy went south.
The paradise has a good booking every cruise for a ship that's east and west and no where else, the problem with the Paradise is that they do not make any extra money from the drinkers and gamblers, it seems that a lot of people who drink and lose there shirt, also smoke.
As to having non-smoking spots in the lounges, after 10:00pm when you walk into the crows nest or most any lounge you can not tell which side is which.

I do see your point about the back of the ship though, having stayed in some better places they do not offer non-smoking suites also.

I do live out here on the left coast, and you can not smoke in any public places, None, no bars, no restaurants only outside, or in your home that's it. I guess I am spoiled or the rest of the country is still behind us again. Things will change, we use to smoke everywhere when I was younger in all the stores, on the bus, and god forbid if you were a non-smoker, you just had people blow smoke in your face, and try and get you to start smoking.

Thank you Judy and Peaches

Anymore replies out there

Barry
 
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WindyCity

Guest
We just got off the Zaandam and all 3 of us are smokers. We only smoked in the smoking areas, so therefore did not offend anyone purposely. Funny thing is, on the Lido deck you could not find a spot in the smoking area, but there were plenty of spots in the smoking area. Maybe HAL should consider expanding the smoking area and decreasing the non-smoking area!!!
 
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Jamie

Guest
Barry - Though I'm sure you have far fewer smokers on the left coast than we do here in the Philadelphia suburbs, I find that the percentage of smokers on a cruise ship generally far exceeds that of my own hometown. I do smoke and find that cruising is one vacation where I can always find an ashtray. I am very aware of where I can and cannot smoke on a ship, but I suppose not everyone is as vigilant. Perhaps better enforcement of these rules would help. I do understand your concern that regardless of the smoking/non-smoking sections, the lounges can become smoke filled throughout. Believe me, I have had to leave plenty of local watering holes for the same reason. But I have also been in bar/restaurants with excellent smoke filtration systems. Can't they install something more efficient in a ship's lounges? As for smoking on your balcony - well, I smoke quite a bit and my husband only occasionally, so we get the balcony so that I can go outside to smoke (as I do at home).
Jamie
 
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thulewx

Guest
W & B - your best bet to get a balcony that doesn't have smoke drifting on to it, would be to book only the most forward cabins.
I've never seen the guidelines of "smoking on one-side-of-the-ship-only" enforced. It may be posted, and they may only have ashtrays on one side, but people will still smoke on the other side unless someone tells them not to.
On Zuiderdam, in the Piano Bar, the pianist/singer (Matt Newbold) very politely asked someone not to smoke too close to the piano as he was allergic and made it difficult to sing. After that, no one in the room smoked all week - word was passed around by the customers.
 
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Spender Nui

Guest
It's only in the past few years that HAL eliminated smoking in the dining room.
 
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sail7seas

Guest
Isn't what is relevant is that there is no smoking permitted in any interior dining sections?
 
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elmorejj

Guest
I totally agree with sail7seas, peaches and Jamie, I also am a smoker and a very considerate one. When friends wish to sit with me in the smoking section I have been known to put out my cigarette while they are there. We can`t always have everything we want, thats why smokers usually have to go outside to smoke. In this area when they tried to have non smoking restaurants and bars a lot of the businesses went bust. Yes Barry, it seems as though smoking goes hand in hand with drinking and that becomes the bottom line in business......jean
 
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wendyandbarry

Guest
Hi Jean
The bars and restaurants used that to try and stop the no smoking movement here also, and they even went to the trouble of putting in outside areas for the smokers. They found out it was a waste of money, because they got more customers inside with the no smoking laws in place, and hardly anyone used the outside areas except on a busy Friday and Satursay nights. The restaurants also had a faster turn-over because the people did not stay and have that smoke after there meal.
I know that there is a lot of Smokers that use HAL, but I would not put them at 50% or more I was hoping that I could get some idea's on both sides so everyone could be happy, and have a enjoyable cruise.

Barry
 
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Jamie

Guest
Barry,
It seems to me that the suggestions you offer to "make everyone happy" are only going to please the non-smokers. I also have to ask, are all non-smokers really bothered by the current arrangements? I have so many friends who do not smoke and I can put them into three categories - Can't stand to smell even one whif of smoke, Don't mind it, I used to smoke and still love the smell. It seems to me that if any cruise line had received enough complaints about smoking, they would have changed their policy long ago.
 
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peaches

Guest
If it's not broke, don't fix it. Apparently there are few complaints and we saw no abuse of the present smoking policy on the Rotterdam. Even on this thread which is ready-made for non-smokers to vent, you have gotten no support.
 
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wendyandbarry

Guest
I think I like the post here better, then on that other board.

Jamie
We have some good friends that we meet at the club in disneyland all the time for dinner and they smoke, we even go over next to the outside smoking area and talk to them when they have to have a smoke. This is not because we like the smell or don't mind there smoke, it is because it is the right thing to do. Sort of like when you are at dinner party and everyone is standing around with there drinks and you smell something bad, you don't say who farted, you just go the other way.

Peaches
"If it's not broke, don't fix it".
All I can say is that it is, it has been for a long time.
I am sure that within the next 10 years that people who are still smoking are going to have to smoke like they do now in the Airports, you will still be able to smoke, just not able to blow it someones face by mistake.

I think Anyone who smokes should be able to, at the same time I think the rest of us should not have to smell it.

Barry
 
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wendyandbarry

Guest
I thought this would let us ALL have a laugh.

If you're still not sure you want to quit, with our tongues firmly in our cheeks, we've come up with the top ten reasons to keep smoking.

10. That lighter comes in handy for birthday candles.

9. Your ex-spouse wanted you to quit and you won't give him/her the satisfaction.

8. The occasional holes in your clothes give you a needed excuse to shop

7. Philip Morris needs that money more than you do.

6. Those extra wrinkles give you that "mature" look.

5. The smell on your coat makes it easy to pick it out of a pile at a party.

4. If not for the smoking you'd be perfect, and nobody likes a perfect person.

3. If your sense of smell came back you'd have to do something about that litter box.

2. You wouldn't get any exercise at all if you didn't run outside the building every hour for a cigarette.

1. That rattle when you breathe reassures you that you're still alive.


Barry
 
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ashuma

Guest
Personally I cannot stand the smell of cigarettes. I do tolerate it on cruises only because I am not given an option. There aren't no-smoking casinos on most ships-- wish there was. But understand that many gamblers also are smokers and drinkers so if I want to gamble I just have to tolerate it. Same in lounges. Hence when I cruise I do not gamble and go to lounges as often as I would like because I have no other option. Now that I have cancer and am on chemo I can tolerate it even less. Yes -- I would love to see non-smoking ships, but I know it is not economically feasible to have enough that I could chose a ship and itinerary I would like. I can also tell if smokers have used the cabin I am staying in.

Actually I just went on one of those 1-day gambling cruises in Florida while visiting family down there. They actually had a smoking and non-smoking casino -- on separate decks. I loved it -- less crowded and could easily find a machine I liked. But I realize that for regular cruise lines it is probably not even a thought due purely to economics.

All I can say is thank goodness planes no longer allow smoking except longer flights and hotels usually offer non-smoking rooms (though we can instantly tell if people have cheated). Don't expect to see that on main stream cruise lines unfortunately, so I just tolerate it. And take all my clothes to the cleaners afterward and wash my wig more often to get rid of the smell they absorb.
 
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