Smoking on a cruise- What do you think?

I had an interesting chat this evening with a non-smoking client.

She has been following a thread on a cruise forum, P&O versus Holland America a big debate has broken out on smoking.

Like almost every other cruise P&O have banned smoking on stateroom Balconies which in my personal opinion is great, however this is not the case for Holland America (HAL).

Again in my opinion I think this is a crazy move from HAL, surely this will attract masses of smokers and therefore push away non-smokers.

Or would this work the other-way? And attract a lot more clients that feel victimised by today’s strict no smoking bans that are found on most cruise ships.

For me there would be no way of booking myself a balcony cabin, what an awful thought, sat there enjoying the views and then all that smoke comes drifting over me. No thanks HAL.

A lot of customers I come across are very adamant that they will not cruise with a specific cruise line if they can not smoke on the balcony, fair enough but then they may be missing out on possibly the cruise ship or itinerary that most appeals to them. For the sake of 7 or 14 nights would an E-Cig not be a fair compromise? I am not a smoker as yo can tell so I really do not know if suggesting an E-cig is a good idea or an insult, please feel free to tell me.

What do you think to it all?

Royal caribbean allow smoking in the public casino but not on the balconies, is this a contradiction of rules? I think the decision is made purely on the fact that happy smokers will be happy spenders.

What is your thoughts on why a cruise line would allow this in this day and age? Is it really a benefit to HAL to have a high level of smokers on board the ship? Are the other cruise lines missing out on business?