Smoking the big debate – part 2

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog regarding smoking on a cruise ship which you can read here – a smokers debate

I, for my sins, am a smoker, so being segregated from certain parts of the ship can impact me when cruising. However, I do find that when I am cruising I tend to smoke less because of the limited areas for us ‘dirty smokers’. But I must say, on some cruises I have been on, the smokers were a majority and not a minority.

Most of the ships I have sailed on, you will normally find 1 to 2 areas that you can smoke. This is normally on one side of the ship or at the aft of the ship. On other ships, there may be more areas and sometimes smoking is still permitted in indoor spaces such as the casino or a smokers room.

Here at cruise.co.uk we recently caught up with ex Cunard captain – Captain Nick Bates and although he is against smoking, I found one of his comments very interesting:

Smoking

What is your opinion on passengers smoking on balconies?

My opinion is that I would ban smoking altogether in the entire universe! However, I would say that if you could refine your smoking to your balcony that would be okay, as long as you did not smoke in your cabin because this will linger and affect the next guests onboard.

There is the deck space too, although if you’re sailing through the North Atlantic that’s not going to be easy with a force 10 gale!

Cunard Captain Tackles The Controversial And The Questions You Never Dared To Ask

From memory and please correct me if I am wrong, there are only two cruise lines that I am aware of that still permit you to smoke on the balconies. Fred Olsen and Holland & America.

All other cruise lines have banned smoking from the balconies, claiming that if someone threw a cigarette overboard, this is not only pollution but the wind could direct the cigarette into another area of the ship and cause a fire. Of course, we do not want this to happen and 100% agree, but the same could happen when on the side or aft of the ship?

I completely agree with no smoking in the cabins and public areas, even as a smoker I do not smoke in my home or allow others too. I do wonder though from Captain Nick’s comments if smoking on balconies could be reintroduced? I know this will spark a debate here and that is the point of my blog.

So again I ask you:

Should there be a selection of balcony cabins on one side of the ship for smokers? This way the smoke is contained in one area and smokers can still have the benefit of using their balcony without having to keep travelling to other decks.

If they did allow smoking on the balcony, should the balcony cabin for smokers have a fixed ashtray, maybe a sand filled type so that the cigarette is disposed of correctly and not thrown in the sea? If this is not adhered to, introduce a large fine as a penalty?

Do you think that cruise ships provide ample areas for smokers or not enough?

I would love to hear your comments and please leave them in comments box below and not the Rate My Service.

Dawn

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