Monday, 28 October 2024

Carnival Cruise Line takes strong stand on smoking

by BD Banks

Smokers want Carnival Cruise Line to offer more places where they can indulge their habit. That’s especially true during periods where the casino is closed, because that’s the only indoor smoking spot on its ships. 

You can only smoke in a Carnival casino when you’re gambling. That means it’s notan option on embarkation day or when the ship is in port. when bad weather hits, that leaves the cruise line’s smokers forced to either go outside or go without.

Related: Carnival Cruise Line discontinues a classic on-board item

Non-smokers, however, often resent having to walk through smoke. In the casino, the smoke doesn’t know it’s supposed to be confined to the smoking area, and, in many cases, the smoke-free areas smell like smoke.

When it comes to outside smoking some non-smoking passengers resent that they have to pass through the smoking section to get where they are going. It’s not that they want the cruise line to outlaw smoking entirely (although some want that), they just want smoking pushed to undesirable areas of the ship.

Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald recently addressed someone who asked about smoking areas on his popular Facebook page.

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You can only smoke in very select places on Carnival ships.

Image source: Getty Images

Carnival shares a clear smoking answer   

“Has Carnival ever reevaluated its smoking areas? In size and the location on the ship? I sailed last year on Carnival Pride and was surprised at the size and location of the area (in an amazing spot on the Lido deck next to the pool and bar),” wrote Ted Barlett.

In his note to Heald, Barlett made it clear that he was not pushing the cruise line to get rid of smoking completely.

“While not a smoker myself, I am fine with it aboard. By all means, enjoy your cruise, but I kept thinking that it’s in a really prime spot with tables and chairs (hard to come by out by the pools) that the vast majority of guests do not use. Again, I’m not taking a stand against smoking on vacation, it just seemed odd that was the area designated. And no, I don’t really have an alternate space in mind just looking for your take,” he added.

ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise

Heald gave a very definitive response. 

“Thank you. Well on the older ships like this we are limited as to where we can offer a smoking area but yes, we do look at this very closely and try to do our very best for both smokers and non-smokers. But obviously, it’s not ever going to be perfect for both sides. Thank you, and I do hope that you had a wonderful time on the ship and we will continue to evaluate this subject for sure,” he shared.

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