Royal Caribbean passengers demand key onboard change

Miami Herald

21 hours ago

Cruise passengers have plenty of opinions about the way cruise ships are designed and the activities they offer on board.
These kinds of opinions often vary immensely from one passenger to the next, however.
Related: Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line dealing with booking issues
Although many cruisers love to discuss their thoughts and onboard suggestions in cruise line fan communities on Reddit, it's rare to see hundreds of passengers agree that their cruise experiences would be better if one key change was made on board.
When it comes to designated smoking areas on Royal Caribbean ships, however, cruisers on both sides of the debate for and against cruise ship smoking overwhelming agree that the current location of these areas on many ships has a negative impact on their vacation.
That became clear recently when one first-time Royal Caribbean cruiser took to the cruise line's fan community on Reddit with an opinion that got a lot of attention.
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"The smoking area shouldn't be right in the middle of the pool deck," MongooseLive2058 posted in the Royal Caribbean community on Reddit.
This was MongooseLive2058's only complaint after sailing on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship for the first time.
"I just went on my first Royal cruise on the Harmony and loved everything except the fact that I found myself randomly walking through the smoking section when just walking through the pool deck," MongooseLive2058 explained.
The post received a lot of attention from Royal Caribbean passengers - more than 700 signaled their agreement with an upvote and more than 300 added their opinions in comments on the thread.
Even some smokers agreed with MongooseLive2058.
Related: Royal Caribbean makes casino smoking, loyalty program change
"As a smoker, I don't want to bother you either. I'd much rather be tucked away than in the center of a pool deck…the glares from non-smokers must be so uncomfortable," ThiccNtaTTd noted.
"Yea, I feel the same way as a smoker. Like that's the one thing about Royal ships I always felt was weird. The location of the smoking area by the pool deck," ManyRanger4 added. "Usually the second smoking area is in a much better location away from large crowds. I understand on the top few decks that may be hard but there must be somewhere better."
The general consensus among Royal Caribbean Redditors was that cruise ship smoking areas should be moved away from high-traffic areas like the main pool deck.
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A number of other passengers suggested that the cruise line should take the proposed smoking area change one step further.
"Just ban smoking 100% already," Hype474 wrote in a comment that received more than 350 upvotes.
Others pointed out potential problems with introducing a total ban on cruise ship smoking though.
"As much as I like the idea, it's not practical," xjaspx commented. "Also, from a safety perspective I would much rather smokers smoke in their designated area with proper disposal for the cigarettes than for them trying to sneak in a smoke in what they perceive as a [less] conspicuous spot that may not have a place for them to dispose of their smoking materials."
Related: Carnival Cruise Line offers stern message on vaping, smoking
At one time, Carnival Cruise Line had a fully non-smoking cruise ship in its fleet. Carnival Paradise, which launched in 1998, was built as the first non-smoking cruise ship and a smoking ban was strictly enforced on board for a few years.
The non-smoking cruise ship didn't generate as much revenue as others in the fleet though, so the cruise line decided to reverse its policy and add designated smoking areas on board by the end of 2003.
Although a non-smoking cruise ship wasn't successful at that time, it's very possible that one would perform better today. Cigarette smoking rates among adults have declined significantly over the last 20 years, falling from 22.5% in 2002 to 11.6% in 2022, according to American Lung Association statistics.
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