Carnival’s Spa Staterooms to be Non-Smoking

If you think about it, this new policy really shouldn't surprise anyone. Carnival announced that their new Spa staterooms and suites, debuting on the Carnival Splendour later this year, will be non-smoking:

"The Carnival Splendor Cloud 9 Spa will be the perfect place for guests to relax and rejuvenate. Created to provide a heavenly atmosphere and ensure all guests enjoy their stay, the Cloud 9 Spa will be promoted as a smoke-free environment. Thus, all Cloud 9 Spa staterooms and suites have been designated as non-smoking areas with smoking strictly prohibited.

Guests who are currently booked will be notified and all marketing materials are being updated. Moving forward guests will be informed at time of booking, through marketing material and via "No smoking" signs prominently placed in each spa stateroom.

In order to preserve the Cloud 9 Spa standards and ensure staterooms are free of smoke residue, Carnival will assess a $250 reconditioning fee per spa stateroom for guests that do not comply with the non-smoking policy. This fee will cover the cost of deep-cleaning required to restore the room back to its original smoke free condition. In our efforts to accommodate guests wishing to smoke, they may do so on the outdoor decks and in lounges (excluding the main show lounge)."

Wave of the future? Definitely. Smoking costs the cruise lines in many ways. While entirely non-smoking ships were economically unviable (just think back to the Carnival Paradise - popular among her fans, but overall an operational failure), limited smoking onboard makes sense financially and otherwise to the cruise lines.

Celebrity Cruises Revises Smoking Policies

In a move which seems to echo her Azamara sister brand's policy, Celebrity has announced that effective October 1, 2008, it will be revising their onboard smoking policies.

The new policy will disallow smoking in Celebrity's staterooms or on stateroom verandas. The policy also will reduce the number of public areas in which guests can smoke onboard.

"We are proud to be the first premium cruise line to set a new standard toward creating an environment of cleaner air on our ships," said Celebrity Cruises President & CEO Dan Hanrahan. "We pay careful attention to what our guests have to say, and approximately 90 percent of them have told us they are non-smokers. By increasing the number of smoke-free areas onboard while still designating areas for those who smoke, our aim is to make the onboard experience as pleasant as possible for all of our guests."

The new policy was created after Celebrity polled past guests. Designated indoor areas where guests can smoke cigarettes include the port side of one lounge per ship and a designated slot machine area in each ship's casino. The new policy also designates outdoor areas where guests can smoke. These include the port side of the pool deck and sundecks on each ship, the port side of the Sunset Bar on Celebrity Century and on Celebrity's Millennium class of ships, and the port side aft outside of Winter Garden on Celebrity Galaxy and Celebrity Mercury. Celebrity's new Solstice class of ships, launching with Celebrity Solstice late this year, will follow the new policy beginning with the first sailing. Celebrity Solstice's Lawn Club and the Sunset Bar at the Lawn Club will not allow smoking. Violations to Celebrity's smoking policy may result in a $250 cleaning fee charged to the guest's onboard account and may also be addressed through the line's guest conduct policy.

The new policy will go into effect on Celebrity's fleet on the first day of the first sailing to follow October 1.

Note that the Celebrity Xpedition is not part of this policy as it has had in place restrictions based on the Galapagos National Park requirements.

Personally, I'll admit that as a non-smoker who is very smoke sensitive, I applaud this move. Since ship design generally has a major traffic pattern to the show lounges passing through the casino, I've had to alter my route to go up or down a deck to avoid the congestion even passing through the casino can cause. It was a pleasure on Azamara to have a virtually non-smoking casino. I also view the non-smoking policy for the cabins and verandahs to be a strong safety move as well. I do recognize this as a pretty significant inconvenience for smokers, and I actually think it would have been a nice move to have the port side Promenade Deck also a smoking area (to make it easier for smokers to duck out of the dining room for a quick puff) in addition to the other designated areas. Perhaps Celebrity will consider that for the future.