Travel Weekly Blog

please don't ban smoking on ships - they are the only form of holiday we can enjoy now. We no longer fly due to bans at airports, and limit rail travel due to bans at stations.

Definitely not a blanket ban! No ban at all is preferred. It's all so ridiculous. Reason being, there is no harm or risk in second hand smoke - read the information on www.freedom2choose.info. Find out the REAL truth. Jo

Do you really actively avoid those forms of transport Sue? My brother is a full-on smoker and I know he finds them difficult, but he'll still use them. Is it a case of 'only when there's no other choice'?

Without coming down on either side, I do think smoking bans on cruise ships are inevitable. At the very least smoking will be confined to small, contained areas of the deck.

Incidentally, did you see this? A Minnesota bar has started holding 'theatrical' evenings to exploit a loophole that says cigarettes can be smoked in plays...

@Jo - thanks for your comments... but links should support your argument, not constitute it ;)

I do hope you don't impose such a ban.
I smoke, my husband doesn't. We are seriously considering a cruise to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary later this year.
The prospect of marking this milestone by being forcibly parted from my 10 a day habit/addiction/whatever is too horrible to face.
You have the example of what is happening to the hospitality industry before you. I hope you have more guts than their industry leaders and fight the pressure that I'm sure is being put on you from the small but vociferous anti-smoking groups. Please remember - these people do NOT speak for all non-smokers and bans ARE bad for business.

IT WOULD BE AN UTTER DISTASTER FOR CRUISE SHIPS IF A BLANKET BAN WAS INTRODUCED. I FOR ONE WOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER GOING ON ONE AGAIN UNLESS THERE WAS AN INSIDE LOUNGE THAT ONE COULD SMOKE IN. I SINCERELY HOPE CRUISE COMPANIES HAVE THE SENSE TO PRE-EMPT A LOSS IN REVENUE, JUST LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO PUBS, BINGO HALLS ETC IN THE UK SINCE OUR FASCIST GOVERMENT INTRODUCED A TOTAL BLANKET BAN, CLOSING DOWN AT A RATE OF KNOTS. I FOR ONE VERY RARELY FREQUENT THEM ANYMORE SINCE THIS UN DEMOCRATIC BAN WAS INTRODUCED BASED ON LIES AND BIAS DATA!!

Thanks Karen and ROBE- oops, caps lock - Robert.

Karen, by 'you' do you mean the travel industry as a whole? The cruise industry as a whole? There isn't really one governing authority here as there is over e.g. UK pubs. A country's smoking laws will apply while the ship is in that country's waters, but at sea maritime law applies, which to my knowledge says nothing about smoking.

I cruise on a regular basis, and I normally check out crise ships re smoking, as a cigar smoker it is frowned upon more than cig smokers, if there was an outright ban on smoking, I personally would no longer cruise, I also drink,gamble and generaally try to enjoy myself, whilst on holiday, whats wrong with that? There are many others like myself, who are married to non smokers, if the cruise liners make an outright ban they would lose a small fortune, and what about crew memmbers who smoke?and there are plenty that do. R Foulser

As a merchant seaman, I wonder just exactly how naive these people are that want to ban smoking on ships. Do they even comprehend the amount of NOx, SOx and CO2 that engines on ships release into the atmosphere? Yet they worry about smokers and the effect its having on their health.
I would argue, every time someone steps out on deck theyre getting a lungfull of something nasty. So why attack the smoker? Because they are easy, and not one public body now defends them.
They do no harm in their cabins, and the risk of fire is no greater than if someone leaves the curling wand plugged in. The Air Conditioning in most public spaces does not recirculate any more, so cross contamination of sleeping areas should not occur.
Life is about choice. The moment one set of people dictates to another set (see Aryans and Jews), is the moment we have the makings of a war. Keep smoking on ships - bring it back in the UK. Its freedom of choice. As a non smoker, I have the freedom to go to a smoking bar, or a non smoking one. The same with smokers. If the governments were so worried about everyones health as opposed to their budgets, they would ban it outright, not give a handfull of half measures.

I am an ex smoker myself, but nowadays I cannot stand the smell of second hand smoke.However, in all fairness I do think that smoking should be allowed in designated areas on cruise ships.Mind you, what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. If there is no smoking allowed in some of the cabins, then there should be no smoking in the others too, ie those that have balconies! In my mind,one rule for some of the cabins, and another rule for others is just not acceptable. There should be only one law for all the cabins, not two,
Lilian Flesher, Spain.