Poll reveals opinions about smoking on cruise lines

Results of a poll released today by Cruise Critic® (http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk), the world’s largest cruise reviews site and cruise community, reveals that more than half of cruisers feel that smoking should be banned from balconies, and just under a quarter of respondents believe that it should be banned everywhere.

With changes to onboard smoking policies recently announced by cruise lines including Disney, Seabourn, Cunard and Royal Caribbean, Cruise Critic asked cruisers whether smoking on ship balconies should be prohibited. Of the more than 500 cruisers who responded to the survey, 54 percent agreed that smoking shouldn’t be permitted on balconies and 24 percent said it should be banned on all areas of a cruise ship. Only 18 percent of respondents disagreed with the ban and responded, no, it’s a personal choice, and a mere 3 percent don’t mind.

Disney sparked the latest debates on smoking and cruise holidays following its announcement to ban smoking on its ships’ balconies in August this year. Effective from November 15 2013, passengers may no longer smoke on cabin balconies, a ban which includes electronic
cigarettes. According to a Disney spokeswoman, the policy change was prompted by passenger feedback, and the responses from the Cruise Critic survey seem to correspond with these opinions.

This month, Royal Caribbean is the latest cruise line to announce a ban on balcony smoking, except for Asia-based ships, and this becomes effective from January 1 2013.

“Smoking onboard cruise ships is a highly debated and contentious issue within the cruise industry, and cruisers have very strong opinions on this topic, as revealed in this survey,” explains Adam Coulter, UK editor of Cruise Critic.

CONTINUES BELOW

“Taking into account this feedback from Cruise Critic members, it could be predicted that going forward, many more cruise lines will look to implement increasingly stringent regulations towards smoking. However, whilst a large number of cruisers support this ban, it’s important to acknowledge that many feel they should be offered a choice. With certain cruise lines adapting their policies, it will be interesting to see the impact this has across the industry within the future,” Coulter summarised.