CoupleOfCruisers

This is great news! When we book suites we like the benefit of the Concierge Lounge. There is nothing worse then having it over run by Diamond + members who go in early and save seats. We pay a lot of money for this perk!  
 
On cruises we book in a non suite cabin we are happy to huddle with the unwashed masses in the Diamond lounge! 

The trend on land has been towards more casual dress in all aspects of life.  Even in the business world, more and more companies are going business casual vs suits.  Younger people are redefining what "dressed up" means for a date or night out.  RC is a business and wants (needs) to attract young people.
I have mixed feelings as I like the "dress up" part of cruise dining, at least on some nights.  I don't really feel that what anyone else wears affects me, although I think a minimum standard should apply to avoid "people of Walmart" on RC.
I'd like to see them eliminate formal night and go to a dressy night and set a minimum standard for the main dining room - no shorts, collared shirt etc.  If people want to dress up more, that's OK too.  I'd also like to see them have some casual nights where shorts are OK.

I have an idea about formal nights.  Let me first preface this by saying that I myself do not dress very formal on formal nights.  But I know people who really like dressing up, especially women.  It's their time to take out that favorite gown, the jewelry, the fancy hairdo.  Some families take it as an opportunity for that family photoshoot in nice attires. For some it is a change of environment from their otherwise "come as you are" events. I think there is still a good percentage of people on the ship who like these formal nights.  Being seated next to someone in a tank top and shorts on formal night somehow takes away from that expected ambiance of a formal event. (Yes, I was seated next to one, but I didn't mind)
Maybe Royal can designate a section of their MDR, especially on bigger ships with multi-level MDRs, to be formal attire only on formal nights.  It will be by reservation only and the dress code will be strictly implemented.  That way, the guests who are wired to enjoy formal events can have their good time and everybody is happy.  I know in the past, when formal nights were still "strictly" observed, formal attire only at the MDR and casual attire at Windjammer.  But I think that is not doable anymore.

Just got off the Anthem a week ago on Sun, we saw people wearing shorts and t shirts and base ball hats in the MDH, They should be a able to tell people like that they need to put pants and a shirt on. I am not saying they need a suit but crappy shorts and a t shirt are a bit much.

WAPO.......Fake News?

As you can see from the responses here, enforcement of the rules is sparse at best. 
The reality is the rules are left purposefully vague because Royal Caribbean does not want to get into the business of being the fashion police.
On the one hand, there is no posted list that explicitly states shorts are not allowed into the MDR for dinner. On the other hand, it is culturally inappropriate to wear shorts to a sophisticated restaurant.
This becomes more of a question of "should you" versus "can you" wear shorts to the MDR.

We were upgraded I believe to Jr Suite had corner room with huge windows. It was amazing! Especially in the morning! 

We are booked here for 2 nights in January before our cruise.  Snagged a Jr Suite Bay View for a killer price.  Glad to hear you liked it. 

We like the Miami Downtown Hilton woke up in morning could see our ship. They offer shuttle to port. Or it was $7 Uber. We book the stay, park & go. Ended up being only $10 more then parking at port for the week. 
 
There is couple fast food and grocery store (Publix) across street. Next door is a free tram takes you around town to different spots! 

I would prefer they just ban it on the ship altogether, but it won't ever happen.  I hate when I walk somewhere to be accosted by 2nd hand smoke. 

That may not have been a violation.  Simply leaving a cruise early isn't a guaranteed PVSA violation.  
The PVSA prohibits a foreign flagged vessel from transporting passengers between U.S. cities.   Like foreign airlines can't do the same, this is a matter of cabotage regulations.  In your case you didn't meet that criteria.  The cruise line picked you up in one U.S. place and dropped you off in Belize.  The PVSA doesn't explicitly prohibit that.  If the cruise line had a planned a one way cruise from the U.S. to Belize that isn't a PVSA violation on it's own.
However it's not simple and the actual articles of law are very complex and many pages long.  Often we see this boiled down into simple to understand terms but it's a little more complex.
The other factor is that 13 years ago not everything was enforced the way it is today.  Cruise lines sometimes did things in years gone by that they learned was not okay.   Maybe it slipped through the cracks until one time when one cruise line was charged a penalty.  At that point all cruise lines paid attention.  Oops.  

Majesty and Empress aren't going anywhere for awhile - they can go places no other ships can, like Cuba and Hamilton/St. Georges in Bermuda.  Not everyone wants the big flashy bells & whistles, so those of us need something in the Royal fleet too.  There is something to be said for classic-style cruising. 

All cruise lines need to “man up” and make the corporate decision to ban smoking in all public venues on their ships. They need to view it as a duty to protect their employees’ health, at minimum.

I hope this goes into effect.  I would like to go to the casino and try my hand at the tables, but not at the risk of my clothes, hair, etc. coming out smelling like an ashtray.  I am a former smoker so I get the addiction, its a nightmare.  But, I firmly believe that there needs to be a designated area away from the main attractions of the ships.  Also it needs to be outside so the smoke can not permeate through the ship.  The smell of cigarette/cigar smoke now gives me a terrible headache.  The less it is in common areas like the casino the better. 
I also think that there would not be a dip in the money taken in by the casino.  The potential loss of smokers playing would potentially be replaced by non-smoking payers.

This is all a moot point as Royal has already banned all indoor smoking on ships embarking from European ports, so obviously accommodating that demographic is not important 

As stated before, we all heard the impending doom of bars, restaurants and businesses who would be impacted by smoking ban. Still waiting. I do not smoke, the majority of people on a cruise do not smoke, so why must the minority rule this topic. Do you actually believe someone who is a so called big spender gambling will stop because of a cigarette. No.  Cruisers who say they will stop sailing if they can not smoke. Right. Time for royal to follow suit as they have lately to be in sync with celebrity. 

Seem a bunch of people treat the casino as a smoking lounge. To prove my point walk through there when the casino is closed and there’s people down there smoking. You’ll even see people just sitting around during open hours not playing just taking up seats smoking. Royal really should make all indoor areas non smoking or do some serious upgrades on the ventilation system. 

Everyone thought bars / restaurants would all go under when states started to implement smoking bans indoors.  That never happened.  I would argue that since a great majority of people do not smoke and can not stand smoke RCL could make more money in the casinos based on increased volume of people throwing money into machines / tables.

If they took smoking out of the casino, I'd spent WAY MORE time and money there!

We personally don't spend a cent in the Royal casinos because of the smokers.  We also, on some ships, don't patronize certain bars due to their proximity to the smoke smell.  We stopped participating in slot pulls as well.
We recently sailed on Celebrity and their casinos are all smoke free, the only smoking is out doors.  So don't switch to them when you leave Royal, even though they match status.  You'll be unhappy there too.
Thanks to the non-smoking casino, I made a contribution daily to the Summit casino.  Money that Royal will never see.  There were plenty of people making sizeable daily contributions, all happy to do so in a clean environment.  Also...Celebrity offers free drinks while you are actively playing.  ? 

Im a smoker and on FOTS last year there were times i had to leave the casino for fresh air! 
My clothes and what hair i have left smelt of smoke. 
You cannot smoke in bars or restaurants, even in casinos on land so why not stop it on cruiseships? 
In my opinion it would make it more enjoyable 

My thoughts exactly. I wonder if the loss of the smokers would be offset by the gains of non-smokers that would now cruise with an all smoke free cruise line??
 

It is very interesting.  As of 2015, only 15% of US adults smoked. That's a very small minority.  People think that eliminating smoking would greatly reduce the gambling. That doesn't seem very plausible. 

You're lucky i'm not in charge, i would ban smoking indoors (to include the casino) and make the only place for smoking, in the aft (designated section) upper decks.  If you get caught smoking in a non-authorized location, you would be dropped off at the next port.  I'm surprised that Royal Caribbean hasn't been sued yet, by an employee that has been diagnosed with cancer from second hand smoke due to improper ventilation in the casinos.

Is it April 1st already? 
If RC ban smoking on ships then this would apply to crew as well, so i very much doubt it would be a complete ban.
They may ban it from the casino which is in doors, which in my opinion as a smoker they should do.