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Addition of smoking in casinos and fuel surcharge — True?


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Just read an article about how Royal Caribbean is pandering to smokers yet again and that they are considering a fuel surcharge. If that is true, the only one I get is the fuel surcharge. But they are considering allowing smokers in the casinos and their reasoning is that they have lower revenue when smoking is banned. Well. You know what, Royal Caribbean? I would ask you what the health risks are for people who are in those casinos who do not smoke. That’s an enclosed space, and smoke just hangs in the air and cannot be disbursed. It’s been proven that second hand smoke has harmful effects on the health of those who are exposed! I also posit that there are more non-smokers than smokers, and I believe the drop in revenue would be greater if you allowed smoking than if you banned smoking. Just my two cents. P.s. also I would likely not go on a RC cruise if there is more smoking on board. 🤷‍♀️

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I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that the article you read was poorly written.  They are not considering a surcharge (for now), and they have always allowed smokers in - the reasons are contained in the article.

 

Royal Caribbean CEO talks fuel surcharge, Icon reveal, smoking in the casino & more | Royal Caribbean Blog

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I don’t think they are pandering, smoking has been allowed all along, except for a brief stint during a Covid surge.  I believe the CEO tapped around the answer of a smoking ban by alluding to the loss of revenue.  I’m sure they’ve put a lot of data analysis into the decision.  As a non smoker you can vote with your wallet, as many have.  

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It was also said in the article that Royal Caribbean were looking into ways to create smoke free areas in the casino.  With no real data I am assuming some smokers tend to congregate in the casino as it one of the few places smoking is allowed on board.

I am a former smoker. As a group we tend to be much more critical of those who still smoke and less tolerant of a smoke filled environment.  I do not frequent the casino and avoid walking through it if at all possible.  My money isn't missed.

I understand Celebrity Cruises does not allow smoking in their casinos so there are other options.

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Non-Smoker here.  I don't understand the connection between smoking in a casino and a fuel surcharge.  Having said that, smoking in the casino is in a designated area.  Wearing cologne or perfume, by others, that makes me sick isn't.  Eating fish that smells makes me sick but it ain't banned in any of the restaurants on a ship.  How far do you want to take this?  Smoking in the casino, as stated a few times in here already, has always been allowed.  Relatively speaking, it's only been recent that they restrict smoking to a very few locations on the ship.  Where does one's rights stop? <no, that's not intended to be a political debate!

Why bother though - It looks like it is just another "ONE AND DONE"/"HIT AND RUN" troll.  

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Bayley was clear that when they banned smoking it impacted revenue.  Right now is not the time to take a revenue hit.

There will come a time when the environment is right to make the change.  This isn't that time.

They are also keenly aware as we head into a recession that imposing fuel surcharges will negatively impact future bookings.  That would be an undesirable outcome so for now they are holding off fuel surcharges. 

 

 

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I had two cruises in Wonder of the seas, both in Europe. In Wonder you have two Casinos the big one is were smoking allowed in some parts and the golden room which is smoke free. I went to the golden room several times to show revenue can come also from non smoking casinos, always it was empty and you could hear the crickets from the central park. Maybe it's because it was Med cruise which less people gamble due to long ports day but if Royal take statistics from this ship for sure I understand why they say they will lose revenue due to no smoking policy.

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Another hit and run TROLL. I bet their IP address matches a few other posts with the same intent.

I am a former smoker (over 20 years ago).  I’d prefer smoke free casinos too, but their ships, their rules. Until no smokers really put their foot down this policy will not change. Have to hit them where they listen…the wallet.

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Last couple of cruises...   Contrary to past practice, the smoking area is now smaller than the non-smoking area.  There were truly areas within the casino that were not smoky.   If however, there was a game I couldn't resist in the smoking area, the smoke was enough to choke a mule.  The smoking area bordered on the bar, so if you needed attention from the bar, you had to endure the smoke.  And it's not just the smoke... It's the ingrained smell of a dirty ashtray. 

Since I do have a pretty fair amount of gaming area, mostly smoke free, I think they've addressed this fairly well.

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35 minutes ago, FoxboroCruiser said:

Another hit and run TROLL. I bet their IP address matches a few other posts with the same intent.

I am a former smoker (over 20 years ago).  I’d prefer smoke free casinos too, but their ships, their rules. Until no smokers really put their foot down this policy will not change. Have to hit them where they listen…the wallet.

Revenue Revenue Revenue - I wouldn't use, and I'm not saying you did, use the percentage of smokers vs nonsmokers of the U.S. or world population to justify restricting smoking in a casino.  As we all know, smokers are becoming less and less of a percentage.  However, it would be interesting to get the true percentage of people who frequent casinos (gamble - revenue revenue revenue) are smokers vs nonsmokers.  If the percentages of smokers to nonsmokers is much higher than the national/global averages, guess what, nott'in gonna change.  

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1 hour ago, WAYNO said:

Last couple of cruises...   Contrary to past practice, the smoking area is now smaller than the non-smoking area.  There were truly areas within the casino that were not smoky.   If however, there was a game I couldn't resist in the smoking area, the smoke was enough to choke a mule.  The smoking area bordered on the bar, so if you needed attention from the bar, you had to endure the smoke.  And it's not just the smoke... It's the ingrained smell of a dirty ashtray. 

Since I do have a pretty fair amount of gaming area, mostly smoke free, I think they've addressed this fairly well.

Maybe on the ships you’ve been on.  Adventure seems to have intertwined smoking amongst the slot machines, the table area, at least done non smoking, seem to be on top of smoking….but again it could be the ill defined areas. 
 

Oasis has 2 separate table sides smoking then slots bar, slots snd non smoking tables.  A nice separation. Side note:     I went to attend the free casino lessons but it was being held in the smokers area, so I passed, meanwhile no one was playing in the non smoking section…it made no sense to me.

 

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Hi folks, smoking or non, I believe Mr. Baley stated they look at smoking in the casino every so often and they alway lose revenue. So looks looks like Royal runs the numbers and it it is what it is. But it looks like they are experimenting with separate smoke free casinos so they are listening. Win-Win in my opinion. What annoys me more than smoking are table guests. If you aren’t gambling, get off the table. 

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3 hours ago, Swar said:

I would rather sit next to a fully infected, coughing COVID person than a smoker. Saying that, I live in the casino with all my peeps. I just wear a mask and cough a lot and complain about my recent positive test. lol

You and your peeps sound like lots of fun, lol. Covid isn’t funny anywhere but definitely not cool on a ship when the industry is trying to recover. Not a funny joke.  FYI, if you “live” in the casino, the current policy doesn’t seem to be an issue for you so not a problem for Royal. 

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16 minutes ago, Sea Squirrel said:

You and your peeps sound like lots of fun, lol. Covid isn’t funny anywhere but definitely not cool on a ship when the industry is trying to recover. Not a funny joke.  FYI, if you “live” in the casino, the current policy doesn’t seem to be an issue for you so not a problem for Royal. 

Covid may not be funny, but smoking is a heck of a lot more dangerous to our health, community, economy, and general welfare. I like to gamble. I hate smoke. I avoid smokers as much as possible. My sarcastic point was that smoking is bad and I wish for it's demise in the casino. 

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I really don't have a horse in this race. As I already said, I'm a nonsmoker.  I quit in 2008 and haven't looked back.  I really don't care, I can go to the casino and enjoy myself in or out of the cloud, or I mean in or out of the smoking/nonsmoking areas.  My only concern is watching an underclass, and that's what smokers have socially become, be discriminated against and bullied.  My wife and I spend a lot of time in casinos, all over the place, not just on a ship, and we don't have any issues with smoking sections.  Do I tend to gravitate towards the nonsmoking areas?  Hell yes I do.  But, you will never hear me talk down about smokers like they are dogs.    

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26 minutes ago, Swar said:

Covid may not be funny, but smoking is a heck of a lot more dangerous to our health, community, economy, and general welfare. 

In about 2.5 years, COVID, the current China variety, has killed almost 6 and a half million people, in the U.S. alone, well over 1 million.  In about 2.5 years COVID has made tens/hundreds of millions of people sick.

In about 2.5 years, COVID has cost the American tax payers hundreds of billions of dollars, some sources say over 5 trillion $.  

Would you like to revise that statement?  

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6 hours ago, Moby Dick said:

In about 2.5 years, COVID, the current China variety, has killed almost 6 and a half million people, in the U.S. alone, well over 1 million.  In about 2.5 years COVID has made tens/hundreds of millions of people sick.

In about 2.5 years, COVID has cost the American tax payers hundreds of billions of dollars, some sources say over 5 trillion $.  

Would you like to revise that statement?  

Not at all. I do think we have gone a tad astray in this forum, on this subject ,though. Will end my participation. I like to cruise and enjoy the interaction with fellow like minded people. Cheers

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