Royal Caribbean and Smoking

Royal Caribbean has announced that, beginning on January 1, 2008, they will implement new smoking restrictions onboard their ships. These consist of:

-No smoking within the staterooms, not including the balconies.
-No smoking in any dining area of any ship, both indoors and outdoors.
-Champagne Bar will be added as a nonsmoking bar on every Freedom, Voyager and Vision-class ship.
-Viking Crown will be added as a nonsmoking bar on every Sovereign-class ship.

This policy will go into effect for the entire fleet with the exception of Legend, Rhapsody and Splendour on the first full sailing of January 2008. The policy will go into effect for the remaining ships on the transition sailing to their Summer 2008 itinerary.

Expect to see this happening with more cruise lines. Ever since the fire on the Star Princess, lines have become more strict about smoking onboard, and are making changes in their policies because of that. In addition, non-smokers continue to request more areas where they can go on the ships where they can have a smoke-free experience.