Carnival Follows Princess in Restricting Smoking - Sort Of

Carnival has also announced a more restrictive smoking policy today as well as their sister brand Princess Cruises, but it's not a case of Carnival Corp copycat.  Carnival Lines will allow smoking on most balconies while restricting it elsewhere.

According to Carnival, the change was a result of guest surveys "covering a wide range of topics."  They said a non-smoking atmosphere was preferred by an "overwhelming" number of their guests, who are 90% non-smokers.  They also said that only 5% of their passengers prefer to smoke in their cabins. 

I think those numbers are going to shock many in the industry, but since Carnival sources more from North America than other brands, who are increasing their passenger base from Europe and Asia especially, it does make sense.

The new policy is outlined as follows:

The new smoking policy will be rolled out in two stages:


Effective today, cigarette smoking in public venues will only be permitted in Carnival's dance clubs as well as in designated areas within the casino and casino bar.

Smoking (including cigars) will be permitted in designated exterior open deck areas of all our ships. Additionally, smoking will also be allowed in the jazz clubs of the following ships: Carnival Destiny, Carnival Triumph, Carnival Victory, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Pride, Carnival Legend, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory, Carnival Valor, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Freedom, and Carnival Splendor.

Effective December 1, 2011, smoking will be prohibited in all guest staterooms. Guests in balcony staterooms may smoke (including cigars) outside on their balcony. However, Spa suites and staterooms, inclusive of the balconies, will remain an entirely smoke-free environment.

Guests who smoke in their staterooms will be assessed a $250 cleaning and refreshing fee on their Sail & Sign account. Information on this fee is included in Carnival's ticket contract.

Decisions like these are never easy and we realize some of you may be affected by this change. We sincerely hope this won't affect your ability to have a fun and memorable cruise vacation. In fact, we are hopeful you will see this as an enhancement to your on board experience and have an even better time sailing with us. Please know we are committed to providing a clean and healthy environment for all our guests.

As you can see, they are imposing a similar $250 fine for violating the policy, but there are key differences in addition to the balcony smoking, namely some of the restrictions go into effect immediately, the remainder on December 1, 2011.

So it appears two of the North American-focused Carnival Corporation brands changed their policies today.  The pressure is on for Holland America - will they remain the hold out or will they also impose new restrictions?

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