The great smoking debate

We recently put a post on our cruise bulletin about the subject of smoking on cruise ships (read it here). Boy! Did it spark a debate.

It seems like it’s a subject that people have very strong opinions on one way or another judging by the number of people who voiced there opinion in the comments box.

I have to say that whether you are a smoker or not it is not pleasant having to endure other peoples second hand smoke. Personally I think that there should be designated areas for smokers on ships and they should not have to feel like second class citizens. Most cruise lines only allow smoking on one particular side of the ship either by the pool area or specified areas on the decks which is fine by me, but on a recent cruise I went on it was very close to the pool bar which everybody frequents, not just smokers. Still, at least that was outdoors. Many cruise lines also permit smoking in the casino which is clearly allowed so that the high rollers can toot away on their big cigars or cigarettes and not be tempted away from the tables. Let’s face it the cruise lines are hoping they will make a lot of money out of these people, so anything that might tear them away would mean a loss of revenue.

On some ships there are smoking rooms or cigar lounges which are heavily air conditioned (still not particularly pleasant places to spend a long time in) which seem to work well for those that like a puff and seem to contain the smell pretty well from the outside. I have also seen something similar in pubs in Dublin that are within a pub, bit unless you were in the room you wouldn’t really know.

There are still some cruise lines that allow people to smoke on their balconies, although they are decreasing rapidly.

The new phenomenon is vaping. My colleague, Mem wrote an interesting blog about the laws and rules of different countries which you can read here. In my humble opinion some of these are worse than a normal cigarette.I have seen people with certain electronic smoking devices that look like a volcano erupting with huge clouds of smoke billowing out. Not pleasant regardless of what particular fruity flavour they may be vaping.

It was recently reported that one man was ejected from his cruise after throwing a cigarette end over the side of a ship. Is there something to be said about the safety aspect of lighting up?

What are your thoughts? Are you a smoker and feel like a second class citizen on a ship? Are you a non-smoker who is offended at having to passive smoke? Let me know your opinion.