Celebrity Cruises does not allow smoking in its casinos.
That's a pretty extreme choice given that only one casino on the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International's Park MGM, fully outlaws smoking in the casino.
Virgin Voyages banishes smokers to a small room inside their casino. That's a space where the air is basically a solid haze, but the smokers don't seem to mind, and it leaves the larger casinos smoke-free.
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Cordoning off the smokers into a small space also protects cruise ship workers from secondhand smoke. Aside from roving waitstaff, the Virgin Voyages smoking casino is not staffed.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line, however, have both taken very different approaches to how they handle smoking in their casinos. On every ship in both companies' namesake fleets, they have a smoking section in the main casino along with a nonsmoking area.
In theory, that offers some protection for nonsmokers, but the reality is that even with improved ventilation, smoke travels. It's also a challenge for either cruise line to enforce the rule that you can only smoke when actively playing at a table or slot machine.
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Royal Caribbean and Carnival add smoke-free casinos
To create a true smoke-free area, Royal Caribbean and Carnival have added secondary smoke-free casinos on some ships. Royal Caribbean has added these smaller, no-smoking casinos to all Oasis-class ships with a similar offering on its Icon-class ship.
Carnival has retrofitted Dream, Magic, Breeze, Vista, Panorama, Venezia, and Firenze to have smoke-free casinos while Celebration, Jubilee, and Mardi Gras were all built with smoke-free casinos onboard.
Many passengers of both cruise lines believe that the the smoking and non-smoking casinos should be flipped. They think Royal Caribbean and Carnival should follow the Virgin Voyages model and segregate the smokers into a space so non-smokers can avoid being exposed to secondhand smoke.
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The American Cancer Society believes the casino workers (although they were likely not considering cruise ships) deserve protection from secondhand smoke.
"Secondhand smoke (SHS) has the same harmful chemicals that people who smoke inhale. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no safe level of SHS exposure, which contains at least 70 chemicals known to cause cancer and trigger heart attacks, asthma attacks, and respiratory illness.[Exposure to SHS is an occupational hazard for many casino workers – from dealers to security.[But when smoking is permitted in casinos, no one – even patrons – is safe from SHS exposure. Job-related exposure to SHS is a significant, but entirely preventable, cause of premature death among U.S. workers," the non-profit shared.
Carnival passengers speak out
Carnival passengers shared their thoughts about how smoking is currently handled in its casinos on Brand Ambassador John Heald's Facebook page. Many urged the company to make the switch.
"Make the main casino nonsmoking and the little tiny section for the smokers. I hate walking through there and smelling terrible afterward," posted Michelle Hall Pelfrey.
Some argue that the cruise line needs to do more to protect their health.
"I agree, turn the smaller rooms into smoking areas. I love playing in the casino but that smoke gets me sick every time. Plus I have asthma," shared Tynika Brown.
Joan Shaffer Reese echoed those comments.
"The smokers need to be enclosed and see if they like all the smoke. We can’t walk through. Hubby and I both have lung issues and we have to go up to walk around and then come back down on the other side. Very frustrating," she posted.
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Others argued that all casinos should be nonsmoking to protect the workers.
"Nice. Now make them all nonsmoking! The smell is horrible and the workers should not have to work in those conditions," added Amanda Shows.
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Jama Hightower, however, said the part that the cruise lines rarely say out loud (although Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley has made comments that back this up).
"If nonsmoking casinos made more money ALL casinos would be nonsmoking. Because smokers gamble more. Just like drinkers gamble more. If I have to get up walk up 4 flights of stairs to go vape I’m not coming back," she wrote.
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