Mention smoking policies in cruise ship casinos on social media (or on a cruise ship) and you set off a spirited debate. Smokers generally want more smoking and can't understand why non-smokers have issues, since Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) ship casinos have non-smoking sections.
Non-smokers, however, will argue that offering a non-smoking section that's just a different part of the same room, essentially means nothing. In addition, they point out that there's very little enforcement of smoking rules as people are moving around.
Smokers want to be able to gamble and smoke (two things that have historically sort of gone together) while non-smokers want to breathe smoke-free air. It's easy to sympathize with either side's argument and also easy to see why people's positions seem to be so absolute.
Royal Caribbean (and Carnival) likely want to simply have a policy that keeps the most people happy, while maximizing casino revenue. Having one big room with a smoking and a non-smoking section simply does not do that because smoke does not abide by any rules.
Now, a potential solution to the problem has emerged, that might actually work for all Royal Caribbean passengers, both smokers and non-smokers.
TheStreet
Royal Caribbean Already Has a Smoking Solution
Wonder of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest ship, was built to sail from China. Because of that, the cruise ship, which is the world's largest, actually has two casinos. The main casino operates like the casino on any ship while there's a second room on the same floor, but a long hallway away, that's a smaller casino.
That second room was supposed to be a dedicated space for high rollers. Once the ship ended up based in the U.S., that was not a need as Royal Caribbean is not really a cruise line for high rollers. So, that room, which is called the "Golden Room," has become a smaller, smoke-free casino.
On other Royal Caribbean Oasis-class ships, that space is used for "Jazz on 4," a sparsely-attended music venue featuring a jazz quartet. Now, rumors have been spreading in a very popular Facebook group dedicated to Royal Caribbean's "Club Royale," casino loyalty program that the cruise line intends to make the same change on other ships that have the "Jazz on 4" space.
Royal Caribbean Has Not Commented
While it's easy to discount many rumors shared on social media, this one--which has been attributed to comments made by the outgoing cruise director on Allure of the Seas--actually makes sense. The cruise line's public relations firm acknowledged receipt of the question as to whether this was happening but has not returned an answer.
"I've reached out to the team for comment on this request--will keep you updated as soon as I hear back," a member of the public relations team shared via email about 36 hours after the initial request was made.
Using "Jazz on 4" as a fully non-smoking casino space would be an elegant solution to the problem. Some members in the Facebook group, however, do not believe the solution goes far enough and believe that the main casino should be smoke-free with the smaller room being for smokers.
That's unlikely due to comments Royal Caribbean President Michael Bayley made during a question-and-answer session on Ovation of the Seas during the President's Cruise, the Royal Caribbean Blog reported.
"It's a bit of a conundrum," he said. "The dilemma is that there are many people who do want to smoke in the casino. I know that's not a popular response, but it's the truth. I'm not judging anyone or anything, but there's a large group of people who do want to smoke in the casino."
