Oceania has announced they will enforce their no-smoking policy with zero tolerance. Anyone discovered smoking in no-smoking areas, including cabins and balconies, will be put off the ship at the next port with no exceptions at their own cost.
Jan

Wow! I have a feeling the fire on Princess is going to have an impact on a number of people.

This line is definitely on our "Must do" list for future cruises.

Thanks for the update, Jan.

You are welcome Kathleen, FYI there is some availability left for this year and the 2007 itineraries are about to be announced!!
Jan

I think they will not be the only line to start taking this matter seriously. Smoking in cabins and on balconies is a nightgmare waiting to happen. Not that everyone is careless and have no regard for fellow passengers or rules..but it only takes one..and there is usually always one on every cruise! I am sure we have all met him/her...

As a "social smoker" (only when I drink...hic!) ;) I promise to only smoke in designated areas. Scout's honor...



Eric

Great policy! How I wish Regent would do the same!

Eric: Same here (hic) BUT married to guy who needs to give it up ... SO I see both sides of the problem - from people who hate it and people who are addicted AND those who need to quit!!-

For ships that do allow smoking on the balcony wouldn't it seem logical (and obvious) to have one of those pool side black plastic ashtrays WITH THE TOP ON THEM on EVERY balcony? Smokers would use them and non-smokers could just leave them sit there unused. There was one already on our balcony on the Mariner but I think (?) you normally have to ask for one. They even make them with a bit of sand hidden in the plastic bottom to keep them weighed down.

that would be too easy

Hello Everyone!
Well, as I said in my previous posting...I'm a social smoker. It infuriates Hiro, since he quit cold turkey five years ago after a two pack a day habit and good for him since he was truly addicted and smoked everyday. But the truth of the matter is, I'm simply not addicted to nicotine. I can take it or leave it. When I'm on vacation...I smoke & drink.

Now, with that said...I'm also a gentleman and prefer to not smoke or be around smokers in restaurants, or even on a balcony where the stuff can blow in from another stateroom.

However, I DO draw the line somewhere. For instance, when California (land of the free...yeah, right)instituted a ban on smoking in bars & taverns, I stopped frequenting those establishments. When New York city banned smoking in bars and taverns, I stopped going to New York city on holidays, and have instead been going to Chicago & Europe the past three years.

Likewise, if a cruiseline ever completely bans smoking on their ships, or disallows smoking in any of their cocktail lounges, I will take my patronage elsewhere. Ok, enough from me!



Eric

P.S. - Went to Costco over the weekend and bought a new digital camera AND a carton of cigarettes! ;)

Guess you will cross the city of Calabasas off your list too Eric, they have banned smoking in the whole city,outside,as of a few days ago...
but I don't think you have to worry that Oceania will go completely non smoking...the owners like their Cuban cigars too much for that..

Hi Claudia,

The city of Calabasas is in for a heavy duty legal bill, if you're referring to smoking outside while standing on one's own private property. :mad:

I trust they are so flush with excess cash to blow defending unconstitutional & fascist smoking policies, and have no other social or educational woes or needs. ;)

Come to think of it...I'd like to have a chunk of that extra dough. Perhaps I'll buy a house there, stand in my front yard and smoke up a storm until some busy body calls the cops. The minute after I'm cited, I'll have my lawyer serving the city with a suit. I love extra income streams, and my lawyer has been rather bored of late!

Eric

Eric, you could stil come to the town we live in CA (Fullerton). They have outside table & chairs at many restaurants where smoking is still allowed. I think someone told me the mayor smokes so maybe more smoker friendly than other SoCal towns.

Yep..it really is a bit over the top isn't it?
What next?

Actually, in Calabasas, you can smoke on your own property all you like, but, if you are outdoors and your smoke is going in the direction of another person who asks you to stop, that is when you'd face the long arm of the law.

Kathy are you in Calabasas? We spend the summers at our beach house in Oxnard..we will have to meet!
Jan

Hi Jan,

I live in Westlake Village and my office is in Woodland Hills. I have client's property in Mandalay Beach that I manage (Well it's a Homeowners Assn), so once in a while I'm up your way.

Ok Claudia, you are the social director..lets all have lunch if its ok with Kathy..
Jan

It's okay with me - but after May 1st. I do taxes/accounting.

Princeton, NJ, doesn't allow smoking anywhere .... on the streets, buildings restaurants, you name it. I'm surprised they haven't raided homes and stop people smoking in their cars. I guess that's one way to get everyone to quit. I just don't like the gestapo tactics. The smokers are non-citizens, no rights at all. Now I go back into my corner and wait for the gestapo to come get me.

What I want to know is what are the states going to do if everyone stops smoking and all the taxes they are collecting off cigarettes disappear. Then they will go after all the wine drinkers, watch out folks.

KarenM

Wow Karen, SCARY
Jan

City of Calabasas (California)doesn't allow smoking in public - including on your own front porch or back yard if your neighbor wants you to put it out. The law which has just gone into effect made history.

Scary indeed! I don't smoke, but as long as something is legal nobody should have any business telling me what I can or not do in my own house! What's next? That paint color you used for your house offends me? LOL!

Maria, I think they already dictate paint colors in Sedona AZ! Everything there is in shades of sand!

Most Homeowner Associations do that. Paint color must be approved colors. Ventura County/Thousand Oaks does. Our HOA painted what was approved colors when our places were built but the colors were no longer on the approved list and we had to repaint all over - 159 homes!

Yikes KarenM....That's a place I'll NEVER live! gestapo is saying it way too nicely. Very scarey!

Has anyone legally challenged the Calabasas law re: your own private property?

Not yet....Here is the city website

http://www.cityofcalabasas.com/secondhandsmoke-faq.html

I am happy to tell you that the air in Calabasas is beautiful. Today at the Art Fair not one smoker. We are sooo!!! lucky to live in this wonderful community.
After reading the report of the fire on the Star Princess I do not know why smoking on all ship balconies is a no-no. On our last cruise on the Voyager in a Horizon Suite, the only problem was the occasional whiff of tobacco from some Asian passengers.
We look forward to our cruise on the Oceania in January 2007 and commend their smoking rules.

Oh I guess I missed the Princess announcement? Smoking was the cause of the fire? How did I miss that news?

It was under investigation last I had heard and I quit following it so I missed it too. Post the link if anyone has it. Was the teenage kid involved?

I just read the above posts re paint colors for homes. Several years ago, we looked at a townhouse in Woodstock, VT, where the homeowners assoc. dictated what kind of flowers to plant in each window box. We thought that was a bit much. The year we were there, everyone had red geramiums.

No updated news regarding the fire.

As of Thursday, the latest news:
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined and the MAIB is continuing its investigation on behalf of the Bermuda Maritime Administration in cooperation with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Thanks Betty..Like Joanna, I thought I had missed something.

Ollie, I'm with you...could NEVER live in a place where what kind of flowers you plant are dictated by a HOA. Talk about throwing personal freedom out the window!

Well the air is clear here today too - other than my neighbor who is grilling - boy I hate that odor and it is coming right into my backyard!!!

call security

Claudia: We don't have "odor" security here - I think that is only in parts of CA :p :p :p

ha ha