Royal Caribbean Tests Controversial Smoking Change

While fewer Americans smoke than ever before, those who do still want to be able to practice their vice in certain places that have always been associated with smoking. Cruise lines have long wrestled with this because, unlike other bad habits, smoking does impact other people.

If, for example, one passenger decides to eat too much at the buffet or drinks too much, those choices likely won't impact other customers. Sure, a drunk might cause a disruption or even make a mess, but that's a pretty small number of people.

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Every smoker who wants to smoke on a cruise ship, to some extent, impacts other passengers. That's not a gigantic problem on the outside decks which the cruise lines have designated as smoking areas. People who don't smoke can take other routes or pass through those sections very quickly.

In the casino, however, smoking has long been a point of controversy. Royal Caribbean (RCL) - Get Free Report allows smoking in parts of the casino -- including at table games -- and bans it in others. In theory, you're only supposed to smoke while seated and playing. In practice, that's very hard for the cruise line to enforce.   

In addition, while Royal Caribbean sails some of the largest cruise ships in the world, its casinos are small compared to ones on land. That means that smoke can fill the room including areas that are non-smoking.

The cruise line has tested multiple ways to keep both smokers and non-smokers happy over the years. It has also banned smoking in the casino on its Celebrity line. But, on its namesake brand, revenue goes down when it bans smoking in the casino, so Royal Caribbean has tried other options to limit, but not ban smoking in its casinos.

Now, the cruise line has tried something new that's going to make some passengers happy and others angry.  

Royal Caribbean Tests a Smoking Change

Numerous social media reports have shared that Royal Caribbean has tested banning smoking at table games on select sailings of Freedom of the Seas. That would be a major change as generally the table games section of the casino has been considered inside the smoking area on the cruise line's ships.

For non-smokers, this is a major change as the limited number of table games puts them in a tough position if a smoker opts to sit at their table. It's not like the slot machine areas -- some of which are non-smoking -- where a passenger could simply move if someone is smoking nearby.

Royal Caribbean tests changes like this one regularly and will gauge its impact on revenue and look at customer feedback before deciding to move forward.

This test follows Royal Caribbean adding smoke-free casinos to all of its Oasis-class ships. The cruise line has taken the former "Jazz on 4" space on those ships -- the largest cruise ships in the world -- and turned them into small, non-smoking casinos.

Those new, secondary casinos offer a selection of slot machines as well as a very limited amount of table games. They also have beverage service but do not have dedicated bars.