??

I sort of suspect Regent took the lead on the smoking in the stateroom ban in much the same way Radisson did with the control on what Internet sites passengers could visit. RSSC initially explained the Internet restrictions introduced in early 2004 as a way to protect children (notable by their very low numbers on RSSC) although the actual reason, I heard for an on-board computer consultant, was to stop staff, crew, etc. from wasting time and bandwidth accessing "undesirable" (to RSSC) Internet sites. I think they are a bit old-fashioned, wanting to act " in loco parentis" for their passengers and crews. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised their lawyers let them try this, as it implies a level of protection difficult or impossible to actually provide with any degree of certainty.

A somewhat comical, and very outdated, parallel: In the early '90ies, Ann Reynolds, then Chancellor of the City University of New York, without much notice, consultation, or anything else, apparently (e.g., getting approval of the CUNY Board) banned smoking University-wide (19 colleges, etc.) one fine summer. Someone, a student group I think, filed a successful ADA complaint, arguing that then-President Clinton had earlier that spring stated that smoking (or nicotine?) addiction was a very real disability, and CUNY's new policy made no "reasonable accommodation" for smokers. So CUNY, then (always?) in a very tight money crunch and "retrenching", was forced to settle the complaint by agreeing to renovate rooms in all buildings with ventilation, ashtrays, etc., to accommodate smokers. As with much that is planned in New York, this didn't happen very quickly, and before the program got very far along, I believe some federal agency ruled that smoking or nicotine addiction was not an ADA-protected disability, so the whole thing faded away.