I heard back from the author, David Loe. He is the reason that the ship stops in Ventura County every year because he arranges a group which departs from Port Hueneme. Margo might have met him or his group on the Navigator a few years ago. Anyway, here is the full article:

“On Cruising”
Publication Date: September 2, 2007
By David Loe

It isn’t easy being a pioneer. Just ask Carnival and Renaissance Cruises. In the quest to provide a smoke-free cruising experience both tried and failed.

Carnival, the biggest cruise line of them all, designated one ship in their fleet to have a strict no-smoking policy in 1998. Six years later they gave up on the idea and the Paradise became a smoking ship again. Renaissance premiered as a totally no-smoking cruise line, but they went bankrupt in 2001.

Maybe aiming for a completely smoke-free environment on a cruise ship was too radical an idea. I mean even here in California where less than 15% of adults still smoke and where we have the toughest smoking laws around; smokers are still entitled to a few places to legally take a drag. Even us non-smokers understand that if someone is addicted to nicotine, they can’t be expected to take a 7-night cruise and not light up. The question is where should the limits be drawn?

For years non-puffers have told me that they would like to see designated non-smoking rooms on cruise ships. It’s easy enough to reserve a room like that at a hotel, but just about impossible to find on a cruise ship. Why is that? Because hotels do not assign a specific room to you when you make your reservation. That plus the fact that most hotel guests only stay a night or two makes it much easier for a hotel management to oversee the distribution of smoking and non-smoking rooms.

Now we have a new pioneer in cruise line smoking policies, and my instincts tell me this will work. Regents Seven Seas, a luxury cruise line, has announced that all staterooms on all of their ships will be non-smoking starting in late December of this year. Not only that, they are prohibiting smoking on private balconies as well. Personally, I like that codicil best of all. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been out relaxing on my balcony reading a book and enjoying the fresh sea breeze only to have a smoker down wind of me light up and ruin the experience.

Like many cruise lines, Regent had previously prohibited smoking in many public rooms including the dining rooms, but this is a huge step to tell guests not to smoke in their rooms and on their private balconies. They sound serious too! Here’s the fine print: “Failure to comply with this ban will result in guests being asked to leave the ship at their expense, without refund or credit for the unused portion of their cruise.”

Really? Kick them off the ship? Now that’s what I call serious. I got a hold of Mark Conroy, the long-time President of Regent, to follow up on that statement. “I don’t want to be the smoke police, but if you have a policy you need to enforce it,” he told me. “Smokers are very welcome on our ships, and I think they will find the restrictions we put in place no more draconian than what they face in everyday life.”

I’ve always enjoyed interviewing Conroy because he tells it like it is without the usual corporate spin you get from most executives. I asked him if the announcement of this pending policy had resulted in any cancellations. He frankly replied, “about 3 million dollars (in bookings) particularly on the World Cruise where we had a core of loyal customers who were heavy smokers.”

I am aware of only one other cruise line, Oceania, which has taken such a strong policy on prohibiting in-room and on-balcony smoking. They are a relatively new operator that currently has a fleet of 3 ships.

You’ve got to appreciate the guts it must have taken for both Oceania and especially an established and very successful cruise line like Regent to shake up the cruise world with a policy like this. After all, they’ve already got a good thing going. Though more expensive than many lines, my experience is that guests who have cruised on Regent Seven Seas can’t wait to book another voyage, and often do so before their trip ends.

I asked Conroy if there was anything else he wanted to add. He said, “I want to make the point that this is not an anti smokers action, we are in the business of saying yes to our guests and the idea of being restrictive is completely counter to what we do for our guests everyday. That being said we looked for alterative ways to accommodate both our guests who are smokers and those that are not and could not find a practical solution that continued to allow smoking everywhere without impacting non smokers.”

If you stop to think about it, you’ve got to wonder why smoking in cruise ship staterooms has been allowed to go on for so long. Forget, for a moment, about the dangers of second hand smoke and the discomfort of the lingering smell of smoke for the next guest in a stateroom. Smoking is a major fire hazard. The number one anxiety for any sea-going captain is the thought of having to contend with a fire at sea. Let’s just say it could be a lot worse than those house fires you read about where someone was smoking in bed.

Tag: David Loe, President of Radio Cruises, has been organizing group cruises for Ventura County residents for more than 20 years. Contact him at David@RadioCruises.com


Suggested photo caption: Mark Conroy, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises has taken a bold step by prohibiting smoking in all staterooms and adjoining balconies on his entire fleet of ships starting later this year. The decision has resulted in some passenger cancellations.