Smoke-Free Casinos Aboard Carnival Cruise Lines Expands

Posted on: May 27, 2024, 11:49h. 

Last updated on: May 28, 2024, 09:20h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Carnival Cruise Line continues to offer more smoke-free gaming options aboard its fleet.

Carnival casino smoking cruise ship
There are no ashtrays in the Carnival Jubilee smoke-free casino room. A Carnival official this week said the company currently has 10 ships offering smoke-free casinos. (Image: Carnival Corporation)

A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Florida-based Carnival Corporation, confirmed this week on social media that the cruise line now offers 10 ships with smoke-free casino spaces.

John Heald, officially the Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador, said this week that the company’s newest ships — Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Celebration, and Mardi Gras — each offer nonsmoking casinos. The trio joins Carnival’s six other ships that offer smoke-free casinos separated from the vessel’s primary casino room where tobacco smoking remains permitted. Those ships are Carnival Firenze, Carnival Venezia, Carnival Vista, Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Breeze.

Smoke-free casinos aboard major cruise ships continue to find favor among cruisers.

Along with Carnival announcing 10 smoke-free casinos, Royal Caribbean last year turned several jazz clubs into gaming rooms where smoking is allowed. Royal Caribbean, the world’s second-largest cruise operator behind Carnival Corp., turned its “Jazz on 4” lounges aboard each of the company’s six Oasis class ships into smoke-free casinos.

Cruise Ship Smoking Rules

In announcing the rollout of its smoke-free casinos, Heald reminded passengers that smoking is prohibited throughout most of the ships except in designated areas. Smoking inside all staterooms is forbidden, as is smoking on stateroom balconies.

Major cruise lines have designated outdoor areas where guests are allowed to light up in a controlled, safe manner. Cruise officials say fires are among the greatest threats to a cruise’s safety.

If you get caught, and we do catch many who break this law, there will be an instant $500 fine,” Heald said on social media in response to a question about smoking. “If after that your smoking continues, then we may disembark you and you may not be allowed to sail again [with Carnival].”

Carnival and other large cruises offer guests an anonymous tip line to report smoking violations. The regulation additionally applies to tobacco vapes. As a reminder, bringing cannabis aboard a commercial cruise ship is illegal on the federal level.

Since the US allows cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean to register their ships in the Caribbean and overseas, statistics regarding onboard fires are difficult to find. Andrew Winston of Winston Law, a South Florida practice that specializes in cruise ship accidents, says the foreign registration means the cruises are not legally required to report accidents.

“Based on the number of cruise ships and passengers who choose to travel on these vessels every year, fire-related accidents affect a proportionally small number of crew members and passengers,” Winston explained. “Most incidences are relatively minor and may cause nothing more than an early return to port.”

Casino Smoking Only for Gamblers

Carnival’s website details that its primary casinos are the only indoor places where smoking is allowed aboard the ships. However, only those seated at a slot machine or table game and actively gambling are permitted to light up a cigarette.

Smoking at the casino’s bar or while standing is prohibited. Cigars and tobacco pipes are, too, as those products are only allowed in the designated outdoor areas.

When the casinos aren’t in operation while docked or not yet in international waters, no smoking is permitted in the enclosed environments. Many casinos, Heald added, are used as muster stations during the embarkation process.