Norwegian Cruise Line to ban smoking in staterooms on all ships

Norwegian Cruise Line is the latest cruise company to ban smoking in staterooms on all 11 ships in its fleet starting next year.

“We’ve been looking at this for a while based on feedback from guests,” says AnneMarie Mathews, vice president of public relations. Mathews says the company received complaints from passengers about smoky smells in staterooms -- something she says is “challenging” to remove.

Under new rules that go into effect in January, passengers who have a stateroom with a balcony will be allowed to smoke cigarettes but not cigars or pipes. The cruise line earlier had limited smoking to casinos and other designated areas of ships but banned it from bars, restaurants and restrooms as well as outdoor areas such as a children’s pool and the jogging track.

Smoking rules for other cruise lines generally are posted on the their websites. Princess Cruises also recently decided to ban smokers from cabins and balconies starting in January. Celebrity Cruises already prohibits smoking in staterooms and veranda/balconies and limits smokers to designated areas of each ship. The policy even extends to land tours operated by the cruise line. Kid-centric Disney Cruise Line prohibits guests from lighting up inside staterooms and provides designated areas that vary according to the ship.

Cunard will ban smoking in staterooms on the Queen Victoria in March and on the Queen Mary in April; smoking on balconies, however, will be permitted.

So what happens if you light up in your room? On Norwegian and Celebrity, at least, you’ll be charged a $250 cleaning fee.