Tell them to pound sand!

What are they going to say? "Don't make me turn this boat around, Mister!"

:-)
[Reply]

Actually, you can take alcohol on board -- in your checked baggage. Which is how you have to travel with alcohol these days anyway, since you cannot carry more than 3oz of anything on to an airplane.

Several people on my last cruise did this and it worked out fine for them.

Just need to make sure you finish it before the end of the cruise (:-)) as you may run into open container issues later on...
[Reply]

Depending upon the cruise line they don't care if you bring alcohol onboard. I know that many people have brought alcohol aboard the Disney ships.
[Reply]

Beg to differ.
NONE of them condone alcohol as that is where they truly make their money, at the bar.
All post that clearly for all to see online and in the package you receive when you book your cruise.
All will generally confiscate your booze and hold it until the last night or morning of departure.
If they choose to, can refuse to allow you to board, period.
You ARE allowed to bring wine on board and present it at the dinner table for a corkage fee.
Do folks bring booze on checked in luggage? Yeah, of course. Do all get nailed? Nope. Is it openly allowed? No way.
[Reply]

Come on!!!
You can do it!!!
Do you ever go one mile over the speed limit?
If this balcony issue was one similar to no smoking in your room, or no smoking in the dining room, or no smoking wherever there are groups of folks congregating, would agree.
On a balcony? Wait to you get there and see how seldom anyone uses a balcony. That rule would never stop me and would not feel bad about it.
It is an idiotic one.
[Reply]

Just check with the cruiseline and get an up to date policy of their cigar smoking and where you can smoke. This policy seems to change with the wind so you have to ask the right questions as to what floors, balconies, if they have a designated cigar room, etc etc.

I'ts already happend with Carnival and as you said it is an ever changing policy. Their newest ship to come aboard is a completely NON SMOKING ship so don't get too comfortable with the idea that NON SMOKING ships are a thing of the past. My reps are telling me that there is constant complaining from non smokers on just about every cruise and as we all know the squeeky wheel gets the grease. The smart cruisers pick the aft balcony cabins to smoke their cigars,,,just like me.
LOL,,,you can pack as many 3 ounce bottles that will fit into a quart bag like I did and that is approximately 7 bottles.

The issue is where you can smoke and if there isn't a policy in place that says you can't smoke on your balcony then you are free to smoke on any balcony you want to. I have had balconies in the front, middle and aft and still got complaints from the neighbors by them slamming their doors, coughing, whining and everything else. I even had the stewards knock on my door to see if there was a compromise to the issue and I told him there were two things I would accept: 1) That the neighbor could move to another cabin 2) That the neighbor could get off the boat at the next port.

He just laughed and knew there wasn't anything the cruiseline could do because there wasn't a NO SMOKING policy on balconies.

FYI,,,,you have to understand that the cabin stewards will report to their station Rep's any indication of any smoking materials if you are in a NO SMOKING room even if you don't light up. Carnival kicks off at least 1 to 2 cabins a week on their cruises for people who have smoking materials in their room. They just don't broadcast it to any as much as they come in with a sealed tape over the door and kick you off. Forewarned is forearmed!
[Reply]

From NCL's website.

We want you to be comfortable on board, so public areas throughout all NCL ships are smoke free. If you smoke cigarettes, you can do so in your stateroom, on your balcony, in the casino or Cigar Bar (where available). If you prefer pipes or cigars, you can smoke in the Cigar Bar or designated smoking lounge. Also, you can smoke cigarettes, pipes and cigars outside on open decks (just not around food venues, sport decks, kids' pool areas and other designated non-smoking areas).

I consider a balcony outside and consider it an open deck.
I never saw this as an issue and this proves.
Can't phantom someone not complaining about cigarettes yet complaining about cigars, on a balcony, where the wind is blowing nearly off the ship.
An attorney in the house, please translate the parenthesis part as that clearly says to me, it is perfectly OK.
DUDE, light up and enjoy!!! Life is short.
[Reply]

on Royal Carribean, there's a smoking side and a non-smoking side. So if you want to smoke, you can simply go to the starboard side of the ship and sit on the deck chairs out there, or go to the port side for smoke free relaxation.

plus there was the cigar bar after 9pm in the library
[Reply]

You are right about what they say on NCL,,,but remember, you are crusing on NCL which doesn't have the best rating so you might want to consider this when picking any cruiseline.

Name Score

07 08
1 1 Crystal Cruises 90.67
2 2 Regent Seven Seas Cruises 88.71
3 4 Disney Cruise Line 82.50
4 3 Oceania Cruises 81.32
5 5 Cunard Line 80.07
6 6 Celebrity Cruises 78.37
7 7 Holland America 77.92
8 8 Princess Cruises 75.80
9 9 Royal Caribbean 73.09
10 - 10 Norwegian Cruise Line 68.26


You are correct except that on some of RC boats the library isn't used anymore for cigar smoking as the same for the Viking Lounge.
[Reply]

Say it ain't so.
Going on the Navigator of the Seas in December. They have a nice Library with cigars and great high end cigar booze.
I have evolved to loving RC and sit on their deck and smoke away, on the smoker side. Have never had an issue. Have gone the last 7 or 8 or so cruises with them. Also enjoy my morning pot of coffee with a PC on my balcony.
[Reply]

Not all of the RC ships have a ban. Call your rep and ensure that the Viking Lounge will be open because I know they closed it on the Majesty of the Seas to all cigars and cigarettes. The Navigator is a nice boat and you will enjoy it and the last time I was on it they allowed cigars in the lounge but the way some things go,,,call ahead. Love the morning pot of "Joe" on the balcony and breakfast. I brought 20 cigars with me on my short 4 night cruise and smoked every single one of them.:-)
[Reply]

My wife and I went on a cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian Star in 2007. I smoked cigars on the outside deck and on an upper level with the pool. No one said anything to me. We didn't have a balcony though. The cigar bar was empty all the time.
[Reply]

I FULLY understand your position. If it were a matter that there were no place to enjoy my cigar, then I might be inclined to go along with you. However, that's not the case and I think that I'll do my part to make sure cigar smokers keep their good reputation for not infringing on other people's rights. :-) And, yes, the rule may be idiotic...but if everyone just follows the rules they agree with there would be anarchy. Plus...my wife told me I couldn't smoke out there. :-)
[Reply]

I already checked and they do not consider a balcony an outside deck. Cigarettes can be smoked...cigars have their own room.
[Reply]

Always a much higher authority than any corporate establishment.:-)
[Reply]

Why didn't you say so before?
Now THAT is a rule one must follow.:-)
Smart man!
Only way I have lasted 33 years with my wife is by either obeying her rules OR letting her think I do.:-)
[Reply]

I was on an NCL cruise last year and had no problem smoking cigars on the balcony - looking to book a second - if they changed there policy that may change the line on book on.
[Reply]

Well, got back from the cruise yesterday. NCL was a very, very good experience. Believe it or not, I didn't miss smoking on the balcony for a second. In fact, I might not have smoked there even if I could. I loved the cigar lounge, talked to a lot of people there and felt like a king. (You know the saying, "in a world gone blind, the one eyed man is king.") A lot of folks down there who are not regular cigar smokers who need a little advice.

They sell cigars down there, but the selection isn't much as far as quantity, but the quality is pretty good. They had flavored cigars, but I didn't see anybody smoking them. They had two sizes of Davidoff's; Fuente's; Macanudos; D.R. Cohiba's; the prices were in the $6-13 range.

It was great sitting back and relaxing in a leather chair with a good cigar and having JFK; George Burns; Babe Ruth; Lou Gherig; Milton Bearl; Winston Churchill; Groucho Marx; and Sigmund Freud staring at you. :-) I highly recommend the Norwegien Cruises...they were good to me.
[Reply]

That's great! I am glad that you had a really good experience and enjoyed yourself!
[Reply]

Awesome.
I LOVE CRUISING!!!
Can't wait for my upcoming one.
Very nice cigar lounge on this ship I am going on.
[Reply]