Comparing cruises for smokers

P&O Cruises have brought in new rules, limiting smoking entirely to outside areas on all their ships and these rules mean that from May 2010 there will be no smoking in cabins or casinos on any P&O vessel. Three ships already have a no smoking policy for ‘inside’ areas. So where can you smoke on a P&O ship? On cabin balconies and designated open decks.

Other cruise lines have different policies, so if you’re a smoker you might want to compare the freedom that smokers are, or aren’t allowed. For example, Costa allows in designated areas in most public rooms, but not in the main restaurants and in show lounges. You can smoke both on your balcony and in your cabin.

Cunard has ship by ship rules: On QM2 and Queen Victoria you can smoke in the Cigar Lounges and the public bars and lounges on the starboard side of each ship are counted as smoking areas. However, Queen Victoria is pretty well no smoking ship - open deck smoking is only allowed on the starboard side of deck 3 and the aft area of deck 10 and inside smoking only allowed in the Churchill Cigar Lounge and Empire Casino. You can smoke in your cabin and on your balcony though.

But Norwegian Cruise Lines allows you to smoke in your cabin and on your balcony, in the casino or Cigar Bar, and on the open decks in any area that isn’t designated as non-smoking (basically the non-smoking areas are food venues, sport decks and children’s pool areas)