Carnival Cruise Line is making some changes by introducing a new separate Casino which will be just for non-smoking guests. The new venue is now on three Carnival cruise ships and it could be rolled out to more.
New Non-Smoking Casino
Because many people do not enjoy the smell of smoke, there have been changes made for Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, and Carnival Magic in the form of a non-smoking casino. The rules regarding smoking onboard remain pretty much the same post-pandemic as it was before. However, for those that want a smoke-free environment, there is the option now for a different casino.
Worth Reading: Which Carnival Cruise Ships Have Resumed Operations?
Located inside the former convention room on deck four on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, and Carnival Magic the new casino areas on the three vessels will always be non-smoking while having the same gaming options as the original casino.
Although there will be no bar, there will be a drinks service. For now, the non-smoking casino will only be on those three vessels, and Carnival may decide to roll out the concept fleet-wide in the future.
Seeing that the convention room had little use onboard, except being used for the occasional crew meeting, the new Casino area will be a welcome addition to those who want to avoid the smell of tobacco.
John Heald, Carnival Brand Ambassador:
While half of the casino is going to remain smoking on all of our ships, on those three ships for now we have designed a non-smoking casino. Now, if you picture those ships, if you go onto deck four, there was a conference room where we would hold conferences. But those conference rooms, which are very large on Breeze, Dream and Magic, have now been converted into a non-smoking casino.
Why Carnival Does Not Ban Smoking Inside
Although smoking is far less popular or common inside cruise ships these days than it was 20 or even 10 years ago, Carnival Cruise Line still allows smoking inside its casino (Royal Caribbean and Norwegian allow it as well).
The reasoning for this seems to be that people gamble and spend more when they can smoke when they play. John Heald said the financial aspect was the deciding factor to allowing smoking to continue inside the Casinos, nightclubs, and Casino bars:
“So those people who always say to me, we don’t like the smoke in the casino and I totally respect and understand that. We know that smokers gamble. And that’s why, you know, if we thought the revenue was going to remain the same if we took smoking away. However, it won’t, which is why we haven’t. I want to be straight here that, um, we have to look at both sides. We can’t make the casinos non-smoking if we don’t have good onboard revenue. We can’t keep the prices of the cruise, the most affordable in the industry. And that’s why we’re doing this.“
Also Read: Carnival Cruise Line Will Keep Self-Service Buffet and More Updates
As for Carnival’s newest ship, Mardi Gras, the company has not yet announced its smoking policies onboard or whether there will be a second venue for non-smoking guests while allowing smoking in the main casino.
For the ships sailing currently, these are the smoking policies in place for Carnival Vista, Horizon, and Breeze, keep in mind that Carnival has removed the Casino bar from the Vista-class cruise ships and replaced it with more slot machines:
Carnival Breeze: Cigarette smoking is permitted in the Winners’ Luck Casino and Casino Bar, Liquid Nightclub and outdoors on Deck 5 (port side, aft, outside the Nightclub) and Deck 11 (starboard side, aft).
Carnival Horizon: Cigarette smoking is permitted in the Horizon Casino, and outdoors on Deck 5 (port side and starboard side, forward) and Deck 11 (starboard side, forward and aft).
Carnival Vista: Cigarette smoking is permitted in the Vista Casino and outdoors on Deck 5 (port side and starboard side, forward) and Deck 11 (starboard side, forward and aft).
