Caribbean cruise ship gives in to nicotine cravings

Detroit Free press ^ | 2/1/04 | Associated Press

[qam1]

NEW YORK -- Carnival is ending its smoke-free cruises aboard the Paradise.

The 2,052-passenger ship has operated since its introduction in 1998 as a smoke-free vessel, cruising from Miami to the Caribbean with a zero tolerance for cigars and cigarettes among both passengers and crew.

[qam1]

Not to much bias, When this ship was launched the media coverage was huge and according to them it was the best thing since sliced bread, But now that it failed it gets only a small buried article.

"We've never understood why it was not successful . . . We should've been sailing full," Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher told the Miami Herald.

It's easy to understand, Cruise ships are supposed to be fun and People who are that whiney about a little smoke are the most miserable, Un-fun people there is, So they are not going to be going on Cruises.

[szweig]

Dopes!!!

[qam1]

Non-Smokers not making up for the loss of Smokers

PING

[Johnny_Cipher]

"We've never understood why it was not successful . . . We should've been sailing full," Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher told the Miami Herald.

Golly Timmy, treating 25 percent of your potential customer base like lepers and criminals might have had something to do with it.

[Hodar]

... treating 25 percent of your potential customer base like lepers and criminals might have had something to do with it.

Are you saying that smokers make up 25% of the 'cruise customers'? I've never been on one, but that figure sounds pretty high to me. I'm curious what percentage of the population smokes. From the statistics I have read, the smoker's predominate the lower income brackets. I'd attribute the lack of passengers to the stock market setbacks, the recent recession and the lost jobs in the IT industry. Cruises aren't typically a cheap thing. The economy was probably more of a factor than anything else.

[Lokibob]

"People who are that whiney about a little smoke are the most miserable, Un-fun people there is, So they are not going to be going on Cruises."

 

I think you hit it right on the head.

 

Wasn't there a non-smoking casino in LV that went belly up?

[Dianna]

Cruises aren't typically a cheap thing. The economy was probably more of a factor than anything else.

So if the economy has gone south and a cruise line is losing money on all their boats, the answer is....make the non-smoking cruise a smoking one?

[Just another Joe]

The percentage of the population that smokes is 20% to 25%.
When you eliminate 1/4 of your POSSIBLE customers you better be sure that the other 75% really care that much about what you're doing.

They started this in '98 during the high tech boom. It never garnered the amount of non-smoking customers they thought it would.

[Just another Joe]

One in Vegas and one in Reno also.

[Just another Joe]

From the statistics I have read, the smoker's predominate the lower income brackets.

Does that include cigars and pipes?

[Hodar]

Yep, fill the ship any way you can.

Money is money, it doesn't matter if it comes from a smoker or a non-smoker. Ships need money to stay afloat (ugh, bad pun). And in an economic downturn, you make whatever concessions you have to, just to survive.

As for myself ... If/when my wife and I go on a cruise; We'll book one on a non-smoking ship. The only thing worse than a born again christian is an ex-smoker. I quit 15 yrs ago, and still think they stink to high heavens. Why would I want to pay money to be stuck aboard a place that reeks, when I can book an odor free ship for the same money?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Although a small part of that too, there's something on the cruises that American cigar smokers can get legally that they can't in the US. Cuban Cigars.

[Hodar]

Because smoking levels are highest among low-income Americans, the cigarette companies try to argue that cigarette tax increases are regressive taxes that fall disproportionately hard on those with lower incomes.

Admittedly, the site's source is very biased, but this confirms my statement. I'm sure you can find more sources that say the same thing. There are other statistical analysis that say things like beer are considered to be consumed by lower income people, than wines.

http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0022.pdf

[Just Lori]

... treating 25 percent of your potential customer base like lepers and criminals might have had something to do with it.
Are you saying that smokers make up 25% of the 'cruise customers'? I've never been on one, but that figure sounds pretty high to me. I'm curious what percentage of the population smokes. From the statistics I have read, the smoker's predominate the lower income brackets. I'd attribute the lack of passengers to the stock market setbacks, the recent recession and the lost jobs in the IT industry. Cruises aren't typically a cheap thing. The economy was probably more of a factor than anything else.




Uh huh.... you've never been on one.... I gotta admit, you really are pretty funny. Just because someone is a smoker you think they are in a "lower income bracket"? What world are you living in? As long as you live in the "statistics realm", you will never be able to make honest, weightful judgements about real life outside of that realm. Not being able to smoke on a cruise that costs a decent fare, yet denies me a pleasure I enjoy, is the reason I don't go anymore!

[Psycho_Bunny]

"We've never understood why it was not successful . . . We should've been sailing full,"

I've never like the word, and I especially dislike when people use it in conversations but,

"DUH!"

[KC_for_Freedom]

A good cigar, (and Cuba makes them) and a good pipe once in a while makes for a very nice evening. This is true on a cruise or a porch (or in my case under the awning of my trailer). Good for the cruise line, giving in to giving people more freedom. My opinion of Carnaval is going up.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Are you saying that smokers make up 25% of the 'cruise customers'? I've never been on one, but that figure sounds pretty high to me.

No, I said that Carnival alienated 25 percent of their "potential customer base." That's a wider superset than their cruise customers. And I have no data on how many of their customers use tobacco or the socioeconomic breakdown of tobacco use by income.

I'm curious what percentage of the population smokes.

According to Infoplease, the current figure is 23.1 percent (a slightly higher percentage of men than women).

From the statistics I have read, the smoker's predominate the lower income brackets. I'd attribute the lack of passengers to the stock market setbacks, the recent recession and the lost jobs in the IT industry. Cruises aren't typically a cheap thing. The economy was probably more of a factor than anything else.

Well, the statistics I've seen don't seem to bear out this theory. The number of cruises and passengers on those cruises increased by 9.3 and 11 percent respectively between 2002 and 2003.

And if economic reasons alone were the cause for the change in Carnival's policy, then why did they change the smoking policy on just this particular ship? If smokers were not a significant percentage of their customer base, it seems to me that they would have made all of their ships non-smoking. Also, a non-smoking ship, the only non-smoking ship in Carnival's fleet, should have been packed to the gills with passengers trying to get away from all that evil tobacco smoke.

[Great Dane]

But there were not enough takers to keep the idea going. Carnival had a hard time booking groups, and as a result the Paradise will lose its smoke-free status in September, when it is redeployed to California.

We keep telling them, talk about pig headedness.

[Just another Joe]

Admittedly, the site's source is very biased

You just said a mouthful.

I will cede the fact that smoking levels, of cigarettes, are highest among low-income Americans but will also offer the fact that there are more low-level income Americans than any other type so, of course, the levels are highest.

[qam1]

I'd attribute the lack of passengers to the stock market setbacks, the recent recession and the lost jobs in the IT industry. Cruises aren't typically a cheap thing. The economy was probably more of a factor than anything else.

And you would be Wrong.

2004 Wave Period Points to Another Record Year For North American Cruise Industry, Says CLIA

So almost every Cruise ship is being booked to the Max except for the one Non-smoking Ship.

Note: Carnival has a total of 20 Ships, If Non-smoking was such a good idea why didn't they make more than 1 of them totally non-smoking?