[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?

[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?