Feast at sea
Norwegian Getaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 16, 2016
Ship: Norwegian Getaway
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
The free style dining was great. I was able to have a private table with my wife as it was our 43 year anniversary. The food was excellent in the dinning room and we did the French restaurant on our anniversary and that was to die for.
My only negative is that I am a cigar smoker and the only place I could enjoy a cigar was in the cigar lounge. Which was nice and I met a lot of nice people but sometimes it was too crowed not with cigar smokers but cigarette smokers.
I personally enjoyed it when you could smoke on the balcony but the only cruise line that allowed that was Holland America and I hear they may change at some point.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
4 Comments
glomarrone 7 years ago
HAL is changing it's policy. On future cruises you cannot smoke on your balcony. I think that smoking on balconies is a real fire hazard. I think that MSC maybe the only cruise line still allowing smoking on balconies.
WeCruiseToo 7 years ago
Happy anniversary Al, glad you had a great cruise! Thanks for the review!
noname111 7 years ago
Thank you for posting your review. So nice to hear you had a great time.
On the point of smoking (of any kind), you are correct in saying the U.S. cruise industry shifted to non-smoking, with the notable exception of HAL (which may change at some point too). Customers made their opinion loud and clear... cruise lines took note.
The issue with smoking (on the balcony or anywhere else except a sealed room) is that the smoke affects many other people's enjoyment of that space. One person's smoke can ruin a hundred people's ability to enjoy any given number of square feet. The issue grows more urgent for people with respiratory and other chronic health conditions who can ill-afford inhaling second-hand smoke and associated particulates.
When we cruised the Med in 2012, there were a lot of balcony smokers. We could not sit on our own balcony because of other people's smoke and the cigarette odor. We could not open our cabin door at night to enjoy a nice sea breeze because the smell of smoke obliterated the fresh air and filled our cabin.
While we respect a person's right of self-determination, exercising said right cannot come at the expense of anyone else's right to health or comfort. While there is a chance that cruise lines could come up with another solution for smokers, I'm not sure they would spend the money unless there was an overwhelming outcry to take action... and even then, I'm not so sure anything would happen considering the known associated public health and safety risks.
capeman 7 years ago
Glad to hear that you can't destroy my lungs with your smoke on a balcony. Why should anyone have to pay for your habit. I wish smoking was ban completely on the ships.