by Andy Hemmington August 10th, 2009
P&O Cruises has joined a long list of cruise lines to recently further cut back on the places people can smoke on board. The cruise line’s six ships will all ban smoking in interior areas of its vessels; including cabins and casinos.
The British line already forbids indoor smoking on three of its ships. This went into effect in line with the UK’s indoor smoking ban. Two more ships, the Aurora and Oriana will ban smoke in April, with The Arcadia banning indoor smoking in May.
P&O will be debuting its seventh vessel in April, called Azura, it will also be smoke free from its inception.
The ban will apply to all cabins and casinos. It was also be expanded to bars, night clubs, restaurants and show lounges. Passengers may smoke on the balconies of cabins and some, but not all open decks.
This marks a trend of very strict smoking policies being enacted on cruise ships. Some of cruise ships have been amongst the last places in the world to continue to allow smoking in restaurants and bars, but this is gradually ceasing as tourists overwhelmingly express their preferences for smoke free environments.