Royal Caribbean has joined several other cruise lines in banning smoking on its stateroom balconies as part of a new policy that begins on January 1, 2014.
First reported by Cruise Currents, Royal Caribbean has updated its Smoking Policy on its website specifically banning smoking on balconies, which is in addition to a pre-existing ban on smoking inside a stateroom.
Smoking is not permitted inside any stateroom and any stateroom balcony. This applies to all stateroom categories onboard. If a guest is in violation of this stateroom policy, a cleaning fee of $250 USD will be applied to their SeaPass® account and may be subject to further action pursuant to the "Consequences Section" of the Guest Conduct Policy.
Anyone caught smoking on their balcony or in their stateroom will be subject to a $250 fee.
There will remain a few designated areas to smoke onboard, which are inside the Casino Royale, outdoor areas of the starboard side of all ships; with the exception of Oasis-class ships that will allow smoking on the port side of the ships.
In the last few weeks, Disney Cruise Line, Cunard & P&O cruise lines all banned smoking on balconies and it seems like Royal Caribbean has joined in the new trend.
